Telegram, the world’s ninth most popular mobile messaging app is now no longer available in Russia. With over 200 million global users, the app that was created by a Russian entrepreneur has already been under pressure for a while to hand over encryption keys to Russian authorities. Continue reading
If you don’t know who the NSA are, you really should. This government department operates as one of the key data gathering and surveillance organisations in the world. The organisation has been around for over half a century, and operates as the US government’s main department for monitoring and collecting data. This means they have far reaching powers, and it’s clear that they aren’t afraid of overstepping their mandate. The department has been at the center of a number of scandals regarding NSA spying, and its lack of transparency suggests there may be far more going on than we know about.
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Following a series of several other moves to strengthen online censorship in the last couple of months, China has now largely blocked the Whatsapp messaging app. This is considered by many specialists a move made by Beijing in order to improve online surveillance before a big Communist Party gathering scheduled for next month. Continue reading
Canada is believed to be a safe haven for online piracy, with more people leaving the regulated TV system each year to watch free content online. 1.88 billion visits were made last year by Canadians to piracy websites only last year and the problem is constantly growing.
According to Rob Malcolmson, Bell’s senior VP of regulatory affairs, the plan to block piracy websites in Canada would work as follows: a blacklist should be created, on which to be included all the websites that illegally stream free content, list that would then be passed along to all ISPs in Canada, which in the end would simply block their users’ access to said websites.
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Bahnhof.se, one of the biggest ISPs from Sweden recently published an article regarding a leaked law proposal containing details about a new data retention law that could be put in place, despite the fact that the European Union declared this practice as illegal. Continue reading
If you’re someone who fears the worst, you ought to know the worst has already happened: hotel WiFi can no longer be considered a safe option for travellers. This was a lesson learned the hard way, as real people have tasted the bitter medicine of one of the most prolific group of hackers in the world.
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A new data mining law has recently been voted for in the Dutch Senate. The senators approved the Interior Minister’s data mining law and have hereby granted the Dutch Intelligence services the authority to intercept data at a much more in-depth level. The changes will take effect on January 1st 2018. There are some big changes this new data mining law brings about, the most important of which being the fact that the intelligence service AIVD and its military counterpart MIVD will have the power to intercept much more online communications than they did until now.
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Following the UK model, Australia, wants to give governmental intelligence and security agencies the power to compel large internet and telecommunications companies such as Google, Facebook and Apple to assist them in accessing encrypted data in counter-terrorism efforts. Continue reading
The Russian government continues the war against free access to online information and the tools that enable uncensored internet access. Today, June 8, The Duma introduced a bill that would manage to declare any type of technology that allows users to bypass website blocks as illegal. Continue reading
The infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden who made public a series of NSA classified surveillance programs in 2013 warns that the Japanese citizens could soon face an outbreak of “mass surveillance” on the internet. The Japanese government is currently making efforts to adopt a bill in order to extend police powers to take counterterrorism measures. Continue reading
In the light of the recent terror attacks, The Prime Minister Theresa May is planning to regulate the internet and online encryption. She also blames the major companies for “giving the terrorists safe space to bread”. This statement came right after the London Bridge terror attack on Saturday where seven people have been killed and dozens injured. Continue reading
UK Prime Minister Theresa May wants full control over the internet and gives new powers to her government to seize ‘indiscriminate control of the internet’.
The leader of the British Conservative Party initiated a manifesto demanding new controls over the internet by presumably changing its architecture, setting the tone for the total elimination of online free speech. Continue reading
On Thursday, May 18th, during an open commission meeting, the US Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 on moving forward with undoing rules enacted under the Obama administration on internet neutrality.
The controversial aftereffect of the initial vote for internet neutrality will now go through an official public debate before a final vote. Continue reading
Russia’s war against the internet and online media continues as the Russian President Vladimir Putin signed today a decree against anonymity on the Internet. This adds to the increasing repressive measures that the Russian authorities have brought in to censor and control the Internet and all media-like content. Continue reading
The UK is one step away from becoming one of the world’s leading internet and telecom surveillance states. By allowing its officials and intelligence agencies to spy on its own citizens, the UK institutes a new and unprecedented record for a democratic country. Continue reading
When it comes to internet restrictions and regulations over the last 2 years, no other country has been more ‘proactive’ than Russia.
Russia is apparently launching a new war against the use of VPNs, increasing censorship yet again through the Federal Service for Supervision aka the Roskomnadzor. The initiative taken by the Russian Security Council threatens to block anonymous proxies that allow users to access forbidden websites.
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Last week the writing was on the wall and now finally The House has killed the Digital Privacy regulations that were enacted last October. This now means that ISPs are legally allowed to sell and share customers private browsing data with anyone they please. Users do not get a say in this and your browsing history WILL be sold to the highest bidder.
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US Republicans have voted to kill the FCC internet privacy laws that were only enacted last October and made it so that ISPs had to obtain permission to sell on user’s private browsing histories.
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New European privacy rules are hitting the headlines these days. Apparently, when it comes to online privacy, EU means business. And we say that in a good way. Recently, European Commission published E-privacy Directive, a report that intents to defend users’ right to privacy and to limit profiling and surveillance activities from companies like Facebook, WhatsApp, Google and Microsoft.
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Great news for all the Internet users within European Union borders! The European Court of Justice recently made a very clear and important statement regarding online privacy rights. Since 21 December, 2016, it’s illegal for member states to make bulk retention of emails or other electronic data. Making data retention illegal became even more necessary and significant as more and more countries in Europe and around the globe already initiated bills that seriously threatened citizens’ right to online privacy.
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Finally some good news regarding the right to online privacy in Europe! The European Court of Justice declares Investigatory Powers Act illegal. The law, later changed with the IP Bill, was stated as being in contradiction with European human rights. In simple terms the discussed law bill allows UK’s authorities to intercept private data of all UK citizens or passing by tourists, with the proclaimed purpose of fighting terrorist attacks or any other criminal activities.
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Regarding Internet freedom and the right to online privacy, Belarus has bad news for us. Tor, a network that provides anonymous access to the Internet has been banned. As it appears there’s a tendency of ending the right to online privacy around the Globe. Countries like UK, Germany and United Stated already issued a law against privacy that give authorities extended rights to surveil online activity of its citizens.
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For America, land of the free doesn’t mean the right to privacy also. At least not anymore. Since December 1, 2016, FBI was granted significant more hacking power and the access to develop extended digital investigations. The law that allows them to do that is called Rule 41 and gives the Federal Bureau of Investigation the legal means to search multiple computers with only a single warrant, not only across the United States, but anywhere in the world.
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United Kingdom is preparing a very unpleasant surprise for all its citizens, regarding online privacy. A new surveillance system just become legal and fully functional and it will give UK intelligence agencies and Police the surveillance power without precedent in the western civilization. It’s called Investigatory Powers Bill, or IP Bill, and was passed by both House of Lords and House of Commons. Also it already received Royal Assent so this bill is already a fact.
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Issues concerning online privacy in Russia have been in the news lately. According to a new law, internet companies in Russia are now required to maintain data centers that contain the personal data of users in the country. According to the Russian government, the law in addition to the previous internet restrictions by the Russian authorities is apparently an attempt to guard Russians against the prying US Government, as well as other outside threats.
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