BBC To Deploy Detection Vans To Snoop On Internet Users (telegraph.co.uk)

product_bucket writes: The BBC has been given permission to use a new technology to detect users of the iPlayer who do not hold a TV license. Researchers at University College London have apparently developed a method to identify specially crafted "packets" of data over an encrypted Wi-Fi link without needing to break the underlying encryption itself. TV Licensing (the fee-collecting arm of the BBC) has said the practice is under regular scrutiny by independent regulators, but declined to elaborate on how the technique works. Dr Miguel Rio, a computer network expert who helped to oversee the doctoral thesis, said: "They actually don't need to decrypt traffic, because they can already see the packets. They have control over the iPlayer, so they can ensure that it sends packets at a specific size, and match them up. They could also use directional antennae to ensure they are viewing the Wi-Fi operating within your property." The BBC has been given such authority through the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Comments

Re: Seriously?

[John Allsup]

Alternatives involve stuffing programs with ads and programming intendee to chase advertising money. The TV license allows the BBC to things which are good to have, but hard to make commercially viable. As soon as you make it optional, the kind of behaviour beloved of Sky becomes necessary. Competition just means you cannot have a simple single subscription either. For me a license funded BBC is a good thing, and corporate greed and market economics devastate the possibilities of broadcast TV, reducing it to a game of chasing money. Since we already have plenty of commercial TV, making the BBC commercial will add nothing, but take away a lot.

Re: Privacy? Fuck you.

[Z00L00K]

The BBC needs more Clarkson and less political correctness.