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By Greg Fingas, on June 17, 2013, at 10:05 am Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.
- Thomas Walkom, Dan Leger and Michael Harris write about the sketchy surveillance programs in place on both sides of the 49th parallel. But there may be an opportunity to make common cause with the 1% in criticizing constant intrusion on personal privacy, as both the U.S. and the U.K. have been caught using their data interception capability to spy on businesses and international allies.
- In any event, one can safely say that this is not the time when a smart government would introduce blanket secrecy for 11 government agencies. (Read more…)
By Greg Fingas, on June 13, 2013, at 9:34 am Here, on how Canada’s federal privacy law actually prohibits our own federal government from conducting secret surveillance (so long as it’s actually followed) – as well as how little that law means if countries don’t recognize that privacy applies beyond their borders.
For further reading…- Michelle Shepard reported here on Canada’s history of surveillance activities. – The federal Privacy Act is here. See in particular section 11′s obligation to public lists of personal information collected by each government institution, as well as the treatment of exempt data banks in section 18. – CSEC allows Canadians to (Read more…)
By Admin CP, on June 11, 2013, at 2:49 pm National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.
By: Justin Elliott and Theodoric Meyer | ProPublica
Last week saw revelations that the FBI and the National Security Agency have been collecting Americans’ phone records en masse and that the agencies have access to data from nine tech companies. But secrecy around the programs has meant even basic questions are still unanswered.
Here’s what we still don’t know:
Has the NSA been collecting all Americans’ phone records, and for how long?
It’s not entirely clear.
The Guardian published a court order that directed a Verizon subsidiary to turn over phone (Read more…)
. . . → Read More: The Canadian Progressive: The NSA Black Hole: 5 Basic Things We Still Don’t Know About the Agency’s Snooping
By Jay Cables, on June 10, 2013, at 11:08 pm Following news of leaks by NSA whistleblower Ed Snowden, Obama was asked by a reporter about massive NSA surveillance that involves not just phone tracking, but all types of online user communications. In the course of his defense of this unparalleled invasion of privacy, Obama dropped the “Big Brother” term with irony – as though it is somehow far fetched to cast his administration in that light.
“Big Brother” understates the case. Leaked documents indicate that the U.S. government is increasingly engaged in “offensive cyberwarfare” – not just to target alleged suspects and deter attacks on the U. (Read more…)
By Guest Blog, on June 10, 2013, at 12:42 pm By: UFCW Canada | Press Release
Dr. Cindy Blackstock (Photo credit: Art Babych)
TORONTO, June 9, 2013 – As reported in the Toronto Star, the federal Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has found that Dr. Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Children and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS), has been the subject of surveillance by the Tory Government in Ottawa.
“I was shocked when I realized that in a democracy such as Canada our federal government thinks it is right to violate the privacy of citizens who have a view that is different from theirs,” says Prof. Blackstock. “By simply working (Read more…)
. . . → Read More: The Canadian Progressive: Harper Conservatives spying on well-known aboriginal rights advocate, says UFCW Canada
By Christine, on June 10, 2013, at 8:10 am This incredibly brave young man’s story needs to be shared far and wide. 29 year old Edward Snowden, through The Guardian newspaper, went public as the NSA whistleblower yesterday. His revelations last week that the US National Security Agency’s Prism program has direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other internet giants […]
By The Mound of Sound, on February 25, 2013, at 12:38 pm It’s the latest, greatest thing in the Pentagon’s toybox – MAVs. Micro Air Vehicles like those shown in the following video already exist and they could take your last shreds of privacy. They could even take your life.
And here’s the civilian version of the Dragonfly MAV developed for the U.S. Air Force. You can buy your own, limited performance, civilian version starting at a hundred bucks. The Dragonfly makers will even sell you your own “swarm.”
What the military is doing is to develop better power systems for their MAVs. The civilian
. . . → Read More: The Disaffected Lib: Nobody is Safe Anymore. No One, Nowhere.
By Guest Blog, on February 22, 2013, at 4:09 pm It is not the “crimes” Aaron (Swartz) may have committed that made him a target of federal prosecution, but his ideas – elaborated in his “Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto” – that the government has found so dangerous. By Jeremy Hammond – #18729-424 | Metropolitan Correctional Center, Feb. 20, 2013: The tragic death of internet freedom fighter READ MORE
By jtoddring, on January 30, 2013, at 5:59 pm The Blackberry 10 has just been unveiled, and the question returns: Blackberry, iPhone or Google-based Android smart phone? Here are some thoughts, techno-weenie talk aside. We’re talking pure functionality and ethics here, not who has the best gizmo-gadgetry whiz-bang for the buck. Google is a partner in evil, willingly collaborating with the super-creepy NSA’s deeply [...]
By Obert Madondo, on December 7, 2012, at 10:32 pm Last week’s shutdown of Internet access in Syria has shifted the focus to the ongoing discussions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Concerns abound that the discussions could lead to greater surveillance powers for governments, and crippling limitations on Internet-based democratic activity. RELATED: Google Exposes Harper Government’s Growing Internet Censorship Appetites Conservatives Bill C-30: Upset [...]
By Jay Cables, on November 28, 2012, at 1:46 am Julian Assange’ new book Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet is now available in paperback and e-book. The term “cypherpunks” refers to activists who make use of coded writing or cryptography in an effort to bring about progressive … . . . → Read More: drive-by planet: Assange book ‘Cypherpunks’ warns of threats to internet freedom
By The Mound of Sound, on October 3, 2012, at 5:09 pm Privacy? That’s a thing of the past. The Surveillance State is the new reality and, barring massive government intervention, it’s here to stay.
How are you liking that fancy Android cell phone? Don’t bother answering that, we already know.
Taxpayer-funded programs have created malware for Android smartphones that can remotely take over your phone’s camera and use it to spy on you, according to reports in the Washington Times and PCWorld.
…Researchers from the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center developed the software along with researchers from the school of Informatics and Computing at Indiana
. . . → Read More: The Disaffected Lib: Is Your Cell Phone Giving Away All Your Secrets?
By Greg Fingas, on September 10, 2012, at 7:01 pm And certainly no reason for worry about this afterthought as the Cons decide which immigrants they’d like to throw out of Canada on their respective ears (or prevent from arriving): And there are another 2,500 people who, for various reasons, have prompted the concern of the government. Mr. Kenney said they will be watched closely.
By Obert Madondo, on June 18, 2012, at 11:23 pm In a report released late Sunday, Google tells us Canada has joined the ranks of countries aggressively stepping up efforts to censor online political dissent through “censorship requests” to the giant search engine. Passport Canada authorities asked Google to block public access to “a YouTube video of a Canadian citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet”. The case is one of the highlights in Google’s semi-annual Transparency Report for the period July – December, 2011.
Now the question is: would you have wanted to watch the video and understand the protester’s motivations? I would have. When
. . . → Read More: CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Google Exposes Harper Government’s Growing Internet Censorship Appetites
By David Eaves, on March 20, 2012, at 8:34 am The other day I stumbled over this intriguing article which describes how a group of residents in Vancouver have started to surveille the police as they do their work in the downtown eastside, one of the poorest and toughest neighborhoods in Canada. The reason is simple. Many people – particularly those who are marginalized and most vulnerable – simply do not trust the police. The interview with the founder of Vancouver Cop Watch probably sums it up best:
“One of the complaints we have about District 2 is about how the Vancouver police were arresting people and taking them off
. . . → Read More: eaves.ca: Citizen Surveillance and the Coming Challenge for Public Institutions
By David Eaves, on February 21, 2012, at 12:56 pm Yesterday a number of police organizations came out in support of bill C-30 – the online online surveillance bill proposed by Minister Vic Toews. You can read the Vancouver Police Department’s full press release here – I’m referencing theirs not because it is particularly good or bad, but simply because it is my home town.
For those short on time, the very last statement, at the bottom of the post, is by far the worst and is something every Canadian should know. The authors of these press releases would have been wise to read Michael Geist’s blog posts from yesterday
. . . → Read More: eaves.ca: The Surveillance State – No Warrant Required
By Ryan Painter, on February 18, 2012, at 8:43 pm My new podcast is up. You can listen to it here. Enjoy Filed under: Harper Government, Harper Majority, Progressives Tagged: Ethics, OpenMedia.ca, Privacy, Surveillance, Vic Toews, Vikileaks
By somecanuckchick, on January 21, 2012, at 9:59 pm Millions of internet users and entrepreneurs already opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act (aka SOPA and PIPA), including Google.
Why NO SOPA?
In case you missed it, somecanuckchick dot com went dark — along with thousands of others — on January 18, 2012 to protest SOPA and PIPA.
I believe that SOPA and PIPA would have reached beyond the borders of the United States of America and required internet service providers [ISPs] to take down any website [Canadian, or otherwise!] accused of posting, or linking to, copyrighted content.
I also believe that SOPA and PIPA
. . . → Read More: somecanuckchick dot com: On SOPA + PIPA + [Un]Lawful Access…
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eaves.ca: The Surveillance State – No Warrant Required
Yesterday a number of police organizations came out in support of bill C-30 – the online online surveillance bill proposed by Minister Vic Toews. You can read the Vancouver Police Department’s full press release here – I’m referencing theirs not because it is particularly good or bad, but simply because it is my home town.
For those short on time, the very last statement, at the bottom of the post, is by far the worst and is something every Canadian should know. The authors of these press releases would have been wise to read Michael Geist’s blog posts from yesterday
. . . → Read More: eaves.ca: The Surveillance State – No Warrant Required