Media Releases

Strong encryption serves Australia's national interests and creates more robust systems

Posted on January 25, 2018 | in Media releases

Digital rights groups are urging the Australian government to protect and strengthen encryption in a detailed briefing submitted to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement inquiry.

U.S. FCC repeal of Net Neutrality will have global consequences

Posted on December 15, 2017 | in Media releases

Australian digital rights advocates today condemned the decision of the United States Federal Communications Commission to dismantle the agency’s 2015 Open Internet Order which required internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally.

Digital Rights Watch and Electronic Frontiers Australia urge the Australian Government to reinstate phone and internet access to asylum seekers

Posted on November 6, 2017 | in Media releases

Digital Rights Watch and Electronic Frontiers Australia urge the Australian Government to ensure that the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees being held in offshore detention camps on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru are respected.

Australia to face human rights scrutiny in week of UN Human Rights Council vote

Posted on October 16, 2017 | in Media releases

During the same week that Australia is expected to be granted a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, an expert UN Committee will grill the Australian Government over its own human rights record.

Comprehensive national face database incompatible with a free society

Posted on October 6, 2017 | in Media releases

Australia’s leading privacy and civil liberties organisations condemn the decision by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to provide all images from state and territory driver’s licence databases to the federal National Facial Biometric Matching Capability.

Attorney General George Brandis declared "Villain" by Access Now for comments undermining encryption

Posted on October 5, 2017 | in Media releases , News

Today, Access Now recognized Australian Attorney General George Brandis as a Villain among the annual Heroes and Villains Award recipients for his comments in opposition to strong digital security tools like encryption. As a leading official representing Australia in the notorious “Five Eyes” partnership, Attorney General Brandis has pushed publicly for requirements for companies to implement measures to allow law enforcement to bypass encryption protections for exceptional access to digital content. This type of access has been repeatedly demonstrated to undermine digital security globally, including and especially for the users in marginalized communities.