Access Express | 07/18/13
We need to know: companies, civil society call for transparency on U.S. surveillance
Access has joined a private-public push for transparency, sending a letter to US officials calling for them to ensure internet and telephone service providers be allowed to report data on intelligence requests and for the US government establish its own.
via accessnow 
Staff Picks
New report on human rights and technology in MENA launches
Sign up now for the new monthly Digital Citizen report, a monthly review of news, policy, and research on human rights and technology in the Arab Middle East, produced by Access, EFF, Global Voices, and Social Media Exchange (Beirut).
via campaign-archive1
Brazil eyes internet bill amid spying leaks
Reports alleging he NSA has been partnering with companies to spy on Brazilians has heated up debate over a draft Internet Bill of Civil Rights stuck in Congress since 2011 -- and might have helped prevent the alleged online snooping.
via aljazeera
From the Access Community
New Zealand surveillance bill found to have 'inadequate' rights protections
New Zealand's controversial legislation extending the Government Communications Security Bureau's powers to spy on New Zealanders lacks sufficient checks against abuse of power or adequate transparency and accountability, the Human Rights Commission says.
via nzherald
PRISM case prompts Merkel to seek tougher E.U. data protection laws
In response to intrusive snooping by U.S. intelligence, Chancellor Angela Merkel has made a vow to push for tougher E.U. data protection rules and force Internet firms to be more open, just ahead of Germany's national elections.
via euractiv
Iran sentences, imprisons online journalists
Iranian authorities have sentenced seven members of a religious minority news website to lengthy prison terms, and arrested at least three other journalists in an alarming trend that reflects a renewed crackdown on the local press.
via ifex
Yahoo! wins motion to declassify court documents in NSA PRISM case
The U.S. FISA Court ruled Monday that the Justice Department must unseal documents from a classified 2008 case that Yahoo has said will demonstrate the Internet company "objected strenuously" to providing the government with customer data.
via news
BlackBerry gives Indian government ability to intercept messages
BlackBerry has caved, agreeing to give the Indian government the ability to intercept data sent over their devices. The system will allow the government to track emails in real time, see when BBM messages are delivered and read, and intercept browsing.
via wired
Why tech firms should be allowed to publish more data on U.S. surveillance
Today, leading technology companies issued a joint letter with members of civil society asking the US government to allow them to publish summary statistics about national security requests for user data. It's a critical step: here's why metadata matters.
via guardian
U.K. surveillance watchdog: "understaffed and totally ineffective"
The Interception of Communications Commissioner Office (ICCO), a little-known watchdog responsible for ensuring that Britain’s spy agencies act within the law, has been condemned as “ineffective” by civil liberties campaigners.
via independent
D.I.Y. IP enforcement: why we should be wary of self-regulation
In a step toward an extralegal IP enforcement regime, several major internet ad networks announced an agreement on how to will treat "pirate sites." It could be much worse, but once again, internet users weren't given a seat at the negotiating table.
via eff
Broad coalition sues NSA over 'illegal' telephone surveillance dragnet
A broad coalition of rights groups on issue ranging from religion to drugs, the environment to guns, filed suit with the NSA this week, demanding a U.S. federal judge immediately halt the "unconstitutional program of dragnet electronic surveillance.”
via wired
British MPs claim GCHQ use of PRISM surveillance data was legal
A parliamentary intelligence committee has concluded that the U.K.’s intelligence agency, GCHQ, did not violate British law by using data provided by the PRISM program.
via arstechnica
Europe tells Google to find new solution for search antitrust concerns
Google received another warning on Wednesday from the European Commission: the company was warned that it is edging closer to a legal showdown over the way it displays search results.
via guardian
Nations buying as hackers sell flaws in computer code
Business is booming in what hackers call “zero days,” coding flaws in software that can give a buyer unfettered access to a computer. Once bought by companies and fixed, they are increasingly purchased by countries with the goal of exploiting the flaws.
via nytimes
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