Fingerprints do not have the same legal protection as phone passcodes, US court finds.
EFF: Court backs ruling that man give fingerprint to unlock phone »
Archive | Privacy
China striking down on VPN-services
By HAX on January 23, 2017 in Anonymity, Big Brother, China, Free Information, Human rights, Privacy
China is reinforcing its censorship of the internet with a campaign to crack down on unauthorized connections, including virtual private network (VPN) services, that allow users to bypass restrictions known as the Great Firewall. (…)
The ministry said it was forbidden to create or rent communication channels, including VPNs, without governmental approval, to run cross-border operations.
Reuters: China cracks down on unauthorized internet connections »
The return of Lavabit
“This is the first step in a very long journey,” Levison told The Intercept prior to the re-launch. “What we’re hoping for is that by the end of this year we’ll be more secure than any of the other encrypted messaging apps out there on the market.”
The Intercept: Encrypted email service once used by Edward Snowden relaunches »
Business as usual…
While the European Court of Justice has decided against data retention – Europol would like to expand it.
Statewatch » More “going dark” problems: Europol wants data retention to ease identification of individual internet users »
Proton Mail strikes back
ProtonMail, the privacy-focused email business, has launched a Tor hidden service to combat the censorship and surveillance of its users.
The move is designed to counter actions “by totalitarian governments around the world to cut off access to privacy tools” and the Swiss company specifically cited “recent events such as the Egyptian government’s move to block encrypted chat app Signal, and the passage of the Investigatory Powers Act in the UK that mandates tracking all web browsing activity”.
The Register: ProtonMail launches Tor hidden service to dodge totalitarian censorship »
Utopia or dystopia?
Ida Auken at World Economic Forum: Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better. »
Until the end, Obama expands mass surveillance
New rules issued by the Obama administration under Executive Order 12333 will let the NSA—which collects information under that authority with little oversight, transparency, or concern for privacy—share the raw streams of communications it intercepts directly with agencies including the FBI, the DEA, and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a report today by the New York Times.
Apple, please help to save private e-mail encryption
After the latest Mac OS upgrade (Sierra) – GPG encryption of mail doesn’t work. Apparently, the GPGTools-people need to do a lot of reverse engineering. And as they kindly offer the world encryption for free their resources are limited.
This might lead to people turning away from e-mail encryption, at a point in time where more people ought to take it up. This should be an argument strong enough for Apple to give the GPG-team a helping hand.
But there are also other implications that ought to catch Apple’s attention:
- If GPG does not work, people might refrain from updating their Mac OS.
- All new Macs are delivered with Sierra, forcing people who have invested in new Apple hardware either to quit using e-mail encryption or using a cumbersome workaround.
- People who still want GPG/PGP encryption might – or rather will – turn away from the Mac platform to Windows or Linux.
It is clearly in Apple’s best interest to get GPG mail encryption working again.
/ HAX
Digital rights: What to expect in 2017
By HAX on January 13, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, Copyright, Data Protection, Data Retention, EU, Freedom of Speech, Hacktivism, Human rights, Internet, Privacy
EDRi: 2017 – another extremely challenging year for digital rights »
EU proposal: All travel to be registered
By HAX on January 6, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, EU, PNR, Police state, Privacy, War on Terror
I cannot say that I am surprised. I have seen this coming, for a long time:
Jambon’s plan takes this initiative [PNR] and applies it to other means of transport. It will mean that anyone wanting to travel by rail, sea or by bus to another EU country will have to register their information.
Fighting terrorism is just a pretext. Politicians want ever more control and surveillance of the people. They will not be satisfied until there is total control.
• Euractiv: Belgium prepares to present passenger data plans to rest of EU »
• Techdirt: Belgium Wants EU Nations To Collect And Store Personal Data Of Train, Bus And Boat Passengers »