November 2012 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: [liberationtech] Saudi Arabia implements electronic tracking system for women
by Eugen Leitl 23 Nov '12

23 Nov '12

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Risk profiling software tackles the terrorist threat
by Eugen Leitl 22 Nov '12

22 Nov '12

(Excellent reason to not fly into UK) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20412478 Risk profiling software tackles the terrorist threat By Frank Gardner BBC security correspondent Risk profiling software Frank Gardner is shown how SAS's risk profiling software works The UK branch of an American company has developed a hi-tech software programme it believes can help detect and prevent potentially dangerous passengers and cargo entering the UK using the technique known as "risk profiling". Executives at SAS Software, based in Buckinghamshire, say the use of such a programme could well have prevented the so-called "underpants bomber" being able to board a flight to Detroit in 2009 with explosives sewn into his underwear. So, what exactly is risk profiling and can it really reduce the risk of international terrorism? Risk profiling is a controversial topic. It means identifying a person or group of people who are more likely to act in a certain way than the rest of the population, based on an analysis of their background and past behaviour. When it comes to airline security, some believe this makes perfect sense. Why, for example, hold up the queue at immigration to cross question or search the proverbial "little old lady" who is statistically less likely to be a threat than the 24-year old male flying in from a country with security problems? Graphic of face as data points Data entries about a person's past actions are used to determine if they pose a potential threat Others, though, say this smacks of prejudice and would inevitably lead to unacceptable racial or religious profiling - singling out someone because, say, they happen to be Muslim or born in Yemen. Threat detection SAS Software, a British-based company with an annual global turnover of B#1.7bn and which has absolutely nothing to do with the British Army's Special Air Service, stress that their software is "blind" to such prejudices. Joanne Taylor, the company's director of public security, says: "The risk profiling utilises lots and lots of different variables. Every piece of data available has nothing to do with racial profiling in its own right or where they happen to have come from. "It's the same techniques that are used by banks or insurance companies to determine whether you should be given a mortgage; are you a high risk of defaulting?" The programme works by feeding in data about passengers or cargo, including the Advanced Passenger Information (API) that airlines heading to Britain are obliged to send to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) at "wheels up" - the exact moment the aircraft lifts off from the airport of departure. Additional information could include a combination of factors, like whether the passenger paid for their ticket in cash, or if they have ever been on a watch list or have recently spent time in a country with a known security problem. Continue reading the main story "Border agencies have got vast amounts of information available to them that they are not fully exploitingb Ian Manocha SAS Software The data is then analysed to produce a schematic read-out for immigration officials that shows the risk profile for every single passenger on an incoming flight, seat by seat, high risk to low risk. 'Exported' borders It may sound a bit Orwellian - a further example of state surveillance in a country already awash with CCTV cameras and where some senior intelligence officials are pushing to have access to everyone's internet traffic. So is this sort of risk profiling justified? Do the results justify the means? Last year, a pilot scheme for similar "intelligence-led border controls" was run, after which Damian Green, the Immigration Minister, concluded: "It is early intelligence, before people get on a plane, that will keep our borders more secure. I want to export our borders so they start at airports around the world." Ian Manocha, vice president at SAS Software, says the principle works just as much for cargo as it does for passengers. He says South Korean Customs, which have bought the programme, report a 20% higher detection rate of illegal goods. "Border agencies have got vast amounts of information available to them that they are not fully exploiting," says Mr Manocha. "They have to make decisions about freight coming into the country and looking for high risk scenarios. "Whether it be a bomb threat or potentially a more mundane and routine challenge. For example passage of contraband cargo, drugs or human trafficking. Security search Profiling software can spot threats that might otherwise be missed "All of these challenges are a needle in the haystack problem. And smart technology can really get to find that needle in the haystack that much quicker". Early warnings So could such a programme have prevented the printer ink toner-cartridge bombs being placed on a plane from Yemen bound for the US in 2010? Probably not, admits Mr Manocha, as that plot was stopped not by technology but by a tip-off from a human informant inside Al-Qaeda in Yemen. But when asked if it would have stopped Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian "underpants bomber", from boarding his flight to Detroit with hidden explosives next to his body in 2009, Peter Snelling, the company's principal technical consultant, says: "I think it's fairly confident to say that yes we would have matched it up." Risk profiling programmes are definitely not to everyone's liking. They also carry an inherent danger that innocent individuals could be pulled over and questioned, searched and delayed, although the programmes' proponents would argue they help reduce this risk by feeding in a wide range of known facts. But whether we are aware of them or not, risk profiling programmes are already in use all over the world and with the volume of air traffic set to expand even further, they look set to become an ever more common part of the invisible scenery around us.

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Re: [tahoe-dev] a few thoughts about the future of leasedb
by Eugen Leitl 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

----- Forwarded message from David-Sarah Hopwood <david-sarah(a)jacaranda.org> -----

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[drone-list] A sampling of robots in popular culture
by Eugen Leitl 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

----- Forwarded message from Gregory Foster <gfoster(a)entersection.org> -----

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[tahoe-dev] two-phase-commit for Tahoe-LAFS, and Dropbox-like functionality
by Eugen Leitl 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

----- Forwarded message from Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn <zooko(a)zooko.com> -----

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20 Nov '12

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20 Nov '12

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Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants
by Eugen Leitl 20 Nov '12

20 Nov '12

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-rewrite-lets-feds… Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants Proposed law scheduled for a vote next week originally increased Americans' e-mail privacy. Then law enforcement complained. Now it increases government access to e-mail and other digital files. by Declan McCullagh November 20, 2012 4:00 AM PST Follow @declanm Sen. Patrick Leahy previously said his bill boosts Americans' e-mail privacy protections by "requiring that the government obtain a search warrant." That's no longer the case. (Credit: U.S. Senate) A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law. CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week. Revised bill highlights b - Grants warrantless access to Americans' electronic correspondence to over 22 federal agencies. Only a subpoena is required, not a search warrant signed by a judge based on probable cause. b - Permits state and local law enforcement to warrantlessly access Americans' correspondence stored on systems not offered "to the public," including university networks. b - Authorizes any law enforcement agency to access accounts without a warrant -- or subsequent court review -- if they claim "emergency" situations exist. b - Says providers "shall notify" law enforcement in advance of any plans to tell their customers that they've been the target of a warrant, order, or subpoena. b - Delays notification of customers whose accounts have been accessed from 3 days to "10 business days." This notification can be postponed by up to 360 days. Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge. It's an abrupt departure from Leahy's earlier approach, which required police to obtain a search warrant backed by probable cause before they could read the contents of e-mail or other communications. The Vermont Democrat boasted last year that his bill "provides enhanced privacy protections for American consumers by... requiring that the government obtain a search warrant." Leahy had planned a vote on an earlier version of his bill, designed to update a pair of 1980s-vintage surveillance laws, in late September. But after law enforcement groups including the National District Attorneys' Association and the National Sheriffs' Association organizations objected to the legislation and asked him to "reconsider acting" on it, Leahy pushed back the vote and reworked the bill as a package of amendments to be offered next Thursday. One person participating in Capitol Hill meetings on this topic told CNET that Justice Department officials have expressed their displeasure about Leahy's original bill. The department is on record as opposing any such requirement: James Baker, the associate deputy attorney general, has publicly warned that requiring a warrant to obtain stored e-mail could have an "adverse impact" on criminal investigations. Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that in light of the revelations about how former CIA director David Petraeus' e-mail was perused by the FBI, "even the Department of Justice should concede that there's a need for more judicial oversight," not less. An aide to the Senate Judiciary committee told CNET that because discussions with interested parties are ongoing, it would be premature to comment on the legislation. Markham Erickson, a lawyer in Washington, D.C. who has followed the topic closely and said he was speaking for himself and not his corporate clients, expressed concerns about the alphabet soup of federal agencies that would be granted more power: There is no good legal reason why federal regulatory agencies such as the NLRB, OSHA, SEC or FTC need to access customer information service providers with a mere subpoena. If those agencies feel they do not have the tools to do their jobs adequately, they should work with the appropriate authorizing committees to explore solutions. The Senate Judiciary committee is really not in a position to adequately make those determinations. b The list of agencies that would receive civil subpoena authority for the contents of electronic communications also includes the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Maritime Commission, the Postal Regulatory Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Mine Enforcement Safety and Health Review Commission. Leahy's modified bill retains some pro-privacy components, such as requiring police to secure a warrant in many cases. But the dramatic shift, especially the regulatory agency loophole and exemption for emergency account access, likely means it will be near-impossible for tech companies to support in its new form. A bitter setback This is a bitter setback for Internet companies and a liberal-conservative-libertarian coalition, which had hoped to convince Congress to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act to protect documents stored in the cloud. Leahy glued those changes onto an unrelated privacy-related bill supported by Netflix. At the moment, Internet users enjoy more privacy rights if they store data on their hard drives or under their mattresses, a legal hiccup that the companies fear could slow the shift to cloud-based services unless the law is changed to be more privacy-protective. Members of the so-called Digital Due Process coalition include Apple, Amazon.com, Americans for Tax Reform, AT&T, the Center for Democracy and Technology, eBay, Google, Facebook, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, TechFreedom, and Twitter. (CNET was the first to report on the coalition's creation.) Leahy, a former prosecutor, has a mixed record on privacy. He criticized the FBI's efforts to require Internet providers to build in backdoors for law enforcement access, and introduced a bill in the 1990s protecting Americans' right to use whatever encryption products they wanted. An excerpt from Leahy's revised legislation authorizing over 22 federal agencies to obtain Americans' e-mail without a search warrant signed by a judge. An excerpt from Leahy's revised legislation authorizing over 22 federal agencies to obtain Americans' e-mail without a search warrant signed by a judge. Click for larger image. But he also authored the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which is now looming over Web companies, as well as the reviled Protect IP Act. An article in The New Republic concluded Leahy's work on the Patriot Act "appears to have made the bill less protective of civil liberties." Leahy had introduced significant portions of the Patriot Act under the name Enhancement of Privacy and Public Safety in Cyberspace Act (PDF) a year earlier. One obvious option for the Digital Due Process coalition is the simplest: if Leahy's committee proves to be an insurmountable roadblock in the Senate, try the courts instead. Judges already have been wrestling with how to apply the Fourth Amendment to an always-on, always-connected society. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police needed a search warrant for GPS tracking of vehicles. Some courts have ruled that warrantless tracking of Americans' cell phones, another coalition concern, is unconstitutional. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies already must obtain warrants for e-mail in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, thanks to a ruling by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010. Topics: Privacy Tags: department of justice, fbi, calea, ecpa, fourth amendment, electronic communications privacy act, privacy, patrick leahy, u.s. senate Declan McCullagh Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. Declan previously was a reporter for Time and the Washington bureau chief for Wired and wrote the Taking Liberties section and Other People's Money column for CBS News' Web site.

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