Civil Rights Groups and information technology firms have joined together in a campaign to improve data security over the next three years.
Human rights groups Access, Fight for the Future and the Electronic Frontier Foundation joined Twitter and eight other outfits to launch the Encrypt all the Things campaign this week with the Data Security Action Plan of 2014.
Encrypt all the Things has a catchy name and a compelling proposition. It wants to improve the security landscape and foster personal data protection in the technology industry. You should expect to see a mix of campaigning and events over the next three years. If you want in, you should refer to the Encrypt all the Things website.
“In the wake of the continued disclosures regarding government mass surveillance, the majority of the reform conversation has revolved around the need for increased transparency. However, many of these disclosures highlight the ease by which unauthorised actors can access large amounts of personal information without any judicial process or oversight,” said the Encrypt all the Things campaign.
“It’s time to expand the public discourse about how to properly secure data and defend privacy.”
The campaign comes at a time when we are exposed to repeated information about the amount of information that some companies are expected to share, and do indeed share, with national security and law enforcement authorities.
Access said that companies should “never collect more information than they require for business purposes, and should not provide information to governments outside of official legal channels”.
It said that the campaign hopes to prevent such data from being collected from private networks.
