A number of websites including Reddit, Imgur and Boing Boing have banded together to announce a day of action against NSA online spying activities in a campaign known as “Reset the Net”.
On Thursday 5 June, a splash page will appear on dozens of websites, with the incentive for more to sign up, that will encourage those visiting the site to install a range of privacy and encryption tools to prevent governmental organisations from snooping on un-suspecting users.
According to the Guardian, the most common form of encryption that is expected to be used will be HTTPS which is used on thousands of websites, particularly those involved in e-commerce and other online business activities but very rarely is it installed on personal computers and devices.
The date of 5 June also marks the significant anniversary of the first article released about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden who documented the United States’ campaign of data mining across the globe.
Speaking on the dedicated website for the campaign, its co-founder Tiffiny Cheng said: “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.
“There are moments in history where people and organisations must choose whether to stand on the side of freedom or tyranny.”
