I have so many thoughts buzzing around my head about surveillance and what is happening with the NSA and Edward Snowden that it’s hard to know where to start. So I have attempted to condense things down into the most important points as I see them: First, let me unequivocally state that I am personally grateful to Snowden for exposing the extent of surveillance itself and maybe even more importantly the ridiculousness that is the legal framework within which it is conducted. Second, Snowden’s...

I have so many thoughts buzzing around my head about surveillance and what is happening with the NSA and Edward Snowden that it’s hard to know where to start. So I have attempted to condense things down into the most important points as I see them: First, let me unequivocally state that I am personally grateful to Snowden for exposing the extent of surveillance itself and maybe even more importantly the ridiculousness that is the legal framework within which it is conducted. Second, Snowden’s...

On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court rejected the ACLU’s challenge to warrantless wiretapping. That leaves the EFF’s lawsuit as the last one still standing. The argument made by the majority of justices for dismissing the ACLU challenge was that the defendant had no standing because there was no provable harm. There are many things that are disconcerting about this argument. For starters, it is entirely unclear how someone would know that specific harm has occurred to them and is the result of wa...

On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court rejected the ACLU’s challenge to warrantless wiretapping. That leaves the EFF’s lawsuit as the last one still standing. The argument made by the majority of justices for dismissing the ACLU challenge was that the defendant had no standing because there was no provable harm. There are many things that are disconcerting about this argument. For starters, it is entirely unclear how someone would know that specific harm has occurred to them and is the result of wa...

I recently finished Dave Eggers’s “The Circle” which provided a good challenge to my baseline view that more transparency is good and that data protection is a futile effort. One of the systems in the novel is an easy to deploy camera that anyone can point at anything and provide a livestream. Called “SeeChange” the promoters argue that it will provide for reduced crime, increased safety and just additional information all around. The detractors are either smeared (with planted information) o...

I recently finished Dave Eggers’s “The Circle” which provided a good challenge to my baseline view that more transparency is good and that data protection is a futile effort. One of the systems in the novel is an easy to deploy camera that anyone can point at anything and provide a livestream. Called “SeeChange” the promoters argue that it will provide for reduced crime, increased safety and just additional information all around. The detractors are either smeared (with planted information) o...

For the New Year, I tweeted that we should “ll work together in 2014 to keep the Internet open for the benefit of humankind everywhere." That couldn’t be any more pressing as there is a full scale assault under way and we don’t seem to be doing much about it. First, thanks to Edward Snowden we have a much better view into the extent of domestic and international surveillance activities. The non-democratic ultra-secret and blackhat based approach taken by the NSA has done much to undermine the...

For the New Year, I tweeted that we should “ll work together in 2014 to keep the Internet open for the benefit of humankind everywhere." That couldn’t be any more pressing as there is a full scale assault under way and we don’t seem to be doing much about it. First, thanks to Edward Snowden we have a much better view into the extent of domestic and international surveillance activities. The non-democratic ultra-secret and blackhat based approach taken by the NSA has done much to undermine the...

The Internet makes possible unprecedented levels of transparency. That is why it all the more disconcerting that large government programs operate entirely in secret. Nick Grossman has an important post up today on the USV blog about starting by giving companies the right to disclose government information requests and also requiring government to provide the same information. Here is a key section:We can start to do this by being open about the extent of data sharing between internet compani...

The Internet makes possible unprecedented levels of transparency. That is why it all the more disconcerting that large government programs operate entirely in secret. Nick Grossman has an important post up today on the USV blog about starting by giving companies the right to disclose government information requests and also requiring government to provide the same information. Here is a key section:We can start to do this by being open about the extent of data sharing between internet compani...

Today a broad campaign called Reset The Net has launched with the tagline “Don’t ask for Your privacy. Take it back.” Today also marks the one year anniversary of the Edward Snowden leaks that showed the extent of the NSA data collection and surveillance activities. Reset The Net is meant to be a citizen and corporate response that uses technological means to thwart the NSA and other agencies like it. The basics of Reset the Net are indisputably good practices. Sites should use SSL to avoid s...

Today a broad campaign called Reset The Net has launched with the tagline “Don’t ask for Your privacy. Take it back.” Today also marks the one year anniversary of the Edward Snowden leaks that showed the extent of the NSA data collection and surveillance activities. Reset The Net is meant to be a citizen and corporate response that uses technological means to thwart the NSA and other agencies like it. The basics of Reset the Net are indisputably good practices. Sites should use SSL to avoid s...

I think it is super important in the current debate about government surveillance to separate two different arguments. First, I have stated and continue to believe that large scale secret programs without supervision and without checks and balances are unacceptable for a democracy. The potential for abuse and the cost in terms of a loss of rights (eg having a fair trial) are simply too large. Second, we should, however, not make the mistake of applying what Taleb would call a turkey argument ...

I think it is super important in the current debate about government surveillance to separate two different arguments. First, I have stated and continue to believe that large scale secret programs without supervision and without checks and balances are unacceptable for a democracy. The potential for abuse and the cost in terms of a loss of rights (eg having a fair trial) are simply too large. Second, we should, however, not make the mistake of applying what Taleb would call a turkey argument ...

Short post because I am away with the family, but I can’t help myself given the shutdowns of Lavabit and Silent Mail. This is what I mean when I say we are headed for a spy-versus-spy society between citizens and government. The way forward is not for citizens to embrace these crypto services and setting of an ever stronger government reaction. The way forward is for us to take back government from lobbyists and the military-industrial-surveillance complex. One starting point for that is redo...

Short post because I am away with the family, but I can’t help myself given the shutdowns of Lavabit and Silent Mail. This is what I mean when I say we are headed for a spy-versus-spy society between citizens and government. The way forward is not for citizens to embrace these crypto services and setting of an ever stronger government reaction. The way forward is for us to take back government from lobbyists and the military-industrial-surveillance complex. One starting point for that is redo...

The FBI is asking for an update to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) which mandated a backdoor for communications gear. This revised version known as CALEA-II is asking for such a backdoor to be extended to all software communications services. I have been meaning to write about why this is a bad idea but Bruce Schneier does such an outstanding job explaining it that I simply recommend you read his post. The only thing I want to add is that all the evidence at...

The FBI is asking for an update to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) which mandated a backdoor for communications gear. This revised version known as CALEA-II is asking for such a backdoor to be extended to all software communications services. I have been meaning to write about why this is a bad idea but Bruce Schneier does such an outstanding job explaining it that I simply recommend you read his post. The only thing I want to add is that all the evidence at...