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Amie Stepanovich

U.S. Policy Manager

Amie Stepanovich is U.S. Policy Manager and Global Policy Counsel at Access Now, where she works to protect human rights in laws and policies involving technologies and their use. Amie manages and develops the organization’s U.S. policy and leads global projects at the intersection of human rights and government surveillance. Previously, Amie was the Director of the Domestic Surveillance Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, where she testified in hearings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as in front of the German and Australian Parliaments. Amie is a board member of the Internet Education Foundation and an advisory board member for the Future of Privacy Forum. From 2014-2015, she was a liaison to the American Bar Association’s Cybersecurity Task Force and she co-chaired the 2014 Computers, Freedom, and Privacy Conference. In 2015, Amie was an American delegate to the American Swiss Foundation’s Young Leaders Conference. She was a member of the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue’s Young Leaders Dialogue (YLD) from 2017-2018 and for 2019-2020 was named an American Program Manager. In addition, Amie was named as a Privacy Ambassador by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada and was recognized in 2014 as one of Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 leaders in Law and Policy. She has a J.D. from New York Law School, and a B.S. from the Florida State University.

Congressional Committee Adopts Amendment to Remove NSA From Crypto Standards Process

21 May 2014

On May 21, 2014, by voice vote the House Science and Technology Committee adopted an amendment to the FIRST Act removing the requirement that NSA be consulted on encryption standards. The Amendment was authored by Congressman Alan Grayson.

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Congressional Committee Adopts Amendment to Remove NSA From Crypto Standards Process
21 May 2014
Congressional Committee Adopts Amendment to Remove NSA From Crypto Standards Process

Access withdraws conditional support for USA FREEDOM Act

20 May 2014

House leadership and the Obama administration negotiations of USA FREEDOM have significantly weakened proposed NSA reforms

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Access withdraws conditional support for USA FREEDOM Act
20 May 2014
Access withdraws conditional support for USA FREEDOM Act

Updated: Amended USA FREEDOM Act passes out of House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence

7 May 2014

Today, the USA FREEDOM Act, in an amended form, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote of 32-0 (7 not voting). Among several legislative proposals to reform the NSA currently discussed by U.S. Congress, Access believes there is only one that will meaningfully change foreign intelligence surveillance: the USA FREEDOM Act.

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Updated: Amended USA FREEDOM Act passes out of House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence
7 May 2014
Updated: Amended USA FREEDOM Act passes out of House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence

Access and partners call on NIST to strengthen cryptography standards

22 Apr 2014

Following revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) deliberately weakened cryptographic standards put out by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NIST recently proposed a series of principles to guide cryptography standards-setting going forward. Access, together with a coalition of eleven other digital rights, technology, privacy, and open government groups, submitted a letter today calling on NIST to strengthen cryptography principles, noting in particular that the principles must be “modified and amended to provide greater transparency and access.”

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Access and partners call on NIST to strengthen cryptography standards
22 Apr 2014
Access and partners call on NIST to strengthen cryptography standards

How the NSA reform proposals stack up

10 Apr 2014

In the wake of the ongoing revelations about NSA surveillance, Access releases an infographic measuring how the leading four reform proposals stack up against the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance.

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How the NSA reform proposals stack up
10 Apr 2014
How the NSA reform proposals stack up

Access tells White House to promote data security

2 Apr 2014

Access calls on the White House to bolster data protection standards, promote data security, and continue to foster a robust discussion on best practices.

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Access tells White House to promote data security
2 Apr 2014
Access tells White House to promote data security

Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals

25 Mar 2014

Late Monday night, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Guardian each reported on what will inevitably be new competing efforts to reform the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata surveillance program.

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Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals
25 Mar 2014
Bulk Data Collection Reform: A Tale of Two Legislative Proposals

Time to Encrypt All the Things

12 Mar 2014

It’s time to expand the public discourse. It’s time to talk about how to properly secure data and defend privacy.

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Time to Encrypt All the Things
12 Mar 2014
Time to Encrypt All the Things