Name: Demystifying the Definitions, Demands, and Data of “Direct Access”
Start: 2019-06-13T15:45:00+0100
End: 2019-06-13T17:00:00+0100

Welcome to the Official Schedule for RightsCon 2019, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age.

Together at RightsCon Tunis, our first summit hosted in the Middle East and North Africa, more than 2500 expert practitioners will come together across over 400 sessions to shape, contribute to, and drive forward the global agenda for the future of our human rights.

Important note: Whether you’re a session organizer, speaker, or participant, you’ll need to login to Sched or create an account in order to get the most out of the program (including creating a profile and building your own customized RightsCon schedule).

Be sure to get your ticket to RightsCon first. You can visit rightscon.org for more information.

RightsCon is brought to you by Access Now.

Back To Schedule

Demystifying the Definitions, Demands, and Data of “Direct Access”

“Direct access” refers to the ability of a government to copy, retrieve or receive user data directly from a communications network. Though the human rights concerns that emerge under direct access scenarios are globally significant, advocacy has been limited due to a lack of shared terminology and understanding of the phenomenon. There is no standard definition of direct access. Privacy International describes it as “situations where law enforcement and intelligence agencies have a direct connection to telecommunications networks in order to obtain digital communications content and data (both mobile and internet), often without prior notice or judicial authorisation and without the involvement and knowledge of the Telco or ISP that owns or runs the network.” The former Telecommunications Industry Dialogue (now part of the Global Network Initiative) defined direct access in 2017 as “...systems that allow government authorities real-time access to the networks of telecommunications operators without making specific or periodic demands of the operator.” Over the course of the session, participants will come to a common understanding of direct access and identify next steps for continuing to build a multistakeholder community of practice around this issue.

Moderators