Peter Micek, Esq.

In the joint letter, we told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that requiring mass retention of phone records “exposes consumers to data breaches, stifles innovation, reduces market competition, and threatens fundamental privacy rights.”

Last week, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed it had blocked access to the news website Sarawak Report for publishing “unverified content.” We condemn attempts to restrict fundamental rights in Malaysia. Attempts to censor publications by blocking website access or filing bogus copyright claims violate users’ rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and access to information.

Today at Vodafone’s 31st Annual General Meeting, Access pushed the telco giant to keep its position as a leader on transparency in the industry, this time in the realm of digital security.

Access joined a coalition of groups in calling for the government of Iraq to restore full access to the internet after the government ordered a series of shutdowns, allegedly in connection with school examinations.

Encryption and anonymity on the internet are necessary for the advancement of human rights, according to a new report from the United Nations. The report from David Kaye, a UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, asserts that privacy is a “gateway for freedom of opinion and expression.”

Access applauds the recent decision by U.S. government agencies to modify sanctions to allow the export of vital technologies to Crimea once again.

In a major step forward for free expression and human rights in Crimea, the United States today lifted some of its previous restrictions on the export of vital communications technology to the region. Journalists, human rights defenders, and ordinary people in Crimea can now freely use key communications technologies, software, and services to make their voices heard.

The United States sat through its 2nd-ever hearing at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. The hearing is part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, a fairly new mechanism through which every U.N. member state undergoes scrutiny of its human rights record. We give an overview of what was said about U.S. surveillance, provide the U.S. response in full, and offer our analysis of that response.

Major UN and international rights experts have just declared that internet kill switches are absolutely impermissible under international human rights law, even in times of conflict. This historic statement holds that governments can no longer justify ordering telecommunications companies to shut off mobile or internet services in the face of social unrest or protest. It is a critical decision that impacts the rights of people who are protesting from Burundi to Baltimore.

The 28th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC28) is taking place right now through March 27 in Geneva. Access developed a policy brief with our partners at APC highlighting the key digital rights issues on the Council’s agenda, as well as relevant side events and countries under review in the Universal Periodic Review.