Welcome to the Private Internet Access Blog

  • Our Seven Privacies: The Many Important Facets Of Privacy

    When we talk of privacy online, it is easy to narrow the discussion to something that can be described as “anti-wiretapping”. But privacy is a much more diverse and important concept than that. In general, we can talk of seven different privacies, each important to our civil liberties from different angles. There are seven distinct… Read more

  • The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

    There has been a lot of talk lately about the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and its neighbor Barbados, and their recent plan to lawfully sell US copyrighted works without having to pay royalties to content owners. The government of Antigua has been preparing their new content distribution website for some time and it is… Read more

  • Privacy And Transparency Are Not Mutually Exclusive, But Complementary In A Healthy Society

    People sometimes ask if I prefer transparency over privacy, as a society can’t have both. The premise is wrong. It’s a sliding scale, and perfect privacy for the individual citizen and a fully transparent government are both necessary. On the surface, transparency stands at odds with privacy. If you have transparency of government, how can… Read more

  • Is Ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement likely?

    Enactment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) Free Trade Agreement would, amongst other changes, attempt to harmonize the patchwork of copyright laws across the various Signatories. Activists are concerned because sections of the TPP would undermine copyright fair use protections that presently allow limited use of a work for certain commentary or other opinion based purposes.… Read more

  • Merkel’s Outrage Over Wiretapping Shows Need To Make The Fight Personal

    Angela Merkel is outraged that the United States has wiretapped her phone. However, she expresses no concern for her fellow 82 million Germans, nor for her fellow 500 million Europeans that are victims of the same abuse. This shows the importance of making things personal for politicians – taking the fight to them, to break… Read more

  • Attempts To Eliminate Cash Are More Than A Privacy Disaster

    Throughout the western world, politicians appear keen on eliminating cash as a concept. There are many reasons on the surface – preventing armored car robberies, combating organized crime, making money laundering difficult, et cetera. However, this is a typical elite ivory tower project that will neither work in practice nor escape a lot of negative… Read more