All I Wanted For Christmas Is Camera Encryption

Andrew Orr In the News

The Freedom of Press Foundation, along with 150 documentary filmmakers, ask manufacturers to add camera encryption to their mos. Further Reading Judge Wants ISPs To Block Torrenting Websites Canada Is Trying to Demonize Encryption Background Wired provides some background to this story. In 2013, as filmmaker Laura Poitras worked with Edward Snowden for her movie, she made sure to secure everything. Every so often, she transferred footage to encrypted hard drives, and even destroyed the SD cards after using them. But she realized that at any moment, security agents could …

Subgraph OS is a Snowden-Approved Operating System

Andrew Orr Informative Internet Guides

Kid-tested, Snowden-approved. That’s what the makers of Subgraph OS say, although maybe not in those exact words. The premise is that Subgraph is a secure Linux distribution that anyone can use, even without technical know-how. Further Reading Our Top 5 Security Extensions for your Browser 5 Best Security Tools to Secure Your Data Subgraph OS Subgraph launched earlier this year at Logan CIJ Symposium as an alpha release. This is the stage of the software release cycle where it’s still in development. The developers release software so the public can report bugs …

Signal: The Right Way To Encrypt Our Communications

Andrew Orr Informative Internet Guides

Have you ever needed to say something – uh – sensitive to your buddy? Maybe it was a photo of an explicit nature, or maybe sending him/her directions on where you hid the booty? Hey, we are not judging, but if you find yourself wishing you could communicate securely, check out Signal by Open Whisper Systems. Signal Signal is an app for iOS, Android and Chrome/Chromium that encrypts your text messages and phone calls. It’s so secure that people like Edward Snowden, Matt Green, Bruce Schneier and Laura Poitras all recommend using …

US Feeling the Safe Harbor Agreement Squeeze

Michael Policy

In a role that is becoming increasingly common for Microsoft. They have again spen out about the state of privacy the US. A recent blog post by Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, he responded to the Safe Harbor ruling by the CJEU. In it, he made some radical declarations. The recent ruling of voiding the Safe Harbor agreement by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has put over 4,000 companies who deal with trans-Atlantic business in a tough spot. Safe Harbor Agreement Collapse is Dangerous …

The Democratic Debate Surveillance and Snowden

Michael Policy

The first democratic debate last Tuesday was a far cry from the previous two debates staring a laundry list of Republicans. Just 5 candidates to the stage and were much successful at staying on topic than their republican counterparts. During the two hours they were on the stage (full transcript here) they were able to convey their varying policies on a range of issues. Gun control, foreign policy, racial tensions, the 2008 recession, and immigration were all discussed at length. Fortunately, even the topic of the NSA, mass surveillance, …

Snowden Treaty: Evolving the Privacy Dialogue

Michael In the News

On September 24th Edward Snowden and his key supporters unveiled a plan in hopes of curtailing the escalation of mass surveillance. The proposed International Treaty on the Right to Privacy, Protection Against Improper Surveillance and Protection of Whistleblowers is aimed at getting nations to agree to set aside their own interests and do away with mass internet surveillance. The proposed International Treaty on the Right to Privacy, Protection Against Improper Surveillance and Protection of Whistleblowers christened, the Snowden Treaty, has made the group’s intentions clear. Edward Snowden, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, …

Lawsuit Shows NSA Whistle Blowers Persecution

Michael In the News

One of the biggest clauses the US government uses to detract from Edward Snowden’s actions is that he did not go through the proper channels. They claim (as in this TED talks with Richard Ledgett) that Snowden had several other avenues in order to lodge a complaint about the way the NSA was conducting business. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the US’s political and judicial system would have reason to doubt this. Sure enough, in a lawsuit filed in the last week of August, four whistle blowers from …

What’s a Little Spying Between Friends?

Michael In the News

The NSA continues to get into trouble for its spying. The US was first accused of spying on top German officials in 2013. A subsequent investigation by the Germans did not find any evidence of the trespass. The German’s just dropped their investigation in June because the investigation did not turn up any evidence that documents released by Edward Snowden told the truth about Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone being tapped. Fool Me Once Even though the Germans dropped their investigation into the accusations after finding no evidence, there is evidence of …

NSA Surveillance Extended by Secret Court

Michael Policy

In what has become the usual for surveillance organizations, the FISA court this week decided that it will continue to do what it wants. Despite the passing of the USA FREEDOM Act that places telephone metadata back in the hands of telecommunication companies, the top secret surveillance court ruled that the NSA can continue business as usual for the next six months. The Decision Over the Surveillance Extension The question of whether or not to extend the NSA’s massive telecommunications surveillance habits centered around two things. The first is whether …

GCHQ Squares Off Against Amnesty International at ECHR Over Privacy Violations

Christopher Sewerd In the News

Thanks to Edward Snowden it is no longer a secret that both the United States and United Kingdom are carrying out mass surveillance on the majority of the world. These revelations caused a stir within the privacy community and as a result of this human rights organisations are about to put the UK intelligence agency the GCHQ to task by taking them to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR is the highest court in the European Union and is usually reserved for cases that have been heard …