The Global Network Initiative urges President Obama and the U.S. Congress to enact reforms to U.S. national security surveillance laws, policies and practices that would ensure a rights-based approach to national security and help to restore trust in the Internet for users around the world.
Public debate and prospects for reform
GNI welcomes the public debate in the United States, with all three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial— considering reforms to current surveillance practices. Some proposals would begin to limit the scope of surveillance and increase transparency, oversight, and accountability. Others would be harmful, codifying practices around bulk collection of data and allowing surveillance practices to continue to occur that conflict with universal rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
We urge the government to embrace significant reforms that would effectively protect free expression and privacy rights worldwide, consistent with the views of diverse stakeholders who are calling for change, including civil society organizations, ICT companies, academics, writers, and investors, as well as the U.N. General Assembly resolution, “The right to privacy in the digital age,” approved in December 2013.
Recommendations
Building on the recommendations of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communication Technologies, and reflecting the views of ICT companies, civil society organizations, investors, and academics, GNI recommends: