The Intercept: Three New Scandals Show How Pervasive and Dangerous Mass Surveillance Is in the West, Vindicating Snowden »
Big Brotherism, by platform
Source: The Economist
“Lost in the splinternet”
The Economist: Left unchecked, the growing maze of barriers on the internet will damage economies and hamper political freedom »
Meanwhile, in China…
Tech Dirt: Chinese Police Dub Censorship Circumvention Tools As ‘Terrorist Software’ »
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.
The UN is morally corrupt
A majority of the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council are non-democratic. Obviously, this is a problem – if we presume human rights to have anything to do with fundamental democratic principles such as free speech, a free press and free and fair elections.
With countries such as China, Cuba, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the council – one must also doubt what it will and can do when it comes to the right to fair trials, the issue of cruel and unusual punishments and the death penalty.
A Human Rights Council that is not committed to democracy and human rights is a travesty, a mockery of the UN:s own declaration of human rights.
The Council members are appointed by the UN General Assembly. So, obviously, not even the UN:s central body can be trusted when it comes to human rights issues. Sorry to say, I am not surprised.
The UN is morally corrupt.
/ HAX
Meanwhile, in Vietnam…
EU public-private censorship outside the law
According to the Code, the four companies do not need to check if the content they delete is illegal or not.
TED will let you speak to the world – anonymously
Ideas are powerful things. So powerful, in fact, that regardless of the messenger or medium an idea can stand on its own and change the world. That’s the theory behind a new creative initiative from TED—and its significance can’t be overstated. (…)
TED is teaming with Audible, the podcasts and audiobook company, to produce audio content for TED. The twist: The presenter will be completely anonymous. (…)
As TED President Chris Anderson wrote in his Medium post about this new project, “What matters is only what can be shared: an idea that matters.” Explaining further why some might choose to anonymously share their ideas, he asked: “How many people have an important message but refrain from ‘going public’ out of fear of losing their jobs or hurting loved ones? How many ideas worth spreading remain hidden because some speakers simply can’t publicly be associated with the very thing the world needs to hear?”
Wired: Anonymous Speech Is More Important Than Ever. TED Proves It »
WOT: Your surf history for sale
The browser plug-in WOT (Web of Trust) is supposed to warn users about unsafe web pages. But now it turns out that it puts users privacy at serious risk.
From the WOT web page “Secure a simple and safe browsing experience. Our add-on doesn’t slow your browser, it’s easy to use and free.”
As per usual when something is free, it is likely to turn out that you are the product.
WOT collects data from your web sessions (like your surf history) and sends it – allegedly anonymized – to their server. Then this data is sold to e.g. the advertising industry.
Today, German media have more or less exploded with reports of such data for sale not being properly anonymized.
Investigative reporters have gained access to a WOT database where individual users can be identified. In the reports, there are mentions of police officers, judges, journalists, business leaders, and others – and their surf history e.g. when it comes to medical matters, prostitutes, drugs and esoteric erotic pleasures.
On Chrome alone, WOT has some 1.5 million users.
NDR: Nackt im Netz: Millionen Nutzer ausgespäht »
/ HAX