The NSA may have its ominously named Perfect Citizen program to guard against potential cyber attacks, but it looks like the U.S. government still isn’t quite satisfied with its surveillance capabilities in the age of the internet. As the New York Times reports, federal officials are now pushing for some expanding wiretapping regulations that would require any communications service — including everything from encrypted BlackBerry messages to Skype to social networking sites — to be “technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order.” That, officials say, is necessary because their current wiretapping abilities are effectively “going dark” as communications move increasingly online. While complete details are obviously a bit light, the officials do apparently have a few ideas about how such a radical change might be possible, including a regulation that foreign-based companies that do business in the US be required to install a domestic office capable of performing intercepts, and a flat out requirement that “developers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication must redesign their service to allow interception.” Of course, the specifics could still change, but the Obama administration is apparently intent on getting a bill of some sort submitted to Congress next year.
Reports out of India this morning claim that RIM has agreed a deal with the local government to permit its security agencies to “monitor” email and messaging done on BlackBerry devices. There’s even a roadmap for this snooperiffic rollout, as all consumer email is expected to be opened up within 15 days and tools are being developed over the next six to eight months to allow chat surveillance as well. A very detailed report indeed, but the IDG News service reports RIM has rubbished the entire thing, stating it’s in a continuing dialog with the Indian government and discussions remain confidential. Then again, we’d expect RIM to keep up the facade as long as possible, considering the likely domino effect a capitulation in India would have in nearby states that have similar security concerns. In the mean time, Nokia has meekly announced it’ll be complying with the Indian government’s rules for push mail and is “installing the required infrastructure.” For more on that and the BlackBerry saga, hit the source links below.
Governments have traditionally had a “love-hate” relationship with technology: they love using it to keep tabs on you and your cronies, but they hate the idea that you could be using it to protect your privacy. One clear example of this is the whole back’n'forth that’s been playing out between RIM and the nation of India over the last couple years. Remember way back in ’08 when the country demanded that the company give it access (one way or another) to encrypted BlackBerry Messenger traffic and email? Well, it looks like nothing’s been resolved after all: just last week the Indian telecommunications ministry gave RIM until the end of the month to provide said access, otherwise it could ban BBM altogether — much as it tried to do two years ago. Meanwhile, in the UAE, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has issued a statement claiming that “[c]ertain BlackBerry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, judicial and national security repercussions.” We’re not certain if things will go quite so far in Abu Dhabi as they seem to be in New Delhi, but the government assured everyone that it will find “a solution that safeguards our consumers and operates within the boundaries of UAE law.”
First it was the rozzers, now British bin men are getting BlackBerrys as part of their job equipment pack. Biffa, a private garbage collection firm responsible for cleaning up 25 local authorities around the UK, has agreed a £1.7 million ($2.44 million) deal with Vodafone for the provision of some 1,500 BlackBerry handsets along with dongles and 3G data cards. This somewhat curious capital investment has been made in order to allow drivers to download maps, collect data from customers, liaise with head office, and even take photos where necessary. The RIM phones will also allow Biffa to track its trucks’ locations — an option that’s sure to get plenty of use, considering how much Brits love to keep an eye on things.
Sci-fi movies often present us with omniscient villains who are able to track the most minute actions of their underlings and foes. Rarely do we get a glimpse into their surveillance systems, but you have to imagine that some of the more rudimentary “employee evaluation” hardware will not be too far off from KDDI‘s latest. The Japanese cellphone giant has unveiled a new system, built around accelerometers, that can detect the difference between a cleaner scrubbing or sweeping a floor and merely walking along it. Based on new analytical software, stored remotely, this should provide not only accurate positional information about workers, but also a detailed breakdown of their activities. The benefits touted include “central monitoring, “salesforce optimisation,” and improvements in employee efficiency. We’re guessing privacy concerns were filed away in a collateral damage folder somewhere.
Privacy advocates and career criminals alike are in a lather over reports that between September 2008 and October 2009, Sprint Nextel ponied up customer location data to various law enforcement agencies more than 8 million times. Speaking at ISS World 2009 (a conference for law enforcement and telecom industry-types responsible for “lawful interception, electronic investigations and network Intelligence gathering”), Sprint Nextel’s very own Paul Taylor, Manager of Electronic Surveillance, lamented on the sheer volume of requests the company’s received in the past year for precise GPS data for Sprint customers. How did the company meet such high demand? Apparently, his team built a special “web interface” which “has just really caught on fire with law enforcement.” We’re glad that Sprint’s plans to streamline the customer service experience don’t stop short of those who serve and protect, but as the EFF points out, plenty of nagging questions remain, including: How many individual customers have been affected? Is Sprint demanding search warrants? How secure is this web interface? Check out an excerpt from Taylor’s speech after the break.
The NSA may have its ominously named Perfect Citizen program to guard against potential cyber attacks, but it looks like the U.S. government still isn’t quite satisfied with its surveillance capabilities in the age of the internet. As the New York Times reports, federal officials are now pushing for some expanding wiretapping regulations that would require any communications service — including everything from encrypted BlackBerry messages to Skype to social networking sites — to be “technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order.” That, officials say, is necessary because their current wiretapping abilities are effectively “going dark” as communications move increasingly online. While complete details are obviously a bit light, the officials do apparently have a few ideas about how such a radical change might be possible, including a regulation that foreign-based companies that do business in the US be required to install a domestic office capable of performing intercepts, and a flat out requirement that “developers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication must redesign their service to allow interception.” Of course, the specifics could still change, but the Obama administration is apparently intent on getting a bill of some sort submitted to Congress next year.
