Technology Pill

Biometric data collection and use in the name of countering terrorism has been accelerating around the globe, often abusively, without being effectively regulated or subject to accountability mechanisms

This week we talk to Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights & Counter-Terrorism, Nina Dewi Toft Djanegara about biometrics in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Keren Weitzberg about uses in Somalia and Palestine.

Links

- Read more about uses in Iraq and Afghanistan - https://privacyinternational.org/report/4529/biometrics-and-counter-terrorism-case-study-iraq-and-afghanistan

- Read more about uses in Somalia - https://privacyinternational.org/report/4530/biometrics-and-counter-terrorism-case-study-somalia

- Read more about uses in Israel/Palenstine - https://privacyinternational.org/report/4527/biometrics-and-counter-terrorism-case-study-israelpalestine

This week we’re passing the podcast over to Edward Snowden. We found out this week that the judgement in our case at the European Court of Human Rights challenging the UK’s mass surveillance programme of bulk interception, and the UK’s access to information gathered via bulk surveillance by the USA is coming very soon - on the 25 May. 

It’s been a long road, starting at the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal in 2013, but this case would have happened without Ed’s revelations, which revealed the extent of those surveillance programmes. Which is why (around a year ago now) we sat down with him to talk about this case, mass surveillance and what we can do to fight back.

Find out more about the case here: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/10-human-rights-organisations-v-united-kingdom

And support PI here: pvcy.org/donate

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to Yahoo Answers in the appropriate spirit - by answering questions from the Computers and Internet section of Yahoo.

Links 

- Listen to Love Letter and find more from Sepia on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sepiamusicuk/love-letter (he's also on most other music platforms!)

- Find out more about Dark Patterns: https://www.darkpatterns.org/

- The Electronic Freedome Foundation on what comes after cookies: https://www.eff.org/issues/online-behavioral-tracking

- WHO on COVID vaccine safety: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-vaccines-safety

- COVID and social change - our thoughts from earlier in the pandemic: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4074/looming-disaster-immunity-passports-and-digital-identity

- Our podcast on immunity passports: https://privacyinternational.org/video/4072/podcast-immunity-passports

- Workplace surveillance and Covid-19: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3757/unlocking-workplaces-virtually-locking-workers

- Resources on staying safe digitally from control and abuse: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3366/womens-aid-and-privacy-international-launch-digital-information-cards-help-women

- Google's policy on "stalkerware": https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4204/stalkerware-wont-disappear-notification

- Listen to the Voyager Golden Record on Nasa's soundcloud page 

         - Greetings to the Universe here: https://soundcloud.com/nasa/sets/golden-record-greetings-to-the

         - Sounds of Earth here: https://soundcloud.com/nasa/sets/golden-record-sounds-of

- Find out more about Ann Druyan's brain waves here: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/28apr_voyager2

- Find out more about Ann Druyan falling in love by listening to this RadioLab podcast: https://www.npr.org/2010/02/12/123534818/carl-sagan-and-ann-druyans-ultimate-mix-tape?t=1619644250998 

- Our work on pre-installed apps (and other issues with low-cost phones): https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/privacy-shouldnt-be-luxury

- Our podcast on General Warrants: https://privacyinternational.org/video/4418/general-warrants-victory-uk-high-court-and-250-year-old-law

- Our survey: pvcy.org/tpsurvey

This week we talk about the different kinds of facial recognition and which you might see where. We also chat about the Facebook leak of 553million records.

Remember: sign our ECI! pvcy.org/banbiometrics

And you can find our survey here: pvcy.org/tpsurvey

Links

Facebook Leak

- Facebook Leak: https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-data-of-533-million-facebook-users-leaked-online-2021-4?r=US&IR=T

- Mark Zuckerburg on signal?: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/14595265/mark-zuckerberg-using-whatsapp-rival-signal/

- Irish DPA investigation: https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-under-investigation-in-europe-over-massive-personal-data-leak-gdpr/

- EU implications of the Facebook leak: https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-facebook-data-leak-cybersecurity-didier-reynders/

- Facebook use of 2FA: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2019/12/23/facebook-will-finally-stop-using-2fa-phone-numbers-to-suggest-friends/

- The second cache of phone numbers found by Motherboard: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8dj5/facebook-phone-number-data-breach-telegram-bot

Facial Recognition Links

* Proctorio and recognising black people'sfaces: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gxg3/proctorio-is-using-racist-algorithms-to-detect-faces

* Public order offence for avoiding facial recognition: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/facial-recognition-cameras-technology-london-trial-met-police-face-cover-man-fined-a8756936.html

* Kings cross facial recognition: https://sprivacyinternational.org/case-study/3973/kings-cross-has-been-watching-you-and-police-helped

* Function creep in a largely jewish community in Belgium [in Flemish] https://myprivacy.dpgmedia.be/consent?siteKey=6OfBU0sZ5RFXpOOK&callbackUrl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.demorgen.be%2fprivacy-wall%2faccept%3fredirectUri%3d%252fnieuws%252fcamera-s-in-antwerpse-joodse-wijk-controleren-bezoek-aan-synagoges-en-feestzalen%257eb5824508%252f%253freferrer%253dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Ft.co%25252F

* Categorisation systems for telling if you're gay: https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/ai_gaydar/ 

This week we're rebroadcasting a coversation we had last year with PI's Tech Co-ordination Groups, bringing you tips and tricks about how to start cleaning up and securing your phone or computer. Please note - Whatsapp does now offer disappearing messages.

Episode notes 

Useful info

Tech pill survey: pvcy.org/tpsurvey

How to minimise targeted ads: privacyinternational.org/act/minimise-targeted-ads

Protect yourself from online tracking: privacyinternational.org/act/protect-yourself-online-tracking 

Social media account settings: privacyinternational.org/act/protect-yourself-social-media-monitoring 

Our Onion address: privacyintyqcroe.onion

Episode Info

6:06 - reasons to delete apps you’re not using

8:00 - 4 things you should do first

8:19 - Updates

9:41 - Password managers Keepass, 1password, Lastpass

13:22 - Has your data been breached? haveibeenpwned.com/

14:38 - Backups

20:47 - Apps

22:34 - Firewalls

Netguard - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.netguard&hl=en_GB 

Clamwin - clamwin.com 

30:27 - When is too old too old

32:54 - iPhone

Better Blocker - better.fyi 

38:09 - Android

42:11 - Social Media

42:11 Facebook/instagram

Facebook TOR address: facebookcorewwwi.onion 

Zynga hack: theguardian.com/games/2019/dec/19/170m-passwords-stolen-in-zynga-words-with-friends-hack-monitor-says 

47:02 - Twitter

MicahFlee - delete your tweets: micahflee.com/2019/06/semiphemeral-automatically-delete-your-old-tweets-except-for-the-ones-you-want-to-keep/ 

Social media monitoring by local authorities - privacyinternational.org/long-read/3586/when-local-authorities-arent-your-friends 

51:22 - Email

53:17 - Desktops

53:32 - Windows

CCleaner - ccleaner.com/

WinDirStat - windirstat.net/

57:24 - Mac OS

Little snitch - obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

1:00:02 - Linux

Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) - linux.com/training-tutorials/introduction-uncomplicated-firewall-ufw/

Firewall D - firewalld.org/

1:03:22 Encryption

Veracrypt - veracrypt.fr/en/Introduction.html 

Bitlocker - support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028713/windows-10-turn-on-device-encryption

Content warning: this episode includes some disturbing stories of people  who have died after having their benefits cut or withdrawn by the UK  Department of Work and Pensions 

This week we're looking at the ways in which the UK Department of Work  and Pensions surveil benefit recipients.

Links 

You can find out more about the DWP's surveillance here: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4395/shedding-light-dwp-part-1-we-read-uk-welfare-agencys-995-page-guide-conducting  

You can find out more about the DWP's alogrithims here: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4397/shedding-light-dwp-part-2-long-days-journey-towards-transparency    

You can find out more about each of the cases of people who died after their benefits withdrawn below.

Errol Graham:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-51283186 

The 5,000: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/16/people-died-benefits-error 

Jodey Whiting: https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/jodey-whiting-dwp-continued-to-phone-woman-who-took-her-own-life-inquiry-finds/ 

Phillipa Day: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-55826996 

David Clapson: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/03/victims-britains-harsh-welfare-sanctions

If you're having problems navigating the UK's benefits system Citizen's Advice is a good place to go for help and support: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

This week we're joined by Dr Courtney Thompson to discuss the history of phrenology and physiognomy and their relationship to modern technologies and culture. 

Links

- Find more of Dr Thompson's work and her book 'An Organ of Murder: Crime, Violence, and Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century America': history.msstate.edu/people/courtney-thompson/

- Or you can find her on twitter at: twitter.com/Dr_C_Thompson

- You can see the 'Good and Bad heads' picture in her article 'Rediscovering “Good” and “Bad” Heads in the Phrenological Present' here: nursingclio.org/2020/12/08/rediscovering-good-and-bad-heads-in-the-phrenological-present/

- Find out more about Physogs and Photofit in Courtney's article in Endeavour: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160932719300468?via%3Dihub

- You can listen to our podcast on Facial Recognition here: privacyinternational.org/video/4368/podcast-end-privacy-spread-facial-recognition

- And you can support Privacy International here: support.privacyinternational.org

We hear that we're paranoid a lot - but what is paranoia? What does it mean to be paranoid? And is it all bad? We spoke to Dr David Crepaz-Keay from the Mental Health Foundation to find out. 

Links

- Learn more about mental health at the mental health foundation's website: mentalhealth.org.uk/

- Learn more about PI's work at: privacyinternational.org

- You can listen to our first episode with David about tracking on mental health websites here: privacyinternational.org/video/4279/podcast-your-mental-health-sale

General warrants have been used to authorise wide-ranging property interference and certain forms of computer hacking of large numbers of devices - such as “all mobile phones used by a member of a criminal gang”, without specifying the names or locations of the members.

But no longer - the UK High Court has held that the security and intelligence services cannot rely on these warrants, referring back to cases from the 18th century. 

Find out more: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4359/victory-high-court-against-governments-use-general-warrants

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Paz Peña, an  independent consultant based in Chile, about data exploitation in sexual and reproductive healthcare in the country.