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Category: Journalism

WikiLeaks’ Vault 7, Broadband Privacy With Black Tower Radio
A street medic in a Guy Fawkes mask uses a smartphone to film a protest. August 29, 2011. (Flickr / Daniel Hoherd, CC NC license)
April 5, 2017
Kit
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WikiLeaks’ Vault 7, Broadband Privacy With Black Tower Radio

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Journalism, and Lee Camp

Last week, I made my monthly appearance on Black Tower Radio to discuss recent developments in online privacy. WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 release, which I discussed in a recent Act Out! script, left some people wondering if it’s now impossible to protect yourself from surveillance. In fact, there are still steps we can take to protect ourselves from most online threats.

Of course, a recent vote by Congress to repeal Obama-era FCC online privacy protections not only allows Internet Service Providers to sell our online browsing behavior to advertisers (and others), it shows how our elected representatives answer to their corporate donors, rather than to voters. Interest in Virtual Private Networks has sky-rocketed since the vote, but not all VPNs are created equal.

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Resistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich
The open door of a bank vault. (Flickr / ninniane, CC NC license)
April 2, 2017
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Resistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

Katie and I talked about the difficulty of building a resistance against odds that can seem insurmountable using “How to survive Hurricane Donald,” the February 10 issue of Gonzo Notes, as a jumping off point. I also mentioned activist Liam Shea, the community activist who inspired me to write both “Hurricane Donald” and the following issue of Gonzo Notes, “Stay and fight fascism where you are.” Shea died tragically and unexpectedly in early February.

Local organizing is a theme I’ve been returning to frequently recently, and will probably keep talking about, because it seems so vital. Until there is another Occupy-style moment of national “rupture” — which, so far, hasn’t materialized via the Trump regime — the best we can do is strengthen our local communities and share the skills we have with each other.

Inspired by my script on “Vault 7” for Act Out! we closed with a discussion of what WikiLeaks’ latest release means for activists, and I explained why threat modeling means we can still fight back even when the government has access to terrifying mass surveillance tools.

Read moreResistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich
The GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online
A laptop, smartphone, pen and paper notebook sitting in a desk. (Morguefile)
March 30, 2017
Kit
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The GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Republicans just voted to roll back FCC privacy protections that would have prevented your internet service provider from selling your private browsing history.

After passing the Senate earlier in the week, the House approved a measure on Tuesday which would allow broadband providers like AT&T, Spectrum or Comcast to sell your online data to marketers (as well as corporate and government spies).

The vote in both chambers was split along party lines, with the GOP voting in favor of selling your porn habits to just about anyone who cares to pay for them, including maybe future employers. Naturally, many of these legislators were also the recipient of large donations from the telecommunications industry.

Read moreThe GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online
Is CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems
Hemp plants growing in soil. June 16, 2016. (Flickr / Lesley L., CC SA license)
March 27, 2017
Kit
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Is CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Is CBD oil legal in the US? Oddly, the answer seems to depend on who you ask.

Despite the many benefits of CBD oil and a growing field of research showing both its safety and its efficacy, this popular hemp extract exists today in a confusing legal gray area.

The Drug Enforcement Agency insists that CBD oil is illegal at the federal level, while other legal experts and many vendors and producers of CBD oil think the DEA is overstepping its bounds and argue that hemp extracts are legal.

Read moreIs CBD Oil Legal in the US? The Answer Is More Complex Than It Seems
March 24, 2017
Kit
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What Vault 7 Means for You & How to Protect Yourself With Encryption

Posted in Act Out!, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Video

So, you may have heard: the CIA could be listening to your phone conversations, recording your Skype calls, and even spying on you through your TV.

The latest bombshell from WikiLeaks, code named “Vault 7,” revealed the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret tool box of technological exploits. This leak is terrifying, to be sure, but it also gives tech companies valuable new information about how to protect their users.

And for everyday activists on the Front Lines, there are some vital, and simple steps we can take to protect our allies and our plans from surveillance.

Now, we still don’t know who’s responsible for the Vault 7 leak, although WikiLeaks released a statement saying that the anonymous source, “wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.”

Much like Snowden hoped to do.

Read moreWhat Vault 7 Means for You & How to Protect Yourself With Encryption
Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)
"Queer Dance Freakout" for Trans equality at the Texas Governor's Mansion, February 23, 2017. (Kit O'Connell, CC license)
March 1, 2017
Kit
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Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

I wrote the last issue of Gonzo Notes, about creating resilience to both man-made and natural disasters, with a specific comrade in mind.

Just hours after the newsletter hit inboxes, I found out my comrade Liam Shea had died.

His death was devastating and unexpected to all his friends and allies, but most of all to his partner Luna. His loss robbed the world of a powerful activist; an old-school nazi-punching punk; someone who had, time and again, put himself at risk for the needs of others, to the point that he tattooed his knuckles with Y.N.W.A. (You’ll Never Walk Alone).

Read moreStay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)