Madrid/London, 19 December 2013 – Access Info Europe, over 110 civil society organisations across the world, together with individual leaders and thinkers including Aruna Roy and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, have expressed concern that secret mass surveillance and the persecution of whistleblowers contradict the ideals of “open government”.

The statement has been sent just as a White House Review Panel recommended that the US National Security Agency should be stripped of its power to collect telephone records in bulk.

The groups are calling on Open Government Partnership (OGP) member governments to include specific commitments in their OGP Action Plans to overhaul privacy laws, protect whistleblowers, and increase transparency on surveillance mechanisms as well as the export of surveillance technology.

The statement has been coordinated by the World Wide Web Foundation and Access Info Europe, and has been has been sent to the Steering Committee of the OGP. Signatories include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Aruna Roy, Oxfam International, the Global Network Initiative, and Privacy International.

OGP was launched in 2011 to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. The letter was initiated at the Open Government Partnership London Summit, attended by delegations from the 62 participating member countries, including the participation of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Last month, the UK and the USA, together with several other major democracies who back the OGP, received criticism over inadequate privacy protections in the World Wide Web Foundations annual Web Index report, which measures the World Wide Web’s contribution to development and human rights globally.

Commenting on the letter, Anne Jellema, the Chief Executive Officer of the World Wide Web Foundation, said:

“Laws to limit the state’s power to spy on its citizens are fundamental to democracy’s checks and balances. But these laws are outdated. With digital technologies making it trivially easy to collect and store billions of pieces of data on entire populations, and with public interest whistleblowers receiving little protection, the whole system of checks and balances on state power is being pushed dangerously close to breaking point. We are calling for an urgent public debate to review and strengthen the safeguards that will keep our societies open.”

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe, said “A truly open government does not spy on the public – that is for authoritarian regimes. We urgently need reinforced protection for the right to privacy and we need sufficient transparency about surveillance to be able to protect against illegal activity.”

For more information please contact

Helen Darbishire | Access Info Europe,
helen@access-info.org +34 913 656 558

Gabe Trodd | World Wide Web Foundation
gabe@webfoundation.org +44 7730 522 980

 

Notes

1) You can read a copy of the letter in English (pdf) here and in Spanish (pdf) here.
2) The recommendations in the World Wide Web Foundation’s annual Web Index report were: i) reverse the rising tide of online censorship and surveillance; ii) make broadband affordable and accessible to all; iii) guarantee that all women, men, girls and boys can access essential information; iv) and educate everyone on digital rights and skills. http://thewebindex.org/2013/11/Web-Index-Annual-Report-2013-FINAL.pdf
3) ‘Aruna Roy made US secretary of state John Kerry admit to NSA overreach’, the Times of India: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-02/india/43611182_1_aruna-roy-john-kerry-social-contract
4) ‘Technology firms seek government surveillance reform’, BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25297044
5) Established by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web Foundation (webfoundation.org) seeks to establish the open Web as a global public good and a basic right, creating a world where everyone, everywhere can use the Web to communicate, collaborate and innovate freely.

6)’Obama review panel: strip NSA of power to collect phone data records’ The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/nsa-bulk-collection-phone-date-obama-review-panel