Archive for the 'Internet Surveillance' Category

• 2.13.08 News Cluster: China posted in Censorship Circumvention, Internet Censorship, Internet Surveillance

  There has been a flurry of articles on Internet censorship in China recently. One very interesting AFP article suggests that China may relax its restrictions and allow access to some sites currently blocked by the GFW:
  Plans to tear down the so-called Great Firewall of China were being debated and a decision was expected soon, said [...]

• 12.15.07 Index On Censorship: Evasion Tactics posted in Anonymity, Censorship Circumvention, Internet Censorship, Internet Surveillance, Notice and Takedown

  The journal Index on Censorship has published an article I wrote. In it I argue that there is a failure to recognise Internet censorship and surveillance as a growing global concern. There is a tendency instead to criticise the most infamous offenders-notably China and Iran-and to overlook repressive practices elsewhere. There is, however, a growing [...]

• 11.25.07 Skype encryption and surveillance posted in Internet Surveillance, VOIP

  German police are unable to decrypt Skype, but rather than asking the company to provide keys to decrypt the transmissions, or implement a backdoor, they are seeking to intercept communication before they are encrypted:

  “We can’t decipher it. That’s why we’re talking about source telecommunication surveillance — that is, getting to the source before encryption or [...]

• 11.23.07 A Few Important Echoes posted in Data Retention, Internet Censorship, Internet Surveillance

  Do you have any idea who last looked at your data? Seth Finkelstein brings up some some great points in this article but the one I want to focus on concerns the use of privacy protecting technology:
  Note that while it’s a common recommendation to use technical means to protect one’s privacy (such as the [...]

• 11.10.07 Anti-Censorship/Privacy Enhancing Technologies posted in Anonymity, Censorship Circumvention, Free Expression, Internet Surveillance

  This article in Foreign Policy is representative of accounts of the development and use of anti-Censorship/privacy enhancing technologies that only tell part of the story. While technologies such as Tor and psiphon are given great treatment, the frame used to contextualize their use gives the misleading impression that they are only used in “repressive” countries:
  One [...]