GCHQ and the NSA have spied on air passengers using in-flight GSM mobile services for years, newly-published documents originally obtained by Edward Snowden reveal.
Ars Technica: Snowden leaks reveal GCHQ and NSA snooped on in-flight mobile calls »
Archive | surveillance
FBI going global
Today, the FBI becomes a global adversary and enemy to every security-conscious computer user and to every IT security professional, similar to how the mass surveillance agencies are treated. The FBI has requested, and been granted, the lawful power (in the US) to intrude into any computer in the entire world.
Falkvinge: Today, the FBI becomes the enemy of every computer user and every security professional worldwide »
The FBI dragnet
“We have never, in our nation’s history as far as I can tell, seen a warrant so utterly sweeping,” federal public defender Colin Fieman said in a hearing at the end of October, according to the transcript. Fieman is representing several defendants in affected cases.
Motherboard: The FBI Hacked Over 8,000 Computers In 120 Countries Based on One Warrant »
Trump and mass surveillance: You were warned
Suddenly, after the US presidential election, people seems to realize that mass surveillance is a problem.
Time Magazine: President Obama Should Shut Down the NSA’s Mass Spying Before It’s Too Late »
Well, yes. But…
Isn’t mass surveillance a problem, regardless of who is in power?
Isn’t it naive to assume that others will not and do not misuse the surveillance apparatus?
Time writes:
During the Obama administration, warrantless spying programs have vastly expanded, giving the government more power than ever before to constantly monitor all of us by collecting our emails, texts, phone records, chats, real-time locations, purchases, and other private information en masse. This indiscriminate spying isn’t just happening in some National Security Agency bunker. It has reportedly spread throughout dozens of agencies, from local police departments to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, and more.
Trump has repeatedly called for more government surveillance. And he has made it very clear exactly how he would use such powers: to target Muslims, immigrant families, marginalized communities, political dissidents, and journalists.
This describes pretty well what the problem is and who is responsible.
The danger of all of this one day falling into the »wrong« hands ought to have been obvious from the very beginning.
It’s naive to claim that Big Brotherism is a problem in just some cases, used by some political forces, with some specific justifications. Mass surveillance is a problem by its very nature and to its core – regardless who is in power. Always.
Naturally, the mass surveillance apparatus in the hands of Donald Trump is a deeply disturbing notion.
But you should have considered such a risk from the very beginning. You were warned. Repeatedly.
/ HAX
Trump won – now what?
By HAX on November 9, 2016 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, Democracy, IT security, surveillance, US
In some sort of a reaction against the political elite, a corrupt system, and political correctness – the US has elected Donald Trump as president.
On the one hand, it is more or less impossible to foresee the president elects politics on IT, mass surveillance, and civil rights. (OK, he has opened up for torture of suspected terrorists – but I’m not sure that he himself will remember or stand by that.)
On the other hand, he might quickly become a prisoner of the system. When it comes to day-to-day politics elected politicians have surprisingly limited powers. It is also possible that president Trump will leave everything but big, symbolic issues to governments civil servants.
And with two houses of Congress and the Supreme Court – the US has a reasonably well-founded and stable system when it comes to separation of powers. The system ought to be able to handle one branch going a bit la-di-da.
However, Donald Trump has very little understanding of the Internet, IT-related issues and the principles of human and civil rights. Caution is recommended.
And, by the way – what will happen to Julian Assange?
Here are some other voices on the president-elect:
• What The Election Means For Stuff Techdirt Cares About? »
• A madman has been given the keys to the surveillance state »
• Donald Trump elected US president: What it means for tech and science »
/ HAX
Big Brother in UK schools
According to a report by Big Brother Watch, “classroom management software” is running on over 800,000 computers, laptops, and mobile phones found in 1,000 secondary schools across England and Wales. (…)
Classroom management software allows the screens of an entire class to be monitored from a teacher’s desktop, and for both the historical and real-time Web activity of a pupil to be accessed. Keystrokes can be watched, and alerts created to flag up “inappropriate” words. More generally, the systems can try to spot “bad” behaviour online, including signs of “extremism and radicalisation.”
Ars Technica: Spyware routinely installed by UK schools to snoop on kids’ Web habits »
Germany: Illegal mass surveillance now legal
German Bundestag and Bundesrat have approved new rules for mass surveillance, at record speed.
In essence, what was illegal but done anyway now is legal.
This follows the uncovering of BND mass surveillance on a huge scale. Now this control of cross-border and national telecommunications can continue as if nothing has happened.
Eilverfahren: Bundesrat winkt BND-Netzüberwachung im NSA-Stil durch »
/ HAX
Scandals, scandals, scandals…
The Intercept: Three New Scandals Show How Pervasive and Dangerous Mass Surveillance Is in the West, Vindicating Snowden »
Mass surveillance data for sale
Rick Falkvinge:
As mass surveillance was introduced, we were promised it was only for combating terrorism and violent uprisings. Then, it was used mostly to combat illegal drug trade. As the surveillance is outsourced to private actors, and they’re seeking additional revenue streams, it’s now an option on the table – today – for insurance companies to access mass surveillance data to price a car insurance.
Oups!
Reuters:
Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers’ incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter.
Exclusive: Yahoo secretly scanned customer emails for U.S. intelligence – sources »