What Is the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and What Do They Do?

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, EPIC, is a civil liberties group that advocates for online confidentiality rights and freedom of speech. The organization specifically deals with confidentiality and civil liberties issues that arise as a result of the usage of new media. Among the goals of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, EPIC, these rank the highest:

Free speech and other First Amendment rights in the online world
Anonymous speech protection
Online privacy
Transparency of mass government surveillance that curtails speech
An open government

What Does the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Do?

Most of what the Electronic Privacy Information Center does boils down to protecting and enhancing privacy and civil liberties along with First Amendment issues. Apart from that, EPIC also works towards giving the public a voice when it comes to the future of the internet and the decisions regarding it.

To further these goals, EPIC has launched the EPIC Public Voice Fund. The Public Voice Fund aims to help civil society participate more in decisions regarding how the internet is to be governed now and in the future.

EPIC has funded many other initiatives over the years, some of which are similar to the Public Voice Fund. For example, in 2017 EPIC provided funding for the following projects among others:

Lawyers for Good Government
European Digital Rights Initiative
Digital Rights Fund of the Renewable Freedom Foundation
European Center for Digital Rights
Lawyers United
Datos Protegidos
Center for Digital Democracy
Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council

Note:

Funding these projects allowed EPIC to focus on civil liberties and work towards its goals of an open government and solving First Amendment rights issues. EPIC is able to push these initiatives through its Public Voice Fund, but it’s also important for them to help other projects as well.

What Is Electronic Privacy?

Much of society is now dependent on technology to carry out recurring tasks on a daily basis. The activity that arises as a result of completing those tasks generates data.

Services, both in the public and private sector, have to store that data in the form of records. Add to that the fact that more and more of our communication and business cannot happen without the frequent use of electronic technology. All of this gives rise to the need for projects like EPIC that deal with privacy, information security and other related issues.

Computer technology is now advanced and widely adopted enough to warrant a need for concrete legal rights to safeguard personal information and electronic confidentiality. Without electronic confidentiality, problems related to data protection are bound to rise. Electronic privacy also aims for more public attention on emerging privacy threats in the online world such as:

Identity theft
Fraud
Copyright issues
Illegal confidential data disclosure

The easiest way to think about electronic confidentiality is to think of it as an ethical and legal debate that arises because of the increased use of technology for record-keeping and transactions.

The virtual world is still not clear on what electronic confidentiality is and how it should be protected without damaging commerce and national security.

Are EPIC’s Actions Legal?

This may be a reference to Supreme Court cases like Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. The verdict from the Supreme Court was that an employer had a legal right to force its employee to private arbitration in a case where a problem arises between the employer and the employee. As a part of the employee contract, the employer could make giving up the employee’s right to seek help from a court as a condition of keeping their job.

For example, let’s say you work for a reasonably large corporation. If the executive director of the company harasses you or does something illegal like not paying you the required wage, there’s no way for you to go to a federal judge or seek help from the law. None of the employees of the company will be able to bring court cases collectively against that executive director. Any case has to come from an individual employee.

Is EPIC a Non-Profit?

You can always go to the websites of organizations such as EPIC to learn more about them and their programs and how they promote things like freedom and workplace privacy.

According to EPIC’s website About page, EPIC is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

The NGO mentions that it doesn’t have any clients and doesn’t provide any service to any customer. The organization doesn’t have any shareholders either.

Which Organizations Help Protect Consumers and Offer Information on Maintaining Online Privacy?

Well, the Electronic Privacy Information Center is one of the organizations that promotes a better internet for the people in terms of confidentiality and anonymity. Then there’s the Online Privacy Alliance or OPA which is a group of associations and corporations that promote user confidentiality in the online world.

Two other organizations that do a lot to promote confidence and trust on the internet are BBBOnLine and TRUSTe. As far as government organizations go, the FTC is the only one that has shown initiative in protecting consumer confidentiality on the internet.

How Can We Protect Consumer Privacy?

Consumers can use different confidentiality products such as VPNs, anti-virus applications, anti-spyware tools, ad-blockers and HTTPS connections for better confidentiality. You can use our guide to finding the best VPN or our online privacy guide to help protect yourself and your personal data.

Using an encrypted internet connection is also a good idea to protect yourself. Additional steps you could take include using a secure web browser and a private search engine.

Organizations can protect consumer confidentiality by being more careful about what data they need to carry out their tasks, put somebody in charge of the data collected, limit the data that’s collected, protect the data that is collected and use strong authentication processes. Providing a comprehensive privacy policy can also help.

Conclusion: Privacy and Civil Liberties

Organizations like EPIC have shown continuous effort towards advocating open government laws. The group seeks further progress by uncovering government surveillance program documents and other policies that affect online confidentiality rights.

FAQ: Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

Is Epic Privacy Browser Safe?

First, keep in mind that Epic Privacy Browser has nothing to do with the Electronic Privacy Information Center or any of its open government initiatives. It’s a web browser that is unaffiliated with EPIC.

Epic Privacy Browser claims that it’s the best web browser for privacy protection. Going by the ratings this project has on the Google Play Store (close to 4/5 with 9,500 ratings) and the Apple App Store (4.6/5 with 191 ratings), it seems like it’s a legitimate browser.

However, since it’s based on Chromium, we don’t think it can deliver on its promises of more workplace confidentiality or protection against government surveillance and social media tracking anymore than a mainstream browser like Google Chrome. A project like the Epic Privacy Browser may have been designed with good intentions, but it can only go so far if it’s based on the same technology as mainstream browsers. As for its usage, we think that the Epic Privacy Browser project may be bad for your confidentiality.

We say that because Epic Privacy Browser’s development team is based in India. India doesn’t have a good track record of not allowing government departments and other entities access to private user information. It uses extensive monitoring programs and may keep tabs on what people do and don’t search online.

U.S laws, though not perfect, are far more comprehensive when it comes to emerging privacy issues compared to India. If federal and state laws of India aren’t concerned about confidentiality information then why would companies developing software shy away from selling user information and invading their confidentiality for more profit?

Even in countries where there are strict confidentiality information laws, companies lobby hard to find loopholes that they can exploit to sell user information and violate their confidentiality. All of that means that Epic Privacy Browser isn’t safe.

Is Epic Browser Free?

Yes. The browser is free to download, install and use.

Is Epic Browser a VPN?

Epic Browser is not a VPN. However, the browser does come with a built-in free VPN that has servers in over eight locations.

Who Owns Epic Privacy Browser?

Alok Bhardwaj is the founder of Hidden Reflex. Hidden Reflex is the company that developed the Epic Browser.

What Does the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Prohibit?

The ECPA prohibits third-party companies from disclosing or intercepting communication data without proper authorization. The Act not only applies to private citizens but also government employees.

What Are Digital Privacy Rights?

Digital privacy rights represent the idea that individuals have the right to exist anonymously and freely in cyberspace. Moreover, they also have the right to choose what kind of content and information they consume or expose themselves to.

Another aspect of privacy rights in the online world is that individuals have the right to safeguards against unwanted information interrupting their online experience. More specifically, if you see spam or email messages from unknown sources then your confidentiality rights have been violated. Seeing unwanted advertisements also counts as a violation of confidentiality. If someone infects your computer with a virus that coerces you to finish certain tasks then that’s also a breach of confidentiality.

There are many other cases of confidentiality violation and many organizations exist to promote programs that protect user communication channels. They’re designed so that internet users can search the internet as they want, voice their opinion on the web as they like and access services without government surveillance or social media tracking.

What Is an Epic Foundation System?

Epic Systems is a company that works in the healthcare industry. The Foundation System is a community-driven project that shares the best practices and tools of other organizations that have used the Epic platform to solve their own problems. Epic Systems is not affiliated with EPIC.

What Does Electronic Privacy Mean?

Electronic Privacy means the level of confidentiality-safeguarding mechanisms an individual has access to when in the online world. Electronic privacy also means security for not only the individual’s personal information but their messages and financial data as well.

What Is the ECPA and Why Was It Enacted?

Its purpose was to ban third-party disclosure and interception of communication data without prior authorization.

Do We Have a Right to Privacy on the Internet?

Legally, there’s no single law in the U.S. that regulates online privacy. There are state and federal laws that deal with different aspects of online confidentiality in different ways. Ethically though, internet confidentiality is all about individuals having the right to online privacy when they engage in different activities in the online world.

Where Is EPIC Located?

1519 New Hampshire Ave. NW

Washington, D.C 20036