CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘Privacy’ Category

German privacy watchdogs agree social networking ground rules: “Social networking sites are not permitted to store information about people’s use of the sites beyond the duration of a particular session in Germany, according to a panel of all that country’s data protection officials.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Beware anyone called A.Nony Mouse | Hugo Rifkind - Times Online

October 17, 2008
Beware anyone called A.Nony Mouse
Maybe ‘a Whitehall source’ is not a real name
Hugo Rifkind

So I was reading about the security services’ concern over internet anonymity, and something was bothering me. There was a line in The Guardian. ‘People have many accounts and sign up as Mickey Mouse and no one knows who they are,’ a Whitehall source had said. ‘We have to do something.’ And I was perturbed.

At first, I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe, I thought, I had done one of those inadvertent bits of mental gymnastics, where you read ‘Whitehall source’ and you think, perhaps, ‘Whitehall sauce’. Like Worcester sauce, only fishy-tasting, and with a bowler hat as a cap. Or maybe it was the idea of Mickey Mouse being carted off to Guantanamo. Duct-tape over the paws, sodden ears flapping around on the waterboard.

Reading it again, though, it hit me. A Whitehall source? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I had a sudden hunch. Maybe, I found myself thinking, ‘a Whitehall source’ was not this person’s real name.

Hey, I could be wrong. Possibly the ‘A’ stood for something. Alan? Arnold? Young Archibald Whitehall-Source, quite the easiest gig the school careers master ever had. Although I doubt it. I think my hunch was correct. I think this was somebody speaking anonymously, expressing his concerns that other people were speaking anonymously.

It looks bad. Imagine Gordon Brown had said “the City must curb its irresponsible behaviour”, while nipping into his local branch of Ladbrokes to place a massive flutter on a three-legged nag that some geezer had tipped down the boozer. Imagine Linda McCartney had preached vegetarianism while tucking into a juicy steak. Imagine Al Gore had warned us about climate change, while simultaneously flying all over the world and leaving his lights on.

Actually, wait. You don’t need to imagine that last one. But think about it, anyway. It’s just the same.

Anonymity is the great democratic boon of the internet age. And yes, some people will exploit it in order to join social networking groups called “People Who Want To Bathe In the Blood Of The Slaughtered Infidel”, or whatever. Most, though, do not. They just use it in order to express views that they hold dearly, and perhaps passionately, without having to fear that those who oppose these views will come and lurk with a chainsaw in the shrubbery of their front gardens. Or arrest them. Or associate them forever with some comment which, on reflection, makes them look like a bit of a berk. You’d think Mr Whitehall Source would understand that. Even better than most.

VSocial networking sites told to warn users of weak privacy controls: “(AFP)
Social networking websites were urged to warn users about the low level of protection given to their profiles at a Council of Europe-organised conference on the issue. The European Union Data Protection Authority (Cnil) said websites like Facebook should inform users that their profiles currently receive only ‘weak’ protection. It added that website users, especially minors, should be told about the risks they face by going online and given clear instructions on how to change their data protection settings. The request came at the end of a two-day conference in the French city of Strasbourg during which 70 countries also stressed the need for a universal standard on privacy and personal data protection.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Internet phone calls are crippling fight against terrorism - Times Online: “From The Times, October 16, 2008

Sean O’Neill and Richard Ford

The huge growth in internet telephone traffic is jeopardising the capability of police to investigate almost every type of crime, senior sources have told The Times.

As more and more phone calls are routed over the web – using software such as Skype – police are losing the ability to track who has called whom, from where and for how long.

The key difficulty facing police is that, unlike mobile phone companies, which retain call data for billing purposes, internet call companies have no reason to keep the material.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, outlined plans yesterday for a huge expansion of the Government’s capability to access data held by internet services, including social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo, and gaming networks. “

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Government faces fight from within for spy database - Times Online: “From The Sunday Times, October 19, 2008

A Home Office revolt is stalling a plan to store our e-mails and calls but a more sinister one may take its place

David Leppard

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, faces a revolt from her senior officials over plans to build a central database holding information on every telephone call, e-mail and internet visit made in the UK.

A ‘significant body of Home Office officials dealing with serious and organised crime’ are privately lobbying against the plans, a leaked memo has revealed.

They believe the proposals are ‘impractical, disproportionate, politically unattractive and possibly unlawful from a human rights perspective’, the memo says.

Their stance puts them at loggerheads with the spy-masters at GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, who have been driving through the plans. “

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Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones - Times Online: “From The Sunday Times, October 19, 2008

David Leppard

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.

The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones. They can be purchased with cash by customers who do not wish to give their names, addresses or credit card details.
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Man who killed wife over Facebook posting jailed for life: “Wayne Forrester attacked his wife with kitchen knife and meat cleaver after she changed her Facebook profile to ’single’”

(Via Latest news, sport, business, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk.)

Britain Considers Database for Telephone and E-Mail Traffic: “The country’s independent reviewer of terrorism laws, Lord Carlile, said the government should not be allowed to set up a vast ‘data warehouse.’

(Via NYT > Technology.)

Government gives more detail on communications surveillance plan: “The Government has postponed planned legislation which could create a giant central database containing records of every email, web session and phone call made in the UK.”

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Hoon: Not building überdatabase would be terrorist licence to kill: “

Fear? Hyperbole? He’s heard of them

Transport secretary Geoff Hoon said last night that if the government is not able to harvest details of all internet communications, society will have granted terrorists a licence to kill.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)