NPOC Members,

On behalf of NPOC the NPOC executive committee has endorsed a letter of objection to the Paraguayan Parliament regarding proposed Paraguayan Internet surveillance laws. While recognizing the issues behind the laws, we do not think this is the proper approach. The ExCom faced a three-day deadline so there was not the opportunity for a wider discussion of the decision, but follow up comments are welcomed.

Here is a link to the letter [en Espanol and in English]   https://etherpad.mozilla.org/p6W7PQgphV

[Extracts from the letter] If passed into law, the bill will force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to stored users' data for a period of twelve months. The data collected would include the source and destination of all communications, the time and date of all connection and disconnection logs, as well as details about the users' location and devices. This collection will track the online activities of millions of innocent users, and will be accessible by Paraguayan law enforcement as part of the investigation of any criminal offense.

This bill does exclude the mass collection of the content of electronic communications. However, indiscriminate collection of non-content  ("traffic") data and the cross-referencing of this information can reveal far more than the bill's proponents have suggested in remarks to  media; more, even, in some cases, than the content of a communication could show. Traffic data provides sufficient context to determine some of the most intimate details of the lives of Paraguayans, including where they live, work and the identity of other locations they regularly visit,  their relationships to others. It can provide complete lists of friends and other contacts, describe their online habits, and reveal their personal preferences in every part of their private and political lives.

Sam Lanfranco, Chair, NPOC Policy Committee