Privacy

EFF on Privacy

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized: Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

..."The mobile robot that you carry around with you, the one that knows where you are all the time and listens to all your conversations. The one that you hope isn't reporting in at headquarters but whose behavior you can only guess about ? the one that runs all that software you can't read, can't study, can't see, can't modify, and can't understand ? That one. That one is taking your confession all the time. When you hold it up to your face from now on it is going to know your heartbeat. That's an Android app right now. Micro changes to the color of your face reveal your heart rate. That's a little lie detector you're carrying around with you." Eben Moglen quoted in Journalism After Snowden.

The Patriot Act inverts the constitutional requirement that people's lives be private and the work of government officials be public; it instead crafts a set of conditions in which our inner lives become transparent and the workings of the government become opaque. Either one of these outcomes would imperil democracy; together they not only injure the country but also cut off the avenues of repair. Elaine Scarry

"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks." Article 12: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"The public tragedy of Sept. 11 dramatically shifted the focus in Washington from debates over federal privacy legislation to a mania for total information awareness, turning Silicon Valley's innovative surveillance practices into objects of intense interest. As Jack Balkin, a professor at Yale Law School, observed, the intelligence community would have to "rely on private enterprise to collect and generate information for it," in order to reach beyond constitutional, legal, or regulatory constraints, controversies that are central today. By 2013, the CIA's chief technology officer outlined the agency's mission "to collect everything and hang on to it forever," acknowledging the internet companies, including Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Fitbit and telecom companies, for making it possible. The revolutionary roots of surveillance capitalism are planted in this unwritten political doctrine of surveillance exceptionalism, bypassing democratic oversight, and essentially granting the new internet companies a license to steal human experience and render it as proprietary data."
Shoshana Zuboff "The Coup We Are Not Talking About" New York Times Jan. 29, 2021

"The NSA's capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything. [...] There would be no place to hide."--Frank Church

In terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is the worst ranking country in the democratic world. Privacy International

"If we do nothing, we sort of sleepwalk into a total surveillance state where we have both a super-state that has unlimited capacity to apply force with an unlimited ability to know (about the people it is targeting) - and that's a very dangerous combination. That's the dark future. The fact that they know everything about us and we know nothing about them - because they are secret, they are privileged, and they are a separate class...the elite class, the political class, the resource class - we don't know where they live, we don't know what they do, we don't know who their friends are. They have the ability to know all that about us. This is the direction of the future, but I think there are changing possibilities in this...." Edward Snowden Edward Snowden

We can have democracy, or we can have a surveillance society, but we cannot have both. Shoshana Zuboff

Protect your freedom by managing your privacy (12/5/2022)

What is Fog Data Science? Why is the Surveillance Company so Dangerous? (8/31/2022)

All the Data Amazon's Ring Cameras Collect About You (8/5/2022)

The Supreme Court guards its privacy. Too bad it doesn't care about yours and mine (5/14/2022)

Alito's draft opinion is 'full on attack' on privacy rights: reproductive rights scholar (5/4/2022)

PRISM, Snowden and Government Surveillance: 6 Things You Need To Know by Lavanya Rathnam (10/20/2021)

ShadowDragon: Inside the Social Media Surveillance Software That Can Watch Your Every Move (9/21/2021)

Your Face Is Not Your Own (3/18/2021)

Cybersecurity Experts Sound Alarm on Apple and E.U. Phone Scanning Plans (10/14/2021)

The Taliban are showing us the dangers of personal data falling into the wrong hands (9/7/2021) Guardian

Step by step encryption with the updated Email Self-Defense guide (7/13/2021)

What Is End-to-End Encryption? Another Bull's-Eye on Big Tech (11/19/2019)

Privacy isn't about hiding bad things. It's about protecting what makes us humans: our day-to-day behavior, our personality, our fears, our relationships, and our vulnerabilities. Everyone deserves privacy online.

— The Tor Project (@torproject) April 2, 2021

Just last week, (7/2018) the European Parliament called for the suspension of the Privacy Shield agreement because the United States is not complying with EU law. Suspending the agreement would be devastating for Silicon Valley. One of parliament's many concerns was Trump's claim of "presidential privilege" over the board's report, which likely addresses the implementation of privacy protections for Europeans. Ashley Gorski

Apple's proposal to make their phones inform on and betray their owners marks the dawn of a dark future.https://t.co/k3SxaFSJEJ

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 26, 2021

Under EU law, personal data can be collected only under strict conditions and for a legitimate purpose... In the US, there is no all-encompassing law regulating the collection and processing of personal data. Instead, data protection is regulated by many state and federal laws. INFOSEC

Does anyone believe we have a shred of privacy left? https://t.co/QluplY8RHn

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) January 19, 2020

Which VPN Providers Really Take Privacy Seriously in 2021? (6/14/2021)

Police Are Tapping Into Ring Cameras to Expand Surveillance Network In Mississippi (11/6/2020)

Banning Facial Recognition Isn't Enough (1/20/2020)

When 'Big Brother' Isn't Scary Enough (11/4/2019)

I Got Access to My Secret Consumer Score. Now You Can Get Yours, Too. (11/4/2019)

Under digital surveillance: how American schools spy on millions of kids (10/22/2019)

Smile, Your City Is Watching You (6/27/2019)

It's Time to Switch to a Privacy Browser (6/16/2019)

The EFF on Privacy

Is The GDPR Coming To The US? (6/14/2018)

The Trump Administration Is Hiding a Crucial Report on NSA Spying Practices (7/12/2018)

Privacy, Protecting our data and celebrating the GDPR (5/25/2018)

Facebook's tracking of non-users ruled illegal again (2/19/2018)

WTF is GDPR? (1/20/2018)

Trump and Privacy (9/14/2017)

All the Ways Equifax Epically Bungled Its Breach Response (9/24/2017)

Digital Privacy at the U.S. Border: Protecting the Data On Your Devices and In the Cloud

Walking the privacy tightrope across the Atlantic (4/6/2017)

Trump signs internet privacy repeal (4/3/2017)

To Serve AT&T and Comcast, Congressional GOP Votes to Destroy Online Privacy (3/29/2017)

FBI's James Comey: 'There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America' (3/8/2017))

The California [ballot initiative]] measure has three major components: It gives consumers the right to ask companies to disclose what data they have collected on them; the right to demand that they not sell the data or share with third parties for business purposes; and the right to sue or fine companies that violate the law. Silicon Valley Faces Regulatory Fight on Its Home Turf NYT (5/13/2018)

Technology has been a liberating force in our lives. It allows us to create and share the experiences that make us human, effortlessly. But in secret, our very own government - one bound by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights - has reverse-engineered something beautiful into a tool of mass surveillance and oppression. The government right now can easily monitor whom you call, whom you associate with, what you read, what you buy, and where you go online, and offline, and they do it to all of us, all the time." Edward Snowden (6/4/2014)

The revelation that the government has access to a vast trove of personal online data demonstrates that we already live in a surveillance society. But the erosion of privacy rights extends far beyond big government. Intelligence agencies such as the NSA and CIA are using Silicon Valley corporate partners as their data spies. Seemingly progressive tech companies are joining forces with snooping government agencies to create a brave new world of wired tyranny. Robert Scheer: They Know Everything About You: How Data-Collecting Corporations and Snooping Government Agencies Are Destroying Democracy

...the wave of new technologies could usher in a lifestyle inimical to most Americans.

"It is beginning to call into question morality and ethics, challenge our value system, dredging up Orwellian possibilities... . We are being confronted by technical innovations based on nanotechnologies, very advanced computational capabilities, the amassing of data. We are being, I would say, challenged and threatened in some cases, in the context of American civil rights and American civil liberties. . . . So much information is available now in the digital realm, and we don't even know what exists out there on each of us. We aren't in control of it, we aren't in command of it. It is highly mobile, it is manipulatable, it is configurable across the digital realm in ways that most people just don't comprehend."

Such technologies, says Hughes, if not carefully managed and monitored, could imperil the very rights he has spent a lifetime defending. He worries that Americans do not fully appreciate the stakes. He supports a program of communication intercepts only if based on probable cause and direct links with terrorists, but he is vehemently opposed to broad domestic surveillance and monitoring of America's telephone and Internet traffic." from Nation of Secrets: Ted Gup.

"...the government has the capability to activate cell phones and laptops remotely as eavesdropping devices. Powering off the phone or laptop does not defeat the capability: only removing the battery does." Glenn Greenwald: No Place to Hide

"Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this Court should resolutely set its face." ―Louis D. Brandeis (on wiretapping)

Executive branch authorities can access congressional communications in almost undetectable ways without a warrant, just as they can retrieve emails and phone calls made by other citizens. Elected representatives risk disgrace or worse because many can be accused of fund-raising violations or sexual misconduct. Dossiers and blackmail did not go out of fashion with J. Edgar Hoover's death. Hoover's success merely showcased the effectiveness of the tool." Presidential Puppetry: Andrew Kreig

Republicans just sold out the right to control our own data to powerful broadband providers.

The GOP has no intention of supporting consumer privacy. Compared to the Europeans we have few privacy rights.

Privacy is an underlying concern of the Bill of Rights. It's rapid erosion limits all of our freedoms including free speech, free press, free association, democracy, and even personal security. The computer has become part of all of our everyday transactions and unregulated, closed software gathers as much data as possible, stores it in almost unlimited databases where it profits either a small group of oligarchs, potentially dangerous bureaucrats, or both. History richly illustrates that such data WILL be abused. (See Cambridge Analytica ).

Although the full extent is not widely recognized, secret government has implemented universal surveillance in the U.S. and extended it to much of the rest of the world. It is chilling for journalism, invasive for citizens, devastating for U.S. multinationals, ripe for misuse, and will balkanize the internet. Many heads of state are incensed about it, and they are taking steps to stop it...at least for themselves. It can have a strong negative effect on US technology.

Unlike the EU, the US does not protect consumers rights to privacy. Instead, whoever collects data (by whatever means, whether rewards-cards, credit card records, set-top box activity, license plate readers, stingray, or for other techniques), owns the data and may use it or sell it. To appreciate the extent of these techniques, watch very carefully this Jacob Appelbaum video.

Free software is open source, auditable, and, as a result, more secure.

The good news is that encryption works. The Tor project attempts to provide privacy, and there is a hardware solution in development called the Freedom Box which incorporates the best privacy enhancing software available.

To begin to trust anything connected to the internet: open source, auditable software and hardware should be all that is in use. Find a trustworthy VPN.

Tails is a live operating system, that you can start on almost any computer from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card. It aims at preserving your privacy and anonymity, and helps you to: use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network; leave no trace on the computer you are using unless you ask it explicitly; use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt your files, emails and instant messaging. Learn more about Tails.

The more people encrypt, the better off we will be. If only a few people do it, they will be the subject of intense scrutiny.

Secret government and large corporations will fight to make encryption illegal because they don't want any consumer privacy protection. It can make surveillance difficult or even impossible. We need to demand transparency for government, not for citizens.

(About the National Security State.)

Avoid Risk And Protect Online Identity (3/14/2012)

Creepy, Hidden App Installed on Smartphones (12/2/2011)

The Secret Sharer,s Thomas Drake an enemy of the state? (5/23/2011)

Cell Phones Are Tracking Devices That Governments, Police, And Stalkers Can Use To Easily Track Your Movements

Location Based Services: Time for a Privacy Check-In.

Goodbye to Privacy ? (5/23/2010)

Following the Money Trail: Telecoms and ISPs (12/13/2009)

According to Privacy International, US is one of the worst in the world in surveillance rankings. http://www.privacyinternational.org/

A Note on Privacy Protection for Passport, Key Card, and Credit Card

Locational Privacy (NYT 9/1/2009)

5 Unexpected Places You Can Be Tracked With Facial Recognition Technology (8/30/2011)

Facebook - the CIA conspiracy (3/2009)

~ Face Recognition for Photo Searches Sparks Privacy Fears

AT&T Whistleblower: Spy Bill creates infrastructure for a 'police state'

Information Fusion Centers and Privacy

What's Wrong With Fusion Centers ?

Difference Between US and European Privacy Laws

CRS Report to Congress: Fusion Centers: Issues and Options for Congress. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report to Congress on the deployment of over 40 Fusion Centers throughout the nation. Fusion Centers are the most recent effort by the federal government to establish an operational domestic surveillance program. The CRS report states that officials justifying the development of fusion centers use a number of presumptions, and that the goals of the centers seem to be unfocused with wide-ranging explanations on what they are intended to accomplish. The report outlined threats to civil liberties and privacy posed by the deployment of Fusion Centers, which have no laws governing them. (July 10, 2007)

BushCo-guts-privacy-report

Real ID

Keith Olbermann on FISA, etc

US FBI wants Internet records kept 2 years-source

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants U.S. Internet providers to retain Web address records for up to two years to aid investigations into terrorism and pornography, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The request came during a May 26 meeting between U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller with top executives at companies like Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL.

Privacy on the line: Whitfield Diffie

The Already Big Thing: Internet Spying New York Times (April 5, 2008)

Maximiliano Herrera's Human Rights Pages