 We in the West are under threat from our governments, that is our Internet freedom is under threat. Canada, the USA, the UK and more have implemented some restrictions on our Internet privacy and they plan to take these restrictions further. The reasons given tend to be to stop child pornography and terrorism. Both of these are used as examples as law abiding citizens will obviously oppose them. They are however used to intimidate and scare rather than telling the truth. It is a fact that uprisings such as the Arab Spring involved people mobilised by way of Facebook and Twitter. In the Summer 2011 UK riots thugs used Blackberry phones in order to out fox the police. Tightening laws regarding our Internet freedoms will have little impact on thugs, child pornographers and terrorists. They will simply find another way. Like a criminal hell bent on stealing an old Master from a gallery, where there is a will there is a way. All that the proposed laws will do is alienate citizens, intrude on our freedom and privacy, open the door for corrupt officials to abuse the system and allow governments to believe they can then go one step further. Today July 11, 2012, Russia followed the West. Russia's lower house of parliament yesterday passed a censorship bill in its third and final reading, despite criticism of censorship from the country's most popular websites. Originally the Russian authorities only planned to censor information deemed harmful. In common with other governments it has now changed its mind. Yesterday the Russian Wikipedia website had a black out in protest. SOPA, the western stop online piracy act, caused fury in the West and it seems the Russian proposals are doing the same in that country. Last night a government re-think led to a hard list of what will be censored under the new law. According to RT the list now includes, web pages which advocate suicide, substance abuse, excessively risky behaviour, and child pornography. There will be a black list of sites deemed unsuitable for children but ultimately this will limit the Internet freedom of the Russian people.
The Soviet Union used strict censorship and more to control its people. New Russia looks set to go the same way. There has already been an election this year which many claim was rigged.The West has a crumbling economy with the prospect of even higher unemployment, more poverty, conflicts and a brutally damaged environment. Allowing people freedom or the means to mobilise in such dire circumstances will not be desirable, will it?Read More Here http://www.rt.com/news/wikipedia-yandex-censorship-bill-936/http://questgarden.com/51/61/3/070519135841/process.htm Tags: Russian Internet snooping, Russian Internet censorship, internet privacy, SOPA, western Internet snooping
 Recently we have seen attacks to our freedom and privacy online. Browsing the Internet remains as addictive, fun and educational as ever but it is hard to ignore the fact that Big Brother could be watching your every move. Canada, the USA and the UK want to monitor the Internet more than in the past. Whilst some of the restrictions could be applauded, if they succeeded in intercepting paedophiles for example, most law abiding citizens see the possible changes as a step too far. However apart from governments around the world spying on you online Google has changed its privacy laws. For weeks there has been a warning on Google warning of this up and coming change. Today was D Day, March 1, 2012, and the new privacy laws are in force on Google. Youtube has also made changes and it looks as if others may follow suit. In Europe the Google privacy changes have been attacked. European data protection authorities have claimed that the changes could be unlawful. The French Data regulator wrote to Google asking that they pause the changes until their legality is assessed.Initial assessments had indicated that the changes would not meet with the EU Data protection legislation. Obviously these calls went unheeded. So what will the Google changes mean to users? "From today Google could build a highly-personal profile of anybody logged in to their account - although it says it will not collect information on someone's sexual orientation, religious beliefs or health status. Google will use the data to target advertising far more effectively, attracting a higher price from advertisers"Estimates indicate that 9 out of 10 Google users have not read the privacy policy changes. The warnings advising that the policy is read have been online for 6 weeks. Emma Carr from Big Brother Watch told Sky News: "People don't realise just how big this is. The policy document is not clear and people don't understand the change."All the information will be amalgamated in one profile. This is putting advertisers' needs first."Of course in many ways we have alkl become reliant on Google and its services. Simply opting to move away from Google would not be easy. Depending on your primary use of the Internet such a change could prove to be nigh on impossible. Sky went on to report that, " Users can restrict Google's access to their web activities by signing in to their account, going to the Web History page, clicking the "remove all Web History" button and finally confirming the opt-out.Google will still be able to collect and store information for internal purposes. After 18 months that data will be partially anonymised. The company will also still have to give up any web search data demanded by governments or law enforcement agencies through the courts. Google said the changes will allow it to provide a "seamless experience" across its services, and invited EU data protection agencies to discuss the changes"Whilst they can make the changes sound user friendly we all have to be careful what privacy we surrender, to whom and why. Google however maintains that it is still open to workable suggestions about the new privacy policy. Please remember that the changes also apply to your blogger account and gmail.
 Obama Privacy Bill of Rights: Is It What the U.S. Needs Or Not?
The post here was written in February 2012. Today July 11, 2012 there is news which relates to the article. Find it at the end of the report, after you refresh your memories as to the original content.
This blogger receives updates from various companies online. The latest included information on possible Internet privacy changes. It seems that many Western countries are intent on preventing us maintaining our Internet freedoms. Recently TEK reported that the Canadian government were looking at making changes. The UK has limited its users freedoms also. The latest email contained information about proposed US changes. Here is what it said: "The Obama Administration announced a privacy plan last week in hopes of increasing protections for consumer privacy. The Administration has been working toward this effort for several months and has created a framework consisting of a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a multi-stakeholder process to determine how the rights will apply to the context of business, an adequate enforcement model, and a commitment to strengthen interoperability between the privacy standards in the U.S. and its global partners.
While privacy advocates welcomed the proposal, for the most part, some of them have voiced concerns about the enforcement of the plan. Others, including Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, have also spoken out in opposition of the White House’s proposal.
According to Thierer, the intentions at the core of the plan appear to be good, but the consequences that may result instead could be very harmful. For instance, he believes the framework is strikingly similar to the privacy laws and regulations in Europe.
He told us that, if fully executed, the Administration’s approach could be damaging to consumers and competition for Internet businesses. In addition, Thierer said the plan could limit new services and lead to more government regulations over the Web.
In the White Paper released, the Administration asks Congress to adopt the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and give the FTC and state attorneys general the power to enforce them. However, given the election year and other pressing issues, Thierer pointed out that it was unlikely that anything would happen in this regard this year.
Do you think the U.S. needs “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights”? We’d love to hear your opinion"There you have it. It is for you to decide how this may affect you and whether you find it acceptable. July 11, 2012, RT has reported that last Friday US President Obama "quietly" signed an Executive Order allowing the White House to control all private communications in the country in the name of national security. What! The full RT report can be found here.
A pertinent line or two that you may find interesting reads, In explaining the order, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) writes that the president has authorized the DHS "the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications." Make of that what you will!Tags: SOPA, internet privacy, Obama signs order, US President Obama, US privacy
 Many citizens of the West are currentlyy unhappy about planned changes to privacy, in particular Internet privacy. We never know just how secure any of our information is, particularly online. Of course the Internet has given people an outlet. A place to have a voice with the potential to reach a massive audience. As we all know governments like to be in charge of information and what is filtered through to individuals. There will of course be many reasons why a government might try to "snoop" whilst your are online. Canada is now joining the ranks of snoopers. The issue is still at the debate stage but many writers online and media sources are already dreading its possible passage into law. The Conservative Canadian government is using the increase in child pornography as a reason for the proposed changes. Most of the Western Internet "snooping" laws have fancy names such as SOPA and PIPA but Canada's takes this to a new level. The Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act (Bill C-51) is what the Canadian Parliament will use to discuss further restrictions. So what might any changes mean to the people of Canada as they go about their daily online activity?It will give law enforcement officers greater powers. They will be able to monitor all Internet and telephone activity from anyone, anywhere in the country, without having to obtain a warrant. That must read as bad news to everyone. It cannot simply be this blogger that thinks implementing such powers would be the thin edge of the wedge?Canadian pundits are predicting that the majority Conservative government of Canada will easily and willingly pass the new legislation into law. Canada's Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, believes the bill is necessary. He said, We are proposing to bring to measure, to bring laws into the twenty-first century and provide police with the lawful tools that they need." Although many people have expressed concerns about the proposed changes Toews has basically said that you are either with the child pornographers, and so oppose the bill, or you are with the government and so are in favour of it. If only life were that simple. Such issues rarely are. Implementing such strict measures will have child pornographers looking, finding and no doubt utilising other methods. Invading citizens privacy will bring no good to bear. As governments around the world continue to want to control the Internet and more, in their own countries, they hypocritically extol free speech and a free Internet usuage in foreign climes. There is a full report at RT hereFor those readers who want to sign a petition go to the "stop online spying” petition started by openmedia.ca. At time of writing 100,000 Canadians have signed the petition.
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