
House Schedules Vote on Eliminating Consumer Online Privacy Rights Next Week - slacka
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/congress-debates-reversing-course-decades-consumer-privacy-protections?link_id=8&can_id=a6c53469a0fc060cebd5a72ffb651879&source=email-vote-is-tomorrow-6&email_referrer=vote-is-tomorrow-6&email_subject=vote-is-tomorrow
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shawnee_
The "next week" referred to in this article happens today.

[https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/28/internet-...](https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/28/internet-
service-providers-sell-browsing-history-house-vote)

For this to get through the Senate the way it did makes it pretty clear to me
that the Senate is way beyond corrupt. Especially considering the piece of
this legislation that goes way too far in prohibiting future privacy rules
from enacted if, for some reason, this did end up going through and being a
total disaster.

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barnabes
Leaving the politics aside for a second, wouldn't using a VPN fix this?

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paulajohnson
Yes, provided you are prepared to pay for one, know why you should want one in
the first place, can put up with the increased latency, and are competent
enough to set up your computer to use it. Most people are some combination of
aren't/don't/can't/aren't.

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barnabes
My foray into VPNs was good.. pretty much download, install, and play.

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firefoxd
I may not be versed in this but does calling your congress man work? Do you
leave a message or do you actually get a person on the line to talk to?

I hear people say "let's flood the line". Is that something the elected
official look for to make those decision? I'm seriously asking the question.

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distances
"I worked for Congress for 6 years, and here's what I learned about how they
listen to constituents":
[https://twitter.com/editoremilye/status/797243415922515970](https://twitter.com/editoremilye/status/797243415922515970)

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acqq
For us without the access to twitter, can please somebody write what the hell
the person learned? "Here's what" titles are the worst I know.

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marak830
Conversation Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye I worked for Congress for 6
years, and here's what I learned about how they listen to constituents.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye First, tweeting or writing on Facebook
is largely ineffective. I never looked at those comments except to remove the
harassing ones.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye Second, writing a letter to the district
office (state) is better than sending an email or writing a letter to DC.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye But, the most effective thing is to
actually call them on the phone. At their district (state) office. They have
to talk to you there.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye We repped half a million people, it was
impossible to read and respond personally to all letters. Impossible.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye This was something in particular that I
cared about as a staffer and worked very hard on, but the sheer volume of
emails is overwhelming

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye So, we batched them with computer
algorithms and sent out form letters based on topic and position. Regardless
of method received.

in reply to @editoremilye Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye But, phone calls!
That was a thing that shook up our office from time. One time, a radio host
gave out our district office phone # on air.10:09 AM ·

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye He was against our immigration policy
and told our constituents to call. And they did. All. Day. Long. All I did all
day was answer phones.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye It was exhausting and you can bet my
bosses heard about it. We had discussions because of that call to action.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye If we started getting a pattern of
calls, I called up our DC office and asked if they were getting the same calls
and we talked.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye Also, recognize that your letters and
your emails get seen by staffers, just like your phone calls get answered.
That's the way of it.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye If you want to talk to your rep, show up
at town hall meetings. Get a huge group that they can't ignore. Pack that
place and ask questions.

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye We held town halls consistently that
fewer than 50 people showed up for. And it was always the same people. So,
shake it up.

Nov 12 Megan Broderick‏ @megbrod12 @editoremilye I'm literally making an excel
right now of all my reps contact info, this is great to have! Esp the DC vs
district office

Nov 12 Emily Ellsworth‏ @editoremilye As always, please be kind but firm with
those staffers. They will listen and talk to you. I always, always did.

Sorry about the lack of formatting, I'm on my smartphone.

Edit: added line breaks.

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jMyles
I love the EFF, but sometimes I don't understand their bifurcated approach to
online rights.

On one hand, they support and distribute tools like Tor and Privacy Badger. On
the other, they write, in the boldest print of this article:

> There is only one way to stop them from winning.

> We must speak up and call our elected officials to reject H.J. Res 86 and
> S.J. Res 34 and preserve our legal rights to consumer online privacy.

Well... no. There's more than one way of winning.

In fact, it's not at all clear that the state _can_ "eliminate" our online
rights. They can _infringe upon them_ sure, and in fact can be counted on to
do so.

But the internet organism must be made to protect us from the state, and this
happens by collaboration of inventors and philosophers and dreamers who create
the tooling of the internet, not by a vote in congress.

Notice I'm not saying _not to call your reps_ \- it can be a very effective
tactic. What I'm saying is that "there is only one way" seems to go against
the multiple-front strategy that the EFF (awesomely) employs.

