Tell Congress to back the Stop Mass Hacking Act

From Demand Progress:

It's everyone's worst nightmare: Your computer gets hacked. Someone gains access to all your files and can see the details of your entire private life.

There's no greater invasion of digital privacy.

And yet the Department of Justice is pushing a radical rule change to let law enforcement hack into thousands of innocent Americans’ computers at a time.

And because of the secretive process the DOJ used to advance this rule change, it will automatically go into effect unless Congress blocks it.

That’s why we're joining a massive national day of action today to tell Congress to stop this radical power grab by co-sponsoring the bipartisan Stop Mass Hacking Act.

Tell your reps in Congress: Co-sponsor the Stop Mass Hacking Act now!

The DOJ wants to change an obscure federal rule known as “Rule 41” to radically expand its ability to hack into Americans’ computers.

This change would make it easier for the government to break into our computers, take data, and engage in remote surveillance – all with limited oversight by the courts.

Here’s how it works:

The rule change would allow judges to give warrants to search computers outside of their jurisdiction when those computers use common privacy-protecting technology like Tor or VPNs and for computers affected by certain types of malware.

That means law enforcement can shop around for the judge most likely to rubber stamp their request.

From journalists keeping their sources confidential to activists using VPNs to protect themselves from snooping governments, these rule changes would disproportionately target Internet users who actively protect their privacy online.

Tell Congress: Secure our privacy online. Co-sponsor the Stop Mass Hacking Act now!

Here’s the scariest part about this rule change: It could impact you if your computer is infected with malware – even if you don’t know it.

When your computer gets infected with malware, it’s typically just one of thousands, if not millions of computers infected with the same virus.

In a crazy twist, DOJ’s changes to “Rule 41” would let the government hack into computers of malware attacks victims, not just the criminals who carried out the attack.

About 30% of computers worldwide are infected with malware,1 so the government’s authority to secretly hack into our devices would be MASSIVE.

These changes will go through unless Congress takes action. That’s why we need to mobilize massive opposition to these rule changes.

Join us and tell your Representative and Senators: Co-sponsor the Stop Mass Hacking Act and reverse the changes to Rule 41 today!

Thanks for taking action,

Kate Kizer
Campaigner
Demand Progress