60 Organizations Launch Campaign Urging US Congress to Protect Privacy

On Wednesday, 60 organizations involved in cryptocurrencies, open-source and free software, and human rights and privacy-preserving projects launched a new campaign calling on the 118th U.S. Congress to protect privacy. The groups, including Fight for the Future, Electric Coin Co., and the Tor Project, insist that Congress needs to deliver policies dedicated to standing up for privacy.

A new campaign, launched by 60 organizations, carries the slogan “Tell Congress to protect privacy.” The groups are calling for the United States federal government’s legislature to stand up for privacy both online and offline. Supporting entities include Fight for the Future, Blockchain Association, Proton, the Tor Project, Mobilecoin, Protocol Labs, Filecoin Foundation, Electric Coin Co., the Defi Education Fund and Tutanota. The campaign follows Fight for the Future’s open letter to Congress, in which they stated that privacy is a fundamental human right.

“Protecting the privacy of everyday people is key to ensuring safety, self-determination, freedom of the press, and other rights that compose the core of democracy,” the letter details. “We applaud recent interest in robust federal data privacy legislation to reinforce such rights. The technologies and software tools we build to preserve user privacy by design are just as essential. Such tools help users to guard against a diverse swath of harms including discrimination, intimidation, and abuse from authoritarian regimes.”

The campaign’s website allows individuals to reach out to Congress and express their support for privacy and the technologies that enhance it. “Contact Congress now to demand they defend our right to privacy,” the website says. The site also displays a full list of organizations involved in the campaign. “The Tor Project’s mission is to promote human rights through the creation and deployment of free and open-source anonymity and privacy technologies,” said Isabela Fernandes, executive director of the Tor Project, in a statement. “We are co-signing this effort because we believe that everyone, especially elected representatives, must defend privacy.”

Paul Brigner, head of U.S. policy and strategic advocacy at Electric Coin Co., said, “Electric Coin Co. has fully joined this global call for incoming U.S. lawmakers to defend privacy.” Electric Coin Co. is the company and developers behind the privacy-focused crypto project Zcash. “We urge lawmakers to take a strong stance in favor of pro-privacy policies, including end-to-end encryption, and reject any attempts to hinder the use or development of privacy-preserving tools. Only by defending the privacy of all individuals can we hope to build a truly democratic and free society.”

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