The cost of online anonymity

[R.A. Hettinga]

--- begin forwarded text


 Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 17:02:13 -0400
 To: Philodox Clips List <clips at philodox.com>
 From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
 Subject: The cost of online anonymity

 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/programmes/click_online/4227578.stm>

 The BBC

 Friday, 9 September 2005, 18:03 GMT 19:03 UK

 The cost of online anonymity
 By Dan Simmons
  Reporter, BBC Click Online

 In the second report looking at privacy and the internet, Dan Simmons
 examines whether it is possible to be totally anonymous and asks if this is
 really a desirable thing.
  In London's Speaker's Corner, the right to freedom of expressions has been
 practised by anyone who cares to turn up for centuries.

  But in countries where free speech is not protected by the authorities,
 hiding your true identity is becoming big business.

  Just as remailers act as a go-between for e-mail, so there are services
 through which you can surf the web anonymously.

  After 10 years in the business, Anonymizer has two million active users.
 The US government pays it to promote the service in China and Iran in order
 to help promote free speech.

  But these programs are becoming popular in the West too.

  The software encrypts all your requests for webpages. Anonymizer's servers
 then automatically gather the content on your behalf and send it back to
 you.

  No humans are involved and the company does not keep records of who
 requests what.

  However, there is some censorship. Anonymizer does not support anonymous
 uploading to the web, and it blocks access to material that would be
 illegal under US law.

 No to censorship

  For the last five years, Ian Clarke has been working on a project to offer
 complete anonymity.

  Founder and co-ordinator of Freenet, Ian Clarke says: "Our goal was to
 provide a system whereby people could share information over the internet
 without revealing their identity and without permitting any form of
 government censorship."

  The system is called the Free Network Project, or Freenet. A Chinese
 version has been set up to help dissidents speak out there.

  "We believe that the benefits of Freenet, for example for dissidents in
 countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, far outweigh the dangers of
 paedophilia or terrorist information being distributed over the system"
 Ian Clarke, Freenet

 Challenges of anonymous surfing
  Freenet encourages anonymous uploading of any material.  Some users of the
 English version believe it is so secure they have used it to confess to
 crimes they have committed, or to their interest in paedophilia.

  Each user's computer becomes a node in a decentralised file-storing
 network. As such they give up a small portion of their hard disk to help
 the system hold all the information and as with anonymous surfing,
 everything is encrypted, with a military grade 128-bit algorithm.

  The storage is dynamic, with files automatically moved between computers
 on the network or duplicated. This adds to the difficulty of determining
 who might be storing what.

  Even if a user's computer is seized, it can be impossible for experts to
 determine what the owner was doing on Freenet.

  But such strenuous efforts to protect identity have two side effects.

  Firstly, pages can take 10 minutes or more to download, even on a 2Mbbps
 broadband connection.

  Secondly, the information is so well encrypted it is not searchable at the
 moment. Forget Google, your only option is to scroll through the indexes
 provided.

  It is hoped usability of the service will improve when it is re-launched
 later this year.

 Ethical issues

  But those are the least of our problems, according to some experts, who
 think Freenet is a dangerous free-for-all.

  Digital evidence expert at the London School of Economics, Peter Sommer
 says: "A few years ago I was very much in favour of libertarian computing.

  "What changed my mind was the experience of acting in the English courts
 as a computer expert and examining large numbers of computers from really
 nasty people, who were using precisely the same sort of technology in order
 to conceal their activities.

  "I think that creates an ethical dilemma for everyone who wants to
 participate in Freenet.

  "You are giving over part of your computer, it will be in encrypted form,
 you will not know what you are carrying, but some of it is going to be
 seriously unpleasant.  Are you happy with that?"

  What worries many, is that Freenet is a lawless area.

  It can be used for many good things, like giving the oppressed a voice,
 but users can also preach race-hatred or share child pornography with
 complete impunity.

  Peter Sommer says: "Ian [Clarke] is placing a powerful tool in the hands
 of other people. He's like an armaments manufacturer.

  "Guns can be used for all sorts of good purposes but you know perfectly
 well that they are used to oppress and kill.

  "Most armaments manufacturers walk off and say 'it's not my
 responsibility'. Is that Ian's position, I wonder?"

  Ian Clarke response is to explain that any tool is capable of misuse.

  "We believe that the benefits of Freenet, for example for dissidents in
 countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran far outweigh the dangers of
 paedophilia or terrorist information being distributed over the system," he
 says.

  Commercial programs for the web help you maintain a high degree of
 anonymity while surfing or mailing, but the realm of publishing
 anonymously, without fear of any comeback, challenges each society to ask
 just how free we want ourselves and others to be.


 --
 -----------------
 R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
 The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
 "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
 [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
 experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

--- end forwarded text


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'