Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Thomas Walkom, Dan Leger and Michael Harris write about the sketchy surveillance programs in place on both sides of the 49th parallel. But there may be an opportunity to make common cause with the 1% in criticizing constant intrusion on personal privacy, as
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Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Canada’s federal privacy law actually prohibits our own federal government from conducting secret surveillance (so long as it’s actually followed) – as well as how little that law means if countries don’t recognize that privacy applies beyond their borders. For further reading…– Michelle Shepard reported here on
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: The NSA Black Hole: 5 Basic Things We Still Don’t Know About the Agency’s Snooping
National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland. By: Justin Elliott and Theodoric Meyer | ProPublica Last week saw revelations that the FBI and the National Security Agency have been collecting Americans’ phone records en masse and that the agencies have access to data from nine tech companies. But secrecy around the programs has meant even
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Snowden leaks: NSA whistleblower William Binney warns of ‘totalitarian state’
Following news of leaks by NSA whistleblower Ed Snowden, Obama was asked by a reporter about massive NSA surveillance that involves not just phone tracking, but all types of online user communications. In the course of his defense of this unparalleled invasion of privacy, Obama dropped the “Big Brother” term
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper Conservatives spying on well-known aboriginal rights advocate, says UFCW Canada
By: UFCW Canada | Press Release Dr. Cindy Blackstock (Photo credit: Art Babych) TORONTO, June 9, 2013 – As reported in the Toronto Star, the federal Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has found that Dr. Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Children and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS), has been the subject of
Continue reading350 or bust: Whistleblower Snowden: NSA Surveillance Will Lead To “Turnkey Tyranny”
This incredibly brave young man’s story needs to be shared far and wide. 29 year old Edward Snowden, through The Guardian newspaper, went public as the NSA whistleblower yesterday. His revelations last week that the US National Security Agency’s Prism program has direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Nobody is Safe Anymore. No One, Nowhere.
It’s the latest, greatest thing in the Pentagon’s toybox – MAVs. Micro Air Vehicles like those shown in the following video already exist and they could take your last shreds of privacy. They could even take your life. And here’s the civilian version of the Dragonfly MAV developed for the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Jeremy Hammond: Aaron Swartz & the Criminalization of Digital Dissent
It is not the “crimes” Aaron (Swartz) may have committed that made him a target of federal prosecution, but his ideas – elaborated in his “Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto” – that the government has found so dangerous. By Jeremy Hammond – #18729-424 | Metropolitan Correctional Center, Feb. 20, 2013: The tragic
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The New Blackberry 10 – Time to ditch Apple and Google both
The Blackberry 10 has just been unveiled, and the question returns: Blackberry, iPhone or Google-based Android smart phone? Here are some thoughts, techno-weenie talk aside. We’re talking pure functionality and ethics here, not who has the best gizmo-gadgetry whiz-bang for the buck. Google is a partner in evil, willingly collaborating
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: How the ITU threatens Internet freedom and access (VIDEO)
Last week’s shutdown of Internet access in Syria has shifted the focus to the ongoing discussions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Concerns abound that the discussions could lead to greater surveillance powers for governments, and crippling limitations on Internet-based democratic activity. RELATED: Google Exposes Harper Government’s Growing Internet Censorship
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Assange book ‘Cypherpunks’ warns of threats to internet freedom
Julian Assange’ new book Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet is now available in paperback and e-book.
The term “cypherpunks” refers to activists who make use of coded writing or cryptography in an effort to bring about progressive …
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is Your Cell Phone Giving Away All Your Secrets?
Privacy? That’s a thing of the past. The Surveillance State is the new reality and, barring massive government intervention, it’s here to stay. How are you liking that fancy Android cell phone? Don’t bother answering that, we already know. Taxpayer-funded programs have created malware for Android smartphones that can remotely
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Move along, nothing to see here
And certainly no reason for worry about this afterthought as the Cons decide which immigrants they’d like to throw out of Canada on their respective ears (or prevent from arriving): And there are another 2,500 people who, for various reasons, have prompted the concern of the government. Mr. Kenney said
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Google Exposes Harper Government’s Growing Internet Censorship Appetites
In a report released late Sunday, Google tells us Canada has joined the ranks of countries aggressively stepping up efforts to censor online political dissent through “censorship requests” to the giant search engine. Passport Canada authorities asked Google to block public access to “a YouTube video of a Canadian citizen
Continue readingeaves.ca: Citizen Surveillance and the Coming Challenge for Public Institutions
The other day I stumbled over this intriguing article which describes how a group of residents in Vancouver have started to surveille the police as they do their work in the downtown eastside, one of the poorest and toughest neighborhoods in Canada. The reason is simple. Many people – particularly
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Surveillance State – No Warrant Required
Yesterday a number of police organizations came out in support of bill C-30 – the online online surveillance bill proposed by Minister Vic Toews. You can read the Vancouver Police Department’s full press release here – I’m referencing theirs not because it is particularly good or bad, but simply because
Continue readingRPS Podcast: Privacy and Surveillance, The Vikileaks Edition
My new podcast is up. You can listen to it here. Enjoy Filed under: Harper Government, Harper Majority, Progressives Tagged: Ethics, OpenMedia.ca, Privacy, Surveillance, Vic Toews, Vikileaks
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: On SOPA + PIPA + [Un]Lawful Access…
Millions of internet users and entrepreneurs already opposed the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act (aka SOPA and PIPA), including Google. Why NO SOPA? In case you missed it, somecanuckchick dot com went dark — along with thousands of others — on January 18, 2012 to protest SOPA
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