Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

November 5, 2012 — xanthippa

F***king Guy Fawkes day!

(OK – I need to explain the profanity….it’s a reference to an Ed McBain detective story where a transplanted Brit became a New York cop and riles on and on about the ‘f***king Guy Fawkes’.  Now, my hubby and I cannot say ‘Guy Fawkes’ without the preceding expletive…)

Well, since the Anonymous hactivists have adopted the movie ‘Guy Fawkes’ mask as their method of anonymization, ***** Guy Fawkes day has, traditionally, been a special day for them.  A day they call people to action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lB3wHORlehk

Here, in Canada, the government has banned masks from all protests – so that technology with facial recognition may be used to identify even peaceful protesters…

Why?

You should be asking not just yourself, but also your government representatives!

My advice?  If you plan to attend a demonstration of any kind, get a niqab or a burqa:  our governments may feel free to strip the rights away from non-favoured groups, but are too squeamish to strip those same rights away from militant Islamists.  Rather than bitching about it, we ought to use it!

And, you should not be willing to submit to the creep of ever-increasing surveillance.

Yes, we cannot avoid some of it – it has already become extremely pervasive in our society.

But it does not mean that we should not fight back against the creep!

And, creeping it is….

For example, a judge in the US has just ruled that the police do not need a warrant to install surveillance equipment to monitor your private property – even if it is fenced off and ‘no trespassing’ signs are posted all over the place.

And while we all know the tracking capabilities of smart phones and GPS units in vehicles (I’ve had mine physically unplugged, but the newer ones are being installed into the starter, so that the vehicle will not function if the GPS tracking has been disabled), did you know that seemingly innocuous items like asthma inhalers, will soon collect the data on everywhere you’ve been and report it to your MD or any government authority that demands the data?

Because if the data exists, somewhere, somehow, all kinds of government agencies can demand it.  It will always be turned over to them if they get a warrant, but it will also ‘usually’ be turned over to them by the companies (or individuals) who hold the info – and who fear that if they do not co-operate with ‘the authorities’, they will be targeted and put out of business through ‘targeted regulations enforcement’.

Don’t think this is happening?

Think of Buckey-balls!!!

Privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past – governments know more and more about all aspects of our lives.

Don’t like it?

There is nowhere left to run…

Sure, you can do the basic things, like avoid the ‘points’ cards (they are simple tools of profiling and your profile is being sold for profit), pay cash, avoid using anything with a GPS in it, and so on.

Anonymous is taking it a step further – they actively urged everyone to use the occasion of F***cking Guy Fawkes Day to hack the organizations most active in conducting electronic surveillance and profiling.

So, how did it go?

There were protests in front of the British Parliament.

A couple of thousand Anonymous supporters held a demonstration in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Finance Minister (Canada) Jim Flaherty’s personal website was hacked – and downed for several hours.

NBC and Lady Gaga were also hacked.

Zynga and Facebook were bitched at.

Various bits of hacked data, including VMware source code, were publicly posted.

The most evil PayPal was hacked, as well as Symantec and even the Auzzzie government…

If you have a PayPal account (shame on you), you might want to consider changing your password, like, now – as there are reports PayPal account passwords were hacked and leaked.

TrapWire and INDECT were also hacked.

ZDNet has an excellent roundup – including updates and clarifications. (via TechEYE)

Sounds like a lot of hactivists were busy little beavers today!

 

 

 

 

 

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Good news/bad news in the field of electronic communication

June 14, 2012 — xanthippa

The bad new is – predictably – coming from legislators.  This time, in the UK.

They are introducing a bill which would force all internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor, log and store all electronic communication.  But more than just that:  they would also collect data about the physical electronic equipment used in the communication, who is communicating with whom and a long list of other intrusive measures.  And, yes – physical communication would be similarly monitored, copying addresses from envelopes and packages and keeping the info for the government’s reference…

But, don’t worry!  Home Office Secretary Theresa May said:

 “Unless you are a criminal, then you’ve nothing to worry about from this new law.”

Ooooooh, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy…

OK, so the governments all over the world are using the fact that we are all distracted by the looming economic crisis (created by their corruption) to impose ever more intrusive surveillance on us.

And we should not worry, unless we are criminals!

Until, that is, the government decides that holding the views we hold makes us criminals…

Well, before we all get too depressed, let me get to the good news – predictably, from the world of science and technology.

While quantum cryptography has not quite delivered the desired level of security through encrypted communication that many of us had hoped it would, it seems that emerging technology based on the good old second law of thermodynamics just might give us a glimmer of hope!

‘Once again the secrecy is guaranteed by the laws of physics but instead of quantum mechanics, Kish and co say the second law of thermodynamics provides the necessary underwriting. That’s the same law that prohibits perpetual motion machines powered by heat from the environment.’

The goal of achieving securely encrypted communication is always to make sure the two parties communicating can decrypt the signal but anyone intercepting the message would lack the tools to decode it.  This newly announced method sounds great and secure.

Let’s hope it becomes generally used by ‘everyone’  before surveillance laws leave us frightened and silenced!

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Thunderf00t: Pakistan Blocks Twitter of Draw Mohammad Day 3

May 24, 2012 — xanthippa

 

I hope Thunderf00t is right:  that people will look back at this point – the invention of the internet – as the turning point when the power of the individual came to its own…but I am nowhere near as optimistic.

I fear that this point in time will be seen as a tiny spark of light that, for a tiny moment, brought us light until it was smothered by heavy-handed regulation and became yet another tool of surveillance and oppression.

Yes, the desensitization method of approaching the Islamist sensitivities is working – for now.  And that is a great thing!

But soon, even this type of action may be impossible – not because of any Islamist response but because of the fear of expressing oneself honestly on the internet.

From OpenMedia:

 

 

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Reason TV’s ‘Nanny of the Month’ awards for April, 2012

May 1, 2012 — xanthippa

Hey, that’s just like in Ender’s Game – you know, that award-winning, classic sci-fi novel for youth that a teachecher in North Carolina got suspended for reading from to students?  (OK – you don’t learn about the chip in the clothing that tracks the students’ every movement until book 2 in the series, Ender’s Shadow, but you get the picture…)

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An ISP we all need!

April 13, 2012 — xanthippa

Historically, ISPs have readily handed over subscriber info to ‘authorities’ for the asking – no waiting for a warrant or such silly concepts as ‘due process’.

Subscribers had no choice in the matter:  if you wanted to hook up to the internet, the pipeline was controlled by ISPs who all placed submissiveness to authorities above protecting the civil liberties of their subscribers.  Their subscription contracts made this clear – either waive your civil liberties or get your internet service from somebody else!

Except that this condition was in all the ISPs contracts, so that there was nobody else to go to!

So much for ‘free markets’…  When all the terms of service were – at least, in this respect – almost identical, there was no consumer choice:  no way to vote with your dollar.

When civil libertarians and privacy watchdogs pointed out how these ‘industry practices’ abrogate civil liberties of the consumers and that it may, in fact, be illegal, legislators quickly passed laws to permit it.

This, in effect, permits the ISPs to share content of your email (this might be a good time to check out HushMail), your web-surfing history – heck, they can even install key-loggers and pass all that information on to agents of ‘the State’.  Expectation of privacy?  What is this ‘privacy’ thing – this word no longer exist in the dictionary!

This is about to change.  If Nick Merrill has anything to say about it, that is!

From CNET News:

‘Merrill, 39, who previously ran a New York-based Internet provider, told CNET that he’s raising funds to launch a national “non-profit telecommunications provider dedicated to privacy, using ubiquitous encryption” that will sell mobile phone service, for as little as $20 a month, and Internet connectivity.

The ISP would not merely employ every technological means at its disposal, including encryption and limited logging, to protect its customers. It would also — and in practice this is likely more important — challenge government surveillance demands of dubious legality or constitutionality.’

Which is the thing we truly need!

So, some might say, what about the ‘baddies’?  What about organized crime or terrorists or child pornographers?  They will be the first to want to take advantage of this, would they not?

Of course:  but that is why we have the police forces. It is their job to ferret these ‘baddies’ out:  but, with great power comes great responsibility.

In the case of the police, this responsibility is checked by judicial oversight.  Sure, it is more legwork – but we know that humans nature is always the weakest link in the chain, and it precisely because of human nature that these checks and balances have been instituted, it is to make sure power is not abused that due process must be followed.  Knowing the police are not taking shortcuts will even make the public trust them more, making their jobs easier, instead of the growing distrust people have that police and/or other ‘authorities’ will abuse their position to our detriment.

When agents of the State are permitted to circumvent judicial oversight and what we consider to be ‘due process’ – whether by relaxing the standards so that this becomes ‘standard’ and ‘accepted’ practice (like government agents routinely asking for – and receiving – private information about someone from a third party without judicial oversight) or by passing laws that reduce the integrity of what constitutes ‘due process’ (oh, like, say, ‘The Patriot Act’), we all loose!

I, for one, escaped from a life in a police state. It pains me greatly so see our society move – slowly, but definitely – towards the type of state which I escaped from.

So – civil-liberties-mided, customer-privacy-focused ISP providers:  COME ON!  WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!

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OpenMedia: Warrantless online spying is back on!

March 8, 2012 — xanthippa

From an email from OpenMedia:

Instead of listening to you and the other 117,000 Canadians who demanded an end to the Online Spying bill, the government is going on the PR offensive with a one-two punch.

You won’t believe this: With one side of their mouth, they’ve leaked stories1 falsely suggesting that they are standing down. With the other, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has shot back with op-eds2, misleading mass emails3, and speeches in Parliament that aggressively defend the bill4.

There’s only a small window of opportunity for MPs to put a stop to warrantless online spying.

Will you call on your MP to use our new tool to stand with Canadians today?

Over 117,000 Canadians from across the political spectrum have signed the Stop Online Spying petition, and many of you took to Twitter to raise your voices. Because of your efforts, the opposition parties and several Conservative MPs5 have come out against the costly online spying plan.

Yet Vic Toews has still not apologized for misleading Canadians; he’s even continued to use our children as political cover for this poorly thought-out legislation.

Let’s push back. Now is the time to tell your MP to stand with us against warrantless online spying—every action makes all of our voices louder.

We know from experience that MPs get the message when contacted by local constituents. It makes sense: they’re acutely aware that elections are won riding by riding. This means that together, as a wide-reaching grassroots community, we have power.

This can only work if we raise our voices together. Please take a second to tell your MP to stand with us as a Pro-Privacy politician.

Our efforts together have so far forced the government to delay their online spying plan. Let’s take the next step.

For the Internet,

Shea and Lindsey, on behalf of your OpenMedia.ca team

P.S. Thanks to all of you who contributed when we asked for help in scaling up our campaign. The tools and actions we’re offering now are only possible because of your generous support. We’ll send all of you contributors a special report back soon to show what you made possible. If you haven’t chipped in yet, you can still do so here.

 

Footnotes

[1] See our press release, Government to Stall the Online Spying Bill
[2] Find one of Toews’ more recent op-eds, which he submitted to Postmedia News, here.
[3] See Mythbusting the mythbusting: Our response to Vic Toews’ email to Canadians
[4] Watch Vic Toews’ February 28th speech in the House of Commons here, and our video mash-up debunking his points here.
[5] Source: National Post. Conservative MPs who have expressed concerns with the online spying bill include New Brunswick MP John Williamson, Calgary MP Rob Anders, and Ontario MP David Tilson.

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Mozilla introduces ‘Collusion’

February 29, 2012 — xanthippa

I have not tried it yet, but it has certainly peaked my interest.  According to Mozilla:

‘Collusion is an experimental add-on for Firefox and allows you to see all the third parties that are tracking your movements across the Web. It will show, in real time, how that data creates a spider-web of interaction between companies and other trackers. ‘

I think I’llk go play with the demo now…

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UN wants to ‘regulate’ the internet

February 22, 2012 — xanthippa

As if SOPA, ACTA Bill C-30 were not enough, there is a new threat to the information superhighway – from the United Nations, none the less.  From The Wall Street Journal:

On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year’s end. As Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said last June, his goal and that of his allies is to establish “international control over the Internet” through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a treaty-based organization under U.N. auspices.

If successful, these new regulatory proposals would upend the Internet’s flourishing regime, which has been in place since 1988. That year, delegates from 114 countries gathered in Australia to agree to a treaty that set the stage for dramatic liberalization of international telecommunications. This insulated the Internet from economic and technical regulation and quickly became the greatest deregulatory success story of all time.

 

Really?

Does this not illustrate that it is:

  • time to leave the UN – iff we cannot de-legitimize and dismantle the organization as a whole
  • time to really push to establish an internet substitute which is diffused, so that there are no pipelines which could be controlled by any regulatory body (the current technology that could be used for this is still under development – and much too slow)

Yeah, I have called for both these things in the past, but perhaps the time is running out faster than we expected…

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More thoughts about the issues of ‘privcy’ and ‘presumption of privacy’

February 21, 2012 — xanthippa

Over the weekend, this video, purported to be from ‘Anonymous’, was released.  It demands that the Canadian Minister, Vic Toews, remove bill C-30 (which would permit civil servants unlimited snooping powers on the citizens via the internet without judicial oversight) and that he step down immediately.

The following video also purports to be from ‘Anonymous’.  As I have no connection to that group, I have no idea if it is authentic.  However, I do think it is worth posting because it raises several issues worth further discussion:

This video raises the connection between the desire by various governments to regulate arms and to regulate the internet.

This is a deeper connection that one may think, at first glance.  But, deep down, both are attempts to take away the citizen’s ability to protect themselves – including, if necessary, to resist their government.  Both are ways in which governments make their citizens less secure, more isolated, and more afraid of their government.

Even if you are not as libertarian in your views as I am (I think that monopoly control over infrastructure – even, or perhaps especially, information infrastructure – is perilous to civil liberties), it is easy to see how governments are threatened by citizenry that is difficult to control and willing and able to oppose them.

Firearms are a means of physical self-defense and an equalizer between the strong and the weak.  Even a small woman can protect herself from a rapist with the use of a gun:  her physical safety is no longer dependant solely on the timely response of the state to come to her aid.  This threatens the government monopoly on the enforcement of laws:  as every monopoly’s natural reaction would be, the government’s reaction is to restrict this competition.

Let’s be clear about this:  government ‘regulation’ of firearms is not about increasing public safety by having many well trained, well armed citizens available in public spaces who would be able to stop law-breakers and thus increase public safety.  To the contrary:  it is always specifically designed to restrict gun ownership, use, and the very presence of privately owned guns in public spaces.  This intolerance on the part of government of guns in private hands – even though this increases public safety – is indicative of the government’s disrespect for its citizenry, with the goal to increase government coercive powers at the root of all ‘arms regulations’.

Information is a weapon and a powerful one.

So is anonymous speech.

The internet enables both.

As a matter of principle, anonymous speech is necessary for the preservation of the very freedom of speech.  For example, The Federalist Papers could never have been published had their authors not had absolute anonymity at the time of publication!  The bigger the government is, the more dangerous it is to speak up against it openly.  Without anonymous speech, governments do indeed become more totalitarian and more tyrannical in nature:  this cycle has been repeated so often, it is blatant.

Yet, the ever-growing governments in the formerly-free world now wish to have complete and unfettered access to the information which would identify each and every internet user:  to be able to attach a name to every sentence uttered on the internet, from seeking sensitive advice at an online support group to dissenting political speech!

Of course, the governments are also increasing citizen surveillance on so many fronts…  There will soon be no arena where we do have ‘presumption to privacy’, not even in our homes and certainly not anywhere else.  So, the whole ‘getting a warrant’ might be a mute issue…

Technology is beautiful – but it is a tool, to be used for good or evil.  It is necessary that we understand these tools because our society will need to evolve along with them.  What am I talking about?

For example, drone-based aerial surveillance…

Or this totally awesome ‘bug thech’!  (Do watch the video, it is art and technology combined!)

What is my point?

As new technologies arise, we will need to develop laws to govern their use.  However, these laws (all laws, really) ought to be focused on protecting the civil libeties of individual citizens – not legitimizing the ways that governments and big business can circumvent them!

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Canadian Constitution Foundation on Brian Lilley: warrantless searches

February 18, 2012 — xanthippa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXMmLC7FqB8&feature=colike

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