Hello Christian Berg,
The people behind this open letter are active in DFRI — Föreningen för Digitala Fri- och Rättigheter (Association for Digital Freedom and Rights) — acting against censorship and against restrictions on people’s fundamental rights and freedoms on the internet.
We have long worked with privacy technologies to help dissidents and journalists in countries such as Turkey. Through this work we have come in contact with Turkish citizens who are increasingly concerned about the Turkish government’s actions against activities by government critics [1,2].
In recent weeks, NetClean’s agreement with the Turkish government on internet filtering has increased the worry. Especially after the information in the media [3] that the Turkish Government intend to use NetClean technology to censor social networks.
We from DFRI would therefore like to know more about NetClean’s agreement with the Turkish government in order to determine if the concern is warranted:
1) What equipment (hardware and software) has NetClean provided its Turkish partner?
2) Does this deal contain only equipment from NetClean, or does it also include the equipment from third parties? If so, which partner or partners?
3) Under what conditions have NetClean supplied equipment to its Turkish partner?
4) Do the contractual terms of the deal allow that the equipment may be used in ways other than that which emerged in NetClean’s blog post? [4]
5) What do NetClean do if the equipment is used for other than its intended purpose?
6) Does NetClean have some established processes for monitoring what their equipment is used for?
7) Have NetClean received any assurances from the buyer that it will only be used for the intended purpose?
8) Have NetClean made demands that the equipment must not be used for other things than the intended purpose?
9) How will NetClean ensure such compliance?
10) How would NetClean handle violations of these requirements?
10a) Would violation of these requirements constitute a breach of contract?
11) Can this product be integrated in or interface with other products, and if so, which ones?
12) What other equipment will the NetClean equipment be integrated into or interface with in the Turkish partner solution?
13) Does NetClean have any policies or ethical guidelines for how their equipment may be used and not used?
We hope that you can answer us in detail on every single issue as soon as possible and that we can continue to have a constructive dialogue.
Yours sincerely
DFRI members through the Board
1. http://edri.org/turkish-government-acquire-tool-censor-social-media/
2. http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.user-groups.dfri/1227
3. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-soldier-warns-against-social-media-as-govt-to-purchase-software-against-illegal-shares.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67178&NewsCatID=341
4. http://blog.netclean.com/netclean-statement-30-5-14/