International action day against mass-surveillance and mass-data retention

Saturday, 12th September, is scheduled to be an international action day against excessive surveillance: Freedom Not Fear 2009. In as many European capital cities as possible and elsewhere around the world there will be protests against the blanket retention of communications data and other instruments of surveillance.

The protesters demand:

• Cutback on surveillance
  • abolish the blanket logging of communications and locations (data retention)
  • abolish the blanket collection of biometric data as well as RFID passports
  • abolish the blanket collection of genetic data
  • abolish permanent CCTV camera surveillance and automatic detection techniques
  • scrap funding for the development of new surveillance techniques
  • no blanket registration of all air travellers (PNR data)
  • no information exchange with the US and other states lacking effective data protection
  • no secret searches of private computer systems, neither online nor offline
  • no blanket surveillance and filtering of internet communications (EU Telecoms-Package)
  • stop the upgrading of the EU’s external borders (e.g. FRONTEX, eBorder)
  • stop the increased integration of police, secret services and military
  • no blanket surveillance of refugees (Visa Waiver, SIS II, VIS, EuroDAC)
  • stop of the “Stockholm Programme”, which sets the agenda for EU justice and home affairs and internal security policy from 2010 to 2014
• Evaluation of existing surveillance laws and development of alternatives
  • Iindependent evaluation of existing laws and powers to their effectiveness and adverse effects on civil and human rights
  • Joint reflection of politics and society for the development of effective alternatives to crime and terrorism laws
• Moratorium for new surveillance powers
  • Immediate hold to new homeland security laws that further restrict civil liberties.

For an overview of which countries participate, see here.