The United States Now Needs To Be Part of Any Privacy Threat Model
When I was working in the European Parliament, there was one quote that stuck with me: "you'll never see somebody's own government listed among the threats to a customer's privacy…
General Privacy News
Free Speech Cannot Exist Without Strong Encryption
Freedom of Speech is not just the freedom to say whatever you want. It's the freedom to say those words to somebody. It follows that strong encryption is not just…
European Court of Human Rights: Mass Surveillance is Unlawful
The European Court of Human Rights has found that bulk warrantless mass surveillance violates basic human rights. The case was brought by Roman Zakharov against Russia, and is binding on…
Bitcoin, Taxation, and the Systemic Necessity of Allowing Privacy
As you start using bitcoin, you start questioning the nature of money - or the nature of central bank money, anyway. If you go deeper down the rabbit hole, you…
After Paris Attack Where Terrorists Used Cleartext Communications and Credit Cards, Police State Hawks Demand a Ban of Encryption and Bitcoin
It didn't take long after the Paris terror attacks for police state hawks to demand more police powers. Bans on encryption have been suggested, as well as regulation of bitcoin…
Politicians Proposing More Wiretapping to “Protect Against Terrorism” Are Full of Deceit
Politicians in several countries have proposed restrictions in privacy and liberty in the form of increased surveillance powers following the Paris terror attacks. This is not just wrong and harmful,…
So Google Records All The Microphone Audio All The Time, After All?
It seems Google does record audio from microphones all the time, despite attempts to play down the situation. The "hotword" searching - when you initiate a search by saying "Ok…
Twitter Censorship of Drone Assassinations: Do We Need A Stronger “Mere Conduit” Accountability?
It was too conspiratorial to be true - links showing stories on the United States Drone Assassination Program weren't showing up on Twitter if you were accessing Twitter from United…
Once Again, All Together Now: You Can’t Have An Agency Responsible For Citizen Security And For Government Security At The Same Time
Once again, an NSA wiretapping capability has been discovered - or made credible, in any case - that highlights the completely incompatible two faces of the U.S. National Security Agency.…
European Supreme Court: Because of NSA, U.S. Corporations Have No Self-Agency To Agree To Privacy Obligations
This week, the European Court of Justice - the highest court in the European Union - declared that US companies may not transmit private sensitive personal data out of Europe…