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Govt backs away from internet restrictions
15
October, 2013
The
Government has made changes to a controversial telecommunications
bill that would have banned some international internet companies
from offering services in New Zealand.
The
legislation, which is back before Parliament on Tuesday, sets out how
internet service providers must work with law enforcement agencies to
allow them to monitor communications.
Communications
Minister Amy Adams says the changes go further than those recently
recommended by the Law and Order Select Committee.
They
include removing a clause that could have prevented companies such as
Google and Facebook from offering encrypted messaging services in New
Zealand unless they were able to be broken into by law enforcement
agencies.
Ms
Adams says she has also narrowed the scope of the matters that must
be notified to the Government's spy bureau.
Internet
giants plan to track
users even more
While public unease with the National Security Agency’s surveillance efforts continues to grow, there are new signs indicating that technology companies are also upgrading their efforts to track what you’re doing on the Internet.
RT,
14
October, 2013
According
to a new report by Wired, companies like Microsoft and Google are
developing increasingly sophisticated means of collecting consumer
data online. The goal is to harvest the new data for advertising
purposes, but, as noted in the article, there’s always concern that
the NSA could gain access to and use the information for other
purposes. NSA documents published by the Guardian already suggest
that the agency could use ad data and cookies to help it find people
who use the anonymous Tor browser.
“Users
did not have much control in the cookie era,”Marc Rotenberg,
executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a
nonprofit advocacy group in Washington, said to Wired.“But the
problem is about to get much worse — tracking techniques will
become more deeply embedded and a much smaller number of companies
will control advertising data.”
Microsoft,
in particular, is reportedly developing new tracking techniques that
would be capable of recording when users transition from the web to
apps, and even between separate devices, like PCs, tablets, phones,
and video game consoles. According to AdAge,“Microsoft’s cookie
replacement would essentially be a device identifier, meaning
consumers could give permission for its advertising use when opting
in to a device’s regular user agreement or terms of service.”
Asking
for permission via a terms of service agreement sounds like a
reasonable way of presenting the development to consumers, but
chances are that the vast majority of users would agree simply
because most services require it in order to function.
While
the AdAge report notes that Microsoft’s system would only be
available to authorized third parties, reports have shown the company
working with the NSA to hand over consumer data in the past. Files
released by Edward Snowden through the Guardian revealed that
Microsoft helped the NSA work its way around the company’s
encryption, gain access to the cloud storage system SkyDrive, and
collect data accrued via Skype calls.
Additionally,
even when the NSA has not been authorized to collect data by
Microsoft, the agency has circumvented the company and collected it
regardless.
When
asked about its still-in-development tracking technology, a Microsoft
spokesperson simply said,“Microsoft believes going beyond the
cookie is important. Our priority will be to find ways to do this
that respect the interests of consumers. We have nothing further to
share.”
Whether
or not anonymous systems like Tor will still be able to protect users
against these new techniques is a question that has yet to be
answered, but it's apparent that Microsoft isn’t the only company
heading in this direction. Google is said to be developing a similar
system, and Facebook has already begun tracking user behavior outside
of the social network in order to sell targeted ads.
Although
consumers are more concerned with the NSA’s surveillance program
than being advertised to, recent outcry against Microsoft’s Xbox
One video game console show that many will fight any new attempts to
track their behavior. A separate AdAge report suggested that
Microsoft’s Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer is open to using
the new console’s Kinect camera to track user engagement with
advertising, including recording biometric feedback such as heart
rates, and releasing that data to marketers.
After
receiving extremely harsh pushback from the public, Microsoft denied
the report altogether as a misunderstanding. This much is clear,
however: consumers are more concerned than ever over their privacy,
and rolling out new tracking techniques could spark even more outrage
Cyber-shield:
Brazil
announces govt system to
block NSA snooping
Brazil
is creating an email system intended to shield the government from
NSA spying. The country is set to vote on a cyber-security bill
following revelations the US spy network had infiltrated the highest
levels of Brazil’s administration.
RT,
14
October, 2013
Brazilian
President Dilma Rousseff tweeted the news, stressing the need for
greater security “to prevent possible espionage.”
Rousseff
said the Federal Data Processing Service (SERPRO) had been charged
with creating the spy-proof system for the Brazilian government.
“This
is the first step toward extending the privacy and inviolability of
official posts,” Rousseff said.
Furthermore,
Brazil’s Minister of Communication Paulo Bernardo said that the new
system would most probably be put to the test at the end of the
month. SERPRO is also developing an email security system that will
be freely available for the Brazilian public.
The
initiatives are part of a number of measures being introduced by the
Brazilian government to sure up internet security. It comes after
security leaks by former CIA employee Edward Snowden revealed that
the NSA had been spying on the communications of the Brazilian
government.
The
classified cables obtained by American journalist Glen Greenwald and
published by Brazilian newspaper O Globo revealed that the US spy
agency had infiltrated the state-run oil giant Petrobras. The NSA had
even managed to hack into President Rousseff’s email account.
Canada
was also implicated in the scandal for spying on Brazil’s Ministry
of Mines and Energy and then disseminating the data among the others
in the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence network – the US, UK, New
Zealand and Australia.
“They
[Five Eyes] are sharing all the information, handing over documents
to let other countries know exactly what they are doing,” Glen
Greenwald told Brazilian current affairs program Fantastico.
President
Dilma condemned the NSA’s spying as a breach of Brazilian
sovereignty and made it clear that Brazil would not tolerate such
activities. She called on both Canada and the US to cease the
‘cyberwar’ they had started against Brazil.
“Without
respect for [a nation’s] sovereignty, there is no basis for proper
relations among nations. Those who want a strategic partnership
cannot possibly allow recurring and illegal action to go on as if
they were an ordinary practice,” she said in a speech to the UN in
September.
In
retaliation, Dilma postponed an official visit to Washington and
announced that Brazil will host an international conference on
internet governance next year.
Meanwhile,
the White House has released a statement saying President Barack
Obama had ordered an investigation into the US intelligence program
in Brazil.
"As
the president previously stated, he has directed a broad review of US
intelligence posture, but the process will take several months to
complete,” said the statement
Not one byte! German telecom giant plans to rout foreign spooks
Germany’s
largest telecom provider, Deutsche Telekom, is looking to introduce a
“national routing” service which would keep German internet
traffic out of the hands of foreign spies.
RT,
14
October, 2013
Germany’s
largest telecom provider, Deutsche Telekom, is looking to introduce a
“national routing” service which would keep German internet
traffic out of the hands of foreign spies.
RT,
14
October, 2013
The
former state-owned communications giant outlined the plans at a
secret meeting in the Economy Ministry, business weekly
Wirtschaftswoche reported.
Currently,
email data is exchanged between users worldwide via international
Internet exchange points; physical structures through which Internet
service providers (ISPs) exchange Internet traffic between their
networks.
The
company hopes to hammer out an agreement with other national Internet
providers which would guarantee that “while being transported from
the sender to the receiver in Germany… no single byte leaves
Germany,” Thomas Kremer, a board member of Telekom’s data
privacy, legal affairs and compliance, told the magazine.
To
put the plan into effect, Deutsche Telekom must secure the support of
all its competitors, including Telefonica and Vodafone.
While
Vodafone and Telefonica are currently mulling the initiative, another
competitor – Internet service provider QSC – has questioned the
efficacy of the plan, saying it was not possible to determine with
certainty whether data is being routed nationally or internationally.
"In
a next step, this initiative could be expanded to the Schengen area,"
the spokesman said, referring to the group of 26 European countries –
excluding Britain – that have removed border controls for
participating countries.
Deutsche
Telekom first began leading the charge for to protect its users’
privacy from foreign intelligence agencies in August when they rolled
out 'Email Made in Germany', an encrypted email service that only
uses German servers to process and store all domestic email traffic.
The
move followed revelations that the US National Security Agency (NSA)
collects 500 million pieces of phone and email metadata from Germany
each month — more than in any other EU country.
“Germans
are deeply unsettled by the latest reports on the potential
interception of communication data," said Rene Obermann, head of
Deutsche Telekom.
“Now,
they can bank on the fact that their personal data online is as
secure as it possibly can be.”
Experts
do not believe the move will stop governments from getting their
hands on information, although it might complicate efforts to do so.
"Of
course the NSA could still break in if they wanted to, but the mass
encryption of emails would make it harder and more expensive for them
to do so," Sandro Gaycken, a professor of cyber security at
Berlin's Free University, said when the idea was first proposed.
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