Privacy and Surveillance @emily-blrr - Tumblr Blog

Certain feelings are often associated with certain words. In general, I have negative feelings towards the word “surveillance.” Maybe it is because I am naturally a very private person. Maybe it is because of the novels I read (1984), that influence my thinking towards the term surveillance, and...

emily-blrr

Great post! I typically have negative feelings towards the word ‘surveillance’ as well; it’s just a visceral reaction I can’t help. But it is so true that there are positive uses of surveillance, and often a certain amount of surveillance serves to protect privacy.

I used to work at a credit union, which was also subject to legislation to protect the privacy of member information. Every employee, whether they dealt directly with members or not, went through training about protecting the privacy of member information. If there was some kind of breach of privacy (accidental or not), there were surveillance mechanisms in place to provide an explanation of what had happened. These included security cameras, use of unique login codes, etc. These surveillance tools ensured that privacy was protected (as well as employee safety, financial assets, etc). Without the myriad tools of surveillance, privacy in areas like the banking and medical fields would not be as protected as it currently is.

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missquerious

The more I think about it the more terrifying the state on information privacy becomes, it’s not something that I know a lot about in the first place, and it’s not something that I think about all that often beyond who does and does not have access to my facebook profile. But the more I have to...

emily-blrr

I usually use Duck Duck Go when I need to search for something, but I am even more committed to using it after recent class discussions and whatnot. I think you make a really good point in your post, that while the search string results are less relevant, it is just an opportunity to improve search skills and develop better search strings- totally part of what being an MLIS student is all about! Opportunity to improve search skills AND not be tracked? Two birds, one stone.

If my Google search strings were shared, I could be very easily identified based on searches for both things I’m interested in and because every time I go somewhere I search my address in google to get directions (that’s certainly a pretty clear identifier).

I’ve never actually read through the Google privacy policy (although I plan to at some point), but on the FAQ page Google claims that “when it comes to the information you share with Google, you’re in control.” (https://www.google.ca/intl/en/policies/faq/index.html). I’m a bit unsure how I could ever be in control of the information gathered about me by google, but perhaps there are some settings I can change somewhere? That being said, and call me paranoid if you wish, I would still be pretty skeptical of whether or not Google was really not gathering information about me.

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dwlis9134

Just another confirmation of what we’ve been talking about in class all term. Privacy online doesn’t exits. This can be looked at in two ways. One since we get tracked anyway it doesn’t matter what we put up on the Internet. Two sine we know we are being tracked we should think about what we put on Internet about ourselves. Private companies and governments will track us. If we don’t like that it is up to us stand up and make some noise. This might be easier said than done but at least we know/ are aware about the issues. So many people either don’t know, don’t care or are not allowed to know. Be the change you wish to see.

emily-blrr

I’m really glad you posted this article! I think that, like many people, I have only a pretty vague idea about what can be done with cookies. I understand the basics, but reading an article like this about cookie linking, and the process by which eavesdroppers can track internet browsing, is really enlightening.

I’ve heard about the anti-tracking tools mentioned in the article before, but haven’t used them on my computer before. I think it’s really easy to adopt an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ kind of attitude towards internet tracking, because so rarely do I notice or pay attention to it. I have an ad-blocker installed on my browser, so I don’t often notice advertisements that would suggest that I am being tracked. As we discussed in a previous class, this only serves to mask the tracking and hide the problem.

I think you make an excellent point, that:

“Private companies and governments will track us. If we don’t like that it is up to us stand up and make some noise. This might be easier said than done but at least we know/ are aware about the issues.”

It is so easy to turn a blind eye to the extent of internet tracking, but with the sheer amount of online security threats and the extent to which your identity can be discerned from browsing history, it is so important to, at the very least, understand and make ourselves aware of the issues.

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staff

Bad news. A major vulnerability, known as “Heartbleed,” has been disclosed for the technology that powers encryption across the majority of the internet. That includes Tumblr.

We have no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue.

But this…

masteringmlis-deactivated201912

This is worrying. Not so much that steps aren’t being taken to fix it — that’s the good part — but the fact that this has apparently been around for two years.

Not that a threat like this is new (look at our discussion on RFIDs and credit cards), but it just goes to show you how even encryption can be beat. That something like 50% of the web uses this OpenSSL standard is worrying though, especially since you don’t know who might be attacked, or what types of data they might have.

I find myself thinking about just what information other sites besides Google could have on me, and it’s difficult. Sometimes it’s just a user name and password, sometimes it’s a little more. Google probably tracks me the most, but that doesn’t mean that I’m perfectly fine on other sites too. It’s even hard to imagine what other sites there could be — there’s Facebook and Twitter, the big ones; then I have ones like DeviantART or LiveJournal, which don’t have any real information about me but I still wouldn’t want that information floating out there just on sheer principle. I can’t even think of other sites right now since those are the big ones, but there probably are and I’m forgetting about them. That’s not even getting into emails or Skype!

The point is, it’s easy to think that your information is secure, but maybe it isn’t always that easy, and when you think about it, there’s a surprising amount of personal information floating about there, so the knowledge that that might be vulnerable is worrying.

Then again, everything about this class is a little worrying, isn’t it?

emily-blrr

I've been hearing about this bug too, and I find it worrying for several of reasons.

This is the first time I've read anything about OpenSSL. I am certainly not an expert on the internet, or internet security, but sometimes I am still surprised by how little I know about how the internet functions. This, in itself, is worrying. The internet plays a huge role in my life, and I've disclosed lots of personal information to various online services. I always assumed that if that particular website had solid security measures, my information would be safe- but this is evidently not the case.

I also find it really worrying that the attacks leave no trace- all kinds of personal information could be compromised, without anyone ever knowing there was an attack! In other security breaches, both on the internet and otherwise, there is usually some kind of evidence left behind. I think this is the most worrying aspect, and will certainly make me think twice about disclosing information on the internet. That being said, it is often unavoidable. So I guess I will just hope for the best :)

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Netsweeper and Content Filtering

In Ian Brown’s article about internet censorship, he discusses filtering mechanisms and some of the problems with them. He argues that the basic functionality of the internet does not include censorship. Even with the use of filtering technology, it is simple for users to access blocked sites, and keyword filters can be avoided. Additionally, keyword filtering is imprecise and tends to also block some legitimate material as well. Brown concludes that the technically savvy user can avoid the filtering of information, while the average internet user will be affected by the filtering the most (Brown). This is problematic, because the very goals of filtering (whether we agree with filtering or not) are not being achieved- people are still able to access information that is deemed obscene and/or harmful, while many sites are unintentionally blocked.

Brown also discusses the use of filtering technology by repressive states, which is something that has been in the news recently because of the involvement of a Canadian company in Somalia. The Toronto Star recently reported that a University of Toronto online watchdog group, Citizen Lab, was to receive the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Leadership for its use of “ creative solutions to address pressing global problems” (Westhead). Citizen Lab is currently in the process of reporting on internet censorship in Somalia, via Netsweeper, which is a Canadian company. Ron Deibert, founder of Citizen Lab, criticises Netsweeper for providing its services to human rights violators (Westhead).

In Citizen Lab’s study of the use of Netsweeper in Somalia, it was found that three internet service providers were using the Netsweeper service. Netsweeper provides similar services to other countries that also have questionable human rights practices (Citizen Lab). This is problematic, because it could limit access to information that could contribute to more democratic stable states. According to the study, Somalia lacks centralized political control, which means that the activities of many of its internet service providers are limited and it is costly for households to have internet connections. The country lacks a strong legal framework, adding to the difficulties. The Citizen Lab study found that Netsweeper was used by three important internet service providers, to block pornography and anonymizers/circumvention (Citizen Lab).

This study adds another issue to those discussed by Brown, in that filtering is being used to limit the access of the entire country. This is even more limiting in situations like the one in Somalia, where there is poor internet access to begin with. It could further hinder human rights development and be used to reinforce the control of those already in power. This presents ethical issues for the company as well as other subscribers to its services.

To relate this back to library context, in considering what type of content filter to be used I think it is important for librarians to consider the corporate social responsibility policies of the provider. Knowing what types of services are provided, and to whom, is relevant in the decision-making process. If I was a librarian deciding on content filtering software, I would want to know that the company providing it is behaving responsibly and committed to the same type of values promoted by public libraries, such as freedom of expression. And in a case like this, I would think twice before using services provided by Netsweeper.

References

Brown, Ian. "Internet censorship: be careful what you ask for." Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication, Mass Media and Culture. Istanbul: Turkey, 2006. Web.

Citizen Lab. "Internet Filtering in a Failed State: The Case of Netsweeper in Somalia." 20 February 2014. https://citizenlab.org. Web. 24 March 2014.

Westhead, Rick. “U of T Internet watchdog group first Canadian winner of prestigious award.” Toronto Star. 20 February 2014. Web. 20 March 2014.

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Use and Abuse of the DMCA

In doing research on copyright issues and censorship, I came across a couple of recent news stories that cover topics in censorship, copyright, and their use and abuse by people in power. Specifically, the use of copyright regulations as tools to censor material.

In one example, the YouTube account of Russia Today was suspended in response to a Digital Millennium Copyright Act request. YouTube later apologized for the oversight, but this still raises questions about the abuse of the DMCA by using it as a tool of censorship (Matthew). The DMCA could theoretically be used to censor the release of any leaked material, because by its very nature it is released without permission of the person exposed. In another example, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (who has called twitter a “menace to society,” and vowed to limit the ability of people to access social media sites like Facebook and Google) is trying to claim copyright on leaked audio recordings (Arsu).

Erdogan is presently attempting to use copyright as a tool to censor what he does not want the Turkish public to hear. Wiretap recordings of a message between him and his son were posted on a social media site, and have him asking his son to get rid of large sums of money on the same day that an inquiry into his government was announced. To deal with this, he first accused rivals of fabricating the telephone messages to smear him.

Here is a link to a news video about the story: http://www.nytimes.com/video/multimedia/100000002734243/turkish-pm-accuses-rivals-of-fabricating-audio-recordings.html?action=click&contentCollection=Europe&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

After claiming that the messages were fabricated and attempting to censor the sites sharing this kind of information, Erdogan then claimed that the messages were copyright, and for that reason could not be shared online. To have them removed from the sites, he has claimed copyright infringement; so, having initially failed at demonstrating their inauthenticity and having them removed that way, Erdogan is now seeking to use copyright as a tool of censorship.

For more details about this, check out this blog: https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=recep+tayyip+erdogan

Peter Lynam discusses copyright with respect to digital libraries, and argues that the digital library creates new issues for copyright enforcement because much of the republication is unauthorized. He discusses a proposed amendment that would include the transmission of intellectual property on the internet within the protection of copyright (Lynam). Lynam’s article was produced almost a two decades ago, but there are still challenges and problems presented by the sharing of information on the internet, and some of his points are still relevant. In one especially pertinent quote, Lynam claims that "public education and public access to information are a precondition of public discourse about political life" (Lynam, 27).

The uses of the DMCA to censor inconvenient information are an example of using copyright laws to prevent public access to information, and to prevent an informed public discourse about political life. The DMCA is a copyright law designed to protect copyrighted material online, but as seen in these examples, it can be easily abused and used as a tool of censorship by anyone who could be negatively affected by a leaked document.

Bibliography

ARSU, SEBNEM. "Turkey’s Leaders Spar Over Plan to Muzzle Social Media." The New York Times. 7 March 2014. Web. <http://nyti.ms/1dAl5J2>.

Lynam, Peter. "What is a Digital Library? Technology, Intellectual Property, and the Public Interest." Daedalus 125.4 (1996): 1-33. Web.

Matthew, Russell L. "As Google's YouTube Suspends RT, Censorship by Copyright at UN." Inner City PressMar 18 2014. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2014 .

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If full council approves, installation will start in 2017.

"A staff report says intersection collisions decline in frequency and severity after cameras are in place, partly because drivers don’t know where they are."

Another form of surveillance, coming to London in the next few years.

According to the article, drivers won't know where the cameras are being placed, so there is always the chance that they might be under surveillance (and they won't find out for sure until they receive a pricey ticket in the mail regarding their transgression.)

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Passengers frequently board planes without having their passports checked against Interpol’s database of stolen and lost travel documents

Studies on the myriad uses of RFIDs, surveillance technology, internet traffic, etc., present a somewhat alarming picture about the extent to which people can be monitored and tracked. But in spite of these powerful tools, they are only as good as the people operating them. Case in point: Interpol keeps a database of lost and stolen passports, but over a billion people have boarded planes in the last year without this database being checked.

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The book business is merging into the magazine business as more publishers sell literature via subscription to highly targeted clusters of readers. High-profile literary studio Plympton is leading the charge with its $5-a-month iOS service Rooster.

This new online fiction service delivers books in segments, each of which take about fifteen minutes to read. So, you pay for a subscription and digital content is delivered over the course of the month.

I'm still a bit on the fence, but I think, just maybe, I really like this idea. It might not turn out to be the future of books, as the title proclaims, but I'm certainly interested in the idea. I'm not sure if everyone else is in the same boat, but I'm pretty busy with coursework, and don't have a lot of time to devote to reading fiction. But, if I had 15 minute segments of books delivered to me daily, I just might finish more books than I otherwise would.

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Twitter was down for quite some time yesterday. Once upon a time, that was an annoyance. But not anymore. Now, when Twitter goes down, it's a full-on problem. Twitter is no longer simply a place where people come to make jokes and drop quickie status updates. It's practically infrastructure.

"Twitter is too big, too grown up, too vital to experience significant downtime anymore." -Mat Honan

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Librarian 2.0: The Toronto Public Library’s #Your Yonge Street Project

Stephen Abrams discusses the Web/Library/Librarian 2.0 phenomenon, and the importance of interactivity to Web 2.0. He argues that “Web 2.0 is ultimately about a social phenomenon- not just about networked social experiences, but about the distribution and creation of Web content itself” (Abram 20). This content exists in a decentralized web environment, where the user has freedom to share what they choose to share.

This presents some really exciting opportunities for librarians to connect with patrons in new ways, and also for new ways of sharing information. There are a number of great examples of librarians embracing Web 2.0 technologies, one of which is the #Your Yonge Street project. I think it is an excellent example of a library harnessing Web 2.0 technology to connect with the community, and is innovative in a variety of ways. #Your Yonge Street is an open-source archive of all things related to Yong Street, past and present.

Here’s the link: http://youryongestreet.omeka.net/

The Toronto Public Library created this digital archive, where users can upload their stories and photos of Yonge Street. Uploaded pictures/stories/videos are all indexed on a map of Yonge Street, and can be viewed by anyone visiting the website.

There are a number of ways this project is unique, and demonstrative of the adoption of new technologies to create of a more interactive experience. People sharing their images and stories can categorize them however they see fit- completely unmediated by the TPL; title, description, etc. is left entirely up to the person sharing their memory of Yonge Street. They can share whatever they want to (provided it is related to Yonge Street), and it will become part of the digital archive. There is also a ‘comment’ feature on the website, creating the opportunity for people to connect and build on the memories of others.

This archive is much more interactive than a traditional archive, in that people are sharing their personal memories and experiences, and annotating them as such. It is a much more personalized archive, and things are archived with personal descriptions of what they depict and mean. I attended a seminar about this project about the OLA Superconference, and the speakers spoke at length about the importance of “engagement.” The goal of the project is to engage with the community in a new way, and to encourage people to take part in this collaborative venture. Very in keeping with Librarianship 2.0.

“We have the ability, insight, and knowledge to influence the creation of this new dynamic—and guarantee the future of our profession. Librarian 2.0—now.” (Abram 22)

References

Abram, Stephen. "Social Libraries: The Librarian 2.0 Phenomenon." Library Resources and Technical Services 52.2 (2008): 19-22.

Shantz, Mary Rae, and Eric Schwab. “#Your Yonge St.- Engaging the Past with Online Storytelling.” OLA Superconference. Toronto, ON. 31 January 2014. Conference Presentation.

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The Rhizome and Libraries

There are a variety of ways we can apply rhizomic thinking to libraries, including deciding how we define libraries, and how we think about the changes happening in libraries.

This week’s discussion of the rhizome really reminded me the D’Angelo article on postmodern consumer capitalism and the library. He discusses the influences postmodern consumer capitalism has on libraries, and critiques a number of trends that are changing the ways libraries function and the services they provide. Whether you accept D’Angelo’s theory about postmodern consumer capitalism or not, there are many ways rhizomic thinking can explain the changes happening in libraries. There are many factors contributing to the evolution of libraries, and none of these factors can be completely separated from the social structure it exists within.

Furthermore, a rhizomic way of thinking is relevant to the changes happening in libraries, because in some contexts the changes can be really beneficial, and in others they could completely detract from the library. Also, there are always pros and cons, making it even more challenging to call something objectively “good for libraries” or “bad for libraries.” An example of this is the privatization of the library workforce. This leads to more money to spend on programming and the collection, but lower paid employees and the staffing issues that accompany low pay/low loyalty positions. It could potentially work really well in some communities, and really poorly in others.

Another way we can apply rhizomic thinking is to the definition of what a library is. Ideas of what a library is are constantly evolving, and there are so many things that are considered libraries that don’t really meet the traditional mold. In this class, and others, we have discussed a number of additions to libraries, and new types of libraries that didn’t exist in that form before. For example, the addition of makerspaces to libraries is something new, and is one small change, influenced by a number of factors, that is changing conceptions of what a library is there for. Tool libraries are also something new, and don’t seem to fit the traditional idea of what a library is at all- there are no books, no children’s programs, etc.

Here’s a video about the Berkeley Tool Library:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyulV00xuM

Also, consider the Little Free Libraries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oky-KsrL6M

At the little free libraries, people can freely take a book or leave a book, there are no collections policies or membership requirements, and there is no physical space for people to use. Applying a binary way of thinking to libraries is risky, because there is so much flexibility in how we define libraries and what form libraries take.

Rhizomic thinking provides a much more understanding of libraries and librarianship, by allowing for a more complex analysis and understanding. Libraries are evolving, and binary thinking provides a framework that is too limiting and restrictive to provide a full understanding of the issues.

References

D’Angelo, Ed. “Postmodern Consumer Capitalism and the Public Library” in Barbarians at the Gate of the Public Library (2006): 113-120.

Deleuze, Gilles. “Postscript on the Societies of Control.” October 59 (1992): 3-7.

Sutton, Damien and David Martin-Jones “What is a Rhizome?” from Deleuze Reframed: A Guide for the Arts Student (2008)

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