How to protest and stop the government spying on you
As of Monday 6th of April the UK Government keeps track of every website you visit, every email you send, and every VOIP phone call you make for a minimum of one year. The government waived your right to privacy on the farcical promise of additional security. Critics argue this has nothing to do with security and everything to do with surveillance. It seems clear that no matter how much we disapprove of these spy tactics we won’t ever change them, feeding on apathy and ignorance our government does whatever they like. It’s time to be pro-active and not re-active and claw back our right to privacy from the grasp of a government who coerced us into handing it over. They know you’re reading phillyharper, follow these instructions and in 15 minutes time they’ll have no idea who you are or what you’re looking at. Firstly, what are we up against? The director of Privacy International said:
“I don’t think people are aware of the implications of this move. It means that everything we do online or on the phone will be known to the authorities. They are using this to produce probably the world’s most comprehensive surveillance system.
This is a disgraceful example of the covert influence that Brussels has across our freedoms and liberties. The entire episode has been marked by a litany of secret dealings, vicious political games and a complete absence of transparency.”
Many bloggers and journalists tried to warn of the tidal wave of surveillance making headway from Brussels but no matter what was said or how many critics there were the wave kept coming. There are now sophisticated systems in place that store every email you send, every website you visit and every person you talk to in a database for a minimum of one year. That data is accessible by upwards of 1200 local authorities and civil bodies who can use it to investigate misdemeanours such as late payments on council tax or fly-tipping. Do you trust the government to use this personally sensitive data properly and to keep it safe? This is the government that left M15 documents on a train, let interns deal with the tax data of millions and sent sensitive information on unencrypted CDs via standard snail mail. Even if we drop the idea that the government is spying on you, it is clear that they are in no way capable of looking after data as sensitive as this. More data blunders.
Bob Quick, the Metropolitan Police Department's top counter terrorism police official, resigned on Thursday after photographers with telephoto lenses photographed a sensitive document he was carrying to a meeting in Downing Street.
Under Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is stated that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence” . The measures that went into place this Monday directly abuse a basic human right so often denied by the very people we purport to be fighting. You are being denied a fundamental human right. If your government won’t ensure your basic human rights are met you are going to have to ensure them yourself. That starts with knowing what they are.
Tor is your weapon and protest against spying
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allow you to significantly improve your privacy and security online. It makes tracking your movements on the internet a near impossible task. It’s used by journalists communicating with whistle-blowers or foreign dissidents, Non Governmental Organisations to allow workers in tyranical states work without the fear of being spied upon.
With the implementation the Data Retention Act UK citizens will now have to use services like this to ensure their right to privacy. You’re not helpless to government policy, it’s within your grasp to sidestep it.
How does it work?
From Tor
Internet data packets have two parts: a data payload and a header used for routing. The data payload is whatever is being sent, whether that’s an email message, a web page, or an audio file. Even if you encrypt the data payload of your communications, traffic analysis still reveals a great deal about what you’re doing and, possibly, what you’re saying. That’s because it focuses on the header, which discloses source, destination, size, timing, and so on.
Tor simply interferes with the route your data takes then erases the traces it leaves. It works in the same way you might take a strange and indirect route to your destination if you knew you were being tailed. Tor redirects your traffic around an anonymous network of client nodes run by volunteers, the beauty of Tor is it’s strength comes from how many people use it; like the zebras versus the lions, there is safety in numbers. Most incredibly, thanks to the wonders of open source, it’s free to use. Contribute a little, recieve a little.
To use Tor is an act of protest; it’s direct action against a policy you don’t agree with. If enough people take the advice to use Tor it will be a much stronger sign of disobedience than standard picketing of the government and has the added bonus of ensuring your right to privacy.
During the G20 protests in London last week, protesters chanted “Who’s street!? Our street!” at police officers after their kettle line was broken. They had reclaimed a space that was forcibly taken from them. As of Monday the 6th of April, another large space has been taken from you and if enough people stand together and act in unison it can be claimed back. The digital arena is 0urs, install Tor and take it back.
Other solutions
If you’re a Gmail user install the Gmail S/MIME extension which encrypts Gmail messages and attachments automatically. For it to work you’ll need to know your recipients digital certificate, once you have that you’ll be able to send emails safe in the knowledge they’re encrypted and for your recipients eyes only.
Google search profiling
If ever there was a more candid way of profiling someone it is by recording and analysing what they search for. You won’t be surprised to learn that google profile every website you visit and store that information without, they claim, it ever being linked to you personally.
Google are a little ambiguous about what they do with your search history, a statement on their blog seems to suggest that prior to the EU Data Retention act being implemented they were already retaining your search history:
Google may be subject to the EU Data Retention Directive, which was passed last year, in the wake of the Madrid and London terrorist bombings, to help law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of “serious crime”. The Directive requires all EU Member States to pass data retention laws by 2009 with retention for periods between 6 and 24 months. Since these laws do not yet exist, and are only now being proposed and debated, it is too early to know the final retention time periods, the jurisdictional impact, and the scope of applicability. It’s therefore too early to state whether such laws would apply to particular Google services, and if so, which ones. In the U.S., the Department of Justice and others have similarly called for 24-month data retention laws.
The data Google hold will no doubt be handed over to the EU to comply with the data retention act, it only needs to be combined with the data provided by your ISP (like your IP for example) and your search history becomes identifiable to you. TrackMeNot sends out random searches periodically which effectively hides your real searches in a sea of nonsensical ones making profiling impossible. It’s a free Firefox plugin, so if you’re concerned about having your google searches stored and analysed then this is a brilliant solution.
Protest is no longer confined to police kettles, you can protest with direct disobedience by refusing to take part in a scheme the government don’t want to allow you to opt out of. Something important and valuable has been taken from you, it’s within your power to take it back.