Creepy ways Companies are Spying: New Privacy International Database Reveals Disturbing Details
"Human rights advocacy group Privacy International (PI) has launched a
new searchable database that aims to map and highlights all the creepy
technology solutions being sold around the world to enable surveillance
on citizens, the companies that sell these solutions and the agencies
they are selling them to.
The Surveillance Industry Index database,
co-developed with pro-transparency software group Transparency Toolkit,
features information on over 520 surveillance companies in the world,
together with more than 1,500 brochures on surveillance technology
solutions.
There are also 600 reports detailing where specific surveillance
technologies were exported to that have been compiled by activists,
journalists and researchers from looking at open source records, as well
as investigative and technical reports, and government licensing data."
Your resource for news, research, opinion and comment in the world of Criminology and Criminal Justice, brought to you by the Criminology Library, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Privacy and Public Safety: A Progress Report - Expert Panel Discussion https://t.co/1IEPSLuk46 via @YouTube— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) February 12, 2016
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
The Need for Democratization of Digital Security to Ensure the Right to Freedom of Expression. Joint submission of the Citizen Lab (Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto)
"In response to the call for submissions of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression regarding the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communications, the Citizen Lab and independent research Collin Anderson have submitted a joint analysis, entitled "The need for democratization of digital security solutions to ensure the right to freedom of expression." The submission explores the expression and privacy of civil society actors, many of which are subject to politically-motivated digital surveillance and censorship."
"In response to the call for submissions of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression regarding the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communications, the Citizen Lab and independent research Collin Anderson have submitted a joint analysis, entitled "The need for democratization of digital security solutions to ensure the right to freedom of expression." The submission explores the expression and privacy of civil society actors, many of which are subject to politically-motivated digital surveillance and censorship."
Big Data and the Future for Privacy
"In our inevitable big data future, critics and skeptics argue that privacy will have no place. We disagree. When properly understood, privacy rules will be an essential and valuable part of our digital future, especially if we wish to retain the human values on which our political, social, and economic institutions have been built. In this paper, we make three simple points. First, we need to think differently about 'privacy.' Privacy' is not merely about keeping secrets, but about the rules we use to regulate information, which is and always has been in intermediate states between totally secret and known to all. Privacy rules are information rules, and in an information society, information rules are inevitable. Second, human values rather than privacy for privacy’s sake should animate our information rules. These must include protections for identity, equality, security, and trust. Third, we argue that privacy in our big data future can and must be secured in a variety of ways. Formal legal regulation will be necessary, but so too will 'soft' regulation by entities like the Federal Trade Commission, and by the development of richer notions of big data ethics."
"In our inevitable big data future, critics and skeptics argue that privacy will have no place. We disagree. When properly understood, privacy rules will be an essential and valuable part of our digital future, especially if we wish to retain the human values on which our political, social, and economic institutions have been built. In this paper, we make three simple points. First, we need to think differently about 'privacy.' Privacy' is not merely about keeping secrets, but about the rules we use to regulate information, which is and always has been in intermediate states between totally secret and known to all. Privacy rules are information rules, and in an information society, information rules are inevitable. Second, human values rather than privacy for privacy’s sake should animate our information rules. These must include protections for identity, equality, security, and trust. Third, we argue that privacy in our big data future can and must be secured in a variety of ways. Formal legal regulation will be necessary, but so too will 'soft' regulation by entities like the Federal Trade Commission, and by the development of richer notions of big data ethics."
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 and Criminal Justice
Police Want Right To See Medical Records Without Consent
Police want new and expanded rights to access medical records and other confidential data without an individual's consent, a senior police chief has told the Guardian.
Sir Peter Fahy, the Greater Manchester chief constable, said the extra access to sensitive data was needed to help police cope with growing numbers of vulnerable people.
Judge Orders Rape Accuser To Turn Over Facebook Account
A New Jersey judge has ordered a teen who accused a man of rape to turn over access to her Facebook account, providing another example of social media's growing use in courtrooms and the resulting privacy concerns.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier this week agreed to a request from David Stevens-Parker's defense attorney, and the judge said he will privately review two weeks of Facebook postings for any comments related to the alleged rape before deciding whether any can be used in court.
Police Want Right To See Medical Records Without Consent
Police want new and expanded rights to access medical records and other confidential data without an individual's consent, a senior police chief has told the Guardian.
Sir Peter Fahy, the Greater Manchester chief constable, said the extra access to sensitive data was needed to help police cope with growing numbers of vulnerable people.
Judge Orders Rape Accuser To Turn Over Facebook Account
A New Jersey judge has ordered a teen who accused a man of rape to turn over access to her Facebook account, providing another example of social media's growing use in courtrooms and the resulting privacy concerns.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier this week agreed to a request from David Stevens-Parker's defense attorney, and the judge said he will privately review two weeks of Facebook postings for any comments related to the alleged rape before deciding whether any can be used in court.
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
Federal agencies hit by privacy breach 101 times in past 4 months http://t.co/gUJQ2F4xuf via @torontostar
— Crim Library UTL (@CrimLib) August 1, 2014
Related Articles:
Stealthy new online tracking software puts your privacy at risk
A growing number of websites are employing a stealthy new form of hard-to-block Internet tracking software that may pose increasing privacy risks for customers.
Canvas fingerprinting, which can command your browser to draw a unique identifier and then log your online behaviour, is nearly impossible to detect, does not fall under “do not track” voluntary systems and evades most conventional ad-blocking software. It is already tracking users on 5 per cent of the biggest sites on the Internet, including The White House, Starbucks, Re/Max Canada, Canadian retailers Metro and Home Hardware, Postmedia website Canada.com, as well as a number of pornography sites.
A team of academics from Princeton University and Belgium’s KU Leuven University released a study Tuesday that says canvas fingerprinting has spread to at least 5,542 of the Web’s top 100,000 sites, largely thanks to software from a Virginia-based company called AddThis.
Related Articles:
President Obama needs to cancel Executive Order 12333
Prosecutors are reading emails from inmates to lawyers
Prosecutors snooping on legal mail
A growing number of websites are employing a stealthy new form of hard-to-block Internet tracking software that may pose increasing privacy risks for customers.
Canvas fingerprinting, which can command your browser to draw a unique identifier and then log your online behaviour, is nearly impossible to detect, does not fall under “do not track” voluntary systems and evades most conventional ad-blocking software. It is already tracking users on 5 per cent of the biggest sites on the Internet, including The White House, Starbucks, Re/Max Canada, Canadian retailers Metro and Home Hardware, Postmedia website Canada.com, as well as a number of pornography sites.
A team of academics from Princeton University and Belgium’s KU Leuven University released a study Tuesday that says canvas fingerprinting has spread to at least 5,542 of the Web’s top 100,000 sites, largely thanks to software from a Virginia-based company called AddThis.
Related Articles:
President Obama needs to cancel Executive Order 12333
Prosecutors are reading emails from inmates to lawyers
Prosecutors snooping on legal mail
American Privacy Is Vanishing as the Government and Corporations Raid Our Online Lives
Was 2013 the year online privacy died? Or was it the year that people
paying attention realized that their online lives—and all their data
and communications—was low-hanging fruit that was being picked and
parsed by big government and big business.
Edward Snowden’s theft of what’s now said to be 1.7 million files showed the world that America’s spymasters were grabbing everything that passed between smart phones, Wi-Fi signals, laptops, and those devices’ contents: account log-ins, passwords, etc. As 2014 began, The Washington Post reported that the National Security Agency was building “a computer that could break nearly every kind of encryption used to protect banking, medical, business and government records around the world.”
Read on...
Edward Snowden’s theft of what’s now said to be 1.7 million files showed the world that America’s spymasters were grabbing everything that passed between smart phones, Wi-Fi signals, laptops, and those devices’ contents: account log-ins, passwords, etc. As 2014 began, The Washington Post reported that the National Security Agency was building “a computer that could break nearly every kind of encryption used to protect banking, medical, business and government records around the world.”
Read on...
Our data, our laws
Over the past six months, the steady stream of disclosures from
former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has
revealed a massive surveillance infrastructure that seemingly touches
all Internet and telephone communication across the globe.
While the issue has generated robust debates in many countries, the Canadian political response has been relatively quiet. In an effort to address the lack of oversight over Canadian surveillance activities, Liberal MP and former public safety minister Wayne Easter recently introduced Bill C-551, which would establish a National Security Committee of Parliamentarians.
The bill is a welcome move towards providing greater transparency and accountability for Canadian intelligence agencies, yet attention to oversight is not enough. We also need to address the legal framework under which these agencies operate, and the privacy protections granted to Canadians under the law.
Read on...
While the issue has generated robust debates in many countries, the Canadian political response has been relatively quiet. In an effort to address the lack of oversight over Canadian surveillance activities, Liberal MP and former public safety minister Wayne Easter recently introduced Bill C-551, which would establish a National Security Committee of Parliamentarians.
The bill is a welcome move towards providing greater transparency and accountability for Canadian intelligence agencies, yet attention to oversight is not enough. We also need to address the legal framework under which these agencies operate, and the privacy protections granted to Canadians under the law.
Read on...
The Other Police State -- The Private Intel Industry Grows
On November 20th, the Center for Corporate Policy, a Washington, DC, good-government group, issued a revealing study, “ Spooky Business: A New Report on Corporate Espionage Against Non-profits.” Written by Gary Ruskin, it confirms one’s worst suspicions about the ever-expanding two-headed U.S. security state
One “head” of this apparatus consists of the formal law-enforcement, security juggernaut. It includes the vast network of federal, state and local entities that are duly, “legally,” constituted to maintain law and order. It maintains state power.
The second “head” consists of a parallel “police” force, local and national corporate entities that use legal — and often questionable — practices to undermine democracy, most notably a citizen’s right to object to what s/he perceives as an unjust business practice. It maintains corporate power.
Read on...
One “head” of this apparatus consists of the formal law-enforcement, security juggernaut. It includes the vast network of federal, state and local entities that are duly, “legally,” constituted to maintain law and order. It maintains state power.
The second “head” consists of a parallel “police” force, local and national corporate entities that use legal — and often questionable — practices to undermine democracy, most notably a citizen’s right to object to what s/he perceives as an unjust business practice. It maintains corporate power.
Read on...
Why Are Police Allowed to Break Into Your Phone?
A New York Times review of court cases and legislation around the
country shows that there are no uniform rules when it comes to whether
law enforcement can search cell phone records and use the data as
evidence.
The judicial system around the country is sharply divided on the legality of searching cell phone records and using that evidence for the prosecution of criminal suspects. A New York Times review of court cases and legislation shows that there are no uniform rules when it comes to whether law enforcement can search cell phone records and use the data as evidence.
In Rhode Island, a judge threw out evidence used to convict Michael Patino, a 30-year-old resident of the state, because, according to the judge, the police obtained cell phone data improperly. But a Washington court said that cell phone text messages are similar to voice mail messages that can be heard by anyone in a room, and are therefore not subjected to privacy laws.
Read on...
The judicial system around the country is sharply divided on the legality of searching cell phone records and using that evidence for the prosecution of criminal suspects. A New York Times review of court cases and legislation shows that there are no uniform rules when it comes to whether law enforcement can search cell phone records and use the data as evidence.
In Rhode Island, a judge threw out evidence used to convict Michael Patino, a 30-year-old resident of the state, because, according to the judge, the police obtained cell phone data improperly. But a Washington court said that cell phone text messages are similar to voice mail messages that can be heard by anyone in a room, and are therefore not subjected to privacy laws.
Read on...
America's Spy State: How the Telecoms Sell Out Your Privacy
Your seemingly private information is a public commodity, subject to the
dictates of the security state and market opportunists.
You need to know one simple truth: you have no privacy with regard to your electronic communications.
Nothing
you do online, via a wireline telephone or over a wireless device is
outside the reach of government security agencies and private
corporations. Your ostensible personal communication -- whether a phone
call, an email, a search, visiting a website, a credit card purchase, a
140 character Tweet, a movie download or a Facebook friending -- is a
public commodity, subject to the dictates of the security state and
market opportunists.
Corporate
surveillance has begun to raise consumer, Congressional and regulatory
concerns – a major case, Amnesty v. Clapper, is now before the Supreme
Court. One can only wonder why it is not an issue in this year’s
election?
Corporate spying takes
a variety of forms. GPS tracking over a wireless device is widespread.
Google’s efforts to commercialize its users’ keystrokes resulted in a
$25,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Potentially more consequential, a growing chorus of criticism over its
recently introduced data-harvesting program seems to have contributed to
a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation of Google; the FTC
retained Beth Wilkinson, a high-powered outside counsel, to oversee a
possible anti-trust prosecution of the company. On March 1st, Google
introduced a new program that collects user data from its 60 services.
Google stores “cookies” (i.e., code that compiles a record of an
individual’s web browsing history) on a growing number of communications
devices, whether a home PC, tablet, smartphone and a growing number of
TV sets. These cookies track every website a person visits or function
s/he uses. As the New York Times wrote, “The case has the potential to
be the biggest showdown between regulators and Silicon Valley since the
government took on Microsoft 14 years ago.
Facing a backlash, Ottawa moves to retool cybercrime bill
The Harper government has blinked in the face of a backlash over legislation that would give authorities new powers to police the Web, saying it’s now prepared to accept a broad range of changes to a bill criticized as a major intrusion into Canadians’ privacy.
The government’s new conciliatory tone comes only two days after Public Safety Minister Vic Toews beat back criticism of the legislation by declaring that critics either stood with the Conservatives “or with the child pornographers.”
The climb-down came the same day that some Conservative MPs, in a rare display of candour, went public with their concerns over Bill C-30, which the Harper government has named the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.
“I think it’s too intrusive as it currently stands and does need to be looked at,” said New Brunswick Tory MP John Williamson, one of several MPs to talk to reporters. “There’s a lot of concern, I think, across the country as well.”
Do you trust them to make this right? Tom
White House Wants to Wiretap Internet Communications
The Obama administration is drawing up legislation to make it easier for US intelligence services to eavesdrop on the Internet, including email exchanges and social networks.
The Obama administration is drawing up legislation to make it easier for US intelligence services to eavesdrop on the Internet, including email exchanges and social networks, The New York Times said Monday.
The Obama administration is drawing up legislation to make it easier for US intelligence services to eavesdrop on the Internet, including email exchanges and social networks, The New York Times said Monday.
The White House intends to submit a bill before Congress next year that would require all online services that enable communications to be technically capable of complying with a wiretap order, including being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages, the Times reported.
The services would include encrypted email transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking websites like Facebook and peer-to-peer messaging software like Skype.
I'm seriously thinking of ditching my Obama t-shirts, as the Obama/Bush administration continues its war on civil liberties. Tom
Security, At What Cost?
Quantifying people’s trade-offs
across liberty, privacy
and security
Neil Robinson, Dimitris Potoglou, Chong Woo Kim,
Peter Burge, Richard Warnes
Sponsored by the RAND Europe Board of Trustees
The heightened security environment in the United Kingdom today is resplendent with examples of government policy that must strike a delicate balance between strengthening security without jeopardising public liberties and personal privacy. The introduction of national identity cards and biometric passports, the expansion of the DNA database, and cross-departmental sharing of information raise a number of privacy issues. Civil liberties may be suspended by the exercise of stop and search powers by the police or detention of suspects prior to a trial. Much of the current privacy vs. security debate occurs at an emotional level with little evidence informing the argument. This report outlines the results of a stated preference discrete choice modelling study that sought to objectively understand the real privacy, liberty and security trade-offs of individuals so that policy makers can be better informed about individuals true preferences in this domain. Three real-life case studies were investigated where these factors come into play; applying for a passport; travel on the national rail network and attendance at a major public event such as the opening ceremony of the Olympics. A panel of internet users demographically weighted to the UK population were asked to choose amongst different alternatives for each of the scenarios. The data was analysed and individuals were found to be willing to pay for advanced CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology, X-Ray machines & body scanners and various forms of security personnel. Socio-demographic segments in the sample also became evident.
Read on...
This is a Rand Corporation Technical Report. Tom
across liberty, privacy
and security
Neil Robinson, Dimitris Potoglou, Chong Woo Kim,
Peter Burge, Richard Warnes
Sponsored by the RAND Europe Board of Trustees
The heightened security environment in the United Kingdom today is resplendent with examples of government policy that must strike a delicate balance between strengthening security without jeopardising public liberties and personal privacy. The introduction of national identity cards and biometric passports, the expansion of the DNA database, and cross-departmental sharing of information raise a number of privacy issues. Civil liberties may be suspended by the exercise of stop and search powers by the police or detention of suspects prior to a trial. Much of the current privacy vs. security debate occurs at an emotional level with little evidence informing the argument. This report outlines the results of a stated preference discrete choice modelling study that sought to objectively understand the real privacy, liberty and security trade-offs of individuals so that policy makers can be better informed about individuals true preferences in this domain. Three real-life case studies were investigated where these factors come into play; applying for a passport; travel on the national rail network and attendance at a major public event such as the opening ceremony of the Olympics. A panel of internet users demographically weighted to the UK population were asked to choose amongst different alternatives for each of the scenarios. The data was analysed and individuals were found to be willing to pay for advanced CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology, X-Ray machines & body scanners and various forms of security personnel. Socio-demographic segments in the sample also became evident.
Read on...
This is a Rand Corporation Technical Report. Tom
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