Blogging for the 5th of July Foundation on Security, Privacy and Liberty
To see how blatantly false The Guardian’s claims are, all one needs to do is compare the claims about what Assange said in the interview to the text of what he actually said.
The Intercept: The Guardian’s Summary of Julian Assange’s Interview Went Viral and Was Completely False »
The European Commission’s proposal on copyright attempts something very ambitious — two different measures that would restrict free speech, squeezed into a single article of a legislative proposal. (…)
1) Requires internet companies to install filtering technology to prevent the upload of content that has been “identified by rightsholders”. (…)
2) Seeks to make internet providers responsible for their users’ uploads. (…)
3) Gives internet users no meaningful protection from unfair deletion of their creations.
Medium: EU Copyright Directive — privatised censorship and filtering of free speech »
The U.S. government quietly began requesting that select foreign visitors provide their Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts upon arriving in the country, a move designed to spot potential terrorist threats that drew months of opposition from tech giants and privacy hawks alike.
Politico: U.S. government begins asking foreign travelers about social media »
Techcrunch:
The highest court in Europe today ruled that “general and indiscriminate” data retention directives contravene European Union law — dealing a significant blow to governments and organizations who have been pushing for stronger surveillance and data collection, and giving a boost to privacy advocates in the process.
• Ars Technica: Investigatory Powers law setback: Blanket data slurp is illegal—top EU court »
• Techcrunch: EU court rejects data retention law, throwing cold water on UK’s ‘Snooper’s Charter’ »
The Snowden revelations on US NSA spying in Germany still poison relations between UK (and US) intelligence community and their German counterparts.
Relations between British and German spy chiefs have hit rock bottom because London says its counterparts in Berlin cannot be trusted to keep secrets. (…)
The source said: ‘It has now reached the point where there is virtual radio silence between the two biggest and most important intelligence services of the western world and the BND of Germany.
‘Germany is worried because it needs the umbrella protection of these agencies. It is virtually blind without it.’
This also concerns German requests for information demanded by the German Bundestag’s (parliaments) committee on mass surveillance:
Both the UK and America refused to send any of the requested files to Germany. Included among them was a demand for information about a 2013 operation handled by both countries – and in co-operation with the BND – which was, and remains, top secret but was known to involve a massive surveillance programme on suspected Islamic terrorists across Europe.
Britain fears a ‘big debate’ in the German parliament which would lay open secret sources and intelligence gathering techniques.
To complicate matters even more, the German Bundestag is searching for a »Wikileaks mole« – said to leak information from the said NSA investigative committee.
The Daily Mail » German spies ‘can’t be trusted’: Relations between the UK and Berlin intelligence chiefs hit after comments by London »
Berliner Morgenpost » Bundestagspolizei sucht Wikileaks-Maulwurf im Parlament »
Cuba’s state-run telecommunications company Etecsa has signed a deal with Google that will enable faster access to content from the American company.
Under the deal, the technology giant will install servers in Cuba to improve connectivity speeds to Google services, including Gmail and YouTube. (…)
Even though most Cubans are likely to see the deal with Google as a step forward, it will do little to change the overall online accessibility in the country.
BBC: Cuba signs deal for faster internet access to Google content »
“It is a dangerous path to go down, which forces Internet providers to monitor and evaluate content on the Internet and block websites with illegal content in order to avoid becoming accomplices,” the companies write in a joint statement.
Torrentfreak » ISPs: Blocking The Pirate Bay is Dangerous Censorship »
Would you like your government to have more insight into your personal finances than you have yourself? That’s where we’re heading with the ongoing “war on cash” – into a world where every transaction is not just loggable by the government (or a government-coerced agent), but where you can also be held responsible for anything and everything you buy and sell.
Falkvinge: The war on cash being justified as “necessary against organized crime” is the worst excuse ever »
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 »
It is an obvious and grotesque injustice to detain someone for six years who hasn’t even been charged with an offence.
Observer: Pressure Builds for UK and Sweden to Release WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange »
Swedish hearing with Assange & timeline »
The Independent: Julian Assange releases full testimony to Swedish prosecutors six years after rape allegation »