Thanks for the update
This is a good stand to take, seeing that our vision and mission demands it
of us.
*Dumisani Ndubane*
Monitoring & Evaluation Strategist
Wikimedia Foundation
✆ | +27 74 587 8616
✉ | dndubane(a)wikimedia.org <dndubane(a)wikimedia.org>
*"Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge."*
On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 3:54 PM, Nadine Le Lirzin <nlelirzin(a)wikimedia.fr>
wrote:
Thank you, Katherine. At once for such a precise
update and for going
ahead.
Also many thanks to all who dedicate time and work to this case.
Nadine Le Lirzin
Wikimédia France
On Tue, 30 Jan 2018 at 01:42, Philippe Beaudette <philippe(a)beaudette.me>
wrote:
Great update, thank you.
On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 4:14 PM, Katherine Maher <kmaher(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
Hi all,
I’d like to share an update and next steps in our lawsuit against the
U.S.
> National Security Agency (NSA), Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA.[1] As
you’ll
recall,
in March 2015, the Wikimedia Foundation joined eight other
plaintiffs in filing a suit in United States Federal District Court
against
the NSA[2] and the Department of Justice,[3]
among others. We have been
represented pro bono[4] by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)[5]
and
the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia
University.[6] The law
firm Cooley LLP[7] has also been serving as pro bono co-counsel for the
Foundation.
Since we’re coming on the three-year anniversary, I wanted to offer a
reminder of why we filed this suit. Our challenge supports the
foundational
> values of our movement: the right to freedom of expression and access
to
> information. Free knowledge requires freedom
of inquiry, particularly
in
> the case of challenging and unpopular
truths. Each day people around
the
world
engage with difficult and controversial subjects on Wikipedia and
other Wikimedia projects. Pervasive mass surveillance brings the threat
of
reprisal, creates a chilling effect, and
undermines the freedoms upon
which
our projects and communities are founded. In
bringing this suit, we
joined
a tradition of knowledge stewards who have fought
to preserve the
integrity
> of intellectual inquiry.
>
> Our lawsuit challenges dragnet surveillance by the NSA, specifically
the
> large-scale seizing and searching of
Internet communications frequently
> referred to as “Upstream” surveillance.[8] The U.S. government is
tapping
directly
into the internet’s “backbone”[9]—the network of high-capacity
cables, switches, and routers that carry domestic and international
communications—and seizing and searching virtually all text-based
internet
communications flowing into and out of the United
States. It’s this
backbone that connects the global Wikimedia community to our projects.
These communications are being seized and searched without any
requirement
that there be suspicion, for example, that the
communications have a
connection to terrorism or national security threats.
Last May, we reached an important milestone: a Federal Court of
Appeals[10]
in the United States ruled[11] that the
Foundation alone had plausibly
alleged “standing”[12] to proceed with our claims that Upstream mass
surveillance seizes and searches of the online communications of
Wikimedia
users, contributors and Foundation staff in
violation of the U.S.
Constitution and other laws. The Court of Appeals’ ruling means that we
are
> the sole remaining plaintiff among the nine original co-plaintiffs.
There
> is still a long road ahead, but this
intermediate victory makes this
case
one of
the most important vehicles for challenging the legality of this
particular NSA surveillance practice.
As a result of our win in the appellate court, we are now proceeding to
the
> next stage of the case: discovery.[13] In the U.S. court system,
parties
> use the discovery stage to exchange evidence
and ask each other
questions
> about their claims. We have requested
information and documents from
the
government, and they have made similar requests from us. The entire
phase,
> which will also involve research and reports from experts, is expected
to
> last the next few months.
>
> As part of our commitment to privacy, I want you to know about what
this
> stage of the case means for our data
retention practices. Our goal in
> bringing this lawsuit was to protect user information. In this case,
like
> other litigation in which we engage, we may
sometimes be legally
required
to
preserve some information longer than the standard 90-day period in
our
data retention guidelines. These special cases
are acknowledged and
permitted by our privacy and data retention policies.[14]
As always, however, we remain committed to keeping user data no longer
than
legally necessary. We never publish the exact
details of
litigation-related
> data retention, as part of our legal strategy to keep personal data
safe.
And we
defend any personal data from disclosure to the maximum extent,
taking both legal and technical measures to do so. We are keeping
sensitive
material encrypted and offline, and we have the
support of the
experienced
> legal teams at the ACLU and Cooley in ensuring its safety and
integrity.
> Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA is currently one
of the only freedom of
> expression and access to knowledge cases being prosecuted against
> government surveillance overreach. Unfortunately, the recent extension
of
these
surveillance practices by the U.S. Congress[15] demonstrates that
the
> courts may well be the only venue to stop or restrict these practices.
>
> The nature of litigation means that we will not always be able to
discuss
> certain details of any case in public. For
example, deliberations about
> tactical or strategic decisions will need to remain confidential in
order
to
preserve the attorney-client privilege.[16] In such situations,
particularly in a sensitive and important case like this, we are always
balancing the need for confidentiality with our commitment to
transparency.
> So while some information will not be public, we want to be available
to
> address your questions, should you have any.
Please direct them to Greg
> Varnum gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org, who can help provide answers.
>
> We will continue keeping you updated on our progress and anything that
> might affect our communities and visitors to the Wikimedia sites.[17]
>
> I would like to thank Tilman Bayer, Nuria Ruiz, Faidon Liambotis,
Andrew
> Otto, James Alexander, Brandon Black, Byron
Bogaert, Dan Foy, Grace
> Gellerman, Aeryn Palmer and Jim Buatti for their extensive dedication
to
this
case. And thanks to the C-levels supporting this work, Eileen
Hershenov, Victoria Coleman, and Toby Negrin.
Yours,
Katherine
[1]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/06/23/wikimedia-v-nsa-present-future/
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/23/wikimedia-nsa-appeal-standing/
surveillance/trump-signs-bill-renewing-nsas-internet-
surveillance-program-
lawsuit-dismissal/
wikimedia-v-nsa/
March 10
2015
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/03/10/wikimedia-v-nsa/
--
Katherine Maher
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation
1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635
+1 (415) 712 4873
kmaher(a)wikimedia.org
https://annual.wikimedia.org
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Philippe Beaudette
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