Category Archives: Surveillance
iPhone Promiscuity
In this short post I want to revisit two issues I’ve previously written about: the volume of information that the iPhone emits when attached to WiFi networks and its contribution to carriers’ wireless network congestion. Continue reading
Decrypting Blackberry Security, Decentralizing the Future
Countries around the globe have been threatening Research in Motion (RIM) for months now, publicly stating that they would ban BlackBerry services if RIM refuses to provide decryption keys to various governments. The tech press has generally focused on ‘governments just don’t get how encryption works’ rather than ‘this is how BlackBerry security works, and how government demands affect consumers and businesses alike.’ This post is an effort to more completely respond to the second focus in something approximating comprehensive detail. Continue reading
Recording of ‘Traffic Analysis, Privacy, and Social Media’
The abstract for my presentation, as well as references, have already been made available. I wasn’t aware (or had forgotten) that all the presentations from Social Media Camp Victoria were going to be recorded and put on the web, but … Continue reading
Do You Know Who Your iPhone’s Been Calling?
Privacy policies are largely garbage from an end-user perspective. API developers need to adopt ethics of privacy, instil it throughout their code, and cut off those who abusing the API in manners that clearly violate both the terms and aims of the privacy ethic and policy. APIs should be run past privacy-minded technologists prior to being rolled out, and be modified where it is clear that the API permits and encourages invasive surveillance without the end-user’s consent. Ideally we’d see mass opt-in requirements for this kind of surveillance but I fear that this is unlikely, at least in the short term. Developing an ethic of privacy, combined with accessible three-layer privacy policies, might at least keep application and API developers honest at best, and give grounds for suit in front of the FTC, OPC, and EU Commission at worst. Continue reading
