20200901 Selbstdarstellung des Vereins

01.09.2020 Selbstdarstellung des Vereins

Trancript to he organization’s presentation at the "Market of Opportunities" in September 2020

Hello, my name is Rainer from the organization "Aktion Freiheit statt Angst" (Action: Freedom Instead of Fear). For the past twelve years, we have been a recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to defending fundamental human rights, not only in Germany. Our latest flyer has just been published. The point is that we do not want our data to be used to generate profit — primarily by the major internet corporations such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and so on. These companies use our data to make huge amounts of money, and this harms us—for example, by causing us to pay inflated prices for health insurance or car insurance because these companies know exactly what our preferences and needs are.

The government, too, has been trying for years to restrict our fundamental rights using a "salami tactic." Let’s recall the 2007 law on the retention of telephone and internet data. Other examples include the 2008 amendment to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Act, which would have allowed surveillance of private residences, and the storage of passenger name records from air travel. All of our data is collected there, and it can be used to create movement profiles. And yes, in case of doubt, that can then be used against us.

As we have all noticed, these laws have essentially all been unconstitutional. The law on data retention was declared unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) shortly thereafter in 2010. The 2008 amendment to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Act took eight years. It was not until 2016 that it was determined that it, too, was largely unconstitutional and needed to be revised.

A case regarding the retention of passenger name record (PNR) data is still pending before the European Court of Justice. Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 confirmed our views, particularly regarding surveillance by government agencies. All the fears we had previously held as mere assumptions were ultimately confirmed. Everyone in the world is being monitored almost all the time, and this data can also have serious consequences for individuals. We have reported on this on our websites.

Edward Snowden has been an honorary member of our association since 2014, and we hope that he will someday be able to return to his homeland safely. Since 2017, we have also been involved in the Initiative for Transparency in Associations and Companies and are committed to transparency and freedom of information. After all, we must not forget that we need to use public data and protect private data. That is what we stand for.

Here in Berlin, we’re working on very specific issues related to our privacy and our fundamental rights. We cordially invite you to join us. For example, we successfully fought for two years against a pilot project for facial recognition at the Südkreuz train station in Berlin. Like all its predecessors, the project turned out to be a total flop. The same was true of the EU research project Indect, in which supposedly "smart" cameras were supposed to make autonomous decisions.

For years, we have been highlighting the dangers posed by the electronic health card. This was recently expanded to include an electronic patient record under the Patient Data Protection Act. This report confirms just how dangerous it is to place health data in the hands of private corporations.

We need your help for all these activities. You can support us by participating directly in our campaigns, helping to create flyers, or contributing to our website. Here is the link: www.a-fsa.de. Of course, you can also support us financially by donating to our account. As mentioned, all donations are tax-deductible, as we have been recognized as a nonprofit organization for over ten years.

The Audio https://www.a-fsa.de/images/audio/202009FsA-Selbstdarstellung.mp3
and the video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Kzft6gEbw&t=25s