Together with a group of leading human rights and civil liberties groups, we’ve launched a campaign in the UK calling for the reform of the laws governing surveillance.
We’d like you to sign our petition, asking the government to take urgent action to safeguard our rights.
Security agencies in the USA and UK are intercepting our emails, SMS messages and mobile phone data.
The National Security Agency (NSA) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) are using systems of mass surveillance to spy on us. This violates our privacy and chills free speech.
The impact globally may be more profound. If democracies turn a blind eye to mass surveillance, dictatorships will build ever more dystopian surveillance programmes to shut down the space for democratic activism, civil society and internet freedom.
The UK government’s response to public concerns about mass surveillance hasn’t been good enough. We need urgent reforms to make sure there are proper legal safeguards in place to protect our rights.
The Don’t Spy On Us campaign is urging the UK government to commit to six basic principles:
- No surveillance without suspicion
- Transparent laws
- Judicial not political authorisation
- Effective democratic oversight
- The right of redress
- A secure web for all
Visit the campaign website to read more about principles.
When the extent of the mass surveillance was revealed, it led to a series of diplomatic storms around the globe.
Now it’s time for all of us to have our say too.
Don’t Spy On Us has been launched in conjunction with Big Brother Watch, English PEN, Liberty, Open Rights Group and Privacy International.