The World's Concerns
"Freedom not Fear:" Worldwide protests against surveillance
(October 12, 2008)
Yesterday, the first worldwide protests against surveillance measures such as the collection of all telecommunications data, the surveillance of air travellers and the biometric registration of citizens were held under the motto "Freedom not Fear - Stop the surveillance mania!" In at least 15 countries citizens demanded a cutback on surveillance, a moratorium on new surveillance powers and an independent evaluation of existing surveillance powers. "A free and open society cannot exist without unconditionally private spaces and communications," explains an international memorandum.
In Berlin the greatest protest march against surveillance in Germany's history took place: Participants in the 2 km long, peaceful protest march carried signs reading "You are Germany, you are a suspect," "No Stasi 2.0 - Constitution applicable here," "Fear of Freedom?" and "Glass citizens, brittle democracy." Apart from related music tracks, loud chants of "Belittle it today, be under surveillance tomorrow" or "We are here and we are loud because they are stealing our data" could be heard. During the protests, which were supported by more than 100 civil liberties groups, professional associations, unions, political parties and other organisations, artists played parodies on surveillance society.
In their final speeches in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the organisers called for political consequences: padeluun of civil liberties group FoeBuD said that in view of the mass protests politicians needed to react now and repeal the blanket retention of all telecommunications data introduced in 2006. Patrick Breyer of Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung presented a five point plan according to which surveillance should be reduced, existing laws should be evaluated and plans for new surveillance measures should be halted. In the course of a "new, freedom-loving security policy" specific preventive measures such as youth projects should be invested in and the "real problems" of people such as poverty and education should be focused on. Ricardo Cristof Remmert-Fontes of Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung announced further action and invited participants to join parties held in seven participating clubs in Berlin under the motto "The long night of surveillance."
In other countries, the following events took place in the course of yesterday's "Freedom not Fear day:" Protest event with music and several art performances in Den Haag, lectures in Rome, surveillance camera mapping in Madrid, art performances in front of Parliament in Vienna, protest rallies in Paris, Prague, Sofia, and Stockholm, the distribution of privacy software in Kopenhagen, informative events in Guatemala City and Buenos Aires as well as a light projection onto Toronto's Town Hall. In London, the construction of a surveillance state was protested by creating a massive collage of photos on Parliament Square showing the prime minister and the action day's motto "Freedom not Fear."
Before the action day, Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung had warned of a "surveillance avalanche in Germany:" According to the group, the German parliament has tightened surveillance and control over citizens at least 21 times in the past 10 years. At least 18 more surveillance proposals are presently on the political agenda, for example the blanket collection of air traveller's data and the transfer of personal data to the US.
About Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung:
Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung ("German Working Group on Data Retention") is a German association of civil rights and privacy activists as well as regular Internet users that runs a campaign against the complete logging of all telecommunications. Home page: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
References:
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/242/144/lang,en/
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/242/144/lang,en/
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/242/144/lang,de
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/10/11/freedom-not-fear-the-big-picture-unveiled-on-parliament-square/
See also:
International Action Day "Freedom not fear - Stop the surveillance mania!" on 11 October 2008
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/267/79/lang,en/
====
Call for action
A broad movement of campaigners and organizations is calling on everybody to join action against excessive surveillance by governments and businesses. On 11 October 2008, concerned people in many countries will take to the streets, the motto being "Freedom not fear 2008." Peaceful and creative action, from protest marches to parties, will take place in many capital cities.
Surveillance mania is spreading. Governments and businesses register, monitor and control our behaviour ever more thoroughly. No matter what we do, who we phone and talk to, where we go, whom we are friends with, what our interests are, which groups we participate in - "big brother" government and "little brothers" in business know it more and more thoroughly. The resulting lack of privacy and confidentiality is putting at risk the freedom of confession, the freedom of speech as well as the work of doctors, helplines, lawyers, and journalists.
International events
Overview and contacts
Athens (Greece)
Belgrade (Serbia)
Berlin (Germany)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Brussels (Belgium)
Bucharest (Romania)
Budapest (Hungary)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Dublin (Ireland)
Helsinki (Finland)
Lisbon (Portugal)
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
London (England)
Luxembourg (Luxemburg)
Madrid (Spain)
Manta (Ecuador)
Nicosia (Cyprus)
Paris (France)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Riga (Latvia)
Rome (Italy)
Skopje (Macedonia)
Sofia (България, Bulgaria)
Stockholm (Sweden)
Tallin (Estonia)
The Hague (Netherlands)
Valletta (Malta)
Vienna (Austria)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Warsaw (Poland)
Washington (United States)
The manifold agenda of security sector reform encompasses the convergence of police, intelligence agencies and the military, threatening to melt down the division and balance of powers. Using methods of mass surveillance, the borderless cooperation of the military, intelligence services and police authorities is leading towards the construction of "Fortresses" in Europe and on other continents, directed against refugees and different-looking people but also affecting, for example, political activists, the poor and under-priviledged, and sports fans.
People who constantly feel watched and under surveillance cannot freely and courageously stand up for their rights and for a just society. Mass surveillance is thereby threatening the fabric of a democratic and open society. Mass surveillance is also endangering the work and commitment of civil society organizations.
Surveillance, distrust and fear are gradually transforming our society into one of uncritical consumers who have "nothing to hide" and - in a vain attempt to achieve total security - are prepared to give up their freedoms. We do not want to live in such a society!
We believe the respect for our privacy to be an important part of our human dignity. A free and open society cannot exist without unconditionally private spaces and communications.
The increasing electronic registration and surveillance of the entire population does not make us any safer from crime, costs millions of Euros and puts the privacy of innocent citizens at risk. Under the reign of fear and blind actionism, targeted and sustained security measures fall by the wayside, as well as tackling peoples' actual daily problems such as unemployment and poverty.
In order to protest against security mania and excessive surveillance we will take to the streets in capital cities in many countries on 11 October 2008. We call on everybody to join our peaceful protest. Politicians are to see that we are willing to take to the streets for the protection of our liberties!
You can find the latest information on the protest marches and the list of participating cities at our website: http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Freedom_Not_Fear_2008.
Our demands
1. Cutback on surveillance
- no blanket registration of all air travellers (PNR data)
- no information exchange with the US and other states lacking effective data protection
- no secret searches of private computer systems, neither online nor offline
- no blanket surveillance and filtering of internet communications (EU Telecoms-Package)
- abolish the blanket logging of our communications and locations (data retention)
- abolish the blanket collection of our biometric data as well as RFID passports
- abolish the blanket collection of genetic data
- abolish permanent CCTV camera surveillance and automatic detection techniques
- scrap funding for the development of new surveillance techniques
2. Evaluation of existing surveillance powers
We call for an independent review of all existing surveillance powers as to their effectiveness and harmful side-effects.
3. Moratorium for new surveillance powers
After the homeland armament of the past few years we demand an immediate hold to new homeland security laws that further restrict civil liberties.
4. Guaranteeing freedom of expression, dialogue and information on the Internet
Ban the installation of filtering infrastructure on ISP networks.
Only independent and impartial judges may request the removal of Internet content.
Create a full right to quote multimedia, today indispensable to public debate in democracies.
Protect common internet places of expression (participatory sites, forums, comments on blogs) today threatened by inadequate laws encouraging self-censorship (chilling effect).
More information
In our wiki you can find information on
Participating countries and events planned:
Overview and contacts
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Belgrade (Serbia)
Berlin (Germany)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Brussels (Belgium)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Dublin (Ireland)
Helsinki (Finland)
Lisbon (Portugal)
London (England)
Luxembourg (Luxemburg)
Madrid (Spain)
Manta (Ecuador)
Paris (France)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Rome (Italy)
San Francisco (USA)
Skopje (Macedonia)
Sofia (България, Bulgaria)
Stockholm (Sweden)
Tallin (Estonia)
The Hague (Netherlands)
Vienna (Austria)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Washington (United States)
Supporting organizations
Read the wiki...
Direct link to this page
http://www.freedom-not-fear.eu
==
October 11th: Global Day of Action against Data Retention
---------------------------------------------------------
Today, October 11th, marks a global day of action against Data Retention [1]. We wish to show our solidarity and support those who are being forced by the by the E.U. Directive 2006/24/EC to participate in pre-emptive surveillance of communications infrastructure. ISPs in Europe are being forced by this Directive to be involuntary agents of the police, to store your communications data. We wish to voice our dissent of this attack on privacy and demonstrate our strong support and solidarity for those who fight against this apalling turn of events.
The communication networks of the coming decades are being built now, and we have an important decision to make: will the infrastructure of the future be one that supports freedom or one that is designed to facilitate surveillance and control?
Currently, our communication systems are being redesigned in order to build a spectacularly efficient machine for maintaining total social control. This work is being done by the democratic governments of the world, and the UN, in the name of law enforcement. These governments have a problem: the internet and new communication technologies are undermining their capacity for lawful surveillance. Their solution to this problem has been to attempt total surveillance of all communication and to require that every internet server becomes a data gathering arm of the government.
The new technologies of packet switching, digitization, and encryption are fundamentally different from the communication technologies of the past. Where once it was expensive and difficult to gather surveillance data on a particular person, now one can gather detailed data on millions of people with the push of a button. At the same time, these new communication systems can also be designed to make surveillance almost impossible. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground: either we build systems that are secure or we build systems that are deeply flawed, easily abused, and lend themselves to social control.
The old compact with the democratic states is over: there is no longer an option of limited state surveillance. We must choose between greatly diminished state surveillance or the capacity of total state surveillance. This is simply the nature of the new communication technology.
We demand:
* Freedom of Expression: Everyone must be able to communicate anonymously and privately. Our computers must not become outsourced extensions of the state police. We must not be required to gather and archive the communication data of our users. We must not be required to allow back-door access to the government to listen in on anyone’s communication. * Freedom of Association: Everyone must be able to associate freely without the government tracking and monitoring the network of whom we associate with. We must be allowed to use communication tools that do not reveal the sender and recipient. The government must not be allowed, legally or technically, to build a map of how our social movements are organized.
Much of the new surveillance we can fight with the voluntary adoption of better protocols. Other aspects of the new surveillance we must fight through political organizing, in the courts, in the streets, and by active disobedience to the law.
The stakes in this struggle are too high. We must work now to keep open the ability of social movements to communicate privately and freely. If we do not, we have surrendered our ability to resist governments, corporations, and injustice for many years to come.
For more information about the global day of action, see Freedom Not Fear [1].