Oh (big) Brother
Stories and links so that you never have a chance to forget the lack of free democracy in the world. This is fuel for a better future :)
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Thu 18 Feb 2016 10:31PM
Twitter and Facebook are blocked in Uganda as the country goes to the polls:
http://qz.com/619188/ugandan-citizens-say-twitter-and-facebook-have-been-blocked-as-the-election-gets-underway/

Vidyut Sat 19 Mar 2016 12:53PM
@vik can you email me a nice compilation of this stuff to post as a guest post from Pirate Party on my blog? Very similar to what you have done here. Maybe with more comments or say a quote you find significant from the link. The idea is to give people a bird's eye view of the problem and dump a hell of a lot of links on their heads for those who want to educate themselves. Let's get some eyeballs on this.
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Fri 6 May 2016 9:09PM
Some good news finally..
Heeding Supreme Court, Facebook makes it harder to remove offensive content: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2016-04-30/news/72726894_1_offensive-content-requests-facebook
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Fri 6 May 2016 9:15PM
Lawsuit challenging Facebook’s facial recognition system moves forward : http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/5/11605068/facebook-photo-tagging-lawsuit-biometric-privacy
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Thu 19 May 2016 12:02AM
Photographer Egor Tsvetkov took photos of strangers on the St. Petersburg subway, then ran those photos through FindFace, and was able to successfully identify 70 percent of the people:
http://fusion.net/story/295539/ntechlab-findface-facial-recognition-accuracy-doxing/
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Thu 19 May 2016 2:10AM
So Google can eavesdrop on your Hangouts chats and conversations.
--Google Confirms Cops Can Wiretap Your Hangouts--
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/google-confirms-cops-can-wiretap-your-hangouts
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Thu 19 May 2016 4:11PM
Court refuses request to force alleged hacker to divulge passwords:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/10/court-refuses-request-force-alleged-hacker-lauri-love-hand-over-passwords
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Fri 20 May 2016 1:59PM
...And now we're fucked for life!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::BIG BROTHER is watching you.. only now , its legal ;)
11 May 2016: Central Monitoring System (CMS) LIVE in Mumbai and Delhi ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://www.medianama.com/2016/05/223-india-central-monitoring-system-live-in-delhi-mumbai/
// With CMS , the government is now able to by pass the telecom service providers and directly look into the users activities.. which include any kind of telecommunication - phone calls , SMS , emails , anything over the internet.
// Keep in mind that the National Media Analytics Centre is also there - a separate Gov. entity whose job is to monitor and analyse blogs, web portals of television channels and newspapers, as well as social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
http://www.gktoday.in/blog/national-media-analytics-centre-nmac/
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Thu 26 May 2016 12:20AM
This says ORWELLIAN STATE all over it :
NBC News has continued its attempt to normalize the idea of microchips for humans, airing a report that claims children will be microchipped ‘sooner rather than later’ and that Americans will accept this because it will make their children ‘safer.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHs6AAmMjb4
http://yournewswire.com/nbc-your-children-will-definitely-be-microchipped/
@vik what about the UK?
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Sat 28 May 2016 5:32AM
Two held in Mumbai for ‘insulting Goddess Kali’ on Facebook
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Tue 28 Jun 2016 6:29AM
US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border :
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Sun 30 Oct 2016 2:11AM
AT&T stores details for every call, text message, Skype chat, or other communication that has passed through its infrastructure, retaining many records dating back to 1987 ....
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/25/at-t-is-spying-on-americans-for-profit.html
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Sun 30 Oct 2016 2:23AM
How the UAE is recruiting hackers to create the perfect surveillance state!
https://theintercept.com/2016/10/24/darkmatter-united-arab-emirates-spies-for-hire/
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Tue 15 Nov 2016 11:57PM
2 out of 3 web users under government censorship; internet freedom in India at a low: Report
http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/2-out-of-3-web-users-under-government-censorship-internet-freedom-in-india-at-a-low-report/446404/
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Mon 28 Nov 2016 8:57PM
United Kingdom:
New Digital economy bill to allow the government to digitise your data and bulk-share it without informing you or asking for your permission.
--“A disaster waiting to happen”: Can you trust the government to digitise your personal data?
--Age checks to stop children accessing online pornography is a breach of human rights, UN warns
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Mon 5 Dec 2016 3:20PM
Why do Indian Mobile wallet and UPI apps like paytm ,ICICI , etc need permission to view my web history / edit my contacts / make a call or use my microphone?!!! ..
An extensive report on the kind of sensitive data these apps collect.
Keeping the present governments push towards a cashless society hardly anyone is concerned about this ...
Part 1:
http://www.medianama.com/2016/11/223-mobile-wallets-android-user-data/
Part 2 :
http://www.medianama.com/2016/12/223-mobile-banking-android-user-data/
Part 3:
http://www.medianama.com/2016/12/223-upi-apps-android-user-data/
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Fri 13 Jan 2017 1:29PM
Whatsapps security trade off or a backdoor?
On Jan 13 , the Guardian published what it considered a backdoor to Whatsapp messenger:
WhatsApp backdoor allows snooping on encrypted messagesTo which Joseph Bonneau and Erica Portnoy from EFF published the following.. calling it a security trade off:
Google Launches Key Transparency While A Trade-Off in WhatsApp is Called a Backdoor
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Sat 14 Jan 2017 7:55AM
HDFC Bank checks for creditworthiness by reading user emails
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Mon 16 Jan 2017 12:07AM
Wanna post anonymously on twitter without having to register? ..
This twitter handle lets you use their handle to post on twitter.
ID and Password to the handle is on their twitter page.
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ · Thu 18 Feb 2016 8:58PM
One of the most important cases :
Background:
A federal judge ordered Apple Inc. to help the U.S. Justice Department unlock an iPhone used by one of the shooters in December’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.
When Apple said NO to creating a backdoor for FBI..
https://stratechery.com/2016/apple-versus-the-fbi-understanding-iphone-encryption-the-risks-for-apple-and-encryption/
Tim cooks official statement , refuses to create a backdoor :
http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/
Edward Snowden calls the most important tech case in a decade.
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/699997565987745792
Former NSA/CIA Director Hayden, who wiretapped everyone in America for Bush sides with Apple in FBI iPhone encryption fight:
https://theweek.com/speedreads/606641/exnsa-cia-chief-michael-hayden-sides-apple-fbi-iphone-encryption-fight
Google faces severe flak on twitter for Sunda Pichai's confusing stand on the issue:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbdJbnIUkAAwy3T.png
Even by Snowden : https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/700107904511315969
Mozilla stands by Apple:
https://twitter.com/mozilla/status/700140152740581376
FBI's sworn testimony that they arent able to crack the iphone 5c, check page 21:
http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SB-shooter-MOTION-seeking-asst-iPhone.pdf
Now because of the above issue....
If you’re worried about governments trying to access your phone, set your iPhone up with a random, 11-digital numeric passcode. What follows is an explanation of why that will protect you and how to actually do it:
https://theintercept.com/2016/02/18/passcodes-that-can-defeat-fbi-ios-backdoor/