[ELECTRON] it's a google world .... but an interesting Electron club...

Wed Mar 3 13:45:24 UTC 2010

Despite having just posted the message about thew FLOSS Manuals tools, I
would actually argue that the Google and related issues is not necessarily
best thought of in terms of privacy. A world in which everyone is cloaked
behind layers of encryption is not necessarily the most desirable one, and
as many researchers point out, true anonymity online is impossible and
unworkable.

One researcher I know has argued that the legal conventions used to define
'anonymity' online are primarily designed to enable as much information as
possible to be used for the kinds of commodification that Google, et al.
are building their business models around, rather than to protect the
original users. So to some extent the rhetoric around privacy that many
such companies are promoting (Google, Microsoft, etc often fund much
publicity campaigns around this) is perhaps not so benign as it might
appear.

The idea of the internet as a 'commons' offers a different angle on this,
which is not one built around privacy issues but rather those of joint
responsibility, transparency and non-monopolizable ownership. Another
angle would be to argue for greater rights for users who contribute
content and use Google-style services, not just the filtering systems
Google currently provide, but rather that our usage gives us certain
rights over how the company operates and makes use of it. There is, if you
like, a parallel with the development of employees' and workers' rights in
the 19th and 20th Centuries.

For more in-depth discussion of such issues see:

http://www.cs.kuleuven.be/~seda/publications.html

I think the 'The Social Web and Privacy: Practices, Reciprocity and
Conflict Detection in Social Networks' paper would be the one to look at.

best wishes
Si

> The FLOSS Manuals project published a pretty comprehensive tutorial on
> such tools:
>
> http://en.flossmanuals.net/CircumventionTools
>
> It is primarily aimed at journalists and civil rights activists working in
> countries that place heavy restrictions on internet access.
>
> A simple way of running a workshop might be for people to work their way
> through the manual (I think it is designed to be used like that).
>
> I would volunteer to help out but if there is an interest in doing such a
> workshop this month I am away for most of it. But people could have a look
> at the tutorial and see if that provides a decent starting point.
>
> Another social night would be good ....
>
>
> best wishes
> Si
>
>
>
>> Well, dear friends, these last few posts remind us that even if we
>> disagree about some things, we do have a lot of common ground. That's
>> good to remember. Really, it's good once in a while to step back and
>> notice that this electron club is a vibrant, interesting bunch of
>> people with so much potential. I agree with Bob that we need to do
>> more off line in the real world of Scott Street. I think a small
>> social evening should be planned soon!
>>
>> I would like to propose a workshop evening on Anonymity and Privacy
>> technologies - I don't know enough by myself but maybe with others we
>> could share possibilities for anonymity and privacy for our online
>> selves.
>> I can think of a few things
>> o  Basics of SSL e.g. for accessing email
>> o  Firefox add-ons for browsing
>> o  'super' cookies and how to defeat them
>> o  TOR for private surfing
>> o  The coming Internet of Things (RFID, IP6 etc) and threats and
>> opportunities for privacy (see http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/)
>>
>> I'd really be keen to hear from anyone who knows about this sort of
>> thing so that we could produce a workshop which could be a service to
>> electron club members - expecially those, like me who have a very
>> patchy knowledge of this kind of thing. Any takers to do a workshop
>> with me?
>>
>> alan
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3 Mar 2010, at 11:32, Bob wrote:
>>
>>> It is just for these reasons the Common Good Awareness Project was
>>> created. Knowledge of the commons is a powerful tool for change.
>>> The history of the development of IT is one of free information and
>>> knowledge sharing on the information highway that anyone can join?
>>> Unfortunately most of this knowledge sits on the shelves of
>>> academics or on esoteric websites - well hidden from the view of
>>> the general public.
>>>
>>> There is so much potential for the dissemination of this knowledge
>>> at the Electron - is that not what we want to do? There is also so
>>> much potential to turn this knowledge into intelligent ideas. That
>>> does entail getting away from this thing you are starring at now,
>>> now and again, which you probably spend to much time on anyway.
>>>
>>> We have new members joining every other week who seem keen to get
>>> into things - but the club does not just exist out there in
>>> syberspace, it is at the corner of Scott Street and Suchiehall
>>> Street. Come and visit sometime - lets use the Electron to re-
>>> awaken the idea of the Knowledge Commons. One idea anyway?
>>>
>>> http://www.citystrolls.com/CGAP/
>>> http://www.citystrolls.com/CGAP/pages/knowledge.html
>>>
>>>
>>> On 03/03/2010 09:36, Andrew Back wrote:
>>>> Google are becoming the new Microsoft. I'm seeing quite a few people
>>>> becoming uneasy with them and starting to move their mail and
>>>> calendar etc
>>>> away. As someone pointed out to me the other day, Microsoft were
>>>> kind of OK
>>>> around the time of Windows 3.11, when people used things like
>>>> Wordperfect
>>>> for word processing, there were lots of other 3rd party apps in
>>>> use, and
>>>> free stuff (much of it crappy shareware, granted). And it just
>>>> started to
>>>> get bad around Windows 95/98, when they'd eradicated most the
>>>> competition
>>>> for apps, and you were locked in to a MS software stack. Same
>>>> seems to be
>>>> happening with Google - they want you to use all their online
>>>> apps. Add to
>>>> this the concerns raised in the newsletter Simon forwarded and
>>>> recent issues
>>>> with Buzz etc.
>>>>
>>>> Apple are getting worse, too, with the iPad adopting the locked-down
>>>> approach taken with the iPhone. What happens to all these shiny
>>>> iPhones and
>>>> iPads when Apple decides that your model is out of fashion, and
>>>> that you
>>>> need a new one. Can you load leaner, free software on on to it and
>>>> pass it
>>>> on to a relative, school or charity etc? Not if Apple have their
>>>> way. They
>>>> would rather the device became no use to anybody, and that you
>>>> were burdened
>>>> with yet more landfill. Apple used to be cool - but it seems that
>>>> with a
>>>> growth in market share they decided that they can start to play
>>>> fast and
>>>> loose with their customer's freedoms. I'm also seeing people on
>>>> the more
>>>> techy, clued up end moving away from Apple. Hopefully this will
>>>> continue.
>>>> Like Google, their products may be shiny and appear refreshing,
>>>> but they're
>>>> ultimately as good for you as a diet of McDonalds and Chewits, and
>>>> the
>>>> DRM that Apple bakes in is like lard in the digital ecosystem.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Andrew
>>>>
>>>> On (21:39 02/03/10), Simon Yuill wrote:
>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>>
>>>>> =================== english ===================
>>>>> February 2010 Newsletter
>>>>> Google special edition
>>>>>
>>>>> ----------------------
>>>>> Contents:
>>>>>
>>>>> * Google: creepy and evil
>>>>> * How to protect your privacy online
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Google: creepy and evil
>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Google's motto of "don't be evil" has been key to the company's
>>>>> success.
>>>>> In the year 2000, Google was the only search engine that did not
>>>>> privilege search results from advertisers, a significant factor in
>>>>> Google's rapid rise. Maybe Google's new motto should be "don't be
>>>>> creepy". Recently, CEO Eric Schmidt said Google is "trying not to
>>>>> cross
>>>>> what we call the creepy line" when it comes to gathering personal
>>>>> data [1].
>>>>>
>>>>> However, Eric Schmidt wasted no time in crossing the creepy line
>>>>> when in
>>>>> December, he told an interviewer that "If you have something that
>>>>> you
>>>>> don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the
>>>>> first
>>>>> place." In effect, the head of the corporation with the most
>>>>> surveillance data in the world has just announced that if you are
>>>>> innocent you should have nothing to hide. As many people have noted,
>>>>> Schmidt's statement is hypocritical and disturbing [2][3]. His
>>>>> logic is
>>>>> nearly identical to the totalitarian assertion that if you want free
>>>>> speech, maybe you shouldn't be saying anything controversial.
>>>>>
>>>>> Eric Schmidt's comments are particularly troublesome in light of
>>>>> Google's recent changes in policy. In March of 2009, Google
>>>>> reversed its
>>>>> long held policy against behavioral surveillance [4]. Now, Google
>>>>> tracks
>>>>> the behavior of internet users in order to serve people more
>>>>> precisely
>>>>> targeted advertising. In February of 2010, the Washington Post
>>>>> revealed
>>>>> that Google again reversed existing policy by forging an information
>>>>> sharing partnership with the NSA (the super secretive electronic
>>>>> spying
>>>>> arm of the US government) in order to combat "cyberattacks" [5].
>>>>>
>>>>> In both cases, we are told not to worry because Google will only be
>>>>> sharing data that has been anonymized (i.e. personally identifying
>>>>> information is removed). But there is plenty of cause for alarm.
>>>>> Recent
>>>>> research has shown how social media sites leak large amounts of
>>>>> personal
>>>>> information to their advertising partners [6] and how exceptionally
>>>>> difficult it is to create a dataset that cannot be de-anonymized
>>>>> [7][8][9].
>>>>>
>>>>> In fact, the US defense department has a new initiative based
>>>>> exactly on
>>>>> this principle [10]. Called 'Digital DNA', the goal is to develop a
>>>>> digital fingerprint database much like the databases of DNA
>>>>> stored by
>>>>> many national governments. The goal is precisely to identify
>>>>> particular
>>>>> individuals from data commonly thought to be anonymous--the tiny
>>>>> traces
>>>>> of digital footprints we leave behind whenever we use a computer.
>>>>>
>>>>> Despite all this, Google continues to assure its users that there is
>>>>> nothing to worry about. After all, if you have a lot of time on your
>>>>> hands, you can use the Google dashboard to adjust a complex array of
>>>>> privacy "self-care" settings. The problem is, the dashboard only
>>>>> applies
>>>>> to data directly tied to a Google account and it ignores all the
>>>>> many
>>>>> ways Google retains indirect and easily de-anonymized data on
>>>>> you. For
>>>>> example, it does not let you remove the location data Google
>>>>> keeps on
>>>>> you every time you send an email to a gmail user.
>>>>>
>>>>> Google wants our trust. We are asked to put faith in the wizard
>>>>> behind
>>>>> the curtain who controls the largest assemblage of data the world
>>>>> has
>>>>> ever known. Google's new motto is clear: "don't be so evil that
>>>>> people
>>>>> start to notice." We are starting to notice.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> How to protect your privacy online
>>>>> ----------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Working on this issue is really a social problem, not an individual
>>>>> problem. Asking individuals to spend a lot of time practicing
>>>>> 'privacy
>>>>> hygiene' is both impractical and politically dubious. Creating
>>>>> privacy
>>>>> online, in our opinion, should be done communally by supporting
>>>>> alternatives.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, there are some things which we recommend that are mostly
>>>>> 'install and forget' measures, and don't require ongoing or tedious
>>>>> maintenance.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you use Firefox, a web browser we recommend
>>>>> (http://help.riseup.net/mail/#use_firefox), you can install various
>>>>> extensions to use when browsing. Firefox is free software, and
>>>>> community
>>>>> members have written software to add new features, and anybody can
>>>>> download these extensions (see https://addons.mozilla.org/ for more
>>>>> information about Firefox extensions.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Here are some Firefox extensions that we recommend:
>>>>>
>>>>> * GoogleSharing (https://we.riseup.net/help/googlesharing)
>>>>> * Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO) (http://
>>>>> taco.dubfire.net/)
>>>>> * Adblock Plus (http://adblockplus.org/en/)
>>>>>
>>>>> You can also do web searches at https://ssl.scroogle.org/ - add this
>>>>> to your search engine menu by adding
>>>>> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12506
>>>>>
>>>>> ----------------------------------------------------
>>>>> [1] "Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'"
>>>>> http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10392435-265.html
>>>>>
>>>>> [2] "Google CEO Eric Schmidt Dismisses the Importance of Privacy"
>>>>> http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/Google-ceo-eric-schmidt-
>>>>> dismisses-privacy
>>>>>
>>>>> [3] "My Reaction to Eric Schmidt"
>>>>> http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/my_reaction_to.html
>>>>>
>>>>> [4] "Privacy Groups Rip Google's Targeted Advertising Plan"
>>>>> http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/161086/
>>>>> privacy_groups_rip_googles_targeted_advertising_plan.html
>>>>>
>>>>> [5] "Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks"
>>>>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/
>>>>> AR2010020304057.html
>>>>>
>>>>> [6] "Social networks make it easy for 3rd parties to identify you"
>>>>> http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2009/09/which-user-clicked-
>>>>> on-viagra-ads-ask-myspace-and-facebook.ars
>>>>>
>>>>> [7] Mielik??inen, Taneli. 2004 "Privacy Problems with Anonymized
>>>>> Transaction Databases".
>>>>> http://www.springerlink.com/content/rukljup9muhtrpcu/
>>>>>
>>>>> [8] Shmatikov, Vitaly and Arvind Narayanan. 2008. "Robust
>>>>> De-anonymization of Large Sparse Datasets (How To Break Anonymity
>>>>> of the
>>>>> Netflix Prize Dataset)".
>>>>> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_oak08netflix.pdf
>>>>>
>>>>> [9] Shmatikov, Vitaly and Arvind Narayanan. 2009. "De-Anonymizing
>>>>> Social
>>>>> Networks". http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_oak09.pdf
>>>>>
>>>>> [10]"Pentagon Searches for ???Digital DNA??? to Identify Hackers"
>>>>> http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/pentagon-searches-for-
>>>>> digital-dna-to-identify-hackers/
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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>>>
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