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street roots July 5, 2013 Internet savvy nonprofits shoulder digital surveillance BY ALEX ZIELINSKI they do online than others. Many just see the Internet as a key ast month’s unveiling of the vast, mechanism for multi-faceted efforts the National informing their Security Agency has put into community and collecting private data — paired with the fundraising, and outing of NSA whistleblower Edward nothing else. Thing is, Snowden — has left Internet users across there are negative the country feeling vulnerable, violated and consequences that begging for answers. As reality sets in for come from their users small and large, one group of online enthusiastic embrace consumers, nonprofits — which rely heavily of the internet — and I Jeffrey Chester don’t think nonprofits on social media outreach — face heightened uncertainty in a once-trusted medium. have taken them To get a better grasp on what nonprofits seriously. To think that the government are up against in the new age of doesn’t have access to what they put online compromised privacy, we spoke with Jeffrey is naive. Chester, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy, who A.Z.: What kinds of threats are they facing, has studied and advocated for consumer exactly? protection in the digital media age since the '80s. J.C.: Many networks like Facebook and S T A F F W R IT E R L Alex Zielinski: Why are nonprofits, specifically, threatened by the NSA’s surveillance? Jeffrey Chester: I think that nonprofits are less cautious about what Google have deliberately built in a surveillance system to their sites, and the connection these Silicon Valley corporations have with the NSA is much deeper than we realize. What the NSA is able to harness, Facebook and Google can release into the world. And it could ruin you or your business. This partnership is a powerful, unaccountable system with vast implications. I think that many nonprofits that are online don’t see the dark side, or join ‘em” mentality. But it’s one thing for the government to know you like a certain book or a T-shirt, it’s another thing for them to know your health issues, financial status, and private information about your children. However, I don’t think this surveillance is going to stop what nonprofits do - just make them more aware that the government could be eavesdropping at any moment online. A.Z.: So what can nonprofits do? J.C.: I think nonprofits have to develop an agenda here to make the government and the social networks much more accountable for what they’re doing. A.Z.: But do nonprofits really have a chance when standing up to these corporate giants and the NSA? J.C.: Yes, I think so. It just takes more groups taking a stand and making their voices heard. I mean, look at how successful European NGOs have been at pushing legislation, putting places and people before corporate giants. It can happen here too. A.Z.: What about nonprofit supporters? Do you think NSA infiltration could affect membership and donor participation? J.C.: I don’t know whether or not we’ll know more about what the NSA is specifically looking at in the coming months. If there was evidence to show that donor lists were specifically looked at, this could have a chilling effect on nonprofits, especially if it’s sensitive, activist or controversial work. But it’s hard to gauge at this point. A.Z.: Have you seen a substantial reaction from the nonprofit community since news about PRISM and Edward Snowden went viral? J.C.: Oh, there’s no question. PRISM and Snowden’s recent leak has created a huge buzz in the nonprofit community around online privacy that wasn’t there before. PRISM challenges the nonprofit community to really think hard about their relationships with online companies, more than they ever have before. Nonprofits have seen Facebook and Google as these tools of empowerment for so long — but now they’re waking up. Now we know. www.portlandhearingvoices.net Vendors are regular contributors to Street Roots content, as columnist, poets and artists. Look for your favorite vendor’s writings in each edition o f the paper.
