Debian User Forums

For your reading pleasure:

https://www.eff.org/the-end-of-trust

Most of it is familiar but I did discover something that I didn't know. Tucked away in the sidebar on page 226 is this interesting factoid:

"The website freedom-to-tinker.com, hosted by Princeton’s
Center for Information Technology Policy, published a study
highlighting a particularly invasive data-mining software
called “session replay scripts” that are being used by an
increasing number of websites. According to the study, session
replay scripts “record your keystrokes, mouse movements,
and scrolling behavior, along with the entire contents of the
pages you visit.” Unlike most third-party analytics services,
which provide aggregate statistics of your searches and the
pages you visit, session replay scripts actually record your
individual browsing session in its entirety, “as if someone is
looking over your shoulder”.

The study lists tens of thousands of websites that were
either found recording users’ browsing sessions or have the
capability to do so. Among the big-name sites are xfinity.com,
windows.com, texas.gov, petco.com, and fandango.com. The
following sites were also found on that list."
—Landon Bates

Here are links to the study and full list:

https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/11/1 ... y-scripts/

https://webtransparency.cs.princeton.ed ... sites.html

It just keeps getting worse and worse . . .

I've looked at these things for awhile now and could list ways to protect ourselves...but more recent study suggest some collection and correlation can be done above, or off our computers, as in isp and even vpn providers and among other servers. I've come to the conclusion that instead of hiding and blocking the best defense may be more a offensive approach. Instead of bitching about the fact my data plan is absorbed in this crap, maybe I should up the data plan and start sending massive amounts of BS data. Telemetry for sites I've never seen...keystrokes that spell out serious crimes..top secret data..outright lies..that would force some idiot to think there is actionable data. It's getting close to the point of tipping over the honey pot and pumping it up the line. Give up so much data no one can make heads or tails of it.

otoh projects which focus on privacy or security seem to not even be recognized.
Eben Moglen has some speeches at youtube. For sure entertaining, perhaps useful too.

CwF wrote:... maybe I should up the data plan and start sending massive amounts of BS data. Telemetry for sites I've never seen...keystrokes that spell out serious crimes..top secret data..outright lies..

Doesn't Facebook already do this by default?

Possibly the least of our worries with the proposed new legislation coming in Australia which will make encryption essentially useless and likely have a flow on effect worldwide.

Posting BS won't work. You could never create enough traffic to make any difference but if you happen to use one of the flagged keywords then, just like the Great Firewall of China, they'll be on you in a flash. Normal detention rules don't apply if they think you're a terrorist.

NFTS

Please enlighten us all.... well me at least

Agreed
Awareness of potential global changes is high on my current agenda.

A self-help search found it right at the top of the results:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/australia ... -alliance/

oswaldkelso wrote:NFTS

Please enlighten us all.... well me at least

This article gives a reasonable and simple explanation of the effects that may accrue from this legislation.

What bothers me is how well meaning but poorly executed legislation can snowball beyond the original intent. Here is a classic example.

The problem is the "me too" effect. Who's going to be next to copy similar legislation? Canada, Great Britain, USA? The Europeans should love something like this. And then our privacy has disappeared.

For the Australians here, this link is probably higher in their priority list.

NFT5 wrote:The problem is the "me too" effect. Who's going to be next to copy similar legislation? Canada, Great Britain, USA? The Europeans should love something like this. And then our privacy has disappeared.

News Flash
No Such Agency - has been at this for Years without anyone knowing about it until WikiLeaks
welcome Ozz to the Global Economy

NFT5 wrote:For the Australians here, this link is probably higher in their priority list.

Same here in the land of Who's on First?

Another News Flash, We're not in Kansas anymore. We never were in Kansas. The emperor has no clothes but nobody cares anyway. It's not the End of Trust because anybody over 30 with any memory left knows people in general are a bunch of scam artists.

Nice well written stuff though, thanks for posting it. Looks like a bunch of kids just found out there's no tooth fairy. The one where the lady is griping because people called her fat in her purple pants made me laugh!!

bw123 wrote:Nice well written stuff though, thanks for posting it. Looks like a bunch of kids just found out there's no tooth fairy.

Be real, though. If you polled 10, 100, 1000 people in public, do you really think that most of them would have an opinion about mass surveillance? Most people gladly trade the burden of knowledge for peace of mind. It makes it easier to sync your calendars get your steps in.

I see the analogy flipped. Most grown adults would sooner believe that the internet fairy, residing in her online cloud, is leaving them "free" digital presents, than accept their potential role to counter mass-surveillance. I think the authors are saying, "grow up."

The one where the lady is griping because people called her fat in her purple pants made me laugh!!

Are you talking about the first article ("Everything Happens So Much")? I think there was a valid commentary on female perception and criticism embedded in the narrative. But even disregarding conversation about gender expectations and stereotypes, I thought the greater comedy was that someone purveying facts about mass surveillance was not only invited, but subsequently criticized for, well, speaking on the basis of the infrastructures that hosted her (Google, in real life, and Youtube, digitally).

I think it's great to be young, and have ideals. The problem is, the net (or anything else) has never been secure nor private, and IMO if it could be made secure or private it would already be that. Today, it seems like everybody just goes around trying to inform people of "the bad news" and to me it looks like a bunch of hand-wringing. I like activism in general, but public awareness isn't much of a solution, the public are a bunch of idiots, they don't care. Even if they can be made to care, they have no power.

It's really pointless to me to have campaigns for "awareness" of whatever issue of the day is today. The world is screwed up, it always has been screwed up, we all know that. Read a history book. Okay, so we're aware of bad/scarcity of water, climate issues, food recalls, pollution, human slavery, wealth inequality, privacy/security issues on the internet (and everywhere else)... Now what? Everybody talks about _X, but nobody does anything about it.

bw123 wrote:The problem is, the net (or anything else) has never been secure nor private, and IMO if it could be made secure or private it would already be that.

I can see why people would believe that. It's unsurprising that the net was designed by the government to improve lines of direct communication, but its commercial variation is riddled with backdoors.

Today, it seems like everybody just goes around trying to inform people of "the bad news" and to me it looks like a bunch of hand-wringing.

I found the essays refreshing. I love when facts are conveyed through personal narrative.

It's really pointless to me to have campaigns for "awareness" of whatever issue of the day is today. The world is screwed up, it always has been screwed up, we all know that. Read a history book. Okay, so we're aware of bad/scarcity of water, climate issues, food recalls, pollution, human slavery, wealth inequality, privacy/security issues on the internet (and everywhere else)... Now what? Everybody talks about _X, but nobody does anything about it.

That seems like a fatalistic blanket statement, but organizing is a good first step to real change. A lot of groups lack a common vision and strategic coals, so I can see why you would think that. People have the choice to create change and apply pressure. When they don't, someone does do something about it; someone does lobby, and apply pressure -- and it's usually the interest groups, who you don't want taking your role as an activist.

bw123 wrote: Now what? Everybody talks about _X, but nobody does anything about it.

As i said in my first comment: there are quite some people and projects who try to do something about it.

The only real solution I see is to somehow make human health and happiness more profitable to the rich than misery and death. No government or religion or combination has ever been able to do this. "Trying to do something" is what I'm complaining about. Making a youtube video or dressing up and giving a speech or writing a paper isn't effective at solving anything. It often has the ulterior motive of enhancing the reputation of the "intellectual" doing the trying.

I'd prefer action... Buy a hamburger, a beer and a pack of smokes for a homeless person. Do it today.

I rather had the OP and this in mind:

The problem is, the net (or anything else) has never been secure nor private, and IMO if it could be made secure or private it would already be that.

not homeless people and other problems.