FBI Director James Comey gave a speech Thursday about how cell-phone encryption could lead law enforcement to a “very dark place” where it “misses out” on crucial evidence to nail criminals. To make his case, he cited four real-life examples — examples that would be laughable if they weren’t so tragic.
Agents from New Zealand’s national police force ransacked the home of a prominent independent journalist earlier this month who was collaborating with The Intercept on stories from the NSA archive furnished by Edward Snowden. The stated purpose of the 10-hour police raid was to identify the source for allegations that the reporter, Nicky Hager, recently published in a book that caused a major political firestorm and led to the resignation of a top government minister.
Laura Poitras on the Crypto Tools That Made Her Snowden Film Possible
As a journalist, Laura Poitras was the quiet mastermind behind the publication of Edward Snowden’s unprecedented NSA leak. As a filmmaker, her new movie Citizenfour makes clear she’s one of the most important directors working in documentary today. And when it comes to security technology, she’s a serious geek.
Pirates Become Biggest Political Party in Local Czech Election
Last weekend there were local elections in the Czech Republic, and the local Pirate Partyhas dozens of candidates on the ballots.
The Pirates campaigned with a program that advocates more Government transparency, more involvement for citizens, less copyright monopolies and the use of free software.
Abu Dhabi: camel carries Google Street View camera
Berkman Center Newsfeed
Internet Monitor is delighted to announce the publication of “Russia, Ukraine, and the West: Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests,” the fourth in a series of special reports that focus on key events and new developments in Internet controls and online activity.
The report, authored by Bruce Etling, analyzes content from a range of online Russian- and English-language sources, including both social media (Facebook, Twitter, and forums) and traditional media, to explore sentiment in the online conversation about the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine last winter:
Finland Wants to Kill Crowdsourced Copyright Law
TorrentFreak
In 2012, Finland introduced a modification to its national constitution which allowed the public to provide input into the kind of laws being put in place.
The changes, which allow citizens to put forward legislative proposals for Parliament to vote on, came at a time when restrictive copyright was already under the spotlight.
Privacy Group Targets British Spyware Company over Bahrain Surveillance
The Intercept by Cora Currier
The rights group Privacy International asked the British government this morning to investigate a surveillance company for enabling spying on Bahraini activists in the U.K.
Will the Right to Be Forgotten Inspire Repressive Regimes to Expand Internet Censorship?
Global Voices Online by Afef Abrougui
The original version of this post appeared on the IGMENA blog.
The EU’s “right to be forgotten” has left many advocates in the Arab region fearful that governments will exploit the law to further curtail freedom of information and expression on the Internet.
NSA agents may have infiltrated the global communications industry
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