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| | '''International Action Day “Freedom not Fear 2010 – Stop the Surveillance Mania!” on 11th September 2010''' | | '''International Action Day “Freedom not Fear 2010 – Stop the Surveillance Mania!” on 11th September 2010''' |
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| - | Call for the demonstration “Freedom not Fear” (“Freiheit statt Angst”) 2010 in Berlin
| + | A broad movement of civil liberty rights defenders is calling upon everyone to participate in actions directed against the ongoing spread of excessive surveillance measures on the part of businesses and governments. On Saturday, 11 September 2010, concerned citizens in several countries around the world will gather to protest under the motto “Freedom not Fear 2010 – Stop the Surveillance Mania!”. |
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| - | A broad movement of campaigners and organizations has joined the call to take to the streets for civil rights, privacy and a free Internet. The German “Freiheit statt Angst” rally will take place on Saturday, 11 September 2010, as part of the international “Freedom not Fear” action day.
| + | The surveillance mania is continuing to spread. Surveillance in the workplace, in particular, has been increasing. Employees are being watched and monitored in their work environment, sometimes even in their private lives. At the same time, governmental institutions do not miss an opportunity to register, monitor and control us. No matter what we do, to whom we talk to, or who we call, in what groups we are engaged in and what interests we follow – the “big brother” state and the “little brothers and sisters” in the business sector are always one step ahead and know better. The subsequent lack of privacy and confidentiality endangers our society. People, who permanently feel that they are being watched and monitored, are restrained from standing up for their rights and a just society in an unbiased and courageous manner. |
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| - | Things have been moving in the last months. The successful outcome of a mass Constitutional Complaint against telecommunications data retention in Germany has been an unmistakable signal for freedom. Tens of thousands have taken part in a subsequent complaint against ELENA, Germany’s new central database of employment and salaries data; this complaint was submitted on 31 March. But this is just the beginning, there is still very much to do.
| + | The supposed security gain, often put forward to justify measures of surveillance and control, is more than questionable: Accumulating information about citizens does not enhance our protection against crime, it only costs us billions every year. Thereby measures accounting for a more selective and sustainable strengthening of security are being ignored. This also applies to finding remedies for more pressing social problems, such as unemployment and unequal opportunity in our countries. Beyond that, the manifold agenda of security sector reform leads to an ongoing convergence of competencies and cooperation among the police, secret services and the military, threatening to water down the division and balance of power. As a result the constitutional ambits of surveillance are being abolished, leading our society to being increasingly walled off from the rest of the world. |
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| - | There are no international boundaries for data.
| + | Surveillance, as part of everyday life, affects all of us, not just minorities: It compromises our religious freedom, our freedom of expression and information, our right to a free press, the freedom of association and the integrity of companies. A high number of civil organizations and occupational groups are being exposed to measures of surveillance and control in an exceptional manner. Amongst others, these include the personnel of advisory services, medical practitioners, trade unionists, journalists and lawyers. |
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| - | That is why most of all, we must achieve changes internationally. The directive for data retention must now be overturned on the European level, to prevent the German data retention law from being “reformed” or reintroduced. We have just about been able to see off the German plans for Internet blocking. But European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has restarted that debate in the EU.
| + | The respect for our professional and personal privacy is an essential part of our human dignity. A free and open society cannot exist without implicit private spaces and free communication. Therefore we call upon everyone to join our protest against excessive surveillance and control on 11 September 2010 in cities around the world. |
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| - | Sensitive data are not only being collected on behalf of national governments, but for the European Union as well. The action plan within the so-called “Stockholm programme” includes massive extensions of European security architectures, tightening of the EU’s external borders, and alarming plans to combine European databases. Not only does this endanger the right to informational self-determination, human rights of migrants will be curtailed as well. We reject such a dubious security doctrine and strive for a Europe that is free and worth living in.
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| - | Civil rights continue to be eroded.
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| - | It is most of all the trend to amalgamate powers of police forces, secret services, and the military, as well as the “outsourcing” of sovereign powers to private companies, that cause further deterioration of citizen’s rights.
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| - | Surveillance is spreading.
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| - | At the workplace, in educational institutions, and in the private sphere, we are increasingly getting observed. We are being registered, monitored and checked by the state, too. Our control of our personal data is diminishing day by day. Whatever we do, with whom we speak, where we go, who our friends are, what we’re interested in – the “Big Brother” that is the state and its “little brothers and sisters” in the economy know it in more and more detail. This erosion of privacy is threatening our democratic society. People who feel constantly observed and monitored are unable to exercise their rights with confidence and courage.
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| - | We want a free and open society.
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| - | This can only exist if privacy, confidential communication and uncensored access to information is ensured. Privacy is an important part of human dignity, in all areas of life. That is why we are calling on everyone to take part in the mass rally in Berlin on 11 September 2010.
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| - | The German “Freiheit statt Angst 2010” rally will gather on Saturday, 11 September, at 1 p.m. at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. We are also calling on all people across the world to join the international “Freedom not Fear” action day.
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| | == '''We demand:''' == | | == '''We demand:''' == |
On 11 September 2010 we call for participation in an international action day against excessive surveillance. In European capital cities and elsewhere around the world we will protest against the blanket retention of our communications data and other instruments of surveillance.
Activities will take place in the following European capitals that are marked with "(x)".
(please add your activities):
| ISO
| Country
| Activity
| City
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Contacts
To get in touch with the organizers of the national events and find out more, please take a look at the 2010 International actions overview.
Press / Radio
National press contacts can be found here.
mikro.fm, radiotux.de and others will hopefully again providing a radio stream on the very day.
Call for Action
International Action Day “Freedom not Fear 2010 – Stop the Surveillance Mania!” on 11th September 2010
A broad movement of civil liberty rights defenders is calling upon everyone to participate in actions directed against the ongoing spread of excessive surveillance measures on the part of businesses and governments. On Saturday, 11 September 2010, concerned citizens in several countries around the world will gather to protest under the motto “Freedom not Fear 2010 – Stop the Surveillance Mania!”.
The surveillance mania is continuing to spread. Surveillance in the workplace, in particular, has been increasing. Employees are being watched and monitored in their work environment, sometimes even in their private lives. At the same time, governmental institutions do not miss an opportunity to register, monitor and control us. No matter what we do, to whom we talk to, or who we call, in what groups we are engaged in and what interests we follow – the “big brother” state and the “little brothers and sisters” in the business sector are always one step ahead and know better. The subsequent lack of privacy and confidentiality endangers our society. People, who permanently feel that they are being watched and monitored, are restrained from standing up for their rights and a just society in an unbiased and courageous manner.
The supposed security gain, often put forward to justify measures of surveillance and control, is more than questionable: Accumulating information about citizens does not enhance our protection against crime, it only costs us billions every year. Thereby measures accounting for a more selective and sustainable strengthening of security are being ignored. This also applies to finding remedies for more pressing social problems, such as unemployment and unequal opportunity in our countries. Beyond that, the manifold agenda of security sector reform leads to an ongoing convergence of competencies and cooperation among the police, secret services and the military, threatening to water down the division and balance of power. As a result the constitutional ambits of surveillance are being abolished, leading our society to being increasingly walled off from the rest of the world.
Surveillance, as part of everyday life, affects all of us, not just minorities: It compromises our religious freedom, our freedom of expression and information, our right to a free press, the freedom of association and the integrity of companies. A high number of civil organizations and occupational groups are being exposed to measures of surveillance and control in an exceptional manner. Amongst others, these include the personnel of advisory services, medical practitioners, trade unionists, journalists and lawyers.
The respect for our professional and personal privacy is an essential part of our human dignity. A free and open society cannot exist without implicit private spaces and free communication. Therefore we call upon everyone to join our protest against excessive surveillance and control on 11 September 2010 in cities around the world.
We demand:
1. Cutbacks on surveillance measures
- no blanket logging of our communication connections and locations (telecommunications data retention), on the national or European level
- abolish compulsory blanket collection of our biometric data
- no RFID passports
- protections against unnecessary data collection and surveillance at the workplace
- introduce effective personal data protection in employment law
- up-to-date data protection laws
- e-government projects must take into account the protection of citizens’ and employees’ data from the start (i.e. the planning phase)
- no school students identification number (or databases)
- data protection regulations for higher education and other education institutions that are clear and measure up to current challenges
- no centralized mass storage of employment data (ELENA)
- no systematic surveillance of financial transactions data or similar mass data analysis in the EU (SWIFT)
- no data sharing with the US and other states lacking effective protections of citizens’ fundamental rights
- no blanket registration of all air and sea travellers (PNR data)
- no automated registration of vehicle number plates and locations, no use of technologies based on this (such as Toll Collect, the German road toll system)
- decommission permanent CCTV camera surveillance and put it under stronger regulation, ban behaviour profiling technology
- no secret searches of private computer systems, neither online nor offline
- stop the introduction of an electronic health insurance card (elektronische Gesundheitskarte, eGK)
- abolish the blanket collection of genetic data
- transparency about the sharing of sensitive data by European police authorities
2. Evaluation of existing surveillance powers
We call for an independent review of all existing surveillance powers as to their effectiveness, proportionality, costs, harmful side-effects and alternative solutions. We particularly call on the European parliament to immediately re-evaluate existing and planned projects on interior security that restrict fundamental rights of the people in Europe.
3. Moratorium on new surveillance powers
Following the “arms race” in security measures over the past few years, we demand an immediate stop to new interior security laws that further restrict civil liberties.
4. Ensure freedom of expression, dialogue and information on the Internet
- safeguard net neutrality with binding laws
- keep the Internet free, unfiltered and uncensored, in Germany and across the world, without blocking lists or pre-publication controls, neither from state institutions nor Internet service providers
- no Internet disconnection policies (“three strikes”, “graduated response”)
- outlaw installation of filtering infrastructures on ISP networks
- content deletion must require an order by an independent and impartial judge, the right to legal recourse must be ensured
- establish a digital Human Rights Charter for the 21st century, with global protections of digital civil rights
- create an unrestricted right to quote multimedia content, as this is indispensable for public debate in today’s democracies
- protect platforms for free expression on the Internet, such as participatory sites, forums, blogs with comments – these are currently threatened by inadequate laws that nurture self-censorship (chilling effect)
Archive: Freedom not Fear 2009
Archive: Freedom not Fear 2008
Information on last year's action day:
