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Trump executive order might freeze all transfer of personal data from the EU to the US

By HAX on January 26, 2017 in Big Brother, Big Data, Civil liberties, Data Protection, EU, EU-US Privacy Shield, Privacy, surveillance, Trump, US

This is interesting. US President Trumps executive order on »public safety« directs all federal agencies to exclude non-US citizens / non-permanent residents from the Privacy Act protection from mass surveillance.

It is very unclear what this will lead to when it comes to transfer of European personal data to the US. Under the so-called EU-US Privacy Shield, such data shall enjoy adequate privacy protection. There is already criticism that the arrangements in this agreement are too weak. And today’s executive order might invalidate them altogether.

If so, there can be no transfer of personal data from the EU to the US. This would have far-reaching consequences for US companies, from e.g. retail business to social networks.

The EU Commission seems to hope for special US legislation related to the Privacy Shield. But the question is if the above executive order doesn’t trump any such schemes.

/ HAX

Update / more input:
• Techcrunch: Trump order strips privacy rights from non-U.S. citizens, could nix EU-US data flows »
• Engadget: Trump signs executive order stripping non-citizens of privacy rights »
• EU Observer: Trump’s anti-privacy order stirs EU angst »
• Techdirt: Already Under Attack In Top EU Court, Privacy Shield Framework For Transatlantic Data Flows Further Undermined By Trump »

The new US President…

By HAX on January 26, 2017 in Manning, Trump, US

Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

Data in Ireland protected from US authorities?

By HAX on January 25, 2017 in Big Brother, Data Protection, Privacy, US

An evenly split federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that it won’t revisit its July decision that allowed Microsoft to squash a US court warrant for e-mail stored on its servers in Dublin, Ireland. The 4-4 vote by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals sets the stage for a potential Supreme Court showdown over the US government’s demands that it be able to reach into the world’s servers with the assistance of the tech sector. (…)

In its petition for a rehearing, the government said Microsoft didn’t have the legal right to defend the privacy of its e-mail customers, and that the July ruling isn’t good for national security.

Ars Technica: US has no right to seize data from world’s servers—court ruling stands »

In the Face of Oppression

By HAX on January 22, 2017 in Big Brother, Censorship, Civil rights, Democracy, EU, Freedom of Speech, Human rights, surveillance, US, War on Terror

Many people fear the new U.S. president, Donald Trump. They might be right. Or not. But I think that we might oversimplify this issue.

Yes, Mr. Trump has the image of a despot. But it might be dangerous to judge a book by its’ cover. Not that we should »underestimate« Trump – but because it might lead to a false sense of security in other cases.

Presidents Bush and Obama were the ones expanding the Surveillance State that has now been handed over to the new administration. Their responsibility is immense. And the way they themselves used mass surveillance justifies very strong criticism.

In Europe, democratically elected leaders are rolling out the most massive mass surveillance regime in history. May in the UK, the »Großkolaition« in Germany and the French – they are all creating tools that can very easily be used to oppress the people. This even goes for countries with strong(ish) democratic and human rights credentials, like Sweden.

The EU is setting up the first major system for selective censorship of the Internet. And it’s being done outside the democratic process and institutions, outside the rule of law.

There is every reason to closely watch what the new U.S. administration is up to. But there are equally strong reasons to watch what is going on in the rest of the western world, under the cloak of parliamentary democracy.

It’s not just about what first meets the eye, but what is being done.

/ HAX

Obama pardons Manning

By HAX on January 17, 2017 in Manning, US

President Obama commuted the majority of the 35-year sentence faced by Chelsea Manning, a former Army private and whistleblower who supplied diplomatic and military documents to Wikileaks. (…)

The terms of Obama’s commutation will have Manning freed on May 17, 2017, the New York Times reports.

Techcrunch: Chelsea Manning to be freed this May »

Manning – will it happen?

By HAX on January 16, 2017 in Manning, US

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich sent a letter this week to President Barack Obama requesting that Obama “grant the application for clemency submitted by Chelsea Manning and commute her sentence to time served.” The result of Obama taking this action would be the whistleblower’s prompt release from prison.

Noting that Manning “has already spent more time in prison than anyone previously convicted for providing information to the media,” the two former US House Members who have both run for president in their respective parties’ primaries, declare their belief that Manning “received a sentence that was excessively punitive and intended to send a chilling message to future potential whistleblowers acting in the public interest.”

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul Ask President Obama To Give Chelsea Time Served »

Until the end, Obama expands mass surveillance

By HAX on January 15, 2017 in Big Brother, NSA, Privacy, surveillance, US

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.

EFF: Obama Expands Surveillance Powers on His Way Out »

Manning: Presidential pardon – or not?

By HAX on January 11, 2017 in Manning, US

Chelsea Manning, the Army soldier who was handed a 35 years prison sentence in 2010 for leaking military files to Wikileaks, may be on President Obama’s short list of sentence commutations before he leaves office.

This comes from NBC News, which cited an unnamed Justice Department official. The report said a decision on Manning could come as soon as Wednesday, though Obama has until his last day in office to do so. High profile or controversial pardons and sentence commutations, as this would be, typically come at the end of presidents’ terms.

Vocativ: Chelsea Manning Is Reportedly On Obama’s Commutation Short List »

Boingboing: Chelsea Manning on the short list for commutation: call the White House at 202-456-1111 to help her »

Sweden – not so neutral, after all?

By HAX on January 9, 2017 in Big Brother, GCHQ, Intelligence, IT security, NSA, Rule of law, surveillance, Sweden, UK, US

Possible targets might be the administrators of foreign computer networks, government ministries, oil, defense, and other major corporations, as well as suspected terrorist groups or other designated individuals. Similar Quantum operations have targeted OPEC headquarters in Vienna, as well as Belgacom, a Belgian telecom company whose clients include the European Commission and the European Parliament. (…)

Significantly, while WINTERLIGHT was a joint effort between the NSA, the Swedish FRA, and the British GCHQ, the hacking attacks on computers and computer networks seem to have been initiated by the Swedes.

It’s worth keeping in mind that Swedish intelligence agency FRA – together with British GCHQ – declined to participate in the European Parliaments hearings on mass surveillance.

The New York Review of Books: The Swedish Kings of Cyberwar »

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