<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Hi to All,<br><br></div>Apologies for cross-posting. Kindly have a look at our oped on Tor and human rights. We'd appreciate your help in sharing the article widely.<br><br></div>Best,<br></div>Deji<br><div><div><br><a href="http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/france-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real/" target="_blank">http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/france-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real/</a><br><div>
<h1>
France says it won’t ban Tor, but the threat to anonymity is still real</h1>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
</div>
<div>Opinion</div>
<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/authors/brett-solomon/" target="_blank">Brett Solomon</a>
<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/authors/gustaf-bjorksten/" target="_blank">Gustaf Bjorksten</a>
</div>
</div>
<div>
Dec 10, 2015, 11:42am CT
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/feed?picture=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.dailydot.com%2Fcache%2F90%2F14%2F9014621a98ecdea6a86aa543e8ca7bcd.jpg&name=France+says+it+won%E2%80%99t+ban+Tor%2C+but+the+threat+to+anonymity+is+still+real&link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailydot.com%2Fopinion%2Ffrance-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real%2F&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailydot.com%2Fopinion%2Ffrance-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real%2F&description=France+needs+to+stop+its+attack+on+anonymity.%0A&app_id=118748904877090" target="_blank">
<span title="Share"></span>
</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//bit.ly/1XZr4jx&text=France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor%2C%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real&via=dailydot" target="_blank">
<span title="Tweet"></span>
</a>
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A//www.dailydot.com/opinion/france-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real/%3Fpn%3Ddd&media=http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/90/14/9014621a98ecdea6a86aa543e8ca7bcd.jpg&description=France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor%2C%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real" target="_blank">
<span title="Pin"></span>
</a>
<a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A//www.dailydot.com/opinion/france-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real/&title=France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor,%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real" target="_blank">
<span title="Post"></span>
</a>
<a href="http://www.tumblr.com/share?v=3&u=http%3A//www.dailydot.com/opinion/france-ban-tor-anonymity-threat-real/&t=France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor,%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real" target="_blank">
<span title="Post"></span>
</a>
<a href="mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20Daily%20Dot%20article:%20France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor,%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real&body=France%20says%20it%20won%E2%80%99t%20ban%20Tor,%20but%20the%20threat%20to%20anonymity%20is%20still%20real%0D%0A%0D%0Ahttp://bit.ly/1XZr4jx" target="_blank">
<span title="Email"></span>
</a>
<a>
<span></span>
<span>http://bit.ly/1XZr4jx</span>
</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The French newspaper <i>Le Monde </i>received <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/attaques-a-paris/article/2015/12/05/la-liste-musclee-des-envies-des-policiers_4825245_4809495.html" target="_blank">leaked documents</a> last week indicating that the Interior Ministry recommended banning the use of <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/tor/" target="_blank">Tor</a>
to help fight terrorism. This is a reactionary and misguided response
that would undermine the security of vulnerable people not only in
France but all over the world. Worse, it’s the latest in a series of
encroachments on privacy in France, which passed <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/after-the-paris-attacks-france-enacts-sweeping-legislation-limiting-fundamental-freedoms/" target="_blank">four new pieces of legislation</a> to fight terrorism in the past two years.</p><p>On Wednesday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls seemed to reassure Internet users by stating <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/politics/france-tor-wifi-pm-no-ban/" target="_blank">on television</a> that the banning of Tor was not part of “the expected path” for the government (“<i>pas une piste envisagée</i>”).
This is a welcome gesture, but not a definitive commitment. Until we
see the final text of the bill proposed by the Interior Ministry,
everything is still on the table. </p><p>It’s time to set the record straight on why banning Tor is a terrible idea for human rights and privacy.</p><p>Tor is a <a href="https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en" target="_blank">free and open network</a>
of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their
privacy and security on the Internet. Tor anonymizes internet traffic by
sending data along a path with random checkpoints. At each checkpoint,
which Tor calls “relays,” the data takes a new random path. Each relay
only knows which relay came immediately before it, and no relay can
trace the entire path of data from start to finish. In countries where
Tor is blocked, there are special, unpublished relays known as “bridges”
that allow users access to Tor so that they can reach the free
internet. What you’re uploading and downloading with Tor is encrypted,
and the website you’re visiting is anonymized.</p><p>Tor
and other anonymizing technologies are mainstays of human rights in the
digital age. Tor is used by journalists to conduct research,
communicate with sources, and to report anonymously. At Access Now, we <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/a-torifying-tale-our-experiences-building-and-running-tor-servers/" target="_blank">run</a>
Tor exit relays to provide capacity to the Tor network and we recommend
Tor in much of the work we do on our 24-hour Digital Security Helpline.
We’ve seen the tremendous positive impact Tor can have for users at
risk such as LGBTQ advocates operating in hostile environments, human
rights lawyers researching government abuse, religious and ethnic
minorities communicating in conflict zones, and journalists targeted by
online harassment.</p><p>More importantly, Tor affects all of us.
Anonymity is essential for free expression. As United Nations Special
Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye described in a <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/un-report-encryption-and-anonymity-online-necessary-to-advance-human-rights/" target="_blank">landmark report</a>,
anonymity deserves strong protection because it enables individuals to
exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the
digital age. “States should not restrict encryption and anonymity,” Kaye
clearly stated.</p><p>We’re also concerned about how the technical
measures that might be required to ban Tor would affect human rights.
What did the Interior Ministry in France have in mind when they proposed
this? French authorities might need to spy on every piece of citizen
communication on the French network to stop Tor, eerily reminiscent of
the <a href="http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/" target="_blank">Great Firewall of China</a>.
Or law enforcement might rely on a system of informants, such as
internet service providers, to rat out users -- harming the trust that
enables societies to thrive in the face of real threats. We’ve already
seen abuses of the new surveillance powers in France during the climate
talks when law enforcement <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/30/naomi_klein_on_paris_summit_leaders" target="_blank">confined climate activists to their homes</a>. </p><p>We can’t allow <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/paris-attack/" target="_blank">terrorist attacks</a> to empower officials to ram through knee-jerk, poorly considered measures that trample upon human rights.</p><p>In
the United States, politicians are also making increasingly brazen
remarks as they jockey for position on the presidential campaign trail.
Both Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton -- once a
proponent of internet freedom -- and Republican candidate Donald Trump
have <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151207/21225233018/two-leading-presidential-candidates-clinton-trump-both-mocked-free-speech-internet.shtml" target="_blank">played down concerns about free expression</a>
on the internet and have put forth more and more outlandish ways of
fighting Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and other threats.
Their willingness to throw human rights under the bus is deeply
alarming.</p><p>If a nation like France were to ban Tor, there is little
to stop repressive regimes from quickly following suit. We need to
stand together to support the Tor network in the face of this latest
attack. </p><p><i>Brett Solomon is the executive director of Access Now (</i><a href="https://accessnow.org/" target="_blank"><i>accessnow.org</i></a><i>),
an organization that defends and extends the digital rights of users at
risk around the world. Gustaf Bjorksten is chief technologist of Access
Now. Click here to donate to the </i><a href="http://torproject.org/" target="_blank"><i>Tor Project</i></a><i>, the non-profit organization that supports Tor, and follow us </i><a href="http://twitter.com/accessnow" target="_blank"><i>on Twitter</i></a><i> or </i><a href="http://facebook.com/accessnow" target="_blank"><i>on Facebook</i></a><i>.</i></p><span class="HOEnZb"></span><br></div></div></div></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Deji Olukotun<br>Senior Global Advocacy Manager<br>Access Now | <a href="http://accessnow.org" target="_blank">accessnow.org</a><br><br>tel: +1 415-935-4572 | @dejiridoo<br>PGP: 0x6012CDA8<br>Fingerprint: 3AEE 4194 F70E C806 A810 857A 6AD5 8F48 6012 CDA8<br><br></div><div><i>Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter on digital rights, the Access Express: <a href="https://accessnow.org/express" target="_blank">accessnow.org/express</a></i><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>