This plan isn’t for the next two weeks or three months.

January 27, 2015 1:42 PM

EFF’s Game Plan for Ending Global Mass Surveillance
For years, we’ve been working on a strategy to end mass surveillance of digital communications of innocent people worldwide. Today we’re laying out the plan, so you can understand how all the pieces fit together—that is, how U.S. advocacy and policy efforts connect to the international fight and vice versa. Decide for yourself where you can get involved to make the biggest difference.
posted by andoatnp (22 comments total)

Good luck with that.
posted by NSA at 2:17 PM on January 27, 2015 [15 favorites]

I AM CERTAINLY NOT INVOLVED IN ANY SUCH ACTIVITY
posted by lumpenprole at 2:28 PM on January 27, 2015

They left out the parts that would address the rage, injustice, intolerance, and other factors that contribute to the terrorist threats that are often referred to as justification for surveillance.

The net is full of potential for actually connecting people and making them less powerless and misunderstood. How to do this is not obvious, so a concerted, focused effort is probably called for.
posted by amtho at 2:30 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Actually, they addressed that earlier this month:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/facing-challenge-online-harassment

Here are geekfeminism's response articles:
http://geekfeminism.org/2015/01/19/internet-freedom-and-the-effs-anti-harassment-statement/
posted by yeahwhatever at 2:33 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'm not impressed with the geekfeminism response. While they claim that EFF had handwaving platitudes, they failed to articulate a sensible government regulation that would help reduce or address harassment while protecting free speech.

The fact is when governments have tools for censorship, they have a tendency to use these tools to silence those without privilege; those struggling to create social change, those that threaten the existing power structure.

And assertions like this: "The internet is white." Yeah, maybe in the US, but not globally. Globally the internet is Chinese.

The thing is, if you give the government censorship tools, it's worth realizing that most of the government is white. And male. And in much of the country religiously conservative. These are not the people we should be handing tools of censorship to.

Maybe they didn't actually want censorship though, maybe they were looking for different government intervention. Would have been useful to articulate that.

Finally, the EFF has historically been concerned with over-reach of the US government (I like to call them the ACLU of the internet). There are other organizations that might be better suited to attempt to deal with the problem of online harassment. I applaud the EFF in urging corporations to open up their platforms more to allow people to filter and use other methods of self-defense.
posted by el io at 2:54 PM on January 27, 2015 [8 favorites]

Combating hate speech and harassment isn't censorship.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:20 PM on January 27, 2015

fffm: Depends on how you do it.

There are plenty of countries that censor hate speech.
posted by el io at 3:21 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I live in a country that bans hate speech. It's a good thing.

Frankly, if LEO can go after people who torrent as easily as they do, there is literally no reason why they can't go after online harassment the same way. We know why they don't, of course, but there's no reason they can't.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:24 PM on January 27, 2015

And after they take care of all the thoughtcriminals out there, then maybe they can go after future criminals. And future thoughtcriminals.
posted by entropicamericana at 3:38 PM on January 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

Online harassment is an important issue, but it has little to nothing to do with why the NSA has constructed a global surveillance network, which is what the EFF is attempting to address here.
posted by indubitable at 3:39 PM on January 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

Oh for crying out loud, can we just for once avoid that utterly tiresome canard that hate speech is a thoughtcrime?

You can think whatever you want! Yes, even that. Go ahead. Fill your boots. When you start putting it out into the world, though, there are consequences.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:46 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

They need to go back to the Magna Carta, freedoms come from inspired self interest. The list of objectives makes a lot of sense, except there are technical, political and other less palatable vectors that defeat each approach.

And there exist other powers than the NSA and CIA, other governments, powerful corporations, (don't laugh) the UN. All these groups need to be helped to understand that they are "rebel barons", perhaps against the current unpopular king NSA and need to agree to allow privacy for everyone so that they will have a chance at privacy.
posted by sammyo at 3:47 PM on January 27, 2015

eh, el io brought it up. w/e, derail over from my end.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:52 PM on January 27, 2015

The EFF article on countering harassment mentions counter-speech, which makes some sense to me. However, I think a lot of real hate forms from people feeling just powerless in the face of an indifferent world. Of course people should be able to handle this feeling in a more constructive way, but those ways are not always clear. Maybe we could do something about that?
posted by amtho at 4:48 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Folks, the FPP isn't about harassment - maybe there's a better place to take this specific discussion so people can talk about the post itself?
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 6:49 PM on January 27, 2015

Secret ‘BADASS’ intelligence program spied on smartphones
posted by jeffburdges at 1:50 AM on January 28, 2015

Aside from reading their Surveillance Self-Defense plan you should consider visiting some cryptoparties, or organizing one if you use any of these tools yourself.

I'm likewise extremely unimpressed geekfeminism response, which proposed absolutely nothing, while the EFF made serious proposals for dealing with online harassment :   "Law enforcement needs to .. identify real threats to safety and protect people in danger—rather than going after community members criticizing police actions or kids who post rap lyrics on Facebook. Time-tested legal precepts (such as defamation law) should be thoughtfully applied to the online world; .."
posted by jeffburdges at 2:14 AM on January 28, 2015

Note that "push private companies to use minimum necessary policies when it comes to data collection" didn't make the list.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:42 AM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Note that "push private companies to use minimum necessary policies when it comes to data collection" didn't make the list.

The UK government's answer to that has been to mandate the record keeping they want by force of law.
posted by pharm at 2:44 AM on January 28, 2015

How To Leak To The Intercept
posted by jeffburdges at 3:46 AM on January 28, 2015

This FPP really, really should have also linked the EFF's Security Self-Defense site. It was linked back in '09 but the world has turned upside-down since then and the EFF site has gotten a lot better.

They have a wonderful primer on protecting yourself here. Alternately, they have special primers for activists and protesters, journalism students, traveling journalists, people using Macs, and human rights defenders.
posted by anemone of the state at 11:27 AM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

Canada Joins World Powers in Spying on Smartphone and Download Data
posted by homunculus at 7:06 PM on January 28, 2015