msgid "" "How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand? - GNU Project - Free Software " "Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by <a href=\"https://www.stallman.org/\">Richard Stallman</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><a> msgid "<a href=\"/graphics/dog.html\">" msgstr "" #. type: Attribute 'alt' of: <div><div><div><a><img> msgid "" "Cartoon of a dog, wondering at the three ads that popped up on his computer " "screen..." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div> msgid "</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "“How did they find out I'm a dog?”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Thanks to Edward Snowden's disclosures, we know that the current level of " "general surveillance in society is incompatible with human rights. " "Expecting every action to be noted down <a " "href=\"https://www.socialcooling.com/\">makes people censor and limit " "themselves</a>. The repeated harassment and prosecution of dissidents, " "sources, and journalists in the US and elsewhere provides confirmation. We " "need to reduce the level of general surveillance, but how far? Where exactly " "is the <em>maximum tolerable level of surveillance</em>, which we must " "ensure is not exceeded? It is the level beyond which surveillance starts to " "interfere with the functioning of democracy, in that whistleblowers (such as " "Snowden) are likely to be caught." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Faced with government secrecy, we the people depend on whistleblowers to <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/reddit-tpp-ama\">tell us what " "the state is doing</a>. (We were reminded of this in 2019 as various " "whistleblowers gave the public increments of <a " "href=\"https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/27/trumps-ukraine-scandal-shows-why-whistleblowers-are-so-vital-democracy\">information " "about Trump's attempt to shake down the president of Ukraine</a>.) However, " "today's surveillance intimidates potential whistleblowers, which means it is " "too much. To recover our democratic control over the state, we must reduce " "surveillance to the point where whistleblowers know they are safe." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Using free/libre software, <a " "href=\"/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html\">as I've " "advocated since 1983</a>, is the first step in taking control of our digital " "lives, and that includes preventing surveillance. We can't trust nonfree " "software; the NSA <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20130622044225/http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2013/06/how-can-any-company-ever-trust-microsoft-again/index.htm\">uses</a> " "and even <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security\">creates</a> " "security weaknesses in nonfree software to invade our own computers and " "routers. Free software gives us control of our own computers, but <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210902180612/https://www.wired.com/2013/10/149481/\"> " "that won't protect our privacy once we set foot on the Internet</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/nsa-surveillance-patriot-act-author-bill\">Bipartisan " "legislation to “curtail the domestic surveillance powers”</a> in " "the U.S. is being drawn up, but it relies on limiting the government's use " "of our virtual dossiers. That won't suffice to protect whistleblowers if " "“catching the whistleblower” is grounds for access sufficient to " "identify him or her. We need to go further." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><h3> msgid "Table of contents" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#upperlimit\">The Upper Limit on Surveillance in a Democracy</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#willbemisused\">Information, Once Collected, Will Be Misused</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#technical\">Robust Protection for Privacy Must Be Technical</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#commonsense\">First, Don't Be Foolish</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#privacybydesign\">We Must Design Every System for Privacy</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#dispersal\">Remedy for Collecting Data: Leaving It Dispersed</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#digitalcash\">Remedy for Internet Commerce Surveillance</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#travel\">Remedy for Travel Surveillance</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#communications\">Remedy for Communications Dossiers</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#necessary\">But Some Surveillance Is Necessary</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The Upper Limit on Surveillance in a Democracy" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If whistleblowers don't dare reveal crimes and lies, we lose the last shred " "of effective control over our government and institutions. That's why " "surveillance that enables the state to find out who has talked with a " "reporter is too much surveillance—too much for democracy to endure." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "An unnamed U.S. government official ominously told journalists in 2011 that " "the <a " "href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/journals/news-media-and-law-summer-2011/lessons-wye-river/\">U.S. " "would not subpoena reporters because “We know who you're talking " "to.”</a> Sometimes <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/24/yemen-leak-sachtleben-guilty-associated-press\">journalists' " "phone call records are subpoenaed</a> to find this out, but Snowden has " "shown us that in effect they subpoena all the phone call records of everyone " "in the U.S., all the time, <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jun/06/verizon-telephone-data-court-order\">from " "Verizon</a> and <a " "href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nsa-data-mining-digs-into-networks-beyond-verizon-2013-06-07\">from " "other companies too</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Opposition and dissident activities need to keep secrets from states that " "are willing to play dirty tricks on them. The ACLU has demonstrated the " "U.S. government's <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/Spyfiles_2_0.pdf\">systematic " "practice of infiltrating peaceful dissident groups</a> on the pretext that " "there might be terrorists among them. The point at which surveillance is " "too much is the point at which the state can find who spoke to a known " "journalist or a known dissident." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Information, Once Collected, Will Be Misused" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "When people recognize that the level of general surveillance is too high, " "the first response is to propose limits on access to the accumulated data. " "That sounds nice, but it won't fix the problem, not even slightly, even " "supposing that the government obeys the rules. (The NSA has misled the FISA " "court, which said it was <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20211016064559/https://www.wired.com/2013/09/nsa-violations/\">unable " "to effectively hold the NSA accountable</a>.) Suspicion of a crime will be " "grounds for access, so once a whistleblower is accused of " "“espionage,” finding the “spy” will provide an " "excuse to access the accumulated material." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "In practice, we can't expect state agencies even to make up excuses to " "satisfy the rules for using surveillance data—because US agencies " "already <a " "href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/01/09/dark-side-fbi-dea-illegal-searches-secret-evidence/\"> " "lie to cover up breaking the rules</a>. These rules are not seriously meant " "to be obeyed; rather, they are a fairy-tale we can believe if we like." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "In addition, the state's surveillance staff will misuse the data for " "personal reasons. Some NSA agents <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/24/nsa-analysts-abused-surveillance-systems\">used " "U.S. surveillance systems to track their lovers</a>—past, present, or " "wished-for—in a practice called “LOVEINT.” The NSA says it " "has caught and punished this a few times; we don't know how many other times " "it wasn't caught. But these events shouldn't surprise us, because police " "have long <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20160401102120/http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/privacy/lein1.htm#.V_mKlYbb69I\">used " "their access to driver's license records to track down someone " "attractive</a>, a practice known as “running a plate for a " "date.” This practice has expanded with <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20241102174540/https://theyarewatching.org/issues/risks-increase-once-data-shared\">new " "digital systems</a>. In 2016, a prosecutor was accused of forging judges' " "signatures to get authorization to <a " "href=\"https://gizmodo.com/government-officials-cant-stop-spying-on-their-crushes-1789490933\"> " "wiretap someone who was the object of a romantic obsession</a>. The AP knows " "of <a href=\"https://apnews.com/699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43\">many " "other instances in the US</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Surveillance data will always be used for other purposes, even if this is " "prohibited. Once the data has been accumulated and the state has the " "possibility of access to it, it can misuse that data in dreadful ways, as " "shown by examples from <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20220619175619/http://falkvinge.net/2012/03/17/collected-personal-data-will-always-be-used-against-the-citizens/\">Europe</a>, " "<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment\">the " "US</a>, and most recently <a " "href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/terrifying-how-a-single-line-of-computer-code-put-thousands-of-innocent-turks-in-jail-1.4495021\">Turkey</a>. " "(Turkey's confusion about who had really used the Bylock program only " "exacerbated the basic deliberate injustice of arbitrarily punishing people " "for having used it.)" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "You may feel your government won't use your personal data for repression, " "but you can't rely on that feeling, because governments do change. As of " "2021, many ostensibly democratic states are <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/21/beware-state-surveillance-of-your-lives-governments-can-change-afghanistan\">ruled " "by people with authoritarian leanings</a>, and the Taliban have taken over " "Afghanistan's systems of biometric identification that were set up at the " "instigation of the US. The UK is working on a law to <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/09/police-bill-not-law-order-state-control-erosion-freedom\">repress " "nonviolent protests that might be described as causing “serious " "disruption.”</a> The US could become permanently repressive in 2025, " "for all we know." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Personal data collected by the state is also likely to be obtained by " "outside crackers that break the security of the servers, even by <a " "href=\"https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/12/second-opm-hack-revealed-even-worse-than-first/\">crackers " "working for hostile states</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Governments can easily use massive surveillance capability to <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/world/europe/macedonia-government-is-blamed-for-wiretapping-scandal.html\">subvert " "democracy directly</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Total surveillance accessible to the state enables the state to launch a " "massive fishing expedition against any person. To make journalism and " "democracy safe, we must limit the accumulation of data that is easily " "accessible to the state." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Robust Protection for Privacy Must Limit Technology for Collecting Data" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations propose a set of " "legal principles designed to <a " "href=\"https://necessaryandproportionate.org\">prevent the abuses of massive " "surveillance</a>. These principles include, crucially, explicit legal " "protection for whistleblowers; as a consequence, they would be adequate for " "protecting democratic freedoms—if adopted completely and enforced " "without exception forever." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "However, such legal protections are precarious: as recent history shows, " "they can be repealed (as in the FISA Amendments Act), suspended, or <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/16nsa.html\">ignored</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Meanwhile, demagogues will cite the usual excuses as grounds for total " "surveillance; any terrorist attack, even one that kills just a handful of " "people, can be hyped to provide an opportunity." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If limits on access to the data are set aside, it will be as if they had " "never existed: years worth of dossiers would suddenly become available for " "misuse by the state and its agents and, if collected by companies, for their " "private misuse as well. If, however, we stop the collection of dossiers on " "everyone, those dossiers won't exist, and there will be no way to compile " "them retroactively. A new illiberal regime would have to implement " "surveillance afresh, and it would only collect data starting at that date. " "As for suspending or momentarily ignoring this law, the idea would hardly " "make sense." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "First, Don't Be Foolish" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "To have privacy, you must not throw it away: the first one who has to " "protect your privacy is you. Avoid identifying yourself to web sites, " "contact them with Tor, and use browsers that block the schemes they use to " "track visitors. Use the GNU Privacy Guard to encrypt the contents of your " "email. Pay for things with cash." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Keep your own data; don't store your data in a company's " "“convenient” “cloud” server. It's safe, however, to " "entrust a data backup to a commercial service, provided you put the files in " "an archive and encrypt the whole archive, including the names of the files, " "with free software on your own computer before uploading it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For privacy's sake, you must avoid nonfree software; if you give control of " "your computer's operations to companies, they are <a " "href=\"/malware/proprietary-surveillance.html\">likely to make it spy on " "you</a>. Avoid <a " "href=\"/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html\">service as a " "software substitute</a>; in addition to giving others control of how your " "computing is done, it requires you to hand over all the pertinent data to " "the company's server." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Protect your friends' and acquaintances' privacy, too. <a " "href=\"https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/in-cybersecurity-sometimes-the-weakest-link-is-a-family-member/\">Don't " "give out their personal information</a> except how to contact them, and " "never give any web site your list of email or phone contacts. Don't tell a " "company such as Facebook anything about your friends that they might not " "wish to publish in a newspaper. Better yet, don't be used by Facebook at " "all. Reject communication systems that require users to give their real " "names, even if you are happy to divulge yours, since they pressure other " "people to surrender their privacy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Self-protection is essential, but even the most rigorous self-protection is " "insufficient to protect your privacy on or from systems that don't belong to " "you. When we communicate with others or move around the city, our privacy " "depends on the practices of society. We can avoid some of the systems that " "surveil our communications and movements, but not all of them. Clearly, the " "better solution is to make all these systems stop surveilling people other " "than legitimate suspects." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "We Must Design Every System for Privacy" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If we don't want a total surveillance society, we must consider surveillance " "a kind of social pollution, and limit the surveillance impact of each new " "digital system just as we limit the environmental impact of physical " "construction." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For example: “smart” meters for electricity are touted for " "sending the power company moment-by-moment data about each customer's " "electric usage, including how usage compares with users in general. This is " "implemented based on general surveillance, but does not require any " "surveillance. It would be easy for the power company to calculate the " "average usage in a residential neighborhood by dividing the total usage by " "the number of subscribers, and send that to the meters. Each customer's " "meter could compare her usage, over any desired period of time, with the " "average usage pattern for that period. The same benefit, with no " "surveillance!" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We need to design such privacy into all our digital systems [<a " "href=\"#ambientprivacy\">1</a>]." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Collecting Data: Leaving It Dispersed" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "One way to make monitoring safe for privacy is to keep the data dispersed " "and inconvenient to access. Old-fashioned security cameras were no threat " "to privacy(<a href=\"#privatespace\">*</a>). The recording was stored on " "the premises, and kept for a few weeks at most. Because of the " "inconvenience of accessing these recordings, it was never done massively; " "they were accessed only in the places where someone reported a crime. It " "would not be feasible to physically collect millions of tapes every day and " "watch them or copy them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Nowadays, security cameras have become surveillance cameras: they are " "connected to the Internet so recordings can be collected in a data center " "and saved forever. In Detroit, the cops pressure businesses to give them <a " "href=\"https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2018/01/23/detroit-green-light/109524794/\">unlimited " "access to their surveillance cameras</a> so that they can look through them " "at any and all times. This is already dangerous, but it is going to get " "worse. Advances in <a href=\"#facial-recognition\">facial recognition</a> " "may bring the day when suspected journalists can be tracked on the street " "all the time to see who they talk with." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Internet-connected cameras often have lousy digital security themselves, " "which means <a " "href=\"https://www.csoonline.com/article/2221934/cia-wants-to-spy-on-you-through-your-appliances.html\">anyone " "can watch what those cameras see</a>. This makes internet-connected cameras " "a major threat to security as well as privacy. For privacy's sake, we " "should ban the use of Internet-connected cameras aimed where and when the " "public is admitted, except when carried by people. Everyone must be free to " "post photos and video recordings occasionally, but the systematic " "accumulation of such data on the Internet must be limited." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "" "(*) I assume here that the security camera points at the inside of a store, " "or at the street. Any camera pointed at someone's private space by someone " "else violates privacy, but that is another issue." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Also consider reading “<a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/facebook-abusing-data-law-privacy-big-tech-surveillance\">A " "radical proposal to keep your personal data safe</a>,” published in " "<cite>The Guardian</cite> in April 2018." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Internet Commerce Surveillance" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Most data collection comes from people's own digital activities. Usually " "the data is collected first by companies. But when it comes to the threat " "to privacy and democracy, it makes no difference whether surveillance is " "done directly by the state or farmed out to a business, because the data " "that the companies collect is systematically available to the state." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The NSA, through PRISM, has <a " "href=\"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/08/23/latest-docs-show-financial-ties-between-nsa-and-internet-companies\">gotten " "into the databases of many large Internet corporations</a>. AT&T has " "saved all its phone call records since 1987 and <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html?_r=0\">makes " "them available to the DEA</a> to search on request. Strictly speaking, the " "U.S. government does not possess that data, but in practical terms it may " "as well possess it. Some companies are praised for <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-government-data-requests-2015\">resisting " "government data requests to the limited extent they can</a>, but that can " "only partly compensate for the harm they do to by collecting that data in " "the first place. In addition, many of those companies misuse the data " "directly or provide it to data brokers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The goal of making journalism and democracy safe therefore requires that we " "reduce the data collected about people by any organization, not just by the " "state. We must redesign digital systems so that they do not accumulate data " "about their users. If they need digital data about our transactions, they " "should not be allowed to keep them more than a short time beyond what is " "inherently necessary for their dealings with us." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "One of the motives for the current level of surveillance of the Internet is " "that sites are financed through advertising based on tracking users' " "activities and propensities. This converts a mere " "annoyance—advertising that we can learn to ignore—into a " "surveillance system that harms us whether we know it or not. Purchases over " "the Internet also track their users. And we are all aware that " "“privacy policies” are more excuses to violate privacy than " "commitments to uphold it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We could correct both problems by adopting a system of anonymous " "payments—anonymous for the payer, that is. (We don't want to help the " "payee dodge taxes.) <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210612221326/https://www.wired.com/2013/05/lets-cut-through-the-bitcoin-hype/\">Bitcoin " "is not anonymous</a>, though there are efforts to develop ways to pay " "anonymously with Bitcoin. However, technology for <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210621113324/https://www.wired.com/1994/12/emoney/\">digital " "cash was first developed in the 1980s</a>; the GNU software for doing this " "is called <a href=\"https://taler.net/\">GNU Taler</a>. Now we need only " "suitable business arrangements, and for the state not to obstruct them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Another possible method for anonymous payments would use <a " "href=\"/philosophy/phone-anonymous-payment.html\">prepaid phone cards</a>. " "It is less convenient, but very easy to implement." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "A further threat from sites' collection of personal data is that security " "breakers might get in, take it, and misuse it. This includes customers' " "credit card details. An anonymous payment system would end this danger: a " "security hole in the site can't hurt you if the site knows nothing about " "you." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Travel Surveillance" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We must convert digital toll collection to anonymous payment (using digital " "cash, for instance). License-plate recognition systems <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/11/eff-and-muckrock-release-records-and-data-200-law-enforcement-agencies-automated\"> " "recognize all cars' license plates</a>, and the <a " "href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/whos_watching_you/8064333.stm\">data " "can be kept indefinitely</a>; they should be required by law to notice and " "record only those license numbers that are on a list of cars sought by court " "orders. A less secure alternative would record all cars locally but only " "for a few days, and not make the full data available over the Internet; " "access to the data should be limited to searching for a list of " "court-ordered license-numbers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The U.S. “no-fly” list must be abolished because it is <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/victory-federal-court-recognizes-constitutional\">punishment " "without trial</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "It is acceptable to have a list of people whose person and luggage will be " "searched with extra care, and anonymous passengers on domestic flights could " "be treated as if they were on this list. It is also acceptable to bar " "non-citizens, if they are not permitted to enter the country at all, from " "boarding flights to the country. This ought to be enough for all legitimate " "purposes." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Many mass transit systems use some kind of smart cards or RFIDs for " "payment. These systems accumulate personal data: if you once make the " "mistake of paying with anything but cash, they associate the card " "permanently with your name. Furthermore, they record all travel associated " "with each card. Together they amount to massive surveillance. This data " "collection must be reduced." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Navigation services do surveillance: the user's computer tells the map " "service the user's location and where the user wants to go; then the server " "determines the route and sends it back to the user's computer, which " "displays it. Nowadays, the server probably records the user's locations, " "since there is nothing to prevent it. This surveillance is not inherently " "necessary, and redesign could avoid it: free/libre software in the user's " "computer could download map data for the pertinent regions (if not " "downloaded previously), compute the route, and display it, without ever " "telling anyone where the user is or wants to go." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Systems for borrowing bicycles, etc., can be designed so that the borrower's " "identity is known only inside the station where the item was borrowed. " "Borrowing would inform all stations that the item is “out,” so " "when the user returns it at any station (in general, a different one), that " "station will know where and when that item was borrowed. It will inform the " "other station that the item is no longer “out.” It will also " "calculate the user's bill, and send it (after waiting some random number of " "minutes) to headquarters along a ring of stations, so that headquarters " "would not find out which station the bill came from. Once this is done, the " "return station would forget all about the transaction. If an item remains " "“out” for too long, the station where it was borrowed can inform " "headquarters; in that case, it could send the borrower's identity " "immediately." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Communications Dossiers" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Internet service providers and telephone companies keep extensive data on " "their users' contacts (browsing, phone calls, etc). With mobile phones, " "they also <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210312235125/http://www.zeit.de/digital/datenschutz/2011-03/data-protection-malte-spitz\">record " "the user's physical location</a>. They keep these dossiers for a long time: " "over 30 years, in the case of AT&T. Soon they will even <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20200830094843/https://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/10/the-trojan-horse-of-the-latest-iphone-with-the-m7-coprocessor-we-all-become-qs-activity-trackers/\">record " "the user's body activities</a>. It appears that the <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/it-sure-sounds-nsa-tracking-our-locations\">NSA " "collects cell phone location data</a> in bulk." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Unmonitored communication is impossible where systems create such dossiers. " "So it should be illegal to create or keep them. ISPs and phone companies " "must not be allowed to keep this information for very long, in the absence " "of a court order to surveil a certain party." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "This solution is not entirely satisfactory, because it won't physically stop " "the government from collecting all the information immediately as it is " "generated—which is what the <a " "href=\"https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order\">U.S. " "does with some or all phone companies</a>. We would have to rely on " "prohibiting that by law. However, that would be better than the current " "situation, where the relevant law (the PAT RIOT Act) does not clearly " "prohibit the practice. In addition, if the government did resume this sort " "of surveillance, it would not get data about everyone's phone calls made " "prior to that time." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For privacy about who you exchange email with, a simple partial solution is " "for you and others to use email services in a country that would never " "cooperate with your own government, and which communicate with each other " "using encryption. However, Ladar Levison (owner of the mail service Lavabit " "that US surveillance sought to corrupt completely) has a more sophisticated " "idea for an encryption system through which your email service would know " "only that you sent mail to some user of my email service, and my email " "service would know only that I received mail from some user of your email " "service, but it would be hard to determine that you had sent mail to me." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "But Some Surveillance Is Necessary" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For the state to find criminals, it needs to be able to investigate specific " "crimes, or specific suspected planned crimes, under a court order. With the " "Internet, the power to tap phone conversations would naturally extend to the " "power to tap Internet connections. This power is easy to abuse for " "political reasons, but it is also necessary. Fortunately, this won't make " "it possible to find whistleblowers after the fact, if (as I recommend) we " "prevent digital systems from accumulating massive dossiers before the fact." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Individuals with special state-granted power, such as police, forfeit their " "right to privacy and must be monitored. (In fact, police have their own " "jargon term for perjury, “<a " "href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Police_perjury&oldid=552608302\">testilying</a>,” " "since they do it so frequently, particularly about protesters and <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131025014556/http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2013/10/23/jeff-gray-arrested-recording-cops-days-becoming-pinac-partner/\"> " "photographers</a>.) One city in California that required police to wear " "video cameras all the time found <a " "href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/08/ubiquitous-surveillance-police-edition\">their " "use of force fell by 60%</a>. The ACLU is in favor of this." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20171019220057/http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12266\">Corporations " "are not people, and not entitled to human rights</a>. It is legitimate to " "require businesses to publish the details of processes that might cause " "chemical, biological, nuclear, fiscal, computational (e.g., <a " "href=\"https://DefectiveByDesign.org\">DRM</a>) or political (e.g., " "lobbying) hazards to society, to whatever level is needed for public " "well-being. The danger of these operations (consider the BP oil spill, the " "Fukushima meltdowns, and the 2008 fiscal crisis) dwarfs that of terrorism." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "However, journalism must be protected from surveillance even when it is " "carried out as part of a business." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Conclusion" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Digital technology has brought about a tremendous increase in the level of " "surveillance of our movements, actions, and communications. It is far more " "than we experienced in the 1990s, and <a " "href=\"https://hbr.org/2013/06/your-iphone-works-for-the-secret-police\">far " "more than people behind the Iron Curtain experienced</a> in the 1980s, and " "proposed legal limits on state use of the accumulated data would not alter " "that." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Companies are designing even more intrusive surveillance. Some project that " "pervasive surveillance, hooked to companies such as Facebook, could have " "deep effects on <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/10/internet-of-things-predictable-people\">how " "people think</a>. Such possibilities are imponderable; but the threat to " "democracy is not speculation. It exists and is visible today." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Unless we believe that our free countries previously suffered from a grave " "surveillance deficit, and ought to be surveilled more than the Soviet Union " "and East Germany were, we must reverse this increase. That requires " "stopping the accumulation of big data about people." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><h3> msgid "End Note" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ol><li> msgid "" "The condition of <em>not being monitored</em> has been referred to as <a " "href=\"https://idlewords.com/2019/06/the_new_wilderness.htm\">ambient " "privacy</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ol><li> msgid "" "In the 2020s, facial recognition deepens the danger of surveillance " "cameras. China already identifies people by their faces so as to punish " "them, and <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/05/iran-government-facial-recognition-technology-hijab-law-crackdown\">Iran " "is planning to use it to punish women who violate religion-imposed dress " "codes</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "" "A version of this article was first published in <cite>Wired</cite> in " "October 2013." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2013-2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""

# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: surveillance-vs-democracy.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2025-02-01 16:25+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "" "How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand? - GNU Project - Free Software " "Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Withstand?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by <a href=\"https://www.stallman.org/\">Richard Stallman</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><a> msgid "<a href=\"/graphics/dog.html\">" msgstr "" #. type: Attribute 'alt' of: <div><div><div><a><img> msgid "" "Cartoon of a dog, wondering at the three ads that popped up on his computer " "screen..." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div> msgid "</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "“How did they find out I'm a dog?”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Thanks to Edward Snowden's disclosures, we know that the current level of " "general surveillance in society is incompatible with human rights. " "Expecting every action to be noted down <a " "href=\"https://www.socialcooling.com/\">makes people censor and limit " "themselves</a>. The repeated harassment and prosecution of dissidents, " "sources, and journalists in the US and elsewhere provides confirmation. We " "need to reduce the level of general surveillance, but how far? Where exactly " "is the <em>maximum tolerable level of surveillance</em>, which we must " "ensure is not exceeded? It is the level beyond which surveillance starts to " "interfere with the functioning of democracy, in that whistleblowers (such as " "Snowden) are likely to be caught." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Faced with government secrecy, we the people depend on whistleblowers to <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/reddit-tpp-ama\">tell us what " "the state is doing</a>. (We were reminded of this in 2019 as various " "whistleblowers gave the public increments of <a " "href=\"https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/27/trumps-ukraine-scandal-shows-why-whistleblowers-are-so-vital-democracy\">information " "about Trump's attempt to shake down the president of Ukraine</a>.) However, " "today's surveillance intimidates potential whistleblowers, which means it is " "too much. To recover our democratic control over the state, we must reduce " "surveillance to the point where whistleblowers know they are safe." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Using free/libre software, <a " "href=\"/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html\">as I've " "advocated since 1983</a>, is the first step in taking control of our digital " "lives, and that includes preventing surveillance. We can't trust nonfree " "software; the NSA <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20130622044225/http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2013/06/how-can-any-company-ever-trust-microsoft-again/index.htm\">uses</a> " "and even <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security\">creates</a> " "security weaknesses in nonfree software to invade our own computers and " "routers. Free software gives us control of our own computers, but <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210902180612/https://www.wired.com/2013/10/149481/\"> " "that won't protect our privacy once we set foot on the Internet</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/nsa-surveillance-patriot-act-author-bill\">Bipartisan " "legislation to “curtail the domestic surveillance powers”</a> in " "the U.S. is being drawn up, but it relies on limiting the government's use " "of our virtual dossiers. That won't suffice to protect whistleblowers if " "“catching the whistleblower” is grounds for access sufficient to " "identify him or her. We need to go further." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><h3> msgid "Table of contents" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#upperlimit\">The Upper Limit on Surveillance in a Democracy</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#willbemisused\">Information, Once Collected, Will Be Misused</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#technical\">Robust Protection for Privacy Must Be Technical</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#commonsense\">First, Don't Be Foolish</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#privacybydesign\">We Must Design Every System for Privacy</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#dispersal\">Remedy for Collecting Data: Leaving It Dispersed</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#digitalcash\">Remedy for Internet Commerce Surveillance</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#travel\">Remedy for Travel Surveillance</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#communications\">Remedy for Communications Dossiers</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#necessary\">But Some Surveillance Is Necessary</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ul><li> msgid "<a href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The Upper Limit on Surveillance in a Democracy" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If whistleblowers don't dare reveal crimes and lies, we lose the last shred " "of effective control over our government and institutions. That's why " "surveillance that enables the state to find out who has talked with a " "reporter is too much surveillance—too much for democracy to endure." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "An unnamed U.S. government official ominously told journalists in 2011 that " "the <a " "href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/journals/news-media-and-law-summer-2011/lessons-wye-river/\">U.S. " "would not subpoena reporters because “We know who you're talking " "to.”</a> Sometimes <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/24/yemen-leak-sachtleben-guilty-associated-press\">journalists' " "phone call records are subpoenaed</a> to find this out, but Snowden has " "shown us that in effect they subpoena all the phone call records of everyone " "in the U.S., all the time, <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/jun/06/verizon-telephone-data-court-order\">from " "Verizon</a> and <a " "href=\"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nsa-data-mining-digs-into-networks-beyond-verizon-2013-06-07\">from " "other companies too</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Opposition and dissident activities need to keep secrets from states that " "are willing to play dirty tricks on them. The ACLU has demonstrated the " "U.S. government's <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/Spyfiles_2_0.pdf\">systematic " "practice of infiltrating peaceful dissident groups</a> on the pretext that " "there might be terrorists among them. The point at which surveillance is " "too much is the point at which the state can find who spoke to a known " "journalist or a known dissident." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Information, Once Collected, Will Be Misused" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "When people recognize that the level of general surveillance is too high, " "the first response is to propose limits on access to the accumulated data. " "That sounds nice, but it won't fix the problem, not even slightly, even " "supposing that the government obeys the rules. (The NSA has misled the FISA " "court, which said it was <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20211016064559/https://www.wired.com/2013/09/nsa-violations/\">unable " "to effectively hold the NSA accountable</a>.) Suspicion of a crime will be " "grounds for access, so once a whistleblower is accused of " "“espionage,” finding the “spy” will provide an " "excuse to access the accumulated material." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "In practice, we can't expect state agencies even to make up excuses to " "satisfy the rules for using surveillance data—because US agencies " "already <a " "href=\"https://theintercept.com/2018/01/09/dark-side-fbi-dea-illegal-searches-secret-evidence/\"> " "lie to cover up breaking the rules</a>. These rules are not seriously meant " "to be obeyed; rather, they are a fairy-tale we can believe if we like." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "In addition, the state's surveillance staff will misuse the data for " "personal reasons. Some NSA agents <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/24/nsa-analysts-abused-surveillance-systems\">used " "U.S. surveillance systems to track their lovers</a>—past, present, or " "wished-for—in a practice called “LOVEINT.” The NSA says it " "has caught and punished this a few times; we don't know how many other times " "it wasn't caught. But these events shouldn't surprise us, because police " "have long <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20160401102120/http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/privacy/lein1.htm#.V_mKlYbb69I\">used " "their access to driver's license records to track down someone " "attractive</a>, a practice known as “running a plate for a " "date.” This practice has expanded with <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20241102174540/https://theyarewatching.org/issues/risks-increase-once-data-shared\">new " "digital systems</a>. In 2016, a prosecutor was accused of forging judges' " "signatures to get authorization to <a " "href=\"https://gizmodo.com/government-officials-cant-stop-spying-on-their-crushes-1789490933\"> " "wiretap someone who was the object of a romantic obsession</a>. The AP knows " "of <a href=\"https://apnews.com/699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43\">many " "other instances in the US</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Surveillance data will always be used for other purposes, even if this is " "prohibited. Once the data has been accumulated and the state has the " "possibility of access to it, it can misuse that data in dreadful ways, as " "shown by examples from <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20220619175619/http://falkvinge.net/2012/03/17/collected-personal-data-will-always-be-used-against-the-citizens/\">Europe</a>, " "<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment\">the " "US</a>, and most recently <a " "href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/terrifying-how-a-single-line-of-computer-code-put-thousands-of-innocent-turks-in-jail-1.4495021\">Turkey</a>. " "(Turkey's confusion about who had really used the Bylock program only " "exacerbated the basic deliberate injustice of arbitrarily punishing people " "for having used it.)" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "You may feel your government won't use your personal data for repression, " "but you can't rely on that feeling, because governments do change. As of " "2021, many ostensibly democratic states are <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/21/beware-state-surveillance-of-your-lives-governments-can-change-afghanistan\">ruled " "by people with authoritarian leanings</a>, and the Taliban have taken over " "Afghanistan's systems of biometric identification that were set up at the " "instigation of the US. The UK is working on a law to <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/09/police-bill-not-law-order-state-control-erosion-freedom\">repress " "nonviolent protests that might be described as causing “serious " "disruption.”</a> The US could become permanently repressive in 2025, " "for all we know." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Personal data collected by the state is also likely to be obtained by " "outside crackers that break the security of the servers, even by <a " "href=\"https://www.techdirt.com/2015/06/12/second-opm-hack-revealed-even-worse-than-first/\">crackers " "working for hostile states</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Governments can easily use massive surveillance capability to <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/world/europe/macedonia-government-is-blamed-for-wiretapping-scandal.html\">subvert " "democracy directly</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Total surveillance accessible to the state enables the state to launch a " "massive fishing expedition against any person. To make journalism and " "democracy safe, we must limit the accumulation of data that is easily " "accessible to the state." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Robust Protection for Privacy Must Limit Technology for Collecting Data" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations propose a set of " "legal principles designed to <a " "href=\"https://necessaryandproportionate.org\">prevent the abuses of massive " "surveillance</a>. These principles include, crucially, explicit legal " "protection for whistleblowers; as a consequence, they would be adequate for " "protecting democratic freedoms—if adopted completely and enforced " "without exception forever." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "However, such legal protections are precarious: as recent history shows, " "they can be repealed (as in the FISA Amendments Act), suspended, or <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/16nsa.html\">ignored</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Meanwhile, demagogues will cite the usual excuses as grounds for total " "surveillance; any terrorist attack, even one that kills just a handful of " "people, can be hyped to provide an opportunity." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If limits on access to the data are set aside, it will be as if they had " "never existed: years worth of dossiers would suddenly become available for " "misuse by the state and its agents and, if collected by companies, for their " "private misuse as well. If, however, we stop the collection of dossiers on " "everyone, those dossiers won't exist, and there will be no way to compile " "them retroactively. A new illiberal regime would have to implement " "surveillance afresh, and it would only collect data starting at that date. " "As for suspending or momentarily ignoring this law, the idea would hardly " "make sense." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "First, Don't Be Foolish" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "To have privacy, you must not throw it away: the first one who has to " "protect your privacy is you. Avoid identifying yourself to web sites, " "contact them with Tor, and use browsers that block the schemes they use to " "track visitors. Use the GNU Privacy Guard to encrypt the contents of your " "email. Pay for things with cash." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Keep your own data; don't store your data in a company's " "“convenient” “cloud” server. It's safe, however, to " "entrust a data backup to a commercial service, provided you put the files in " "an archive and encrypt the whole archive, including the names of the files, " "with free software on your own computer before uploading it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For privacy's sake, you must avoid nonfree software; if you give control of " "your computer's operations to companies, they are <a " "href=\"/malware/proprietary-surveillance.html\">likely to make it spy on " "you</a>. Avoid <a " "href=\"/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html\">service as a " "software substitute</a>; in addition to giving others control of how your " "computing is done, it requires you to hand over all the pertinent data to " "the company's server." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Protect your friends' and acquaintances' privacy, too. <a " "href=\"https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/in-cybersecurity-sometimes-the-weakest-link-is-a-family-member/\">Don't " "give out their personal information</a> except how to contact them, and " "never give any web site your list of email or phone contacts. Don't tell a " "company such as Facebook anything about your friends that they might not " "wish to publish in a newspaper. Better yet, don't be used by Facebook at " "all. Reject communication systems that require users to give their real " "names, even if you are happy to divulge yours, since they pressure other " "people to surrender their privacy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Self-protection is essential, but even the most rigorous self-protection is " "insufficient to protect your privacy on or from systems that don't belong to " "you. When we communicate with others or move around the city, our privacy " "depends on the practices of society. We can avoid some of the systems that " "surveil our communications and movements, but not all of them. Clearly, the " "better solution is to make all these systems stop surveilling people other " "than legitimate suspects." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "We Must Design Every System for Privacy" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "If we don't want a total surveillance society, we must consider surveillance " "a kind of social pollution, and limit the surveillance impact of each new " "digital system just as we limit the environmental impact of physical " "construction." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For example: “smart” meters for electricity are touted for " "sending the power company moment-by-moment data about each customer's " "electric usage, including how usage compares with users in general. This is " "implemented based on general surveillance, but does not require any " "surveillance. It would be easy for the power company to calculate the " "average usage in a residential neighborhood by dividing the total usage by " "the number of subscribers, and send that to the meters. Each customer's " "meter could compare her usage, over any desired period of time, with the " "average usage pattern for that period. The same benefit, with no " "surveillance!" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We need to design such privacy into all our digital systems [<a " "href=\"#ambientprivacy\">1</a>]." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Collecting Data: Leaving It Dispersed" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "One way to make monitoring safe for privacy is to keep the data dispersed " "and inconvenient to access. Old-fashioned security cameras were no threat " "to privacy(<a href=\"#privatespace\">*</a>). The recording was stored on " "the premises, and kept for a few weeks at most. Because of the " "inconvenience of accessing these recordings, it was never done massively; " "they were accessed only in the places where someone reported a crime. It " "would not be feasible to physically collect millions of tapes every day and " "watch them or copy them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Nowadays, security cameras have become surveillance cameras: they are " "connected to the Internet so recordings can be collected in a data center " "and saved forever. In Detroit, the cops pressure businesses to give them <a " "href=\"https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2018/01/23/detroit-green-light/109524794/\">unlimited " "access to their surveillance cameras</a> so that they can look through them " "at any and all times. This is already dangerous, but it is going to get " "worse. Advances in <a href=\"#facial-recognition\">facial recognition</a> " "may bring the day when suspected journalists can be tracked on the street " "all the time to see who they talk with." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Internet-connected cameras often have lousy digital security themselves, " "which means <a " "href=\"https://www.csoonline.com/article/2221934/cia-wants-to-spy-on-you-through-your-appliances.html\">anyone " "can watch what those cameras see</a>. This makes internet-connected cameras " "a major threat to security as well as privacy. For privacy's sake, we " "should ban the use of Internet-connected cameras aimed where and when the " "public is admitted, except when carried by people. Everyone must be free to " "post photos and video recordings occasionally, but the systematic " "accumulation of such data on the Internet must be limited." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "" "(*) I assume here that the security camera points at the inside of a store, " "or at the street. Any camera pointed at someone's private space by someone " "else violates privacy, but that is another issue." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Also consider reading “<a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/facebook-abusing-data-law-privacy-big-tech-surveillance\">A " "radical proposal to keep your personal data safe</a>,” published in " "<cite>The Guardian</cite> in April 2018." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Internet Commerce Surveillance" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Most data collection comes from people's own digital activities. Usually " "the data is collected first by companies. But when it comes to the threat " "to privacy and democracy, it makes no difference whether surveillance is " "done directly by the state or farmed out to a business, because the data " "that the companies collect is systematically available to the state." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The NSA, through PRISM, has <a " "href=\"https://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/08/23/latest-docs-show-financial-ties-between-nsa-and-internet-companies\">gotten " "into the databases of many large Internet corporations</a>. AT&T has " "saved all its phone call records since 1987 and <a " "href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html?_r=0\">makes " "them available to the DEA</a> to search on request. Strictly speaking, the " "U.S. government does not possess that data, but in practical terms it may " "as well possess it. Some companies are praised for <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-government-data-requests-2015\">resisting " "government data requests to the limited extent they can</a>, but that can " "only partly compensate for the harm they do to by collecting that data in " "the first place. In addition, many of those companies misuse the data " "directly or provide it to data brokers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The goal of making journalism and democracy safe therefore requires that we " "reduce the data collected about people by any organization, not just by the " "state. We must redesign digital systems so that they do not accumulate data " "about their users. If they need digital data about our transactions, they " "should not be allowed to keep them more than a short time beyond what is " "inherently necessary for their dealings with us." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "One of the motives for the current level of surveillance of the Internet is " "that sites are financed through advertising based on tracking users' " "activities and propensities. This converts a mere " "annoyance—advertising that we can learn to ignore—into a " "surveillance system that harms us whether we know it or not. Purchases over " "the Internet also track their users. And we are all aware that " "“privacy policies” are more excuses to violate privacy than " "commitments to uphold it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We could correct both problems by adopting a system of anonymous " "payments—anonymous for the payer, that is. (We don't want to help the " "payee dodge taxes.) <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210612221326/https://www.wired.com/2013/05/lets-cut-through-the-bitcoin-hype/\">Bitcoin " "is not anonymous</a>, though there are efforts to develop ways to pay " "anonymously with Bitcoin. However, technology for <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210621113324/https://www.wired.com/1994/12/emoney/\">digital " "cash was first developed in the 1980s</a>; the GNU software for doing this " "is called <a href=\"https://taler.net/\">GNU Taler</a>. Now we need only " "suitable business arrangements, and for the state not to obstruct them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Another possible method for anonymous payments would use <a " "href=\"/philosophy/phone-anonymous-payment.html\">prepaid phone cards</a>. " "It is less convenient, but very easy to implement." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "A further threat from sites' collection of personal data is that security " "breakers might get in, take it, and misuse it. This includes customers' " "credit card details. An anonymous payment system would end this danger: a " "security hole in the site can't hurt you if the site knows nothing about " "you." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Travel Surveillance" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "We must convert digital toll collection to anonymous payment (using digital " "cash, for instance). License-plate recognition systems <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/11/eff-and-muckrock-release-records-and-data-200-law-enforcement-agencies-automated\"> " "recognize all cars' license plates</a>, and the <a " "href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/whos_watching_you/8064333.stm\">data " "can be kept indefinitely</a>; they should be required by law to notice and " "record only those license numbers that are on a list of cars sought by court " "orders. A less secure alternative would record all cars locally but only " "for a few days, and not make the full data available over the Internet; " "access to the data should be limited to searching for a list of " "court-ordered license-numbers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "The U.S. “no-fly” list must be abolished because it is <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/victory-federal-court-recognizes-constitutional\">punishment " "without trial</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "It is acceptable to have a list of people whose person and luggage will be " "searched with extra care, and anonymous passengers on domestic flights could " "be treated as if they were on this list. It is also acceptable to bar " "non-citizens, if they are not permitted to enter the country at all, from " "boarding flights to the country. This ought to be enough for all legitimate " "purposes." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Many mass transit systems use some kind of smart cards or RFIDs for " "payment. These systems accumulate personal data: if you once make the " "mistake of paying with anything but cash, they associate the card " "permanently with your name. Furthermore, they record all travel associated " "with each card. Together they amount to massive surveillance. This data " "collection must be reduced." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Navigation services do surveillance: the user's computer tells the map " "service the user's location and where the user wants to go; then the server " "determines the route and sends it back to the user's computer, which " "displays it. Nowadays, the server probably records the user's locations, " "since there is nothing to prevent it. This surveillance is not inherently " "necessary, and redesign could avoid it: free/libre software in the user's " "computer could download map data for the pertinent regions (if not " "downloaded previously), compute the route, and display it, without ever " "telling anyone where the user is or wants to go." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Systems for borrowing bicycles, etc., can be designed so that the borrower's " "identity is known only inside the station where the item was borrowed. " "Borrowing would inform all stations that the item is “out,” so " "when the user returns it at any station (in general, a different one), that " "station will know where and when that item was borrowed. It will inform the " "other station that the item is no longer “out.” It will also " "calculate the user's bill, and send it (after waiting some random number of " "minutes) to headquarters along a ring of stations, so that headquarters " "would not find out which station the bill came from. Once this is done, the " "return station would forget all about the transaction. If an item remains " "“out” for too long, the station where it was borrowed can inform " "headquarters; in that case, it could send the borrower's identity " "immediately." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Remedy for Communications Dossiers" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Internet service providers and telephone companies keep extensive data on " "their users' contacts (browsing, phone calls, etc). With mobile phones, " "they also <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20210312235125/http://www.zeit.de/digital/datenschutz/2011-03/data-protection-malte-spitz\">record " "the user's physical location</a>. They keep these dossiers for a long time: " "over 30 years, in the case of AT&T. Soon they will even <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20200830094843/https://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/10/the-trojan-horse-of-the-latest-iphone-with-the-m7-coprocessor-we-all-become-qs-activity-trackers/\">record " "the user's body activities</a>. It appears that the <a " "href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/it-sure-sounds-nsa-tracking-our-locations\">NSA " "collects cell phone location data</a> in bulk." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Unmonitored communication is impossible where systems create such dossiers. " "So it should be illegal to create or keep them. ISPs and phone companies " "must not be allowed to keep this information for very long, in the absence " "of a court order to surveil a certain party." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "This solution is not entirely satisfactory, because it won't physically stop " "the government from collecting all the information immediately as it is " "generated—which is what the <a " "href=\"https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order\">U.S. " "does with some or all phone companies</a>. We would have to rely on " "prohibiting that by law. However, that would be better than the current " "situation, where the relevant law (the PAT RIOT Act) does not clearly " "prohibit the practice. In addition, if the government did resume this sort " "of surveillance, it would not get data about everyone's phone calls made " "prior to that time." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For privacy about who you exchange email with, a simple partial solution is " "for you and others to use email services in a country that would never " "cooperate with your own government, and which communicate with each other " "using encryption. However, Ladar Levison (owner of the mail service Lavabit " "that US surveillance sought to corrupt completely) has a more sophisticated " "idea for an encryption system through which your email service would know " "only that you sent mail to some user of my email service, and my email " "service would know only that I received mail from some user of your email " "service, but it would be hard to determine that you had sent mail to me." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "But Some Surveillance Is Necessary" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "For the state to find criminals, it needs to be able to investigate specific " "crimes, or specific suspected planned crimes, under a court order. With the " "Internet, the power to tap phone conversations would naturally extend to the " "power to tap Internet connections. This power is easy to abuse for " "political reasons, but it is also necessary. Fortunately, this won't make " "it possible to find whistleblowers after the fact, if (as I recommend) we " "prevent digital systems from accumulating massive dossiers before the fact." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Individuals with special state-granted power, such as police, forfeit their " "right to privacy and must be monitored. (In fact, police have their own " "jargon term for perjury, “<a " "href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Police_perjury&oldid=552608302\">testilying</a>,” " "since they do it so frequently, particularly about protesters and <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20131025014556/http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2013/10/23/jeff-gray-arrested-recording-cops-days-becoming-pinac-partner/\"> " "photographers</a>.) One city in California that required police to wear " "video cameras all the time found <a " "href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/08/ubiquitous-surveillance-police-edition\">their " "use of force fell by 60%</a>. The ACLU is in favor of this." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20171019220057/http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12266\">Corporations " "are not people, and not entitled to human rights</a>. It is legitimate to " "require businesses to publish the details of processes that might cause " "chemical, biological, nuclear, fiscal, computational (e.g., <a " "href=\"https://DefectiveByDesign.org\">DRM</a>) or political (e.g., " "lobbying) hazards to society, to whatever level is needed for public " "well-being. The danger of these operations (consider the BP oil spill, the " "Fukushima meltdowns, and the 2008 fiscal crisis) dwarfs that of terrorism." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "However, journalism must be protected from surveillance even when it is " "carried out as part of a business." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Conclusion" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Digital technology has brought about a tremendous increase in the level of " "surveillance of our movements, actions, and communications. It is far more " "than we experienced in the 1990s, and <a " "href=\"https://hbr.org/2013/06/your-iphone-works-for-the-secret-police\">far " "more than people behind the Iron Curtain experienced</a> in the 1980s, and " "proposed legal limits on state use of the accumulated data would not alter " "that." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Companies are designing even more intrusive surveillance. Some project that " "pervasive surveillance, hooked to companies such as Facebook, could have " "deep effects on <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/10/internet-of-things-predictable-people\">how " "people think</a>. Such possibilities are imponderable; but the threat to " "democracy is not speculation. It exists and is visible today." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Unless we believe that our free countries previously suffered from a grave " "surveillance deficit, and ought to be surveilled more than the Soviet Union " "and East Germany were, we must reverse this increase. That requires " "stopping the accumulation of big data about people." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><h3> msgid "End Note" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ol><li> msgid "" "The condition of <em>not being monitored</em> has been referred to as <a " "href=\"https://idlewords.com/2019/06/the_new_wilderness.htm\">ambient " "privacy</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><ol><li> msgid "" "In the 2020s, facial recognition deepens the danger of surveillance " "cameras. China already identifies people by their faces so as to punish " "them, and <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/05/iran-government-facial-recognition-technology-hijab-law-crackdown\">Iran " "is planning to use it to punish women who violate religion-imposed dress " "codes</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><div><p> msgid "" "A version of this article was first published in <cite>Wired</cite> in " "October 2013." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2013-2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""