Privacy advocates mobilize against trade pact

Digital rights advocates are mobilizing against a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade deal. The White House says the pact will be a valuable tool to combat cyber theft, but critics say it could actually hamper cybersecurity and erode critical privacy protections worldwide. After weeks of anticipation, the Obama Administration finally released the full text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim nations.

Numerous security researchers and digital privacy groups warn, though, that the trade pact's rules, if adopted globally, could actually make consumer data more vulnerable to hackers and government spies. They worry that widely touted provisions encouraging the TPP countries to allow the free flow of data between borders may allow them to skirt privacy safeguards needed to secure that information. “We don’t want to see the Internet become balkanized,” said Maira Sutton, a global policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocate. “But having these discussions decided in a trade agreement is exactly the wrong place to do it. There’s been no security researchers at the table, no public interest groups that have been following this for a long time," she added. “Trade agreements are not the place to decide digital policy."