Surveillance

Constitution, Courts, Encryption, FBI, Law, Liberty, Privacy, State Power, Surveillance, Technology

What’s at Stake 

It’s not about 1 person. It’s not about 1 phone. It’s about the government being able to snoop on all people, on all phones, on all devices, on your TV, PC, even your HVAC and car. The government wants a skeleton key to unlock whatever it wants whenever it wants. This is dangerous in the extreme.

Via This Is the Real Reason Apple Is Fighting the FBI @ AgainstCronyCapitalism.org

America, Constitution, Courts, Encryption, Federal Government, History, Law, Privacy, Surveillance, Technology

All Writs Act

While the All Writs Act is not used every day, the act has been successfully invoked by the government to compel telephone companies to install wiretaps, for phone companies to hand over call records, and to obtain CCTV footage, handwriting exemplars, and DNA samples. It has even been cited to force a defendant to cough up his computer password.

What’s more, it has played a part in copyright piracy cases. In a forthcoming law journal article,Annemarie Bridy, a law professor at the University of Idaho, writes that “some courts granting broad preliminary orders against non-parties in ‘pirate site’ cases have cited the All Writs Act as a source of authority.”

The All Writs Act was originally part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the Supreme Court, the lower courts, and spelled out the basic powers of the judicial branch of government. In 1990, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor described the Judiciary Act as “probably the most important and most satisfactory Act ever passed by Congress.”

Via How Apple will fight the DOJ in iPhone backdoor crypto case @ Ars Technica.

Encryption, FBI, Federal Government, Liberty, Privacy, Surveillance, Technology

Are They Actually Hypocrites?

Apple CEO Tim Cook declared on Wednesday that his company wouldn’t comply with a government search warrant to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardinokillers, a significant escalation in a long-running debate between technology companies and the government over access to people’s electronically-stored private information.

But in a similar case in New York last year, Apple acknowledged that it could extract such data if it wanted to. And according to prosecutors in that case, Apple has unlocked phones for authorities at least 70 times since 2008. (Apple doesn’t dispute this figure.)

Via Apple Unlocked iPhones for the Feds 70 Times Before @ The Daily Beast

Encryption, FBI, Federal Government, Liberty, Privacy, State Planning, Surveillance, Technology

Incentive to Tyrants Abroad

“This move by the FBI could snowball around the world. Why in the world would our government want to give repressive regimes in Russia and China a blueprint for forcing American companies to create a backdoor?” Wyden told the Guardian.

“Companies should comply with warrants to the extent they are able to do so, but no company should be forced to deliberately weaken its products. In the long run, the real losers will be Americans’ online safety and security.”

Via Apple encryption case risks influencing Russia and China, privacy experts say @ The Guardian.

Encryption, Federal Government, Law, Liberty, Privacy, Surveillance, Technology

Apple Stands with Liberty

“February 16, 2016 A Message to Our Customers The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand. This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around…

Federal Government, Liberty, Privacy, Rights, State Power, Surveillance

Civil rights issue

On Tuesday, the United States District Court of California issued an order requiring Apple to assist the FBI in accessing a locked iPhone (PDF)—and not just any iPhone, but the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. The order is very clear: Build new firmware to enable the FBI to perform an unlimited, high speed brute force attack, and place that firmware on the device.

Apple is not only fighting the request, but posted a public letter signed by Tim Cook and linked on Apple’s front page.

Via Why the FBI’s request to Apple will affect civil rights for a generation @ Macworld.

Health, Police, Surveillance

Watching, Irradiating

Despite these public privacy and health concerns, the NYPD doesn’t want those it protects and serves to know any details about the technology.

The department denied a Freedom of Information Law request by Grabell, who wanted information from the NYPD about any public health risks, the NYPD’s prior use of the vans, whether the department gets a warrant before it uses them, or how long the NYPD holds on to images the vans capture. The NYPD also won’t say how much the vans cost, though their reported price tag is steep — between $729,000 and $825,000 for each vehicle.

Via NYPD Says ‘Trust Us’ on Potentially Dangerous X-Ray Vans Roaming the Streets of New York @ ACLU.

Free Speech, Legislation, Surveillance

Overbroad Speech-Reporting Requirements 

“Campaign for Liberty has joined a broad coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum on a letter to the Senate leadership expressing opposition to a provision of the Senate Intelligence Authorization bill that requires websites to report online comments to the government if the provider “has knowledge” that the commentary is involved in terrorist…