[liberationtech] Anonymous Group Moderation?

2013-05-27 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
I have a friend working in a politically volatile environment overseas 
environment who's interested in taking over a public e-mail group/listserv as a 
public participation service. The friend is based in the US, but the focus of 
the listserv is in a country where courts have held group moderators 
responsible for the content of various sorts of forums and discussion groups -- 
even if messages themselves are not moderated. 

Because my friend would prefer to avoid litigation, and perhaps limits on his 
future international travel, he's looking for simple options that would allow 
him to set up a group anonymously. Can that be done?

Bruce Potter



--
Island Resources Foundation --- i...@irf.org
40+ Years of Environmental Service to Small Tropical Islands 
--
1718 "P" St NW, # T-4Fone   202/265-9712
Washington, DC 20036 Potter cell: 1-443-454-9044

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
Subscribe to environmental e-mail groups at 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
TWITTER:@IRFinDC;  
Facebook: http://j.mp/IRF_Facebook
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-







--
Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing 
moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

Re: [liberationtech] Why Metadata Matters

2013-06-06 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
The other point worth keeping in mind is that NSA can keep this data forever 
(hence the humoungous cyber farm NSA is building in Utah) --

So a decade from now they can check the metadata to see if it fits some theory 
a paranoid analyst thinks might have happened half a lifetime ago.

bp


On Jun 6, 2013, at 1:44 PM, Griffin Boyce  wrote:

>  I see a lot of people wondering why metadata matters.  "But they
> don't know *what* you're doing there!"  So I'll give a short example
> to illustrate how metadata can be used to not only determine who
> someone is talking to, but also to invade their privacy and uncover
> the most intimate details of their life.
> 
>  Jane is at 16th & L Street for an hour.
>  Carla is at 16th & L Street for four hours. She's had a short visit
> previously.
>  James is at 16th & L Street for twenty minutes. He comes back at the
> same time every week.
>  Kris is at 16th & L Street for ten hours.
>  Rick is at 16th & L Street for eight hours every night.
>  Samantha has been there for three days and four hours.
> 
> 16th & L Street is the address of a Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC.
> 
>  Jane is having a physical.
>  Carla is having an abortion.
>  James receives his medication there. By visit time, location, and
> frequency, he is likely a trans guy. If his appointments were every
> two weeks, the metadata would indicate that James is a trans woman.
>  Kris is protesting there.
>  Rick works in an office in the same building.
>  Samantha dropped her phone in the Farragut West Metro Station and
> has been looking for it ever since.
> 
> And that's just location data. If one calls a physician every day,
> perhaps they have a major medical problem. If a crime happens on the
> other side of town, and you suddenly start calling attorneys... did
> you do it?  There are numerous explanations for either of those
> scenarios, but this kind of metadata in isolation can be used to tell
> almost any story you want.
> 
> Stay safe out there.
> 
> best,
> Griffin Boyce
> 
> -- 
> Technical Program Associate, Open Technology Institute
> #Foucault / PGP: 0xAE792C97 / OTR: sa...@jabber.ccc.de
> --
> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
> emailing moderator atcompa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings 
> athttps://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

--
Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing 
moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

Re: [liberationtech] Decoupling from current power structures

2013-06-18 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 

Decoupling might have been a feasible option in Thomas Jefferson's time 
(although they DID create the UNITED States after experimenting with the more 
decoupled "Articles of Confederation), but somehow in a nation of 300 million, 
and a global system heading for 10 billion, I don't see it. At least until we 
can start colonizing asteroids. Afraid the answer is finding ways to "humanize" 
big systems.


On Jun 18, 2013, at 8:01 AM, phryk  wrote:

> I am pretty sure that I am not the only one thinking that we
> (colloquially known as "we, the people") need to make ourselves
> independent from current power structures ie. governments and
> corporations.
> 
> Even if you are not an anarchist or similiar you will have to
> acknowledge that a centralized government poses a single point of
> failure. If the government collapses it's fuck-all for the people
> living in that state.
> 
> At the most basic level what people need is food and shelter.
> 
> In our day and age the obvious way for giving *everyone* access to
> something would be automation.
> 
> So, in essence, my question is this:
> 
> What efforts for automating the supply of food, shelter and other
> things needed to be independent of our current, centralized, power
> structures do you know of?
> 
> 
> I know of the urban farming community but think they are a bit too
> low-tech. Automated vertical farming[1] seems interesting, but I don't
> know of any project trying to do this open-source or even just
> proprietarily…
> 
> What seems very interesting in terms of shelter is a technology called
> contour crafting[2] which was inspired by 3D-printing and could
> revolutionize how we think about architecture.
> 
> Last but not least I know of the Global Village Construction Set[3]
> which is a promising project, but seems to depend on classical,
> inefficient, agriculture.
> 
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming
> [2] http://www.contourcrafting.org/
> 
> 
> Greetings,
>   
>   phryk
> --
> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
> emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

--
Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing 
moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

Re: [liberationtech] to encrypt or not to encrypt?

2013-06-22 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
That and get everyone to salt every message with a random assortment of words 
and phrases from "flag lists"


On Jun 21, 2013, at 11:55 AM, Nadim Kobeissi  wrote:

> The solution to this is to make encryption more and more widely used. By 
> increasing the number of people with access to encryption technology for 
> their communications, we dilute this threat.
> 
> NK
> 
> On 2013-06-21, at 11:52 AM, Michael Rogers  wrote:
> 
>> Signed PGP part
>> It's unfortunate that Ars Technica has chosen that angle, since I
>> believe it misrepresents the situation: if you use encryption, the NSA
>> may indeed retain your encrypted traffic, but won't be able to read
>> it. If you don't use encryption, the NSA will be able to read your
>> traffic, and will retain it if it contains anything interesting, or if
>> you're not an American. So encryption is still a net gain for privacy.
>> 
>> Blending in is a red herring in my opinion - metadata (which isn't
>> subject to the restrictions discussed in the Ars Technica article)
>> reveals who talks to whom and when. That's sufficient to identify
>> persons of interest, regardless of whether they use encryption. Any
>> activist or journalist should assume they're already a person of
>> interest, thanks to their job and the people they talk to. Not to be
>> subject to surveillance would be something of a professional
>> embarrassment. ;-) So forget about blending in. Assume you're subject
>> to surveillance, and think about what steps you're going to take in
>> response.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Michael
>> 
>> On 21/06/13 16:41, dan mcquillan wrote:
>>> a few people who came to our university cryptoparty asked whether 
>>> they're just going to draw attention to themselves by encrypting
>>> email.
>>> 
>>> the latest leaks seems to give a firm 'yes', as the NSA
>>> specifically keeps encrypted comms indefinitely.
>>> 
>>> sample news item:
>>> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130620/15390323549/nsa-has-convinced-fisa-court-that-if-your-data-is-encrypted-you-might-be-terrorist-so-itll-hang-onto-your-data.shtml
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> how would list members answer the question 'to encrypt or not to
>>> encrypt'?
>>> 
>>> cheers dan
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change
>>> password by emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing
>>> your settings at
>>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
>> emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> 
> --
> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
> emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

--
Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing 
moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

Re: [liberationtech] Metadata Cleanup trough File Format Convertion?

2013-07-20 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
Maybe this would help --

On the Mac platform, Lemkesoft's GraphicConverter is one of the oldest and most 
versatile graphic media format conversion programs (AND a good photo editor) -- 
it currently works with 60+ formats and explicitly allows removing OR modifying 
METADATA in batch mode.

www.lemkesoft.com
or write to the author, Thorsten Lemke at supp...@lemkesoft.com

There are a dozen or more language versions of GraphicConverter -- it's 
modestly priced.

bruce

- - - - - - - 

On Jul 17, 2013, at 12:28 PM, Fabio Pietrosanti (naif)  
wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> i've been thinking about the topic of metadata cleanup of files from an 
> implementation point of view.
> 
> Regardless the consideration whether it's something useful or not for a 
> Whistleblowing platform (GlobaLeaks), i've been considering whenever the 
> "Metadata Cleanup" can't be approached by "File Format Conversion".
> 
> If i'd like to remove metadata from various documents formats (pdf, word, 
> ppt, excel, etc) or image file, i've been thinking that rather then 
> "explicitly removing metadata" a possible different approach would be by 
> doing a "file convertion" .
> 
> If a JPEG is converted to PNG, "maybe" all metadatas are lost. (this has to 
> be verified)
> If a DOC/DOCX is converted to a PDF, maybe all metadatas are lost.
> 
> At GlobaLeaks we've been discussing about introducing "metadata cleanup" [1] 
> , but also a "file sterilization" [2] with the goal to protect Receivers of a 
> Whistleblowing site against targeted 0day attacks.
> 
> Should we approach "metadata cleanup" by doing the "file sterilization" 
> processing trough existing Libreoffice convertion API [3] to save engineering 
> effort/time?
> 
> 
> [1] Metadata Cleanup https://github.com/globaleaks/GlobaLeaks/issues/305
> [2] File Sterilization https://github.com/globaleaks/GlobaLeaks/issues/270
> [3] Libreoffice Convertion API https://github.com/dagwieers/unoconv
> 
> -- 
> Fabio Pietrosanti (naif)
> HERMES - Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights
> http://logioshermes.org - http://globaleaks.org - http://tor2web.org
> 
> --
> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
> emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

--
Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing 
moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech

Re: [liberationtech] Tech equivalent of Physicians for Social Responsibility?

2013-10-15 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
Ringo

Funny you should ask it that way -- 1983 to 2013 there was a group copied after 
PSR called Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.

One of the many spin-offs from that has been Mark Rotenberg's  Electronic 
Privacy Information Center (EPIC). 

Read about it in Wikipedia.. . . or have Siri read it to you.

bp

On Oct 15, 2013, at 5:07 AM, Ringo  wrote:

> Hey Liberation Tech,
> 
> I was wondering if anybody here knew of any organizations for IT
> professionals/computer repair technicians that are in the same vein as
> physicians for social responsibility? Obviously there are civil advocacy
> groups like the EFF, but I was wondering if there were any more specific
> orgs that are membership/profession-based? And yes, I googled it first : )
> 
> Thanks,
> Ringo
> -- 
> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
> list guidelines will get you moderated: 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
> change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
> compa...@stanford.edu.

Bruce 
bpot...@irf.org




-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
compa...@stanford.edu.

[liberationtech] Fwd: [Sdi-latinamericacaribbean] Nicaragua: company convicted of theft of restricted cadastral information

2013-12-05 Thread Bruce Potter at IRF 
Cautionary thoughts in the Age of Open Data  -- except in despotic or paranoid 
regimes.

bp

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Kate Lance 
> Subject: [Sdi-latinamericacaribbean] Nicaragua: company convicted of theft of 
> restricted cadastral information
> Date: December 5, 2013 12:52:59 PM EST
> To: SDI-legal-socioecon , SDI-LAC 
> 
> Reply-To: Kate Lance 
> 
> Condenados por sustracción de información restringida
> 
> http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/sucesos/303713-condenados-sustraccion-de-informacion-restringida
> Nicaragua: company convicted of theft of restricted cadastral information 
> (article in Spanish)
> December 2, 2013: On charges of disclosing confidential information and 
> providing public access to classified information, Tosca Alexandra Altamirano 
> Barreda, who works for the Nicaraguan Institute of Land Studies (INETER), 
> could spend eight years in prison, while Tupac Amaru Aguilar Beteta who also 
> worked for that institution, could face a sentence of five years.
> The conviction for both former employees of the Nicaraguan Institute of 
> Territorial Studies, was issued by the Tenth District Criminal Trial Judge of 
> the capital, Nancy Aguirre.
> According to the prosecution, Tupac Amaru Aguilar was found guilty of 
> influence peddling, because was using his personal relationship with Tosca 
> Altamirano to get INETER's cadastral information.
> The stolen classified information (cadastral survey plans, cadastral data of 
> special areas of border protection and cadastral records of state property), 
> which is confidential and only the state can handle, was used by Aguilar 
> Altamirano and the company created by them, called "TGA, SA", which provided 
> surveying services. The two also appropriated aerial and satellite photos of 
> state properties.
> The sentencing for defendants was scheduled for court next Friday at 10:00 am.
> 
> 
> ___
> SDI-LatinAmericaCaribbean mailing list
> sdi-latinamericacaribb...@lists.gsdi.org
> http://lists.gsdi.org/mailman/listinfo/sdi-latinamericacaribbean

Bruce 
bpot...@irf.org




-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at 
compa...@stanford.edu.