After NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents that he acquired while working as an NSA contractor, the public now understands that governments have twisted the internet into something it was never intended to be: a system for invading private lives.
A coalition of digital rights groups and internet companies has launched a campaign, called Reset the Net, to encourage internet users and companies on the web to take measures by using surveillance-resistant privacy tools and encryption technologies.
In June 5th, 2014, "Reset the Net" messages are posted throughout the web to encourage website administrators, app developers, and all internet users to take steps to prevent NSA mass surveillance. The date was selected because it is a year after Snowden revealed the first of his many revelations about the surveillance programs.
The NSA (and others) can perform mass surveillance because much of the data flowing on the internet are unencrypted. These data can be collected with ease, even without prior suspicion.
It's suggested that mass surveillance "can" be stopped by building proven security into the everyday internet. The more internet data is encrypted, it becomes more difficult for the NSA (or anyone else) to initiate their surveillance programs. Despite NSA still have other powerful tools to aid them, they will need to focus on specific targets - what they're supposed to do in the first place.
The Reset the Net campaign has drawn support from the usual internet campaigners like Reddit, Imgur and Boing Boing - who successfully protested against SOPA and PIPA. The campaign is also supported by internet giants like Google and Mozilla.
Google showed its support by announcing an email encryption service for its Gmail that makes it harder for third-parties to monitor emails.
Snowden, through his lawyer, voiced support for the campaign, coordinated by digital rights group Fight for the Future. "Today, we can begin the work of effectively shutting down the collection of our online communications, even if the U.S. Congress fails to do the same," said Snowden in his statement. Through Reset the Net, "people and companies all over the world will come together to implement the technological solutions that can put an end to the mass surveillance programs of any government."
Reset the Net "will mark the moment when we turn political expression into practical action, and protect ourselves on a large scale," he said.
From the video below, Reset the Net is asking web developers to pledge to add an NSA-resistant feature to their work. Internet users can also pledge to use at least one NSA-resistant privacy tool.
Advocacy group Fight for the Future that is coordinating the campaign said that they are "dedicated to protecting and expanding the internet's transformative power in our lives by creating civic campaigns that are engaging for millions of people."
"Freedom to be yourself is everything," said Tiffiny Cheng, co-founder of Fight for the Future. "No government can take that away from us, so we're going to use the power we have to take it back."
"Now that we know how mass surveillance works, we know how to stop it. That's why people all over the world are going to work together to use encryption everywhere and make it too hard for any government to conduct mass surveillance."
Various resources and links are available at the Reset the Net website.