[bestbits] Reform surveillance

[Mishi Choudhary]

Exactly!

On 12/10/2013 11:02 AM, genekimmelman at gmail.com wrote:
> If the supply side insists on personal information for targeted
> advertising,  isn't that entangled with the data governments seek? 
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Mishi Choudhary <mishi at softwarefreedom.org>
> Date: 12/10/2013 10:52 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: "Mike Godwin (mgodwin at INTERNEWS.ORG)"
> <mgodwin at INTERNEWS.ORG>,bestbits at lists.bestbits.net
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] Reform surveillance
>
>
> I agree with Mike that its crucial to reduce the "demand-side" by
> regulating government access but I think the suppliers of data are not
> as informed as they should and could be and the companies have more to
> do at their end.
>
>
> On 12/09/2013 07:10 PM, Mike Godwin (mgodwin at INTERNEWS.ORG) wrote:
> > Mishi quotes the Times:
> >
> >
> >> "While the Internet companies fight to maintain authority over their
> >> customers¹ data, their business models depend on collecting the same
> >> information that the spy agencies want, and they have long cooperated
> >> with the government to some extent by handing over data in response to
> >> legal requests.
> > This statement strikes me as disingenuously oversimplistic on the
> Times¹s
> > part ‹ specifically, in saying that the Internet companies are
> collecting
> > ³the same information that the spy agencies want.²  Yes, the
> agencies want
> > the data the companies have, but the companies are gathering data about
> > consumption and viewing patterns, primarily. What the agencies want is
> > traffic and association analysis, and they know they can draw inferences
> > if they have large datasets.
> >
> > This may seem like a subtle distinction, but really it¹s not. It¹s like
> > saying ³I listen to changes in the tone of your voice when you speak to
> > me, and so does the snooping spy who wiretaps your phone, and therefore,
> > implicitly, the spy and I are both culpable somehow.²
> >
> > What I perceive in all this is an attempt to muddy the issue and
> > delegitimize the internet companies¹ sincere efforts to build and/or
> > restore consumer trust. I¹m critical of the companies from time to time
> > (and there are times when I¹m mostly critical of what all the companies
> > are doing), but to me the real analysis here is that governments have
> > opportunistically taken advantage of what the companies have been
> > gathering, most of the time in good faith, from users.
> >
> >> The new principles outlined by the companies contain little information
> >> and few promises about their own practices, which privacy advocates say
> >> contribute to the government¹s desire to tap into the companies¹ data
> >> systems.
> >>
> >> ³The companies are placing their users at risk by collecting and
> >> retaining so much information,² said Marc Rotenberg, president and
> >> executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a
> >> nonprofit research and advocacy organization. ³As long as this much
> >> personal data is collected and kept by these companies, they are always
> >> going to be the target of government collection efforts.²
> > I take Marc at his word, as always, but the fact is that if the
> companies
> > cut their data gathering in half ‹ or even by a factor of 10 or 100 ‹
> > governments will want to engage in bulk collection and interception. The
> > key approach, in my view, is to try to reduce the demand-side (by
> > regulating what governments can do) rather conflate it with the supply
> > side (the fact that commercial enterprises gather data from actual and
> > potential customers (or for them).
> >
> >
> > ‹Mike, speaking only for myself
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> -- 
> Warm Regards
> Mishi Choudhary, Esq.
> Legal Director
> Software Freedom Law Center
> 1995 Broadway Floor 17
> New York, NY-10023
> (tel) 212-461-1912
> (fax) 212-580-0898
> www.softwarefreedom.org
>
>
> Executive Director
> SFLC.IN
> K-9, Second Floor
> Jangpura Extn.
> New Delhi-110014
> (tel) +91-11-43587126
> (fax) +91-11-24323530
> www.sflc.in
>


-- 
Warm Regards
Mishi Choudhary, Esq.
Legal Director
Software Freedom Law Center
1995 Broadway Floor 17
New York, NY-10023
(tel) 212-461-1912
(fax) 212-580-0898
www.softwarefreedom.org


Executive Director 
SFLC.IN
K-9, Second Floor
Jangpura Extn.
New Delhi-110014
(tel) +91-11-43587126 
(fax) +91-11-24323530
www.sflc.in

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