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Tag: Surveillance

Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?
A group of masked Japanese protesters film the police with a videocamera in this Dec. 21, 2008 photograph. (Flickr / David Shackelford)
March 17, 2016
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Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

From the footage of Eric Garner’s death to YouTube videos of Israeli soldiers’ violence against Palestinians, recordings made by everyday people are providing powerful evidence against the actions of police states around the world.

One NGO is harnessing that power and using it against some of the world’s most repressive regimes and dangerous criminals. Videre Est Credere (Latin for “to see is to believe”) provides hidden cameras and specialized training to victims of war crimes and human rights abuses from Africa to Asia.

Oren Yakobovich, CEO of Videre, said the organization’s main goal is to force governments to “protect human rights, or take another kind of action to make people’s lives better. It doesn’t matter how they do it, whether it’s in court or changing legislation.”

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SXSW Day 2: Ovarian Psycos, Surveillance Vs. Sousveillance & More
A photo of the Ovarian Psycos, a group of women of color cyclists in East Los Angeles, on their bicycles on an urban street. (Ovarian Psycos publicity still)
March 12, 2016
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SXSW Day 2: Ovarian Psycos, Surveillance Vs. Sousveillance & More

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

My first night was a long one, ending with a midnight short film collection at Alamo Drafthouse which included such bizarre offerings as a teenager still attached to his mother by umbilical cord and the story of a girl whose selfies keep getting deleted from Instagram … because she has an asshole for a mouth. I also learned that horse dicks are funny, and you can never forget Gwilliam. Night of the Slasher, which I mentioned yesterday, was part of the program, and I plan to interview some of the creators today.

I was back downtown at 9:30 am today after barely any sleep to attend a panel on the possibilities of ‘sousveillance,’ or surveillance from the bottom-up. Oren Yakobovich, creator of Videre, talked about helping dissidents and victims of human rights abuses use hidden cameras to seek justice, while panel partner Omer Tene talked about protecting privacy in an age of body cameras and mass surveillance. I’ll be writing about this panel next week for MintPress News.

And tonight, I’m attending the world premiere of “Ovarian Psycos,” a documentary about a women of color cycling crew in East Los Angeles. Here’s a description from the filmmakers’ website:

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One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job
Edward Snowden appears via video conference on a projector screen as he speaks to the International Students for Liberty Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 13, 2015. (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)
March 8, 2016
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One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

No matter who wins the 2016 election, the United States will likely continue its efforts to capture and prosecute National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Despite the important revelations that Snowden shared with the world about the NSA’s illegal surveillance of every U.S. citizen as well as world leaders and foreign nationals, not one major presidential candidate has been willing to voice his or her support for Snowden’s actions or express any willingness to allow him to return to the U.S. as a free man.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is the lone exception. She called Snowden a “hero” in a July 2015 interview with Ontheissues.org, a website which compiles candidates’ political views.

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No More Nice Canada: C-51 Anti-Terrorism Law A Sign Of A Growing Police State
At an April 18, 2015 protest against the C-51 anti-terrorism bill, activists carry banners including "Stop Bill C-51!" and "We Love This Coast!" (Flickr / Sally T. Buck)
October 5, 2015
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No More Nice Canada: C-51 Anti-Terrorism Law A Sign Of A Growing Police State

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the minds of many Americans, Canada represents a more liberal vision of a democratic society — a diverse society that hadn’t followed the United States down the path toward becoming a post-9/11 police state. But it may be following post-9/11 trends more closely than previously thought.

Indeed, American and Canadian leaders recently met to discuss deepening the integration between our countries’ respective militaries, and anti-terrorism legislation passed this year shows that Canada was taking notes from its neighbor to the south on how to use fear to justify a loss of freedoms.

C-51, the controversial anti-terrorism bill, became law in Canada in June, despite vocal opposition from civil liberties activists. It criminalizes speech which encourages terrorism, and also makes it a criminal offense to share terrorist propaganda. It also expands the government’s power to scrub information it deems to be propaganda from the Internet.

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ACLU Demands Mississippi Stop Invading Privacy Of Millions Of Google Users
Google's main campus in Mountain View, California. October 8, 2012. (Flickr / Niharb)
August 5, 2015
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ACLU Demands Mississippi Stop Invading Privacy Of Millions Of Google Users

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

On Monday, the ACLU asked an attorney general to “back off” and stop invading the privacy of Internet users to infringe on free speech or serve the agenda of big corporations and their lawyers.

In December, Google sued Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, “alleging that his efforts to hold the search engine accountable for objectionable content online, such as illegal prescription drugs and pirated movies, violate federal law and are unconstitutional under the First and Fourth Amendments,” according to Dana Liebelson, writing last year for the Huffington Post.

But according to the suit and emails obtained by HuffPost, Hood hasn’t just been overzealous in his pursuit of allegedly objectionable content online; he actively collaborates with representatives of corporate industry to target the tech giant:

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Hackers Reveal Illegal Spying Software Used By World Governments To Silence Dissent
Publicity image: "Hacking Team: Rely on us." (Hacking Team)
July 7, 2015
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Hackers Reveal Illegal Spying Software Used By World Governments To Silence Dissent

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Last weekend, news broke on social media of a massive hack against a major, controversial security software company that sold surveillance software to government agencies. A hacker who attacked another security firm last year is taking credit for the audacious break in that saw hundreds of gigabytes of stolen data leaked onto bittorrent.

Hacking Team, the Italian software company that fell victim to the unknown hackers, proudly billed itself as a vendor of surveillance software to police forces, with the motto, “Rely on us.” Reporters Without Borders had already cited Hacking Team as one of their “enemies of the Internet.” But, as the hack revealed, the corporation’s clients also included governments from countries to which sales are banned by the United Nations as a result of their repressive regimes’ repeated human rights’ violations.

News of the hack reached Twitter on Sunday night, while many were asleep or distracted by the women’s world cup, briefly spawning the humorous, trending hashtag #IsHackingTeamAwakeYet:

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