PARTICIPATE NOW
European Commission: Online forum on data collection for profiling and targeting
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| » | 1st Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Media and New Communication Services | | The
ministers of states participating in the 1st Council of Europe
Conference of Ministers responsible for Media and New Communication
Services, make the following political declaration, Resolution &
Action Plan : 1. Towards a new notion of media; 2.
Resolution Internet Governance and Critical Internet Resources;
3. Resolution on Developments in anti-terrorism legislation in
Council of Europe member states
and their impact on freedom of expression and information. Available in English and French. | | » | European Consultation on Fair online data collection, targeting and profiling | | The
European Commission is currently assessing in how far consumers suffer
detriment from current and future online marketing practices.
Therefore, the European Commission's Director General for Health and
Consumers announced an online forum to foster the debate on
"Online Data Collection, Targeting and Profiling of Consumers". Participate now | | » | Right to Access to Information in the Americas Move Forward, June 5, 2009 | | The
Carter Center in collaboration with the Organization of American
States, the Andean Commission of Jurists and the Knight Center for
Journalism in the Americas, held a meeting in Lima, Peru from April
28-30, 2009 to find potential solutions to advance the right of access
to information in the Americas.
More than 115 participants from
18 countries in the Americas, representing governments, civil society
organizations, international and regional bodies and financial
institutions, donor agencies and foundations, the private sector, media
outlets and scholars released the Americas Regional Finding and Plan of
Action. The publication provides a blueprint for the regional and
international community, states and non-state actors to establish,
develop, and nurture the right of access to information in the Americas
region. Read more | | » | Sucessful Outcome on The Revision of the E-Privacy Directive: Safeguarding the Rights of EU Citizens. | | The
European Parliament adopted with a large majority The Harbour Report
amendments on the revision of the e-Privacy Directive, favoring the
proposal
of the mandatory notification of breaches affecting personal data, on
user consent for the storing of cookies, and on the protection of
IP addresses as personal data. Read the full Press Release here | | » | TACD Resolution on Social Networks, May 5, 2009 | | In May 2009, the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) issued
a Resolution on Social networking providing a series of recommendations
for EU and US governments and Social network operators. The TACD is a
forum of US and EU consumer organisations which develops and agrees on
joint consumer policy recommendations to the US government and the
European Union to promote the consumer interest in EU and US policy
making. | | » | Americas Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information, May 2, 2009 | | On
May 28-30, 2009, the Carter Center in collaboration with Organization
of American States, Comisión Andina de Juristas, and the Knight
Center for Journalism in the Americas, organized the Americas Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information.
The first day of the conference addressed the regional experience over
the past 10 years and the state of the right to information in the
Americas, including standards and country case studies. The second day
the participants strategically were placed into five groups to explore
the challenges to the passage and implementation of the freedom of
information law, constraints, and next generation issues, as well as
engage the issue of impact--topics that without consideration could
undermine past advances or retard future gains in the right to
information. The five groups were:
1. Politics and Economy: shifting the balance toward openness
2. Structural Context and Technology: creating an environment for transparency
3. Non-State and Multi-lateral Actors: examining roles and responsibilities
4. Regional Norm-building: considering regional instruments and standards
5. Demand: identifying the deficits and increasing the pool of users
All materials of the event will be placed online. | | » | Vote on Facebook's revised Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
| | In
February, Facebook announced that it was opening its site governance to
users voting after the new Terms of Service were widely criticized.
Facebook restored the old terms and sought user feedback on the new
Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
These governing documents have now been updated to reflect feedback
from users and experts. On the Privacy front, in the revised documents
Facebook make clear that users own all of the content and personal
information you post on Facebook; Established new procedures for user
comment on future changes to Term of Services; add better safeguards
user´s personal data when transferred to application developers.
However, there is still not enough information about what Facebook does
with user information (but this was true with the actual Terms of
Services). The voting to adopt the new terms or to maintain the
previous terms is now open till April 23, 11:59 a.m. PDT. Your
involvement is crucial. Vote here. | | » | Tell Facebook to Protect User Privacy! | | Facebook
recently announced a new way to develop Facebook's governing structure.
User can submit feedback on two proposed documents. The first is
the Facebook Principles, which reflect the philosophy and values we
aspire to, and the second is the Statement of Rights and
Responsibilities, which will govern Facebook's relationships with users
and others who interact with us and replace the existing Terms of Use.
The
comment period will close at 12:01 a.m. PST on March 29. You can find the Facebook Principles and
the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities here. | | » | Internet Governance Forum 2009: Call for Workshop Proposals | | The
Internet Governance Forum Secretariat posted a call for Workshop
Proposals for the next annual IGF Meeting to be held from 15-18
November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The template for workshops proposals are available online. | | » | 2009 FTC Workshop: Securing Personal Data in the Global Economy | | The
Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with APEC and the OECD, hosted
a two-day international conference: “Securing Personal Data in
the Global Economy.” Transcripts are available online. | | » | Documents adopted by the Data Protection Working Party 2009 | | The Data Protection Working Party recently approved the following documents:
- Opinion
3/2009 on the Draft Commission Decision on standard contractual clauses
for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third
countries, under Directive 95/46/EC (data controller to data processor)
- Working Document 1/2009 on pre-trial discovery for cross border civil litigation.
- Opinion 1/2009 on the proposals amending Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications (e-Privacy Directive)
- Working Document 1/2009 on pre-trial discovery for cross border civil litigation
The documents are now available online.
| | » | Preparing the Internet Governance Forum Review process | | An open consultations
open to all stakeholders were held in Geneva on 23-24 February 2009 to discuss the 2009 Internet Governance Forum.
The transcript of the session of the Open Consultations are now available
online. A revised version of the synthesis paper summarizing the
contributions and questionnaire answers submitted by stakeholders is
also available online. A
Multistakeholder Advisory Group Meeting was held after the
consultations on 25-26 February 2009. A summary report of the meeting
is available here. | | » | ICANN Meeting in Mexico City, March 1-6, 2009 | | The upcoming ICANN meeting will be held in Mexico City on 1-6 March. The agenda is now published online. | | » | Internet Users At Large Summit - February 28, 2009 | | On February 28, 2009, the At Large (Internet Users) Summit will be held in Mexico City. The program will be published online at the ICANN´s Mexican Conference website. | | » | Civil Society Launches Campaign for Privacy Convention on January 28, 2009 | | On the ocassion of the International Privacy Day, The Public Voice is urging support for the
Council of Europe Privacy Convention. At present, forty-one countries
have ratified the Convention. The coalition is pushing for ratification
in the countries that have not adopted the convention. According to one source, the "Convention has withstood the test
of time by being adaptive and fairly rigorous. Today the principles of
this agreement are being examined for their applicability to the
collection and processing of biometric data." | | » | International Privacy Day - January 28, 2009 | |
On
January 28, 2009 many countries in Europe will be celebrating
International Privacy Day. The Council of Europe, with the support of
the European Commission, created this important day three years ago.
The Day featured events across Europe, including meetings and
educational programs. The day was also aimed at making citizens
“aware of the risks inherent and associated with the illegal
mishandling and unfair processing of their personal
data”. Due
to its significance, governments from the United States and Canada, as
well as private sector organizations from different countries, have
joined this effort.
We would like to propose to the privacy,
civil liberties, not for profit and consumer community as well as all
Internet users from Latin America, Asia, Australia, North America and
Europe to join together to promote January 28 - International Privacy
Day - as an important date, and to focus the debate on “real
problems” and “real solutions”.
The reality is
that there is very little what consumers can do today to protect their
personal information and, if we are to develop meaningful solutions
that address the real problems associated with the collection and use
of personal information, the focus must necessarily be on those
organization - industry and governments - in control of the data
concerning our private lives. The key point is to motivate people to
action - not just checking their privacy settings, shredding old bank
statements or installing a browser extension, but to raise awareness of
why meaningful regulation of privacy and enforcement of *privacy
rights* are key for the protection of our ability to control our own
personal information.
Each of us also needs to raise awareness
through our own channels of communications. We would like to hear your
opinions and we hope each of you will TAKE ACTION and raise awareness
about International Privacy Day.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 12
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html#a12
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. Signed on January 28, 1981
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/108.htm
OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data
http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,3343,en_2649_34255_1815186_1_1_1_1,00.html
| | » | Día Internacional de la Privacidad - 28 de Enero, 2009
| | El
28 de Enero del 2009, muchos países de Europa van a celebrar el
día International de la protección de datos personales.
El Consejo de Europa, con el apoyo de la Comisión Europea
crearon esta importante fecha hace tres años. En este día
se realizaran varios eventos, en varias ciudades, incluyendo reuniones
presenciales y programas educativos. El día también fue
creado para concientizar a los ciudadanos "de los riesgos inherentes y
asociados con el manejo ilegal de nuestros datos personales".
Debido
a su importancia, distintas entidades en Estados Unidos y
Canadá, así como las organizaciones del sector privado de
diferentes países se han sumado a este esfuerzo. Nos
gustaría proponer a las distintas comunidades que trabajan en
temas de privacidad/habeasdata/protección de datos, ONG,
asociación de consumidores así como todos los usuarios de
Internet de América Latina, Asia, Australia, América del
Norte y Europa trabajemos juntos para promover el 28 de enero -
Día Internacional de la Privacidad- como una fecha importante, y
para centrar el debate sobre "problemas reales" y "soluciones reales".
La
realidad es que los usuarios de Internet pueden hacer muy poco para
proteger su información personal y, si hemos de desarrollar
soluciones significativas que aborden los problemas reales asociados a
la recolección y uso de nuestra información personal, el
enfoque debe ser necesariamente en aquellas organizaciones - la
industria y los gobiernos - que colectan nuestros datos personales. El
punto clave es motivar a la gente a la acción - no sólo
es configurar nuestras opciones de privacidad, ni destrozar los estados
de cuenta bancarios ni instalar una extensión en nuestro
navegador, sino concientizar al usuario final de por qué es
necesaria una ley de protección de datos personales y más
aún, la observancia de nuestro derecho a la privacidad para que
podamos tener capacidad de controlar nuestra propia información
personal y que aquellos que controlan nuestros datos personales no
venda, transfieran o usen nuestros datos sin nuestro consentimiento
informado ni mucho menos para propósitos que totalmente
desconocemos.
Nuestro objectivo es llegar a los miembros de la
blogósfera para unir esfuerzos y que cada miembro de la Red
difunda el día entre sus propios espacios, redes y amigos. El
slogan que hemos propuestos es "Privacidad: Problemas Reales,
Soluciones Reales".
ARTÍCULO 12, DECLARACIÓN UNIVERSAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html#a12
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. Signed on January 28, 1981
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/108.htm
OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data
http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,3343,en_2649_34255_1815186_1_1_1_1,00.html | | » | India Hosts Third Internet Governance Forum - January 2, 2009 | | The Internet Governance Forum
(IGF) is a multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue on issues of
Internet governance. The establishment of the IGF was formally
announced by the United Nations Secretary General in July 2006 and
since then three annual forums have been organized.
With
the slogan "Internet for all", the third annual meeting of the IGF took
place in Hyderabad, India on December 3-6, 2008. The third IGF, which
was held in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, brought
together governments, the private sector, civil society, and the
academic and technical communities to debate Internet governance and
related public policy issues, exchange information, as well as share
good practices. In all, close to 1,300 participants from 94 countries
attended the meeting, which was webcast with video and audio streaming.
The proceedings of the main sessions were transcribed and displayed in
the main session hall in real time and streamed to the Web. Remote hubs held parallel meetings in Argentina, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Columbia, Serbia and Spain.
The
international meeting focused on 5 main sessions which were organized
in 3 thematic days under the following headings: "Reaching the Next
Billion", "Promoting Cyber-Security and Trust", "Managing Critical
Internet Resources". The last day covered "Emerging Issues - the
Internet of Tomorrow" and "Taking Stock and the Way Forward". Parallel
to the main sessions, 87 self-organized workshops were held, including
meetings of the IGF dynamic coalitions, best practices and open forums. Click here for a full report of The Public Voice Project at the Third Internet Governance Forum | | » | OECD Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) - November 7, 2008 | | At
the OECD Ministerial Conference on the Future of the Internet Economy,
the OECD Secretary General expressed support for an effort to formalize
the participation of civil society in the work of the OECD concerning
the future of the Internet. This recommendation follows almost two
decades of civil society participation at the OECD and specific
proposals civil society contributed to the 1998 OECD Ministerial
Conference and to the Civil Society Declaration at the 2008
Ministerial Conference.
After a period of public discussion on the Public Voice mailing list, members of the Coalition sent the
civil society participants' consensus proposal for the establishment of
the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Committee (CSISAC)
to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on
November 07, 2008. This document will be submitted to the
Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy
(ICCP) for approval at its meeting on December 11-12, 2008.
If
you would like to join The Public Voice mailing list, or join The
Public Voice Wiki project, please send an email to thepublicvoice AT
datos-personales DOT org. | | » | OECD updates broadband portal - October 24, 2008 | | The
OECD broadband portal provides access to a range of broadband-related
statistics gathered by the OECD. The statistics has been updated until
June 2008. The data and charts are available at the OECD website.
| | » | 3rd Annual GigaNet Symposium - Hyderabad (India), - November 6, 2008 | | The
3rd Annual GigaNet Symposium will be held in Hyderabad (India)
on December 2, 2008, the day prior to the UN Internet Governance
Forum and in
the same premises. The Symposium Agenda and Registration Form are now
available online. Attendance at the Symposium is free and open to all
interested parties, but registration is required. More | | » | Civil Society Participation at the OECD - October 10, 2008 | | The next Public Voice conference call will take place on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 12-1 pm Eastern Time. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/
The focus of the discussion will be the charter for the Information Society Advisory Committee.
If you need assistance with the wiki, please send an email to Katitza
(at) datos-personales (dot) org. For those who are joining our list for
the first time, the Public Voice's monthly civil society calls provide
the opportunity for civil society to discuss international activities
concerning a wide range of Internet policy matters. As a reminder,
several folks are having good success with Skype. We have included
details on the Public Voice page if you would like to try Skype.
PUBLIC VOICE TELECONFERENCE:
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008
Preliminary Agenda:
- OECD project on counterfeiting and piracy. Copyright Enforcement and ACTA
- OECD Cross Border Privacy Enforcement
- OECD Civil Society Proposal: "Information Society Advisory Committee
RSVP
and Additions to the Agenda: If you'll be joining the call, please
email to the publicvoice AT datos-personales DOT org. Additions to the agenda are welcome.
| | » | ACTION: Support Freedom not Fear - International Action Day - October 11, 2008 | | On October 11, 2008 a
broad movement of campaigners and organizations including the German
Work Group on Data Retention ("Arbeitskreis
Vorratsdatenspeicherung")
is calling on everybody
to join action against excessive surveillance by governments and
businesses. In recognition of October 11, Freedom not Fear Day,
many organizations in the United States including the Electronic
Privacy Information Center, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, IP
Justice, among others set out several recommendations. Individual organizations could send their endorsement to the following email: thepublicvoice (AT) datos-personales (DOT) org. More information | | » | Privacy at the Internet Governance Forum Consultation September 2008 | | On
September 16, 2008, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held its open
consultation at Geneva in preparation for the third forum that will be
held in Hyderabad, India from December 3-6, 2008. Comments on
the Substantive Program Agenda was one of the main topics of
discussion. In the 2007 IGF meeting, privacy was subsumed under the
main session of "security" and other controversial topics including
human rights were avoided. This year, the right of privacy will be
discussed under the main title "Promoting cyber-security and trust."
Civil Society Participants objected to the title and said that some
governments use the focus on security fear to diminish the right to
privacy. Instead, civil society participants argued for discussions
about the opportunities that the Internet offers to enrich fundamental
rights and freedoms. At the Latin America Regional Consultation of the
Internet Governance Forum in August, 2008, civil society participants
pointed out that the right to privacy and data protection should be a
main topic in the Internet Governance debate. The
IGF was formed to support the United Nations Secretary-General in
carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information
Society with regard to convening a new multi-stakeholder policy
dialogue forum. According to Paragraph 72 of the World Summit of the
Information Society Tunis Agenda, the IGF's mandate sought to discuss
public policy issues related to key elements of Internet
governancein order to foster the sustainability, robustness,
security, stability and development of the Internet. More
information | | » | Telecoms package: Privacy Implications September 2008 | | On
September 24, 2008, the European Parliament voted (in first reading) in
favor of reforms of telecommunications laws, including amendments to
the European Union Directive for Privacy in Electronic Communications.
Those amendments makes clear that "Data protection rules must cover
private and not just public networks, so data stored on social
networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace will be covered by the
rules." It also includes the obligation of the companies operating on
the Internet to notify the public about security breaches. "A security
violation such as the theft of a client list must be notified to the
regulator by the operator. Users must be warned of any infringement of
their personal data if the case is serious enough to warrant it, and
the perpetrator could be prosecuted by the Member State." Other
provisions address topics such as spam, cookies, viruses, trojans and
spyware. More
information | | » | Reveal The Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA) August 2008 | | The
governments of Australia, Canada, the European Commission, Japan,
Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Korea,
and United
States are negotiating a new intellectual property enforcement treaty
called the "Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agrement (ACTA)". A coalition of organizations from all over the
world are urging the negotiators
of ACTA to publish
immediately
the
draft text of the agreement as well as pre-draft discussion papers before
continuing further discussions over the treaty. Based on news
reports from various business associations, civil society is
concerned that the pre-draft text "require Internet Service Providers to
monitor all consumers' Internet communications, to terminate their
customers' Internet connections based on rights holders' repeat
allegation of copyright infringement, and to divulge the identity of
alleged copyright infringers possibly without judicial process,
threatening Internet users' due process and privacy rights; and
potentially make ISPs liable for their end users' alleged infringing
activity; interfere with fair use of copyrighted materials" among
others provisions. The OECD
Civil Society Seoul Declaration,
signed by more than 87 organizations and 100 individuals, pointed out
that Civil Society is also concerned about the secrecy of ACTA and the
possibility of policies that may limit legitimate business activity,
the participative web, and e-government service delivery.
For
more on ACTA, see:
| | » | Data Retention on the Internet:
Challenges for small, alternative and citizen-based Internet Service
Providers August 2008 | | On
Friday 19 September, the Center for Media and Communication Studies
(CMCS) at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, in
collaboration with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
and European Digital Rights (EDRI), will bring together scholars,
lawyers, policy experts, communication rights advocates, media
professionals and ICT activists from all over Europe to analyze the new
regulation and to develop strategies for maintaining and enhancing
privacy and free communication.
The workshop "Data
Retention on the Internet: Challenges for small, alternative and
citizen-based Internet Service Providers"
will focus on the implications for non-commercial and civil
society-based ISPs, for whom data retention requirements pose
existential problems. They would be forced to compromise on their most
fundamental objective - protecting their users' privacy from state and
corporate data gathering - and become an integral part of surveillance
operations. The workshop will be the first to bring together members of
non-commercial ISPs from different countries and backgrounds to learn
about the new policy environment and discuss their concerns.
The
meeting comes at a time when most EU member states are finalizing the
implementation of the EU Directive, but also resistance is spreading.
In several states civil rights groups have launched legal complaints
and law suits, demonstrations have taken place and coordinated protest
actions are planned for 11 October all over Europe. The Budapest
workshop will serve to discuss the prospects of legal challenges with
protagonists of lawsuits in different countries, to review campaigns
against surveillance and to explore the technological options of
safeguarding privacy and anonymity. More
information | | » | ACTION ITEM: Signon - Civil
Society Seoul Declaration August 2008 | | A
diverse group of civil society organizations and individuals from the
Public Voice Coalition worked on a joint Civil Society Declaration to
the
OECD 2008 Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy,
which took place in Seoul on
June 2008. This document raises a number
of issues of major importance to the civil society community and makes
a number of recommendations to move us towards the future of the
Internet that meets the essential needs of all the world's citizens. We
urge all Internet users and potential Internet users to support the
Civil Society Seoul Declaration as this document will be submitted as a
"room document" in the next OECD Committee for Information, Computer
and Communications Policy (ICCP) meeting on 11-12 December 2008. We
would like to keep pushing for the implementation of the Civil Society
Seoul Declaration within the OECD ICCP work.
The
declaration is
open for sign on by civil society organizations and individuals until
October 10, 2008 (Human Rights Day). The declaration
has been
signed by (so far) 86
organizations and 99 individuals. Read
more. | | » | ICANN: Privacy enhancing
registration of WHOIS Services August 2008 | | On
June 18, 2008, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) published draft proposed changes to the Registrar Accreditation
Agreement (RAA) in order to endorse privacy and data protection
enhancing registration services. This amendment helps protect the
personal data of the TLD registrants that is stored in the WHOIS
Database. The ICANN Board of Directors passed a resolution in San
Juan to solicit community input related to RAA amendments and open the
call for public comment until August 4, 2008. On August 1,
the US
Department of Commerce criticized the proposed language arguing that
ICANN should study the legitimate uses of WHOIS data and that those
changes are contrary of what was suggested by the Government Advisory
Committee (GAC).
The WHOIS database, originally
intended to
allow network administrators to find and fix problems with minimal
hassle to maintain the stability of the Internet, now exposes domain
name registrants' personal data to spammers, stalkers, criminal
investigators, and copyright enforcers. Proxy and privacy services
could help protect individuals from the indiscriminate use of their
personal information available openly in the WHOIS online database. More
information
Draft Proposed Changes to
Registrar Accreditation Agreement:
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-18jun08-en.htm
US
Department of Commerce Comments on the Draft proposed Changes to RAA:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/raa-consultation/pdfGM3wWulYzz.pdf | | » | International Action Day: Freedom
not Fear August 2008 | | A
broad movement of campaigners and organizations including the German
Work Group on Data Retention ("Arbeitskreis
Vorratsdatenspeicherung"), the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is calling on everybody
to join action against excessive surveillance by governments and
businesses. On 11 October 2008, concerned people in many
countries will
take to the streets, the motto being "Freedom not fear 2008". Peaceful
and creative action, from protest marches to parties, will take place
in many capital cities. More
information. | | » | President Carter disseminates
Atlanta Declaration. August 2008 | | In
July, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter forwarded the Atlanta
Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right to
Information to all heads of state and leaders of the major
international organizations and financial institutions. President
Carter urged these leaders to ensure the right of access to information
and its implementation and enforcement. The Atlanta
Declaration
and Plan of Action was the product of the Carter
Center’s International Conference on the Right to Public
Information, held February 27-29, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Marc
Rotenberg, Executive Director of EPIC joined the more than 125
participants, representing governments, civil society, international
organizations and financial institutions, private sector, donors and
scholars, from 40 countries whomet to discuss the successes and future
challenges to the establishment of a right of access to information.
The
Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action, serving as a
framework for
advancing this human right, finds that access to information is
fundamental to dignity, equity and peace with justice, and that a lack
of access to information disproportionately affects the poor, women and
other vulnerable and marginalized societies. The Declaration
calls on all states and intergovernmental organizations to enact
legislation and instruments for the exercise, full implementation and
effective enforcement of this right. It further encourages all
stakeholders to take concrete steps to establish, develop, protect and
promote the right of access to information. The Declaration is
available in Spanish, French, and Chinese.
For
additional
information related to the conference and materials, please visit the
Carter
Center’s Access to Information project website
or contact
Laura Neuman, Access to Information Project Manager, The Carter Center,
at (404) 420-5146 or lneuman at emory dot edu. | | » | OECD Secretary General Seeks to
Formalize Civil Society. Participation, Expresses Support for
International Privacy Standard
June
2008
| | At the OECD Ministerial
conference on the Future of the Internet Economy,
the Secretary General of the Paris-based research and policy-making
organization recommended that the OECD begin
the process of formalising the participation of civil society and the
technical community in the work of the OECD on the Internet economy.
The OECD also reaffirmed support for the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines,
which are the foundation for most countries privacy standards. Civil
Society groups gathered in Seoul for a Public Voice Forum and to
participate in the Ministerial conference. More than 81 organizations endorsed
the Civil Society-TUAC Seoul Declaration. | | » | OECD
and Korea Host Ministerial Conference on Future of the
Internet June 2008 | | With
the slogan "Shaping Policies for Creativity, Confidence and Convergence
in the Digital World", the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) held the 2008 Ministerial Meeting on the Future of
the Internet Economy in Seoul, South Korea on June 17 and 18. The
Meeting, which was the first OECD Ministerial Meeting held in Asia,
brought together Ministers, senior government officials, the heads of
major intergovernmental organisations, industry leaders and
representatives of the Internet technical community, civil society and
organised labour. In all, close to 2,200 participants from 68 economies
attended the Meeting, which was webcast. In addition to the
participants, many more contributed to the Meeting via the
Internet. More
information. | | » | Civil
Society Seoul Declaration Sets Out Broad Policy Framework June
2008 |
|
On June 16, 2008, more than 150
participants from 15 countries gathered in Seoul, South Korea, for the
Civil Society - Labor Forum "Making the Future of the Internet Economy
Work for Citizens, Consumers, and Workers. The event
was organized by the Public Voice coalition, the Trade Union Advisory
Committee, and the OECD Civil Society Reference group, which includes the
Association for Progressive Communications, the Canadian Internet Policy
and Public interest Clinic, Consumers Korea, the European Digital
Rights Initiative, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the
Internet Governance Project, and the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue.
This Forum addressed the issues
of utmost importance for the internet economy. Prominent advocates
from the academic, consumer, development, digital rights, labour, and
privacy communities engaged government delegates on topics of
relevance to the Ministerial, as well as issues of fundamental concern to civil
society and organized labor. More
information. |
|---|
| » |
UNESCO launched
a comparative legal survey on open government April 2008 |
| |
The
United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) recently published the second edition, entirely
revised
and updated, of Freedom
of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey
written by Toby Mendel, Senior Director of Law of Article 19. The
survey analyses the open governement laws of 14 countries including
Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, South
Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.
More information. |
| TACD Charter of Consumer Rights in the Digital World April 2008 | | The
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue released the Charter for Consumer
Rights in the Digital World. The charter sets outs the core rights that
TACD´s members consider as indispensable to meeting
the
challenges presented by the digital world and the utilization of its
potentials. These core rights are based on a wide range of TACD
resolutions that have previously established the interests of consumers
in the digital world. The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue is a forum of
US and EU consumer organizations which develops and agrees joint
consumer policy recommendations to the US government and European Union
to promote the consumer interest in EU and US policy making. More information. | | ENISA
Position Paper on Security Issues and Recommendations for Online Social
Networks January 2008 | | The
European Network and Information
Security Agency has issued a position paper on Security Issues and
Recommendations for Online Social Networks. The paper is part of a
series of position papers on emerging risks. The aim is to raise
awareness among policy-makers and providers of the threats Social
Networking poses to users and providers and what can be done to address
these threats. The authors hope that by following our recommendations,
Social Networking can become a safer environment for users and that
large-scale security problems which also affect network-providers and
governments can be reduced. ENISA invites public comments to get
feedback on our recommendations and to start a dialogue on Social
Networking Security. Deadline for comments is February 28, 2008. More information. |
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