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How to get the general publics attention on surveillance issues

By on April 9, 2015 in Big Brother, NSA & Snowden

But most notably of all, Oliver might finally have pinpointed a way to make the debate about surveillance accessible to a wide audience. By honing on one aspect of the government surveillance, the capacity for intelligence agencies to access “dick pics,” he captures the attention and summons the outrage of numerous passersby in a filmed segment in Times Square. Many of those interviewed can’t properly identify Edward Snowden or don’t quite recall what he had done, but all recoil at the thought of government access to intimate photography.

“If I had knowledge that the United States government had pictures of my dick,” one man says with dire seriousness, “I would be very pissed off.”

“The good news is there’s no program named ‘The Dick Pic Program,'” Snowden says in response to the video. “The bad news is they are still collecting everyone’s information, including your dick pics.”

The Atlantic: What It Takes to Make People Care About NSA Surveillance »

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Europol lobbying against encryption

By on March 29, 2015 in Big Brother, Cryptography, EU, NSA & Snowden, Privacy

The law enforcement lobbying campaign against encryption continues. Today it’s Europols director Rob Wainwright who is trying to make a case against privacy on BBC 5.

Europol chief warns on computer encryption »

This is the same man who told the European Parliament that Europol is not going to investigate the alleged NSA hacking of the SWIFT (international bank transfer) system. The excuse he gave was not that Europol didn’t know about it, because it did. Very much so. It was that there had been no formal complaint from any member state.

So the EU police agency happily turned a blind eye to ongoing crime — when possibly committed by the NSA.

That will give you an indication about where the Europols sympathies lies. That is, not with the general public.

/ HAX

 

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The war on truth about… truth

By on March 27, 2015 in Censorship, Data Retention, Democracy, NSA & Snowden, Privacy, surveillance

One common practice when it comes to surveillance is to prohibit ISP:s, telecoms operators and tech companies to disclose that there is or has been any warrants or other demands for information from the authorities. (In the US this is known as national security letters.)

Some companies have worked their way around this by so called warrant canaries. In short this means that they state in e.g. their transparency or annual report that there has been no secret warrants. If they, the next year, leave that information out — they have communicated that there has been one or several secret warrants. But in an indirect, subtle way — without breaching the actual secret warrant in question.

This practice is now going to be illegal in Australia, when it comes to the government spying on journalists. BoingBoing explains…

Section 182A of the new law says that a person commits an offense if he or she discloses or uses information about “the existence or non-existence of such a [journalist information] warrant.” The penalty upon conviction is two years imprisonment.

This making it illegal… to or not to indicate to the public that… you are or are or are not not… telling the truth. Or a lie.

Orwell would have been amazed.

Or, in plain words: The Australian government does not appreciate the truth.

/ HAX

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US tech gigants to Obama: End bulk collection mass surveillance

By on March 25, 2015 in Big Brother, Data Retention, NSA & Snowden, Privacy, surveillance, US

TechCrunch reports that US “technology companies, tech trade groups and privacy organizations sent a letter today to the President Barack Obama, various members of Congress, and governmental security officials, urging reform of the U.S. government’s surveillance practices.” From the letter…

“There must be a clear, strong, and effective end to bulk collection practices under the USA PATRIOT Act, including under the Section 215 records authority and the Section 2 214 authority regarding pen registers and trap & trace devices. Any collection that does occur under those authorities should have appropriate safeguards in place to protect privacy and users’ rights.”

TechCrunch: Tech Giants Call For “Clear, Strong And Effective End” To NSA’s Phone Metadata Surveillance »

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Why privacy matters

By on March 12, 2015 in Big Brother, Democracy, Freedom of Speech, NSA & Snowden, Privacy, surveillance

Privacy is the bedrock of individual freedom. It is a universal right that sustains the freedoms of expression and association. These principles enable inquiry, dialogue, and creation and are central to Wikimedia’s vision of empowering everyone to share in the sum of all human knowledge. When they are endangered, our mission is threatened. If people look over their shoulders before searching, pause before contributing to controversial articles, or refrain from sharing verifiable but unpopular information, Wikimedia and the world are poorer for it.

Wikimedia about their lawsuit against NSA and the US Department of Justice – to challenge mass surveillance.

Links:
Wikimedia v. NSA: Wikimedia Foundation files suit against NSA to challenge upstream mass surveillance »
Stop Spying on Wikipedia Users »

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