A trailer for the upcoming Vice documentary Britain’s Secret Surveillance.
Archive | UK
The rise of soft authoritarianism
By HAX on October 5, 2015 in Big Brother, China, Civil liberties, Democracy, Human rights, surveillance, UK
The mere knowledge of mass surveillance will have a chilling effect on free speech, opposition and an open society. Even if no politician or bureaucrat will say it out loud — this might be a very calculated side effect of modern Big Brotherism.
In UK schools an add-on to its existing Education Pro digital classroom management tool will be used to monitor schoolchildren, bringing the teachers attention to use of “radicalisation keywords”.
“The keywords list, which was developed in collaboration with the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism organisation that is closely aligned with the government, consists of more than 1,000 trigger terms including “apostate”, “jihadi” and “Islamism”, and accompanying definitions.”
This might flag any pupil working with fully legitime school work as a potential terrorist. The list also includes terms used in a “far right” context and names of groups and individuals defined as “terrorists or extremists”. And, of course, no one will know what words and terms will be on the list in the future. That will be up to tomorrows politicians and bureaucrats to decide. We can only hope that they are fair and decent people. All of them.
“Teachers can also save screenshots or video of a student’s screen which, Impero suggests, could provide “key evidence” to be shared with Channel, the government’s counter-radicalisation programme for young people. The software also features a “confide” function, allowing students to report concerns about classmates anonymously.”
So, British schoolchildren will have to think carefully about what they write in the future. They also must be aware of the fact that other students might act as informants. It is not difficult to see how this will create a climate of fear and uneasiness. (And new forms of bullying.)
Read more: UK: Keyword warning software in schools raises red flag »
And the Chinese have taken soft authoritarianism and informant culture one step further: There your credit score is now affected by your political activities and opinions — and those of your friends. This will apply to everything from your online shopping to your possibility to get a visa for travelling abroad.
This is nightmarish. If you stand up for your ideas, opinions and human rights in China, you will not only put yourself in harms way — but also your friends and your relatives.
This might be a much more effective way to stifle dissent than using classic tools of oppression.
The modern orwellian society seems to be turning out to be more orwellian than George Orwell could ever have imagined.
/ HAX
Some links…
By HAX on September 29, 2015 in Big Brother, BND, GCHQ, Germany, NSA & Snowden, Privacy, TPB, UK, US
The Intercept: PROFILED – From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities »
Falkvinge: GCHQ Is Building A Stasi Archive On Steroids: Why Are People Still Surprised? »
EU Law Analysis: American Mass Surveillance of EU citizens: Is the End Nigh? »
The Daily Dot: FBI and DEA under review for use of NSA mass surveillance data »
TorrentFreak: Pirate Bay Founder Finally Free After Three Years »
Framing Julian Assange
Wikileaks editor in chief Julian Assange is still a refugee at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Assange is suspected of sexual misconduct in Sweden. He has yet not been charged with anything. His case has already been dismissed by one Swedish prosecutor — but reopened by another, issuing an European Arrest Warrant to have him interrogated in Sweden. British courts allowed extradition to Sweden, despite Assange fearing that the Swedes might hand him over to the US. (Where a grand jury apparently is preparing a case against him.) Then, Assange jumped bail and was granted political asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy.
I will leave the substance of the Swedish case aside in this blog post. But I can tell you, it’s very thin.
Now the statutory time period for charging Assange with the lesser of the alleged crimes in Sweden is running out. (Other parts of the investigation will remain open for another five years.)
For years Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny has refused to conduct an interview with Assange i London. (Even before his escape to the Ecuadorean embassy.) She claimed that it cannot be done, that Swedish prosecutors cannot do that. That was a plain lie. (Hell, even I have been interviewed by a Swedish prosecutor abroad.) Swedish courts and even the British government have urged Ms Ny to have this done and over with.
Finally, Friday June 12:th this summer, Swedish authorities sent a letter to the Ecuadorean embassy in Sweden — asking for an interview with Assange in London only five days later (including the weekend). To no surprise the embassy in Stockholm, the Ecuadorean government and their embassy in London did not manage to coordinate this in just a few days. So there was no interview.
Now the investigation of the suspected crimes of a lesser degree will be closed. Julian Assange will still be suspected of wrongdoing, in the public view. But not able to clear his name (in these parts) anymore. At the same time the investigations of the remaining suspected crimes will stay open, the European Arrest Warrant will still be in force and Assange will still be stuck at the embassy in London.
A perfect way for various governments to keep an inconvenient journalist in limbo, if you ask me.
/ HAX
Experts: No to encryption back doors
From the New York Times…
“An elite group of security technologists has concluded that the American and British governments cannot demand special access to encrypted communications without putting the world’s most confidential data and critical infrastructure in danger.”
“Such access will open doors through which criminals and malicious nation-states can attack the very individuals law enforcement seeks to defend,” the report said. “The costs would be substantial, the damage to innovation severe and the consequences to economic growth hard to predict. The costs to the developed countries’ soft power and to our moral authority would also be considerable.”
Raed more:
Security Experts Oppose Government Access to Encrypted Communication »
UK: Cameron sticks to a ban on encryption
In the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has reaffirmed his commitment to ban encryption.
Or, at least, to demand “back doors” to all encrypted communication tools.
Is this political posturing or genuine ignorance?
Practically everyone who knows anything about encryption can tell you that “back doors” to encrypted communications is a contradiction in terms. Either you have encryption where only end users with proper keys can read our messages. Or you have non secure systems where not only the government but also foreign governments, criminals, corrupt officials and terrorists will be able to interfere with peoples communications.
And how would the British government enforce a ban on encryption? They would need to scrutinise and pre-approve all communication tools and apps on the market. Even non UK ones. And they would need to scan everything to make sure no one uses stand alone encryption tools in combination with ordinary communication tools such as e-mail.
The only way to uphold a ban on encryption is to control all our electronic communications. And even that will not work.
Furthermore, a ban on encryption would need to be world wide.
Link: David Cameron is going to try and ban encryption in Britain »
/ HAX
The Snowden spin war
The Sunday Times ran an article this weekend about the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. It claims that Russia and China have cracked the top-secret cache of files stolen by Snowden – and that the MI6 is believed to have pulled out spies because of this.
The whole piece is filled with strange statements, contradictions and obvious disinformation.
Here is some recommended reading, debunking the anti-Snowden spin…
Ryan J Gallagher: Questions About The Sunday Times Snowden Story »
Shami Chakrabarti in The Guardian: Let me be clear – Edward Snowden is a hero »
A comment from The Sunday Times » — (And a slightly longer version »)
Update: The Intercept — The Sunday Times’ Snowden Story is Journalism at its Worst — and Filled with Falsehoods »
Update 2: Techdirt — News Corp. Sends DMCA Notice Over Glenn Greenwald Trashing The Sunday Times’ Ridiculous Snowden Story »
Update 3: Techdirt — Reporter Who Wrote Sunday Times ‘Snowden’ Propaganda Admits That He’s Just Writing What UK Gov’t Told Him »
UK to escalate the war on encryption
The announced UK Investigatory Powers Bill is said to “force some of the world’s biggest internet companies including Google, Apple and Facebook to hand over encrypted messages from terror suspects”. (The Telegraph »)
To be fair, it should be pointed out that this specific part of the bill is said to be limited to “suspects under investigation”. So it’s not about blanket mass surveillance. But I’m sure that is being covered in other parts of the same bill, said to…
…”address ongoing capability gaps” that are hindering the ability of the security services to fight terrorism and other serious crime. (…)
A Home Office spokesman said the bill was a “landmark piece of legislation to cover the whole investigatory powers landscape in modern communications”.
I guess it’s going to be pretty bad. But back to the encryption issue. Ars Technica points out that…
In the face of these demands, some companies might decide to re-design their systems such that it would be impossible for them to break the encryption even if required to do so by law. This facility is already available from companies offering peer-to-peer encryption. If the UK government goes ahead with this plan, we are likely to see this approach being adopted by more communications providers and messaging apps, which would undermine the effectiveness of the proposed law.
So, the effect of far reaching legislation might actually be that it will be harder for authorities to obtain the information they want. Even in legitimate cases.
In the UK, you can be put in prison if you don’t surrender your encryption key to the authorities. But that isn’t much use when it comes to covert surveillance, is it?
With P2P encryption you can legislate as much as you want. It will not work.
This leaving the UK government with one option: To demand all P2P encryption to – somehow – be corrupted by back doors.
That would be a terrible idea. And if at all possible, it would only work with big, commonly used communication apps and systems. I cannot see how anything other than traditional and time consuming code breaking could be used against open source encryption software in P2P communications.
The only option left for the UK government might be to make such encryption illegal. And trust me, this is an option that will be taken under consideration…
The war on encryption is now entering the madcap phase.
/ HAX
• The Telegraph: Google and Whatsapp will be forced to hand messages to MI5 »
• Ars Technica: New UK law would give government access to encrypted Internet messaging apps »
• Ars Technica: The new war on encryption is based on a lie »
Queens Speech and Big Brother
By HAX on May 27, 2015 in Big Brother, Censorship, Democracy, Freedom of Speech, Privacy, surveillance, UK
BBC summons up the Queens Speech from todays opening of the British Parliament. Here is what to expect when it comes to Big Brother-related bills…
Extremism Bill
This includes measures to tackle broadcasting of extremist material. The government wants to strengthen watchdog Ofcom so that it can take action against channels that transmit extremist content. The legislation will also propose the introduction of banning orders for extremist organisations who use hate speech in public places, but whose activities fall short of proscription. A new power to allow police and local authorities to close down premises used to support extremism will also feature. And employers will be able to check whether an individual is an extremist and barring them from working with children.
Investigatory Powers Bill
“New legislation will modernise the law on communications data,” the speech said. An Investigatory Powers Bill will revive plans to give intelligence agencies new tools to target communications data – branded a “snooper’s charter” by critics. The government says it will equip the police intelligence agencies with the tools to keep people safe.
…and what is not in the Queen’s Speech?
Although it appears in the Queen’s Speech, there is no legislation, either in full or draft form, on a British Bill of Rights. Instead, ministers will consult on the pros of replacing the Human Rights Act with a new legal framework of rights and responsibilities.
Read more at BBC – Queen’s Speech 2015: Bill-by-bill »
UK to ban anonymous porn surfing?
The UK is about to “shut down hardcore pornography websites that don’t put in place age-restriction controls”. The purpose is said to be to protect children from being exposed to pornography.
As a consequence, anonymous porn surfing will become impossible. This is bad, in many ways.
Porn surfing on the net is a way for many people to explore their sexuality and to learn more about non-mainstream sex. Not being able to do this anonymously will keep some people away. Maybe most people.
Keeping people away from anonymous surfing on esoteric porn sites may also have other, unintended consequences. If people are deterred from fulfilling their sexual fantasies online, they might move to other ways and places. Like your lokal park.
But what about the children? Well, I think they should be aware of sexuality, being ready to embrace it when that day comes. And it is moronic to believe that you can keep young people away from porn. All you may accomplish is to make “forbidden fruit” even more thrilling for them.
My guess is that the British Conservatives are just using children as a pretext for antiquated moral dominance. (Which seems a bit kinky to me.)
/ HAX
Links:
• Porn Websites Without Age Verification To Be Shut Down, Sajid Javid Pledges »
• Are a Tenth of the UK’s 12-Year-Olds Really ‘Addicted’ to Porn? »