In light of damning new reports of state-sponsored human rights abuses facilitated by NSO Group, Candiru, and Cellebrite, Access Now is calling for urgent action to hold the surveillance industry and governments accountable. Yesterday, July 18, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories’ breaking investigation, the Pegasus Project, revealed that more than 180 journalists in 21 countries — including India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, […]
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Posted inWorld
Ban biometric surveillance: civil society demands outright prohibitions on public and private use
Today, June 7, Access Now and over 175 civil society organizations, activists, and researchers from across the globe are calling for a ban on uses of facial recognition and remote biometric recognition that enable mass and discriminatory targeted surveillance. Civil society organizations, activists, researchers, and technologists are drawing a line in the sand and demanding legal […]
Posted inWorld
Iris scanning of refugees is disproportionate and dangerous — What’s happening behind IrisGuard’s closed doors?
April 12, 2021 – Refugees should not be required to hand over personal biometric data in exchange for basic needs such as purchasing food, or accessing money. However, iris scan technology supplied by UK-registered company, IrisGuard, is reportedly being used by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) […]
Posted inUS
Civil society to U.S. Congress: don’t let disinformation run rampant
Washington, DC, September 30, 2020—On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will consider S. 4632, the Online Content Policy Modernization Act, legislation that amends Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the “legal backbone of the internet” — in alarming ways. Specifically, S.4632 would narrow Section 230 so that online services would […]
Posted inUS
Access Now publishes U.S. digital rights agenda
August 18, 2020 — Access Now is publishing A digital rights agenda for 2021 and beyond to inform U.S. political parties’ policy priorities as the country heads into its presidential election this November. The U.S. government must seek to address the inequities at the intersection of public policy and technology that result in serious harm to the civil […]
Posted inCalifornia
California bill would help close digital divide and make the state a leader on connectivity
May 20, 2020 – Today, Access Now joined over 30 other organizations in supporting California State Senator Lena Gonzalez’s SB 1130. The bill would update the state’s broadband buildout program to focus on “future-proof” technology and make it easier to improve slow and inadequate connections (like Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL). Such an update is sorely […]
Posted inWorld
Report on 2019 trends in internet shutdowns, approaches to defending free expression
London, Feb. 25, 2020 — From Bolivia to Malawi, India, Sudan, and beyond, 2019 was a difficult year, online and off. Access Now’s latest report looks at a trend affecting people’s rights regardless of whether they are active internet users: internet shutdowns. The #KeepItOn coalition has documented an increase in internet shutdowns in 2019, including both more sustained and […]
Posted inLife
International NGO leaders at Davos tell ISOC, ICANN: Selling .ORG puts civil society at risk
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND January 22, 2020 – Today, the executive directors of 11 international NGOs released an open letter calling on the leaders of Internet Society (ISOC) and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to stop the sale of the .ORG top-level domain to private equity firm Ethos Capital. “.ORG is the place where […]
Posted inUS
Governments want encryption backdoors: new report examines the legal and policy implications
Washington D.C. (February 14, 2018) — Today, Access Now released a new report that concludes that any policy mandating backdoors into encrypted products “would likely be effective for only a minimal time, would be substantially costly, and might harm security in general.” The report is the product of a conversation between former government officials (both […]
Posted inUS
Access Now condemns U.S. plan to repeal Net Neutrality rules
Washington, DC November 21, 2017 – Today, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced plans to dismantle the agency’s 2015 Open Internet Order which advanced Net Neutrality rules that require internet service providers to give users equal access to all content on the internet. Access Now condemns the FCC plan to repeal these rules, […]