Sample letter for the presentation and request for support
Aus Freiheit statt Angst!
This sample letter can easily be used in an e-mail client without HTML formatting per copy and paste.
Text-Only-Version with index
[Salutation]
I want to thank you once again for the pleasant call of [date] and, as already discussed, give you information about us and our work. At the same time I want to ask you for your co-operation and support.
[Alternative:]
As discussed on [date] with [person 1], I want to give you information about us and our work and ask for your co-operation and support.
Content:
- Who are we?
- What do we do?
- Where do we need co-operation and support?
- Contact data
Who are we?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung (http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/) is a nationwide association of civil rights activists, data protection specialists and internet users which coordinates the work against the planned telecommunications data retention.
We believe devoutly that the primacy of liberty must count in an enlightened democracy. Thus, we stand up for a better balance between privacy and self-determination on the one hand and the controlling rights of the national security agencies on the other hand.
An EU guideline (2006/24/EG) envisions the introduction of a data retention of all telecommunications connection data of all EU citizens. The data about who communicated how long with whom is thus to be stored ahead without any precise suspicion (with the mobile telephone system including the location data!).
This data retention would result in sensitive information on people’s social relations among each other (inclusive of their business relations), on their everyday movements and on their life situation being stored, e.g. also contacts with pastors, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, helplines, human rights organisations, journalists. The data retention would undermine legal, medical and other professional confidentiality, promote industrial espionage and undermine the informant protection of the press.
In future, a confidential, private electronic communication won’t be possible anymore. The participation in social and political debates will be endangered when all manifestations of life and contacts can be controlled.
What do we do?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung is active in various areas on which it is also appreciates any kind of support:
1. Common declaration against the telecommunications data retention
On the web site http://erklaerung.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de you will find a declaration against the telecommunications data retention which is to be signed by as many famous associations and organisations of the civil society as possible. In the meantime, many organisations have already done it. We would like to ask you sincerely to participate, too! At the same time we would be grateful if you gave your own members and respectively your own clientele an understanding of the topic per press release or circular.
2. Organisation of protest
We are organising nationwide in location groups to arrange local and nationwide protest actions (peaceful and often and willingly with artistic means). You will find examples here: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/102/79/ http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/100/79/ We would be pleased about your participation.
3. Organisation of educational and information events
Within the framework of our campaign “Freiheitsredner”, we offer schools, universities and societies free and objective lectures about basic rights and civil liberties, security, crime and supervision. http://www.freiheitsredner.de. We organise panel discussions and meetings, but also lectures at schools, universities and other educational institutions. We are at any time open to co-operations and participations in this area and we are willingly at your disposal as talk partners and experts. We would be grateful about cost sharing and respectively about fees because in turn other activities can be financed through them.
4. Pressure group work
We are trying to observe any possibility to sensitise decision makers from the business world, society and politics. Should you dispose of contacts which could be useful in this sector, we would be grateful to receive references.
5. Networking with other actors of the civil society, »development of a common strategy on an EU level«
We are turning our special attention to the co-operation and networking with German and increasingly with European actors of the civil society, particularly with educational institutions, civil liberty and human rights groups.
For these purposes, we are planning an international encounter in the near future (August/September) to deliberate jointly on strategies and possibilities to protest and to discuss possibilities about how the topic can be made clear to the broader European public as a threat to democracy and rights.
Paris, Berlin, Vienna or Bucharest (as a country with a totalitarian past especially sensitised) are currently up for discussion as places for the encounter. Should you dispose of European contacts which you could win for this purpose or see possibilities for a material support of such a networking encounter we would be pleased to receive your offers.
6. Constitutional complaint, legal expertise
In case of the Federal Diet deciding on the telecommunications data retention, we have prepared a constitutional complaint in which every German citizen can participate with a signature. We feel confident that a record of the whole population’s telecommunication without any reason is incompatible with our basic and human rights and will not endure before the courts.
Where do we need co-operation and support?
We basically request you to help, co-operate with and support us in all mentioned issues. As the co-ordination of all activities and the pressure group work are currently gobbling up more and more time and resources, we kindly ask you to promote our project or to make other means available to us.
However, the project »development of a common strategy on an EU level« urgently needs promotion, too, to enable the various actors of the European civil society to participate.
Should you have any further questions you can reach me at any time per e-mail or by telephone under [contact data]
Yours sincerely,
[signature]
Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung
Print version
Who are we?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung (http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/) is a nationwide association of civil rights activists, data protection specialists and internet users which coordinates the work against the planned telecommunications data retention. We believe devoutly that the primacy of liberty must count in an enlightened democracy. Thus, we stand up for a better balance between privacy and self-determination on the one hand and the controlling rights of the national security agencies on the other hand. An EU guideline (2006/24/EG) envisions the introduction of a data retention of all telecommunications connection data of all EU citizens. The data about who communicated how long with whom is thus to be stored ahead without any precise suspicion (with the mobile telephone system including the location data!). This data retention would result in sensitive information on people’s social relations among each other (inclusive of their business relations), on their everyday movements and on their life situation being stored, e.g. also contacts with pastors, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, helplines, human rights organisations, journalists. The data retention would undermine legal, medical and other professional confidentiality, promote industrial espionage and undermine the informant protection of the press. In future, a confidential, private electronic communication won’t be possible anymore. The participation in social and political debates will be endangered when all manifestations of life and contacts can be controlled. [Edit]
What do we do?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung is active in various areas on which it is also appreciates any kind of support:
1. Common declaration against the telecommunications data retention
On the web site http://erklaerung.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de you will find a declaration against the telecommunications data retention which is to be signed by as many famous associations and organisations of the civil society as possible. In the meantime, many organisations have already done it. We would like to ask you sincerely to participate, too! At the same time we would be grateful if you gave your own members and respectively your own clientele an understanding of the topic per press release or circular.
2. Organisation of protest
We are organising nationwide in location groups to arrange local and nationwide protest actions (peaceful and often and willingly with artistic means). You will find examples here: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/102/79/ http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/100/79/ We would be pleased about your participation.
3. Organisation of educational and information events
Within the framework of our campaign “Freiheitsredner”, we offer schools, universities and societies free and objective lectures about basic rights and civil liberties, security, crime and supervision. http://www.freiheitsredner.de. We organise panel discussions and meetings, but also lectures at schools, universities and other educational institutions. We are at any time open to co-operations and participations in this area and we are willingly at your disposal as talk partners and experts. We would be grateful about cost sharing and respectively about fees because in turn other activities can be financed through them.
4. Pressure group work
We are trying to observe any possibility to sensitise decision makers from the business world, society and politics. Should you dispose of contacts which could be useful in this sector, we would be grateful to receive references.
5. Networking with other actors of the civil society, development of a common strategy on an EU level
We are turning our special attention to the co-operation and networking with German and increasingly with European actors of the civil society, particularly with educational institutions, civil liberty and human rights groups. For these purposes, we are planning an international encounter in the near future (August/September) to deliberate jointly on strategies and possibilities to protest and to discuss possibilities about how the topic can be made clear to the broader European public as a threat to democracy and rights. Paris, Berlin, Vienna or Bucharest (as a country with a totalitarian past especially sensitised) are currently up for discussion as places for the encounter. Should you dispose of European contacts which you could win for this purpose or see possibilities for a material support of such a networking encounter we would be pleased to receive your offers.
6. Constitutional complaint, legal expertise
In case of the Federal Diet deciding on the telecommunications data retention, we have prepared a constitutional complaint in which every German citizen can participate with a signature. We feel confident that a record of the whole population’s telecommunication without any reason is incompatible with our basic and human rights and will not endure before the courts.
Where do we need co-operation and support?
We basically request you to help, co-operate with and support us in all mentioned issues. As the co-ordination of all activities and the pressure group work are currently gobbling up more and more time and resources, we kindly ask you to promote our project or to make other means available to us. However, the project »development of a common strategy on an EU level« urgently needs promotion, too, to enable the various actors of the European civil society to participate. Should you have any further questions, you can reach us at any time per e-mail or by telephone. Contact person: Ricardo Cristof Remmert-Fontes Tel.: 0170-2487266 E-mail: Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung http://www.stoppt-die-vorratsdatenspeicherung.de
Modified letter, for example for contact with the press
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is (write frist and last name here), I live in (city/town) and am working voluntarily in the Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung. It is my task in the location group (write name of the location group here) to advise the citizens of the data retention and to supply them with information. This is normally carried out through flyers, stickers, posters and information mails. Unfortunately, the explosive topic of the “data retention” is rarely to be seen in the media.
I want to give you information about us and our work. At the same time I want to ask you for your co-operation and support.
Who are we?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung (http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/) is a nationwide association of civil rights activists, data protection specialists and internet users which coordinates the work against the planned telecommunications data retention.
We believe devoutly that the primacy of liberty must count in an enlightened democracy. Thus, we stand up for a better balance between privacy and self-determination on the one hand and the controlling rights of the national security agencies on the other hand.
An EU guideline (2006/24/EG) envisions the introduction of a data retention of all telecommunications connection data of all EU citizens. The data about who communicated how long with whom is thus to be stored ahead without any precise suspicion (with the mobile telephone system including the location data!).
This data retention would result in sensitive information on people’s social relations among each other (inclusive of their business relations), on their everyday movements and on their life situation being stored, e.g. also contacts with pastors, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, helplines, human rights organisations, journalists. The data retention would undermine legal, medical and other professional confidentiality, promote industrial espionage and undermine the informant protection of the press.
In future, a confidential, private electronic communication won’t be possible anymore. The participation in social and political debates will be endangered when all manifestations of life and contacts can be controlled.
What do we do?
The Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung is active in various areas on which it is also appreciates any kind of support:
1. Common declaration against the telecommunications data retention
On the web site http://erklaerung.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de you will find a declaration against the telecommunications data retention which is to be signed by as many famous associations and organisations of the civil society as possible. In the meantime, many organisations have already done it. We would like to ask you sincerely to participate, too! At the same time we would be grateful if you gave your own members and respectively your own clientele an understanding of the topic per press release or circular.
2. Organisation of protest
We are organising nationwide in location groups to arrange local and nationwide protest actions (peaceful and often and willingly with artistic means). You will find examples here: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/102/79/ http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/100/79/
We would be pleased about your participation in terms of reporting in the Harburger Anzeigen und Nachrichten about the Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung. For this, we would like to enter you into our distribution list. We need your letter of agreement on this entry.
3. Organisation of educational and information events
Within the framework of our campaign “Freiheitsredner”, we offer schools, universities and societies free and objective lectures about basic rights and civil liberties, security, crime and supervision. http://www.freiheitsredner.de. We organise panel discussions and meetings, but also lectures at schools, universities and other educational institutions. We are at any time open to co-operations and participations in this area and we are willingly at your disposal as talk partners and experts. We would be grateful about cost sharing and respectively about fees because in turn other activities can be financed through them.
4. Pressure group work
We are trying to observe any possibility to sensitise decision makers from the business world, society and politics. Should you dispose of contacts which could be useful in this sector, we would be grateful to receive references.
5. Networking with other actors of the civil society, »development of a common strategy on an EU level«
We are turning our special attention to the co-operation and networking with German and increasingly with European actors of the civil society, particularly with educational institutions, civil liberty and human rights groups.
For these purposes, we are planning an international encounter in the near future (August/September) to deliberate jointly on strategies and possibilities to protest and to discuss possibilities about how the topic can be made clear to the broader European public as a threat to democracy and rights. Paris, Berlin, Vienna or Bucharest (as a country with a totalitarian past especially sensitised) are currently up for discussion as places for the encounter. Should you dispose of European contacts which you could win for this purpose or see possibilities for a material support of such a networking encounter we would be pleased to receive your offers.
6. Constitutional complaint, legal expertise
In case of the Federal Diet deciding on the telecommunications data retention, we have prepared a constitutional complaint in which every German citizen can participate with a signature. We feel confident that a record of the whole population’s telecommunication without any reason is incompatible with our basic and human rights and will not endure before the courts.
Where do we need co-operation and support?
We basically request you to help, co-operate with and support us in all mentioned issues. That is the reason why we are sending you this enquiry.
However, the project »development of a common strategy on an EU level« urgently needs promotion, too, to enable the various actors of the European civil society to participate.
Should you have any further questions, you can reach me at any time per e-mail mailto: contact mail or Tel:040- telephone number Fax :040 fax number (if available )
Yours sincerely, First name, last name
Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung location group (name of the location group) Comment: It pays well when you send a thank-you letter to the editors after the appearance of articles in the press. From "http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Musterschreiben_zur_Darstellung_und_Bitte_um_Unterst%C3%BCtzung"
