Is Europe Fracturing With Respect To Respect For Privacy?
Last decade, all of Europe was marching in lockstep toward surveillance nightmare societies. This decade, that has changed, and some states in Europe (Germany et al) are choosing to restore…
Surveillance
Reduced Acceptance For Mass Surveillance And Wiretapping
A ten-year study in Sweden shows a sharply falling popular support for mass surveillance, even if necessary to protect national security. Over a ten-year period, opinion has shifted ten points,…
Reactions To Data Retention Ban Shows Hypocrisy Of Surveillance Hawks
Last week, the European Court of Justice - the highest court in the world's largest economy - banned blanket data retention, declaring the federal law on the subject unconstitutional. This…
The Problem Isn’t That The NSA Saw You Nude, But Who They Saw You Nude With
When it was revealed that the GCHQ/NSA/FRA spying complex had been intercepting video chat, including nude video chats, there was an uproar along the lines of "the government is looking…
Does It Take A Disaster For The Public To Wake Up To The Mass Surveillance?
It seems there needs to be a major wiretapping disaster for the public to wake up to the fact that freedom of speech and privacy are essentially gone. Seeing how…
Surveillance Agencies’ Self-Image Just A Small White Cat Away From Bond Villain
As we get increasing insight into the self-image of the surveillance agencies around the world, a disturbing image of self-appointed alpha males appear, rather than the modest and professional civil…
Bitcoin Could Lead To Liberty Paradise, But Also To Surveillance Dystopia
Bitcoin heralds great promise to break that symbiosis between banks and governments that enable erosion of our financial privacy. But in the absence of banks, bitcoin comes with its own…
We Shouldn’t Fear Corporations Or Governments For Our Privacy – The Real Danger Is The Combination Of The Two
There is an ongoing discussion whether we should fear governmental intrusion into our privacy more, or corporate carelessness with our private data more. This is a false framing of the…
Merkel’s Outrage Over Wiretapping Shows Need To Make The Fight Personal
Angela Merkel is outraged that the United States has wiretapped her phone. However, she expresses no concern for her fellow 82 million Germans, nor for her fellow 500 million Europeans…
Logical For BRICS Countries To Build Their Own Internet Infrastructure, Circumventing U.S. Surveillance
The so-called Emerging Economies - the BRICS countries - have decided to build their own Internet infrastructure, circumventing American and European wiretapping points. While this is mostly skillful geopolitical play,…