The Electronic Frontier Foundation and SHARE Defense are organizing a three day workshop on state surveillance and human rights (SSHR) in Rijeka, Croatia on 18 - 20 July. It’s part of an amazing array of festivals taking place simultaneously in the city, including the Share Cyberpunk Academy and Republika Festival. EFF’s Katitza Rodriguez and Jillian York will be joining Djordje Krivokapic from SHARE Defense to explore the new technologies of surveillance, how to protect your privacy against the growing powers of the surveillance state -- and most importantly, how to fight back with better laws and greater oversight.

We’re delighted to be doing this with SHARE Defense and other groups and individuals from around the region. Despite the dispiriting headlines about the breadth of unlawful and unchecked spying being conducted across the global Internet, now is a great moment for activists to campaign for strong legal safeguards in their own countries. It’s clear that local laws everywhere have to be updated (and better respected) to protect international human rights in the digital age. With the help of their own informed citizens, we hope the Balkan states could be the first to rally for a new standard for digital privacy and protection from overreaching governments.

And of course, if you’re starting a new front in the fight for human rights online, it does help if you have temporary access to a battleship.

We still have a few places at the workshop; if you’re in the area and would like to attend, contact info@sharedefense.com