Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Jamming UK Metadata Collection?
AmiMoJo writes: It looks likely that the UK will try to require ISPs to collect metadata on behalf of its security services, and various other agencies will have access to this vast, privacy- and security-destroying database.
How can individuals resist? Some metadata is trivial to hide, e.g. much email is encrypted between the user and server, but a record of an access will still exist. Would there be much benefit to creating fake traffic, say by sending dummy emails to yourself? What about fake browsing, or keeping TOR running 24/7 (not as an exit node, just a client)?
The goal is to make the data less useful and harder to tie to an individual or separate from fake data, and to increase the cost of collecting and storing such data. Don't worry, I'm already on the list of known dissidents anyway.
How can individuals resist? Some metadata is trivial to hide, e.g. much email is encrypted between the user and server, but a record of an access will still exist. Would there be much benefit to creating fake traffic, say by sending dummy emails to yourself? What about fake browsing, or keeping TOR running 24/7 (not as an exit node, just a client)?
The goal is to make the data less useful and harder to tie to an individual or separate from fake data, and to increase the cost of collecting and storing such data. Don't worry, I'm already on the list of known dissidents anyway.
TrackMeNot is a browser-extension for Firefox and Chrome that sends semi-random search requests to several search engines with the goal of disrupting this sort of tracking. Well, it's more aimed at preventing commercial entities from creating an accurate picture of your web-browsing habits, but it probably adds some noise to the intelligence gathering too. By default it pulls random keywords from newspaper headlines, but you can configure it to use (or avoid) certain keywords, as well as tweak the frequency of the requests. It runs automatically in the background whenever your browser is open.
TrackMeNot isn't really useful in hiding your behavior; it just throws in spurious data that makes legitimate data look less accurate. It's really aimed more at devaluing marketing databases with the (admittedly vain) hope that they'll give up on the whole thing ;-)
Note: it does use extra CPU cycles and bandwidth, so if you are constrained in either this tool may not be for you. Also, tweak the timing of those search requests carefully or the search engines might blacklist you as a bot. Having said that, I've been using this plug-in for several years now and it's rarely caused me any problems.
It's risky though. Exit nodes can be used for all sorts of illegal activity - hacking, fraud, child abuse imagery, the usual suspects. There's a small but worrying chance of being busted by the police for a crime commited via your node. You can probably use the node to demonstrate that you are not guilty of the accused crime, but that doesn't until after they've siezed every computer, phone and storage device you own, destroyed your reputation, cost you your job and crippled you financially with legal costs. Criminal investigations are damaging even if no charges are eventually pursued.
I'm wondering what will happen if some well-intentioned but morally-dubious virus writer puts together malware that installs exit nodes. That would be amusing.
In the US we should push for the Supreme Court to overturn outdated metadata laws based on the idea you "have no reasonable expectation of privacy in phone records at the phone company".
As people shift more of their lives into online services, they do indeed carry a 4th Amendment expectation of privacy in their "papers" with it.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Here is a new form, the same as the fighting spam one with minor changes. Feel free to use it as most of the measures proposed to fight surveillance fail for the same reasons.
Back in the nineties, I discovered the internet and its freedom as a wonderful tool that proved the freedom-based values of the Western society. Moreso, as I was (and am) living in a former communist country in Eastern Europe. Imagine my delight, coming from a closely monitored society to such a wonderful and open global community!
However, I have noticed a worrying trend, mostly in opinions posted in forums or other places by Westerners (American and European alike), that too easily dismissed any threats to the personal freedom in various topics. From trivial but excessive forum moderation (which to me resembled too much to the communist censorship) to political issues where leaders pressed and were allowed to limit liberties such as the freedom of speech, for dubious reasons (political correctness, security in matters presented by exagerating imaginary threats, etc.). I understood one thing then: your society was utterly vulnerable to becoming a closed one, even to transform into an oppresive one, for one very simple reason: you didn't see first hand how a dictatorship works, how the officials' behavior in an oppresive state behave, and how they talk. We've seen those and painfully endured their effects, over a long time. I was able to detect the signs of the emerging surveillance society in the West since those times. I tried to express my concerns in open forums, and been bashed by the all-knowing arrogance of those who thought nothing bad can happen with the civil rights.
They were wrong. And now it's too late. You are asking what you can do as an individual. You can't do anything at this point, all you'll achieve will make you look suspicious, and they will monitor you even closer. Individuals can no longer make any difference, we would need a miacle to prevent the Western world repeat all the mistakes of the dictatorships in the Eastern Europe. It would involve a huge community coherence in working to change the laws, and only voting for those who don't want to control us all (although they are becoming an extinct species). And fighting with all available *legal* means against surveillance and control, without being tempted by using non-democratic shortcuts (such as voting for populists that only tell you what you want to hear). Very, very hard.
So, yeah, you won't like my response to your topic, but hopefully you do at least understand.
One example that makes metadata collection much more difficult is Bitmessage. Its main feature is uncensorability rather than anonymity, but it scores very high on the anonymity scale as well. Its metadata is encrypted, so additional actions and costs are necessary to deanonymise the users. It also has uncensorable shared communication feature called chans. There are gateways that provide connectivity to email. Disclaimer: I am one of the developers of Bitmessage and I also operate one such gateway, https://mailchuck.com.
In the US we should push for the Supreme Court to overturn...
The cornerstone of which all of these programs were built, which is the illegal authorization of wartime powers to .W.Bush that allowed the passage of all of the bills that made all this legal. This is not a political issue as it has continued via Obama, it is a structural issue of whether you have a democracy or a plutocracy. Whether you will accept responsibility to defend your several hundred year old democracy from attack from within.
Why the U.S population continues to tolerate this harrasment by government through the weakening of the fundamental citizen rights that makes a nation what it is, is confusing. You have the power to fix the issues however you don't use it. You founding father Franklin warned you about trading Security for essential Liberty and how the corruption of the people would lead to despotism. Are your domestic enemies so powerful that it is easier for you to let them turn you into slaves begging for a job and hoping you don't get sick?
You *should* do a lot of things however as we have seen net activism doesn't amount to much. Whilst your comment *is* insightful I doubt a single person reading it will write a letter to your politicians and do something whilst you are distracted by what is on TV.
I hope you can - the fate of the free world rests on what you do.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.