"Freedom on the Net is Freedom House’s annual survey and analysis of internet freedom around the world. This cutting-edge project consists of ground-breaking research and analysis, fact-based advocacy, and on-the-ground capacity building. The hallmark of our analysis is the annual Freedom on the Net report. It features a ranked, country-by-country assessment of online freedom, a global overview of the latest developments, as well as in depth country reports."
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Showing posts with label Internet surveillance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet surveillance. Show all posts
Dartmouth Encourages Faculty to Safeguard Students as Chinese Law Targets Free Speech Globally
"Protests in Hong Kong may seem far away for most Dartmouth students, but the Chinese government’s response — a new national security law with worldwide implications — has brought concerns about censorship and surveillance to Dartmouth itself. In the law’s wake, the College has issued a set of guidelines encouraging professors to take precautions when teaching about topics considered unpalatable by Beijing."
The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance
Link to Full Text
"Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly proliferating around the world. Startling developments keep emerging, from the onset of deepfake videos that blur the line between truth and falsehood, to advanced algorithms that can beat the best players in the world in multiplayer poker. Businesses harness AI capabilities to improve analytic processing; city officials tap AI to monitor traffic congestion and oversee smart energy metering. Yet a growing number of states are deploying advanced AI surveillance tools to monitor, track, and surveil citizens to accomplish a range of policy objectives—some lawful, others that violate human rights, and many of which fall into a murky middle ground."
"Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly proliferating around the world. Startling developments keep emerging, from the onset of deepfake videos that blur the line between truth and falsehood, to advanced algorithms that can beat the best players in the world in multiplayer poker. Businesses harness AI capabilities to improve analytic processing; city officials tap AI to monitor traffic congestion and oversee smart energy metering. Yet a growing number of states are deploying advanced AI surveillance tools to monitor, track, and surveil citizens to accomplish a range of policy objectives—some lawful, others that violate human rights, and many of which fall into a murky middle ground."
10 Most Censored Countries
"Repressive governments use sophisticated digital censorship and
surveillance alongside more traditional methods to silence independent
media.
Eritrea is the world's most censored country, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The list is based on CPJ's research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to surveillance of journalists and restrictions on internet and social media access.
Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and receive news and express opinions. These 10 countries flout the international standard by banning or severely restricting independent media and intimidating journalists into silence with imprisonment, digital and physical surveillance, and other forms of harassment. Self-censorship is pervasive."
Read on...
Eritrea is the world's most censored country, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The list is based on CPJ's research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to surveillance of journalists and restrictions on internet and social media access.
Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and receive news and express opinions. These 10 countries flout the international standard by banning or severely restricting independent media and intimidating journalists into silence with imprisonment, digital and physical surveillance, and other forms of harassment. Self-censorship is pervasive."
Read on...
Exploiting Emotions about Paris to Blame Snowden, Distract from Actual Culprits who Empowered ISIS
"Whistleblowers are always accused of helping America’s enemies (top Nixon aides accused Daniel Ellsberg of being a Soviet spy and causing the deaths of Americans with his leak); it’s just the tactical playbook that’s automatically used. So it’s of course unsurprising that ever since Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing enabled newspapers around the world to report on secretly implemented programs of mass surveillance, he has been accused by 'officials' and their various media allies of Helping The Terrorists™....
...But now we’ve entered the inevitable 'U.S. Officials Say' stage of the 'reporting' on the Paris attack — i.e., journalists mindlessly and uncritically repeat whatever U.S. officials whisper in their ear about what happened. So now credible news sites are regurgitating the claim that the Paris Terrorists were enabled by Snowden leaks — based on no evidence or specific proof of any kind, needless to say, but just the unverified, obviously self-serving assertions of government officials. But much of the U.S. media loves to repeat rather than scrutinize what government officials tell them to say. So now this accusation has become widespread and is thus worth examining with just some of the actual evidence."
Related Articles:
What Role did Encryption Play in Paris
Another Take on the Lessons of Paris Shootings for Encryption
Declaring War on Terror is Good Rhetoric, Bad Policy
"Whistleblowers are always accused of helping America’s enemies (top Nixon aides accused Daniel Ellsberg of being a Soviet spy and causing the deaths of Americans with his leak); it’s just the tactical playbook that’s automatically used. So it’s of course unsurprising that ever since Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing enabled newspapers around the world to report on secretly implemented programs of mass surveillance, he has been accused by 'officials' and their various media allies of Helping The Terrorists™....
...But now we’ve entered the inevitable 'U.S. Officials Say' stage of the 'reporting' on the Paris attack — i.e., journalists mindlessly and uncritically repeat whatever U.S. officials whisper in their ear about what happened. So now credible news sites are regurgitating the claim that the Paris Terrorists were enabled by Snowden leaks — based on no evidence or specific proof of any kind, needless to say, but just the unverified, obviously self-serving assertions of government officials. But much of the U.S. media loves to repeat rather than scrutinize what government officials tell them to say. So now this accusation has become widespread and is thus worth examining with just some of the actual evidence."
Related Articles:
What Role did Encryption Play in Paris
Another Take on the Lessons of Paris Shootings for Encryption
Declaring War on Terror is Good Rhetoric, Bad Policy
U.S. Receives Low Grades on Privacy and Surveillance from UN Committee @brennancenter https://t.co/c1Crdleanu
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) July 28, 2015
CISA: the dirty deal between Google and the NSA that no one is talking about http://t.co/QidLU3dx2j
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) July 30, 2015
Rampant Telecom Surveillance Conducted with little Transparency, Oversight
"Canadian telecommunications providers have been handing over vast amounts of customer information to law enforcement and government departments and agencies with little transparency or oversight, a new report says.
'We conclude that serious failures in transparency and accountability indicate that corporations are failing to manage Canadians' personal information responsibly,' says the report released by Citizen Lab today that examines how Canadian telecommunications data is monitored, collected and analyzed by groups such as police, intelligence and government agencies."
View the Full Report
"Canadian telecommunications providers have been handing over vast amounts of customer information to law enforcement and government departments and agencies with little transparency or oversight, a new report says.
'We conclude that serious failures in transparency and accountability indicate that corporations are failing to manage Canadians' personal information responsibly,' says the report released by Citizen Lab today that examines how Canadian telecommunications data is monitored, collected and analyzed by groups such as police, intelligence and government agencies."
View the Full Report
Communication Security Establishment's Cyberwarfare Toolbox Revealed
"Top-secret documents obtained by the CBC show Canada's electronic spy agency has developed a vast arsenal of cyberwarfare tools alongside its U.S. and British counterparts to hack into computers and phones in many parts of the world, including in friendly trade countries like Mexico and hotspots like the Middle East.
The little known Communications Security Establishment wanted to become more aggressive by 2015, the documents also said.
Revelations about the agency's prowess should serve as a 'major wakeup call for all Canadians,' particularly in the context of the current parliamentary debate over whether to give intelligence officials the power to disrupt national security threats, says Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, the respected internet research group at University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs."
"Top-secret documents obtained by the CBC show Canada's electronic spy agency has developed a vast arsenal of cyberwarfare tools alongside its U.S. and British counterparts to hack into computers and phones in many parts of the world, including in friendly trade countries like Mexico and hotspots like the Middle East.
The little known Communications Security Establishment wanted to become more aggressive by 2015, the documents also said.
Revelations about the agency's prowess should serve as a 'major wakeup call for all Canadians,' particularly in the context of the current parliamentary debate over whether to give intelligence officials the power to disrupt national security threats, says Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, the respected internet research group at University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs."
Mass Surveillance Exposed by Snowden "Not Justified by Fight Against Terrorism"
"The 'secret, massive and indiscriminate' surveillance conducted by intelligence services and disclosed by the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden cannot be justified by the fight against terrorism, the most senior human rights official in Europe has warned.
In a direct challenge to the United Kingdom and other states, Nils Muižnieks, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, calls for greater transparency and stronger democratic oversight of the way security agencies monitor the internet. He also said that so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing treaty between the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada should be published.
'Suspicionless mass retention of communications data is fundamentally contrary to the rule of law … and ineffective,' the Latvian official argues in a 120-page report, The Rule of Law on the Internet in the Wider Digital World. 'Member states should not resort to it or impose compulsory retention of data by third parties.'"
View the Report
"The 'secret, massive and indiscriminate' surveillance conducted by intelligence services and disclosed by the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden cannot be justified by the fight against terrorism, the most senior human rights official in Europe has warned.
In a direct challenge to the United Kingdom and other states, Nils Muižnieks, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, calls for greater transparency and stronger democratic oversight of the way security agencies monitor the internet. He also said that so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing treaty between the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada should be published.
'Suspicionless mass retention of communications data is fundamentally contrary to the rule of law … and ineffective,' the Latvian official argues in a 120-page report, The Rule of Law on the Internet in the Wider Digital World. 'Member states should not resort to it or impose compulsory retention of data by third parties.'"
View the Report
Google's Rapidly Expanding Political Activity and Information Collection Systems Present Cause for Concern
"Google is so rapidly expanding both its information-collecting capabilities and its political clout that it could become too powerful to be held accountable, a new Public Citizen report finds.
'Mission Creep-y: Google Is Quietly Becoming One of the Nation’s Most Powerful Political Forces While Expanding Its Information-Collection Empire' looks at the ways Google is accruing power both in terms of the information it collects about the public and the sway it has over federal and state governments, as well as civil society.
Privacy experts say only the National Security Agency (NSA) rivals Google in terms of information gathering, and a recent survey showed that Americans are more concerned about companies like Google than the NSA. But Public Citizen documents that Google has not always warned the public before collecting or combining users’ information in new ways – and some of its collection practices have pushed the boundaries of the law. This is cause for concern as Google expands into new technological developments and acquisitions that collect information beyond what people do on the Internet."
View the Report
Related Report: Public Perceptions of Privacy and Security in the Post-Snowden Era
"Google is so rapidly expanding both its information-collecting capabilities and its political clout that it could become too powerful to be held accountable, a new Public Citizen report finds.
'Mission Creep-y: Google Is Quietly Becoming One of the Nation’s Most Powerful Political Forces While Expanding Its Information-Collection Empire' looks at the ways Google is accruing power both in terms of the information it collects about the public and the sway it has over federal and state governments, as well as civil society.
Privacy experts say only the National Security Agency (NSA) rivals Google in terms of information gathering, and a recent survey showed that Americans are more concerned about companies like Google than the NSA. But Public Citizen documents that Google has not always warned the public before collecting or combining users’ information in new ways – and some of its collection practices have pushed the boundaries of the law. This is cause for concern as Google expands into new technological developments and acquisitions that collect information beyond what people do on the Internet."
View the Report
Related Report: Public Perceptions of Privacy and Security in the Post-Snowden Era
Secret Manuals Show the Spyware Sold to Despots and Cops Worldwide
"When Apple and Google unveiled new encryption schemes last month, law enforcement officials complained that they wouldn’t be able to unlock evidence on criminals’ digital devices. What they didn’t say is that there are already methods to bypass encryption, thanks to off-the-shelf digital implants readily available to the smallest national agencies and the largest city police forces — easy-to-use software that takes over and monitors digital devices in real time, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.
We’re publishing in full, for the first time, manuals explaining the prominent commercial implant software 'Remote Control System,' manufactured by the Italian company Hacking Team. Despite FBI director James Comey’s dire warnings about the impact of widespread data scrambling — 'criminals and terrorists would like nothing more,' he declared — Hacking Team explicitly promises on its website that its software can 'defeat encryption.'"
Related Articles:
"When Apple and Google unveiled new encryption schemes last month, law enforcement officials complained that they wouldn’t be able to unlock evidence on criminals’ digital devices. What they didn’t say is that there are already methods to bypass encryption, thanks to off-the-shelf digital implants readily available to the smallest national agencies and the largest city police forces — easy-to-use software that takes over and monitors digital devices in real time, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.
We’re publishing in full, for the first time, manuals explaining the prominent commercial implant software 'Remote Control System,' manufactured by the Italian company Hacking Team. Despite FBI director James Comey’s dire warnings about the impact of widespread data scrambling — 'criminals and terrorists would like nothing more,' he declared — Hacking Team explicitly promises on its website that its software can 'defeat encryption.'"
Related Articles:
Mass Internet Surveillance Threatens International Law, UN Report Claims
"Mass surveillance of the internet by intelligence agencies is 'corrosive of online privacy' and threatens to undermine international law, according to a report to the United Nations general assembly.
The critical study by Ben Emmerson QC, the UN’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism, released on Wednesday is a response to revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden about the extent of monitoring carried out by GCHQ in the UK and the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US.
Emmerson’s study poses a direct challenge to the claims of both governments that their bulk surveillance programs, which the barrister finds endanger the privacy of 'literally every internet user,' are proportionate to the terrorist threat and robustly constrained by law. To combat the danger, Emmerson endorses the ability of Internet users to mount legal challenges to bulk surveillance."
View the full Report
"Mass surveillance of the internet by intelligence agencies is 'corrosive of online privacy' and threatens to undermine international law, according to a report to the United Nations general assembly.
The critical study by Ben Emmerson QC, the UN’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism, released on Wednesday is a response to revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden about the extent of monitoring carried out by GCHQ in the UK and the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US.
Emmerson’s study poses a direct challenge to the claims of both governments that their bulk surveillance programs, which the barrister finds endanger the privacy of 'literally every internet user,' are proportionate to the terrorist threat and robustly constrained by law. To combat the danger, Emmerson endorses the ability of Internet users to mount legal challenges to bulk surveillance."
View the full Report
Privacy & Surveillance
How the U.S. and its Spy Allies Scan the World for Hackable Servers
"The spy agencies behind the Five Eyes snooping alliance are actively scanning networks across the connected world for vulnerabilities
Beantown's Big Brother: How Boston Police Used Facial Recognition Technology to Spy on Thousands of Music Festival Attendees
"...One of the reasons for a less physically imposing police presence may have been that the city was in the process of testing a pilot program for a massive facial recognition surveillance system on everyone at the concerts in both May and September. Using software provided by IBM that utilized existing security cameras throughout the area, the city tracked the thousands of attendees at the concert and in the vicinity, and filtered their appearance into data points which could then be cross-checked against certain identifying characteristics. And then... Well, what happens next is what makes this sort of thing so potentially troubling."
How the U.S. and its Spy Allies Scan the World for Hackable Servers
"The spy agencies behind the Five Eyes snooping alliance are actively scanning networks across the connected world for vulnerabilities
Beantown's Big Brother: How Boston Police Used Facial Recognition Technology to Spy on Thousands of Music Festival Attendees
"...One of the reasons for a less physically imposing police presence may have been that the city was in the process of testing a pilot program for a massive facial recognition surveillance system on everyone at the concerts in both May and September. Using software provided by IBM that utilized existing security cameras throughout the area, the city tracked the thousands of attendees at the concert and in the vicinity, and filtered their appearance into data points which could then be cross-checked against certain identifying characteristics. And then... Well, what happens next is what makes this sort of thing so potentially troubling."
Privacy/Surveillance/Transparency
CSEC Won't Say How Long It Keeps Canadians' Private Data
Agency says there are 'firm' time limits on how long it can retain intercepted private communications, but will not disclose detail.
B.C. Government Raises Alarm By Going After Address Of Medicinal Marijuana Growers
Provincial law enforcement agencies appear to be pushing Health Canada to hand over the personal information of more than 16,500 British Columbians licensed to produce medicinal marijuana, a top pot advocate has warned.
The Fourth Branch: The Rise To Power Of The National Security State
...for the Fourth Branch, this remains the age of impunity. Hidden in a veil of secrecy, bolstered by secret law and secret courts, surrounded by its chosen corporations and politicians, its power to define policy and act as it sees fit in the name of American safety is visibly on the rise.
No Matter What They Tell Us, USA Freedom Act Does Not Rein In The Spies
Some of its supporters are overselling this bill and with it, anyone’s ability to rein in the intelligence community....[T]his bill...tacitly endorses the notion that FBI can conduct warrantless searches on US person communications without even having real basis for an investigation.
See report: With Liberty to Monitor All
Obama Officials, Senate Intelligence Panel Spar Over Deletions From Torture Report
The Obama administration and the Senate Intelligence Committee are sparring over the administration’s deletions of fake names from the public version of a long-awaited report on the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation methods on suspected terrorists, McClatchy has learned.
Visit The Wrong Website, And The FBI Could End Up In Your Computer
Security experts call it a “drive-by download”: a hacker infiltrates a high-traffic website and then subverts it to deliver malware to every single visitor....Now the technique is being adopted by a different kind of a hacker—the kind with a badge. For the last two years, the FBI has been quietly experimenting with drive-by hacks as a solution to one of law enforcement’s knottiest Internet problems: how to identify and prosecute users of criminal websites hiding behind the powerful Tor anonymity system.
Wikipedia Link To Be Hidden In Google Under "Right To Be Forgotten" Law
Google is set to restrict search terms to a link to a Wikipedia article, in the first request under Europe's controversial new "right to be forgotten" legislation to affect the 110m-page encyclopaedia.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/04/235402/obama-officials-senate-intelligence.html#storylink=cpy
Ottawa’s spin doctor payroll rivals that of the Commons http://t.co/Ie6Dmvehmr via @torontostar
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) August 8, 2014
CSEC Won't Say How Long It Keeps Canadians' Private Data
Agency says there are 'firm' time limits on how long it can retain intercepted private communications, but will not disclose detail.
B.C. Government Raises Alarm By Going After Address Of Medicinal Marijuana Growers
Provincial law enforcement agencies appear to be pushing Health Canada to hand over the personal information of more than 16,500 British Columbians licensed to produce medicinal marijuana, a top pot advocate has warned.
The Fourth Branch: The Rise To Power Of The National Security State
...for the Fourth Branch, this remains the age of impunity. Hidden in a veil of secrecy, bolstered by secret law and secret courts, surrounded by its chosen corporations and politicians, its power to define policy and act as it sees fit in the name of American safety is visibly on the rise.
No Matter What They Tell Us, USA Freedom Act Does Not Rein In The Spies
Some of its supporters are overselling this bill and with it, anyone’s ability to rein in the intelligence community....[T]his bill...tacitly endorses the notion that FBI can conduct warrantless searches on US person communications without even having real basis for an investigation.
See report: With Liberty to Monitor All
Obama Officials, Senate Intelligence Panel Spar Over Deletions From Torture Report
The Obama administration and the Senate Intelligence Committee are sparring over the administration’s deletions of fake names from the public version of a long-awaited report on the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation methods on suspected terrorists, McClatchy has learned.
Visit The Wrong Website, And The FBI Could End Up In Your Computer
Security experts call it a “drive-by download”: a hacker infiltrates a high-traffic website and then subverts it to deliver malware to every single visitor....Now the technique is being adopted by a different kind of a hacker—the kind with a badge. For the last two years, the FBI has been quietly experimenting with drive-by hacks as a solution to one of law enforcement’s knottiest Internet problems: how to identify and prosecute users of criminal websites hiding behind the powerful Tor anonymity system.
Wikipedia Link To Be Hidden In Google Under "Right To Be Forgotten" Law
Google is set to restrict search terms to a link to a Wikipedia article, in the first request under Europe's controversial new "right to be forgotten" legislation to affect the 110m-page encyclopaedia.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/04/235402/obama-officials-senate-intelligence.html#storylink=cpy
N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web
The National Security Agency
is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using
supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes
persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of
everyday communications in the Internet age, according to newly
disclosed documents.
The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or
digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems,
protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and
automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and
phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents
show.
Many users assume — or have been assured by Internet companies — that
their data is safe from prying eyes, including those of the government,
and the N.S.A. wants to keep it that way. The agency treats its recent
successes in deciphering protected information as among its most closely
guarded secrets, restricted to those cleared for a highly classified
program code-named Bullrun, according to the documents, provided by
Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor.
What Canadians need to know about CSEC spying
Thousands of Canadians are speaking out to defend their privacy rights, after recent revelations that an ultra-secretive government agency is spying on our everyday online activities. This agency, the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), was revealed to be systematically collecting the private information of law-abiding citizens, including Canadians, from around the world.
Fresh developments show that Canadians are absolutely right to be concerned. Just last week, CSEC’s own official watchdog revealed that the spy agency may have illegally targeted Canadians within the past 12 months.
Americans are also speaking out after it was revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA), through a secret program called PRISM, can, according to the Guardian, “collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats” from online users. The NSA is able to gather vast amounts of online information from users because of the extensive access they have been given to large Internet companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google.
Read on...
Fresh developments show that Canadians are absolutely right to be concerned. Just last week, CSEC’s own official watchdog revealed that the spy agency may have illegally targeted Canadians within the past 12 months.
Americans are also speaking out after it was revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA), through a secret program called PRISM, can, according to the Guardian, “collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats” from online users. The NSA is able to gather vast amounts of online information from users because of the extensive access they have been given to large Internet companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google.
Read on...
How the Toews-sponsored Internet surveillance bill quietly died
The Internet surveillance legislation sponsored by Public Safety
Minister Vic Toews has disappeared down a dark legislative hole. For all
intents and purposes, the bill is dead.
If the Harper government still wants to pass a law that would make it easier for police to track people who use the web to commit crimes, it will have to start from scratch.
That new bill, if there is one, will probably be shepherded by a different minister. That’s how much damage this botched legislation inflicted on the government and on Mr. Toews.
Bill C-30, also known as the lawful access legislation, would allow police to compel Internet service providers to cough up identifying information about anyone using the Internet.
Read on...
If the Harper government still wants to pass a law that would make it easier for police to track people who use the web to commit crimes, it will have to start from scratch.
That new bill, if there is one, will probably be shepherded by a different minister. That’s how much damage this botched legislation inflicted on the government and on Mr. Toews.
Bill C-30, also known as the lawful access legislation, would allow police to compel Internet service providers to cough up identifying information about anyone using the Internet.
Read on...
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