A Skeptical Survivalist

(CNN) — Governments have come knocking on Google’s door more frequently seeking people’s private usage information.

Google fielded 8,888 requests from the United States government last year asking for information on people using its services, the company wrote in a report on Monday. The total number is likely higher because the Google statistics only cover criminal investigations.

The U.S. is by far the most active, and successful, solicitor of private info from Google, accounting for about one-third of all federal requests last year, according to the data.

In the latter half of 2010, Google provided at least 4,323 pieces of info to the U.S. Google did not disclose how many requests it complied with prior to changing its policy in July 2010.

A government has a 60% average success rate for receiving the data it asked for of the 25 countries listed during the July to December time period, which is when Google began reporting that info. For the U.S., Google granted 94% of the government’s requests.

Read the rest

It’s happening all over these days - and not just in the Middle East.  This is a trend. It’s starting in the US now.

San Francisco California - Aug 13, 2011 - link

In a controversial move that has riled up free speech advocates, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system said it cut off cellphone signals at “select” stations in response to a planned protest this week.

“BART temporarily interrupted service at select BART stations as one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform,” the transit agency said in a statement on its website Friday.

BART said it took the actions because protesters said they “would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART Police.”

Great Britian - Aug 14, 2011 - link

(CNN) — In an emergency session of Parliament on Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the violence, looting and arson sweeping his country “were organized via social media.” He said his government is now considering how and whether to “stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”

On Friday, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency published a commentary contrasting Cameron’s latest statements with his Arab Spring-inspired speech earlier this year, in which he loftily proclaimed that freedom of expression should be respected in Tahrir Square as much as in London’s Trafalgar Square.

“We may wonder why Western leaders, on the one hand, tend to indiscriminately accuse other nations of monitoring, but on the other take for granted their steps to monitor and control the Internet,” Xinhua said. “For the benefit of the general public, proper Web-monitoring is legitimate and necessary.”

China - Aug 13, 2011 - link

Public distrust of the government mounted after Chinese media reported that the petrochemical plant might have been allowed to operate illegally months before it received mandatory environmental approval. According to Southern Metropolis News, the Fujia plant started full-scale production in June 2009, but it did not get the go-ahead from the Liaoning environmental protection bureau until April last year.

Chinese authorities, which are quick to suppress dissent from spreading, blocked searches on Weibo for “PX,” “Dalian,” and “Dalian protests.” Search results for these terms showed pages that said “according to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results are not displayed.”

Paris France - Aug 11, 2011 - link

PARIS — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Thursday that the government, seeking to prevent a repeat of riots and looting in London and other British cities this week, might bar suspected troublemakers from using social media and other digital communications tools.

Uganda - Aug 11, 2011 - link

Uganda’s Security Minister Wilson Muruli Mukasa has accused the opposition of using social media in a “grand plan” to topple the government.

His comments came as opposition parties vowed to relaunch mass protests against the rising cost of living.

Mr Mukasa said social networking sites Facebook and Twitter were being used to prepare youths for insurrection.

During protests in April, the government ordered internet service providers to block their use.

The directive was largely ignored with only two service providers implementing it, the BBC’s Joshua Mmali in the capital, Kampala says.

Syria - Aug 3, 2011 - link

Syrian protestors are scared to use Facebook and Twitter, saying the government tracks their posts, as officials in that region attempt to prevent another Arab Spring uprising.

Anti-government activists accuse authorities of watching Twitter feeds and Facebook in order to learn of planned protests and arrest those who show up. In fact, activists believe the government reopened the previously blocked social media sites earlier this year explicitly to monitor citizens’ behavior.

Malawi - July 22, 2011 - Link

The government of Malawi has shut down news websites and social media networks including Twitter and Facebook and has blocked signals from radio stations in a bid to stop the coordination of demonstrations that have so far left more than 18 people dead.

The Malawian government, through the telecom sector regulator, the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA), this week ordered ISPs (Internet service providers) to shut down and radio stations to desist from live broadcasts of the protests, claiming such coverage may incite violence.

In a controversial move that has riled up free speech advocates, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system said it cut off cellphone signals at “select” stations in response to a planned protest this week.

“BART temporarily interrupted service at select BART stations as one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform,” the transit agency said in a statement on its website Friday.

BART said it took the actions because protesters said they “would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART Police.”

Demonstrators had planned a rally to bring attention to a number of transit police officer shootings, the latest one resulting in the death of 45-year-old Charles Hill, who was shot last month after a confrontation with officers.

The transit agency said protests during rush hour endangered the safety of commuters and employees.

“A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees and demonstrators,” the agency said.

The US military has admitted it is investigating means of covertly disseminating propaganda on social media sites after army chiefs confirmed they were developing software which would allow it to create and manage fake pro- American personas on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

The ruse is intended to manipulate online discussions toward the American political standpoint by having military personnel to manage the accounts of multiple personas to infiltrate and direct online debates which run counter to US policy objectives.

News of the covert operation only came to light when US Central Command (Centcom) awarded a contract to a Ntrepid to allow around 50 army controllers to operate up to 10 individual identities or “sock puppets”.

Centcom spokesman Bill Speaks confirmed the move but said they were targeting “violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US” and would be conducted in languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.

Speaks was adamant however that all English language interventions would continue to be clearly attributed to Centcom.
The elaborate ploy will see provision of a virtual private server in the US and numerous others around the world to give credence to the government’s mouthpieces.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson refused to comment on Britain’s own cyber capability.

This is an excerpt from an article by Susan Lindauer, a US Intelligence Asset who gave advance warning to the government about the 9/11 attack and was arrested under the Patriot Act and detained in a military prison for a year for her troubles.

The American people are not nearly as frightened as they should be. Many Americans expect the Patriot Act to limit its surveillance to overseas communications. Yet while I was under indictment, Maryland State Police invoked the Patriot Act to wire tap activists tied to the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group dedicated to wind power, solar energy and recycling. The DC Anti-War Network was targeted as a “white supremacist group.” Amnesty International and anti-death penalty activists got targeted for alleged “civil rights violations.”

All of these are American activists engaged in lawful disputes of government policy. All of them got victimized by the surveillance techniques approved by Tea Party leaders, because they pursued a policy agenda that contradicted current government policies. The Tea Party swore to defend the freedom of independent thinking in Congressional campaigns. One presumes those promises are now forgotten until the next election.

I cannot forget. I cannot forget how I was subjected to secret charges, secret evidence and secret grand jury testimony that denied my right to face my accusers or their accusations in open court, throughout five years of indictment. I cannot forget my imprisonment on a Texas military base for a year without a trial or evidentiary hearing.

I cannot forget how the FBI, the US Attorneys Office, the Bureau of Prisons and the main Justice office in Washington — independently and collectively verified my story— then falsified testimony to Chief Justice Michael Mukasey, denying our 9/11 warnings and my long-time status as a U.S. intelligence Asset, though my witnesses had aggressively confronted them. Apparently the Patriot Act allows the Justice Department to withhold corroborating evidence and testimony from the Court, if it is deemed “classified.”

I cannot forget threats of forcible drugging and indefinite detention up to 10 years, until I could be “cured” of believing what everybody wanted to deny— because it was damn inconvenient to politicians in Washington anxious to hold onto power.

Some things are unforgivable in a democracy. The Patriot Act would be right at the top of that list. Nobody who has supported that wretched law should ever be allowed to brag of defending liberty again. That goes for the Tea Party. By voting to extend surveillance of American citizens, they have abandoned the principles of freedom that brought about their rise to power. They have shown their true face.

I’m glad there are folks war-gaming how to prevent attacks on US cities. I’m not so fearful of the government that I doubt everything that is done. I know there are a great many honest, dedicated folks out there who work to keep us safe.

However, I’m also very aware of the continued program of increased surveillance, snooping, reporting, suspicion, and domestic spying that is daily perpetuated in the name of homeland security.  

What Brad here is referring to as the work of hero’s, is the same sort of thought behind the “See Something, Say Something” campaign that I see as very similar to the environment in communist countries where citizens report on their neighbors and anything “suspicious” is worth a phone call that gets your name added to a list.  

When everyone is spying on each other the paranoia and potential for abuse is widespread.

This is not the America I want to live in - NOT the country George Washington helped create. Washington created his spy network in a time of open war with a tangible enemy.

When the enemy is potentially your next door neighbor, then we’ve already lost the war.

Here’s Meltzer talking about what he views as a beautiful thing:

Let me be clear: Those unseen heroes are everywhere. And they help us every day. And the best part? It’s been true throughout our history. Indeed, as I researched my newest thriller, “Inner Circle,” I found that back during the Revolutionary War, a secret presidential spy ring was started by none other than George Washington.

Washington called it the Culper Ring, and it was made up of ordinary citizens who operated throughout New York and Long Island. People just like you. Throughout the war, they moved information, gathered secrets about the British and never told anyone about their existence. In fact, even George Washington didn’t know all their names. But this ring of civilians was so amazing at transporting secret information for Washington, they helped win the Revolutionary War for us.

And you’ll never read about them in most history books. These days, nearly every New Yorker knows at least one unseen hero. Most of them will remain “invisible” forever. But that invisibility may just be the most beautiful part of the story.