Framed by OPTF - Aug 2022
A newsletter about tech, people, and human rights.
Welcome to the first edition of Framed by OPTF, a new-newsletter about tech, people, and human rights. We’re, well, rebooting our newsletter with renewed focus and direction because we want to:
Dive into real-world tech issues that are impacting people’s rights
Reimagine the way we think about technological problems
We are interested in co-designing —and actually building—solutions for the problems facing our technological world
The optimists of the tech world often come up with wonderful ways technology can solve the big issues our society faces, but here’s the secret: it can’t. Not on its own, at least. Our lives are (increasingly) entangled with technology, but technology itself is just a toolbox. Sometimes we try to use tech as a hammer to solve issues that are a little bit more…fragile. And sometimes we leave the toolbox behind completely.
🚫No encryption for you!
Australian climate protesters have been hit with some unusual and extreme cyber restrictions following protests earlier this year. One of the protesters, Greg Rolles, is completely barred from using any encrypted messaging apps due to his bail conditions, which pretty much rules out every popular messaging app in the world. Goodbye Messenger. Goodbye Instagram. Goodbye WhatsApp. Hello…smoke signals?
But law enforcement’s goal isn’t to make protesters like Greg a social pariah that’s banned from sharing a laugh with his mates on Messenger, it’s to prevent certain groups—such as Blockade Australia—from being able to communicate without the loving, doting eyes of law enforcement agencies watching over them.
On its own, this would already be a really severe limitation to put on Greg’s ability to communicate or live his life with any sense of privacy. Unfortunately, the conditions don’t end there. On demand, Greg must produce his computer and mobile phone (and their passwords) for the police to inspect. The logical continuation of bail conditions like these might be things like, ‘you must always leave your curtains open’, ‘your front door must be unlocked’, or ‘please install a surveillance camera in every room of your home’.
Technically, Greg isn’t just barred from specific apps like Signal, but from accessing any kind of encrypted device or application. That means that not only is pretty much every messaging app off the menu, but pretty much any device more complex than your high school CASIO calculator.
Okay, maybe this is just a bit of clumsy language — surely nobody meant to ban Greg from accessing basic government services, online banking, or his Nintendo Switch, right? Well…hopefully. But the issue is that this kind of super vague language gives authorities carte blanche to pull Greg up for pretty much anything they like.
Greg has pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against him, and he is awaiting trial later this year. In the meantime, the severe cyber restrictions placed on him will continue to cast an enormous shadow over each and every part of his life, and will have a broader impact on groups that are critical of government policies.
OPTF Housekeeping
Commissioning Articles
The OPTF is putting out a call for articles related to the impact current and emerging cyber laws can have on human rights defenders. We are interested in receiving article pitches from around the world. For more information, please visit our call for articles.
PET Symposium
Two people from our team, Kee Jefferys and Alex Linton attended the recent international Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET) Symposium in Sydney. We learned a lot and made some new friends. We’ve got some videos and blog posts lined up, and we’ll share links in our next update.
Research
Engagemedia and the OPTF have been collaborating on a research project that aims to investigate digital safety practice and internet freedom in South and Southeast, specifically looking at Cambodia, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Through The Looking Glass: Digital Safety and Internet Freedom in South and Southeast Asia was released in July, and you can download it here.
Other updates
● Join the Session email newsletter to receive the latest updates and information about new features.
● Join the Oxen email newsletter to get our monthly wrap updates on our products, and what others are saying about our work.
● If you are more technically oriented, then check out our development updates for the latest bug fixes and technical updates of our products.
As usual, we’d love your feedback on what we do at OPTF.
Stay safe everyone! Until next month,