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.
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