Avoiding Big Bro: Prying Eyes Make Privacy a Thing of the Past

Snowden's become a wanted man after showing the world just how much US security services watch people all over the world. The NSA's stranglehold on digital data communications makes privacy seem like a thing of the past. RT's Marina Portnaya tried to see if she could avoid Big Brother, while going about her daily business in New York.

Obama's Soft Totalitarianism: Europe Must Protect Itself from America

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Is Barack Obama a friend? Revelations about his government's vast spying program call that assumption into doubt. The European Union must protect the Continent from America's reach for omnipotence.

On Tuesday, Barack Obama is coming to Germany. But who, really, will be visiting? He is the 44th president of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. He is an intelligent lawyer. And he is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

But is he a friend? The revelations brought to us by IT expert Edward Snowden have made certain what paranoid computer geeks and left-wing conspiracy theorists have long claimed: that we are being watched. All the time and everywhere. And it is the Americans who are doing the watching.

On Tuesday, the head of the largest and most all-encompassing surveillance system ever invented is coming for a visit. If Barack Obama is our friend, then we really don't need to be terribly worried about our enemies. » | A Commentary by Jakob Augstein | Monday, June 17, 2013

Inside Story Americas: 'Big Brother' Obama?
We ask under what authority the US monitors the world's phone calls and internet usage.

The UK 'Snooping' Plan: Security vs. Privacy
Is the UK's new online surveillance plan an essential security tool or an unnecessary breach of personal freedoms?

Related »

Government Retreats on Digital 'Big Brother' Plan
THE INDEPENDENT: Home Secretary accused of mishandling surveillance proposals

Plans to allow the authorities to monitor the online activity of every person in Britain were pushed back last night after being condemned by MPs of all parties.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced that the contentious measures would be published only in draft form and would be subject to widespread consultation – concessions that could delay the proposals for at least a year. In a letter to Mr Clegg published in The Independent today, 17 Liberal Democrat MPs welcomed his intervention but warned him their support could not be taken for granted on the issue.

A storm erupted this week after it emerged that legislation to allow the police, intelligence services, councils and other public bodies to obtain details of messages sent via Skype and social networks would be included in the Queen's Speech.

The disclosure provoked anger among Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs alike, who warned that the proposals contradicted the parties' opposition to a similar Labour scheme – and were not included in the Coalition Agreement. There have also been recriminations within the Coalition as Liberal Democrats – understood to have been backed by some Tory ministers – accused Theresa May, the Home Secretary, of mishandling the issue. » | Nigel Morris | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Related material here and here

Fillon double le budget dédié à la vidéosurveillance
LE FIGARO: Le premier ministre a présenté vendredi un plan de prévention de la délinquance et d'aide aux victimes consistant en un renforcement de mesures existantes.

François Fillon, le premier ministre de la France. Photo : Google Images
C'est la conséquence de l'avertissement lancé par Nicolas Sarkozy fin mai, et répété en septembre, après l'annonce d'une baisse des résultats dans le cadre de la lutte contre la délinquance. François Fillon a présenté vendredi à l'issue d'un comité interministériel qu'il a tenu à Villeneuve-la-Garenne, dans les Hauts-de-Seine, un plan dit de prévention de la délinquance et d'aide aux victimes. Plan constitué principalement d'un renforcement de dispositifs déjà existants. François Fillon a d'ailleurs voulu se justifier sur ce sujet en expliquant : «La prévention de la délinquance, c'est une action de long terme (...) c'est une action qui ne se satisfait pas de coups d'éclat». >>> J.B. (lefigaro.fr) Avec AFP et AP | Vendredi 02 Octobre 2009

Freedom Is Now Flowing from West to East
TIMES ONLINE: In August 1989 as communism collapsed, Britain was a beacon to the new regimes. Today we are squandering our liberty

I’ve spent much of the past 20 years living in or reporting on the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. Nowadays, with Budapest, Prague and Warsaw two hours away by budget airline, it’s hard to imagine that before 1989, half a continent was imprisoned behind landmines and barbed wire, its citizens terrorised by secret police, intentionally ground down by the endless, intrusive demands of the one-party state.

I saw those borders torn down, democracies arise and the basic freedoms that we take for granted — speech, movement and public protest — enthusiastically embraced.

Twenty years ago today the world witnessed the power of the crowd. Hungary’s reformist communist Government permitted the pan-European picnic near the city of Sopron, on the border with Austria, as a symbol of its commitment to a united Europe. The border was to be opened so that about 100 dignitaries and officially approved picnickers could cross freely back and forth. But Hungary was crowded with thousands of East Germans desperate to escape to the West. Many camped near the site of the picnic, waiting for the crucial moment. When the border was opened at three o’clock they surged forward. The guards did not open fire. They stepped back and allowed the East Germans to break through.

This, not the opening of the Berlin Wall in November, was the tipping point. August 19, 1989, accelerated a chain of events that brought down communism and the Soviet Union itself. Such is the power of the crowd.

After 1989 Big Brother was no longer welcome in Budapest, Prague or Warsaw — he moved to London to be ever more warmly embraced by successive Labour administrations. The birthplace of political liberties, the home of the Magna Carta, is now one of the most intrusive democracies in the world. Labour governments have introduced surveillance and monitoring systems of which the communists could only dream. Of course, Britain is not a real police state. But it is certainly sliding further into authoritarianism. >>> Adam LeBor | Saturday, August 22, 2009

Big Brother State by Stealth
THE INDEPENDENT: Thousands of unaccountable civil servants given access to our most intimate personal information

Personal information detailing intimate aspects of the lives of every British citizen is to be handed over to government agencies under sweeping new powers. The measure, which will give ministers the right to allow all public bodies to exchange sensitive data with each other, is expected to be rushed through Parliament in a Bill to be published tomorrow.

The new legislation would deny MPs a full vote on such data-sharing. Instead, ministers could authorise the swapping of information between councils, the police, NHS trusts, the Inland Revenue, education authorities, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, the Department for Work and Pensions and other ministries.

Opponents of the move accused the Government of bringing in by stealth a data-sharing programme that exposed everyone to the dangers of a Big Brother state and one of the most intrusive personal databases in the world. The new law would remove the right to protection against misuse of information by thousands of unaccountable civil servants, they added.

Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said he believed Britain had gone too far in helping to bring about a "surveillance society". In a report drawing on personal data infringements across Europe but "inspired" by Britain's plan for a new internet, email and telephone database, he added: "General surveillance raises serious democratic problems which are not answered by the repeated assertion that those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. This puts the onus in the wrong place: it should be for states to justify the interferences they seek to make on privacy rights." >>> By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor | December 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

BIG Brother, Oops!, BIG Sister Comes to France! Her Name Is Edvige
Photo of Nicolas Sarkozy courtesy of TimesOnline
Would it, perhaps, be a good idea for Edvige to spy on the private life of Nicolas himself? Now wouldn’t that be interesting! - ©Mark

TIMESONLINE: President Nicolas Sarkozy faced an embarrassing split in his Cabinet today over a computer system that a new French internal intelligence service will use to spy on the private lives of millions of law-abiding citizens.

Hervé Morin, the Defence Minister, broke government ranks to side with a growing revolt against Edvige, an acronym for a police database that will store personal details including opinions, the social circle and even sexual preferences of more or less anyone who interests the State.

Edvige, which is also a woman's name, was created by decree in July to store data on anyone aged 13 or above who is "likely to breach public order".

"Sarkozy's Big Sister", as it has been dubbed, will also track anyone active in politics or trade unions and in a significant role in business, the media, entertainment or social or religious institutions. Listed people will have limited rights to consult their files. French Revolt over Edvige: Nicolas Sarkozy's Big Brother Spy Computer >>> By Charles Bremner in Paris | September 8, 2008

LE MONDE:
Edvige : le PS conteste avoir ouvert la boîte de Pandore >>> | 09.09.2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a new Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Big Brother Is Just About to Get a Whole Lot Bigger!
DAILY MAIL: A giant database of every phone call and email sent in Britain is being considered by the Government.

Internet service providers and telephone companies would be forced to hand over records to the Home Office, which would keep them on a computer system.

All forms of electronic communication face being monitored, including social networking sites and text messages.

The database would also include details of how long individuals spend on the internet.

The government would retain the data for 12 months and security services and police could seek court permission to access it in the fight against terrorism.

The plans are being considered for inclusion in the draft Communications Bill to be published in November's Queen speech.

Last night, however, opponents reacted with horror, branding them disproportionate and an 'Orwellian step too far', not least because the Government has an appalling record at keeping data. Big Brother Database to Track Phone Calls and e-Mails >>> By Daniel Bates | May 20, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
’Big Brother’ Database for Phones and e-Mails >>> By Richard Ford | May 20, 2008

SPIEGEL ONLINE:
Britisches Innenministerium plant Schnüffel-Datenbank: Jeder Anruf in Großbritannien wird aufgezeichnet, jede E-Mail gespeichert - so jedenfalls sehen es Pläne des Innenministeriums für eine Abhördatenbank vor. Die Initiatoren beschwören als Begründung den Kampf gegen die Kriminalität. Kritiker höhnen, der Datenschutz im Land sei schon jetzt ein Witz >>> | 20. Mai 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Big, BIG Brother and His Small, Small Sister, Jacqui Smith!
THE TELEGRAPH: Routine journeys carried out by millions of British motorists can be monitored by authorities in the United States and other enforcement agencies across the world under anti-terrorism rules introduced discreetly by Jacqui Smith.

The discovery that images of cars captured on road-side cameras, and "personal data" derived from them, including number plates, can be sent overseas, has angered MPs and civil liberties groups concerned by the increasing use of "Big Brother" surveillance tactics.

Yesterday, politicians and civil liberties groups accused the Home Secretary of keeping the plans to export pictures secret from Parliament when she announced last year that British anti-terrorism police could access "real time" images from cameras used in the running of London's congestion charge.



A statement by Miss Smith to Parliament on July 17, 2007, detailing the exemptions for police from the 1998 Data Protection Act, did not mention other changes that would permit material to be sent outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to the authorities in the US and elsewhere.

Her permission to do so was hidden away in an earlier "special certificate" signed by the Home Secretary on July 4.

The certificate specifically sets out the level of data that can be sent to enforcement authorities outside the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) by anti-terrorist officers from the Metropolitan Police. It says:

"The certificate relates to the processing of the images taken by the camera, personal data derived from the images, including vehicle registration mark, date, time and camera location." New Anti-Terrorism Rules 'Allow US to Spy on British Motorists' >>> By Toby Helm and Christopher Hope | April 21, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Government to Quiz Households on Sex Lives and Salaries: "Day by day, the liberty and privacy of the British public is being undermined by Labour's surveillance state. People will be shocked that taxpayers' money is being spent on intrusive surveys. Now state spies want to log and record who sleeps with whom and how often. Not even the Stasi went this far." - Eric Pickles, the shadow communities secretary >>> By Lewis Carter | April 21, 2008

SOME OTHER NEWS:
Barack Obama's Hopes Fade in Blue-Collar Ghost Towns >>> By Alex Spillius in Clairton | April 21, 2008

Can Barack Obama Survive His Remarks? >>> By Janet Daley | April 21, 2008

TOWNHALL.COM:
Yes, Barack Obama, We Are Bitter >>> By Mary Grabar | April 20, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)