One Planet, One Internet: A Call To the International Community to Fight Against Mass Surveillance

EFF - The Snowden revelations have confirmed our worst fears about online spying. They show that the NSA and its allies have been building a global surveillance infrastructure to “master the internet” and spy on the world’s communications. These shady groups have undermined basic encryption standards, and riddled the Internet’s backbone with surveillance equipment. They have collected the phone records of hundreds of millions of people none of whom are suspected of any crime. They have swept up the electronic communications of millions of people at home and overseas indiscriminately, exploiting the digital technologies we use to connect and inform. They spy on the population of allies, and share that data with other organizations, all outside the rule of law.

We aren’t going to let the NSA and its allies ruin the Internet. Inspired by the memory of Aaron Swartz, fueled by our victory against SOPA and ACTA, the global digital rights community are uniting to fight back.

On February 11, on the Day We Fight Back, the world will demand an end to mass surveillance in every country, by every state, regardless of boundaries or politics. The SOPA and ACTA protests were successful because we all took part, as a community. As Aaron Swartz put it, everybody "made themselves the hero of their own story." We can set a date, but we need everyone, all the users of the Global Internet, to make this a movement.

Here’s part of our plan (but it’s just the beginning). Last year, before Ed Snowden had spoken to the world, digital rights activists united on 13 Principles. The Principles spelled out just why mass surveillance was a violation of human rights, and gave sympathetic lawmakers and judges a list of fixes they could apply to the lawless Internet spooks. On the day we fight back, we want the world to sign onto those principles. We want politicians to pledge to uphold them. We want the world to see we care.

Here's how you can join the effort:

• Send an email to rights (AT) eff.org confirming your interest in participating in this action and receiving updates. Let us know what you would like to do in your own country so we can send you more information and amplify your voice.
• Visit TheDayWeFightBack.org and Take Action.
• Join your fellow global citizens and, sign the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles here: https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/take-action/EFF
• Use social media tools to announce your participation.
• Develop memes, tools, websites, and do whatever else you can to encourage others to participate.
• Be creative -- plan your own actions and pledge. Go to the streets. Promote the Principles in your own country. Then, let us know what your plan is, so we can link and re-broadcast your efforts.

The organizers of the Day We Fight Back are:

• Demand Progress
• Access
• EFF
• Internet Taskforce
• FFTF
• Free Press
• Mozilla
• Reddit
• ThoughtWorks
• BoingBoing

The organizers of the international action center are:

• Amnesty International USA
• Access (International)
• Anti-vigilancia (Brasil)
• Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (Argentina)
• Asociacion de Internautas - Spain (Spain)
• Asociación Colombiana de Usuarios de Internet (Colombia)
• Bolo Bhi (Pakistan)
• CCC (Germany)
• ContingenteMX (Mexico)
• CIPPIC (Canada)
• Digitale Gesellschaft (Germany)
• Digital Courage (Germany)
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (International)
• Electronic Frontiers Australia (Australia)
• Hiperderecho (Peru)
• ICT Consumers Association of Kenya
• Open Rights Group (UK)
• OpenMedia.org (Canada/International)
• OpenNet Korea (South Korea)
• Panoptykon Foundation (Poland)
• Privacy International (International)
• PEN International (International)
• TEDIC (Paraguay)
• RedPaTodos (Colombia)
• ShareDefense (Balkans)

The Internet’s spies have spent too long listening on our most private thoughts and fears. Now it’s time they really heard us. If you share our anger, share the principles: and fight back.

NSA Wrongly Says Warrantless Mobile-Phone Location Tracking Is Legal

Wired - National Security Agency snoops are harvesting as many as 5 billion records daily to track mobile phones as they ping nearby cell towers across the globe.

That alarming scoop by The Washington Post via documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden included wishful thinking from an unnamed government “intelligence lawyer” interviewed in the story. This official, according to the Post, said that the data “are not covered by the Fourth Amendment,” meaning a probable-cause warrant isn’t required to get it.

In reality, however, the case law on cell-site locational tracking — while generally favorable to the government — is far from clear, with federal courts and appellate courts offering mixed rulings on whether warrants are needed.

And it’s a big deal. As of last year, there were 326.4 million wireless subscriber accounts, exceeding the U.S. population, responsible for 2.3 trillion annual minutes of calls, according to the Wireless Association.

All the while, warrantless cell-phone location tracking has become a de facto method to snoop on criminals in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that probable-cause warrants from judges are generally needed to affix covert GPS devices to vehicles.   

Read More

Obama Promises Reform of NSA Spying, But the Devil Will Be in the Details

EFF - ...President Obama held a press conference to address the growing public concern over the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices. We are glad to see that the Administration has been forced to address the matter publicly as a result of the sustained public pressure from concerned voters as well as the ongoing press coverage of this issue. Obama acknowledged that Americans were uncomfortable with the surveillance that has been leaked to the media (and noted that he would be as well, if he weren’t in the government).  He made four commitments to transparency and reform during the press conference, and also published a whitepaper describing the legal interpretation of the PATRIOT Act that is used to attempt to justify bulk surveillance.

While we’re glad Obama is responding to the public’s concerns, we take Obama’s promises today with a healthy dose of skepticism. He may be paying lip service to accountability and transparency, but the devil will be in the details when it comes to whether his proposals will be effective.

Other promises aside, President Obama did not commit to reducing the surveillance of Americans’ communications or the communications of individuals abroad who are not suspected of any crime.

Obama’s 4 Commitments – And What’s Missing

Obama made 4 specific commitments around NSA surveillance. Here’s an overview of what he did – and did not – promise to do.

1. Obama will work with Congress to "pursue appropriate reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act." This is the subsection of law used to justify the bulk collection of telephone records. Several bills have been introduced this Congress that attempt to tighten up this law, and we’re glad to see Obama will be supportive of such efforts. However, Obama pointedly did not address Sec. 702, the other statute that the government has cited as supporting its broader surveillance, including the content of communications.  And as we’ve explained, to return Americans to the rule of law and privacy and free speech rights that they deserve, we’ll need changes well beyond Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. And even as to 215, Obama failed to explain what "appropriate reforms" might look like. Read what EFF thinks should be in NSA reform legislation.   More

The spy next door: private surveillance has never been easier

Fox News - It's not just the government that can spy on you.  Surveillance hardware and software have never been better or more affordable.

What's more, the legal regulations concerning digital privacy are incomplete, inconsistently interpreted, and lag behind the rapid pace of technological advancement.

In other words, there's never been a better time to be the spy next door.

The distance between what's possible and what's permissible is vast and ever-changing. How far can you go?

Q goes Retail

Actually buying the necessary spying tech isn't that complicated, as long as you have a few hundred dollars to spend. Did you know, for example, that there's a so-called Spy Store right in downtown Manhattan?

Spy Store sells cameras disguised as dictionaries, alarm clocks, house plants, desk lamps, teddy bears and sunglasses, all between $95 and $300 depending on the camera's resolution.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/06/24/spy-next-door-private-surveillance-has-never-been-easier/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fscitech+%28Internal+-+SciTech+-+Mixed%29#ixzz2X90qjfRF