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Author Name: Alec Muffett
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Two threads on Twitter regarding online surveillance: it happens because our governments demand it

2022-04-02 18:51:10+00:00

Thread 1

Nokia appears to have been instrumental to the operation of Russia’s surveillance infrastructure.

Everyone in that article asking why Nokia was allowed to sell these services. And of course the company’s answer is “Western countries demand the same capabilities.”

This is an underappreciated component of the surveillance debate. When folks in the US/Europe push for targeted surveillance capabilities (secure in the conviction that their own courts won’t let them be misused), the resulting tech gets used everywhere.

Policymakers say “don’t worry, this client-side mass surveillance system won’t be used for anything but CSAM” here in the US.

But the same tech will be sold everywhere. And when it does get sold, the companies responsible will say “all countries demand this.”

Don’t do the engineering to enable mass surveillance, and don’t normalize mass surveillance. Then maybe you won’t find Nokia selling mass surveillance consulting services to Moscow.

Picking up on this, I don’t think people realize how much of the mass surveillance conducted by repressive regimes overseas is dependent on contributions by US tech providers. China is maybe the only big exception.

And US (and EU and Israeli) tech providers, when called on the carpet about it, invariably hide behind Western governments’ requests of them.

Here’s Israel’s NSO group coughing up the standard talking point.

This is a company whose products were implicated in the surveillance of opposition politicians and journalists all around the world, even in murders of these people overseas. But they can hide behind the claim that they’re fighting “crime”.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-poland-hacking-warsaw-8b52e16d1af60f9c324cf9f5099b687e

Anyway: this is why I get so annoyed when people in the US/EU justify the construction of mass-surveillance infrastructure based on things like CSAM.

Is CSAM bad? Yes. Is building the technology to stop it worth the cost of giving the same tech to the worst people in the world?

And every company and policymaker minimizes these concerns by saying “we wont sell it to bad people.” And maybe that’s true of a few name-brand companies (though look at Nokia), but once the technology has been “legitimized for fighting crime” it always gets sold.

Originally tweeted by Matthew Green (@matthew_d_green) on 2022/03/29.

Thread 2

1/ ?And it began with laws requiring interception of 'modern' communications tech such as telegrams in the late 1800s – consider the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 for example & of powers to take possession of / intercept telegrams & to the development of laws that require CSPs

This is an underappreciated component of the surveillance debate. When folks in the US/Europe push for targeted surveillance capabilities (secure in the conviction that their own courts won’t let them be misused), the resulting tech gets used everywhere. — Matthew Green (@matthew_d_green) March 29, 2022

2/ or rather, telecom operators, to design-in the capability to intercept communications. Once such power is obtained, governments will not, IME, give them up but seek to extend them to all forms of electronic communications.

Do read Matthew's thread, because, once

3/ the security and confidentiality of communications has been compromised by law on the pre-text that "it's ok, we have other laws to safeguard against abuse/unlawful behaviour," remember laws can change … Less than democratic governments may come into power.

4/ the global nature and interconnectedness of modern communications makes the issue a human rights issue on a global scale.

Originally tweeted by Privacy Matters ??????? (@PrivacyMatters) on 2022/04/02.
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