House Schedules Vote on Eliminating Consumer Online Privacy Rights Next Week | Hacker News Reader

House Schedules Vote on Eliminating Consumer Online Privacy Rights Next Week

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157 pointsslacka15 comments

The "next week" referred to in this article happens today.

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/28/internet-...

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.

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

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.

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

Yes, but are you going to install a VPN for everyone? I think people should have a reasonable expectation of privacy, even when they are non-technical.

I've only tried a VPN provider once, and all it involved was to download a program that took care of all the configuration for me. Child's play it was.

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.

"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

That's a great link, thanks. What's not-as-great is the next tweet, where she says people "called her suggestions out as ableist". Is this really a thing? People were offended at her because handicapped people couldn't do the things that were most effective?

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.

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.

I have universally been told that a phone call is the most effective way to communicate with your representatives. I have no sources to cite, but this is based on conversations with my representatives' staffers as well as door-to-door petition-type people.

Anyway, here's the link to find your rep: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Side note: if you're ever going to Washington D.C., you can make an appointment to meet them. They aren't always available, but they will typically at least have a staffer give you a tour of the capitol, which is pretty sweet.

I spent a couple of hours sitting in my senator's office lobby the week before last, during the run-up to the healthcare "vote". I was surprised to see that the calls are answered by highly educated people (interns) sitting right there in the office. I had expected a call center in India. Ok, I suppose not really India but perhaps Indiana or at least the senator's state where wages and office space cost much less. So based on my experience the call is answered by a real person who will listen, take notes and pass on something about what you say (probably an aggregated report) to the elected official. afaik also the elected officials to pay attention (hence the whole "call your congressperson" thing). I chatted with one of these people answering calls over coffee. He told me that if there are too many calls to answer, or he has to go to the bathroom etc, you get voice mail but they do call back everyone who leaves a call-back number.

Edit: I should have said this was in the Hart Building in DC.

It varies widely on the rep. They each have their own office culture. Some are amazing on the phone; others are awful.

I had a congressman (Maurice Hinchey) who, when I was Chair of my Student Senate, would actually come to the phone and talk to me if he was around. And he really listened and either voted the way I asked or got back to me telling me why it wasn't going to happen.

Not too many left like that I don't think, though. Maurice is long since retired. Some are still good on the phone, though.

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.

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