What to do about PRISM surveillance. A practical advice.

[interlagos]

Ok, we all know what's going on with spying on the Internet by now. Getting the information out was just the first step. The heroic effort made by Edward Snowden won't go too far if we the people do nothing and just forget about it in a week or two.

Here is a segment of a weekly Linux Action Show titled "Privacy Under Linux" which offers a few practical advices (conveyed in an easy to understand and entertaining manner) on how to keep your communications secure. Among other tools they mention BitMessage and TorChat which seem to be the easiest and more powerful tools to use even for non-techie people.

"Privacy Under Linux | LAS s27e04"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vihXlw6Yw-E
(on-topic stuff starts closer to the middle of the video)


You can also check out a few episodes of their new weekly show dedicated solely and completely to Bitcoin, which they ingeniously called "Plan BTC"

"90 Days or Bust | Plan B 10"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdd8lCIX3FY

"Bitcoin Will Disrupt Big Media | Plan B 9"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKfS2v6P-B8

"Then They Fight You | Plan B 8"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDqVqhXHeDU

[FoBoT]

i would like to see ways to taint the NSA data, not illegal ddos or hacking, just things that would muddy the data they collect. false things that co-mingle with their 'real' data to make them unsure of the accuracy of the 'truth' they think they are finding from their illegal spying on peoples

if many of us could run a distributed computing network of a program that would inject false information into the meta data they collect, perhaps that would provide a smoke screen against the illegal data mining NSA does

so, using encrypted email is analogous to flying a stealth airplane through their radar, they do not see it

i am talking about this analogy, where you use a smoke grenade to provide cover for a squad to pass through a watched chokepoint

this would be  a way to do activism, civil disobedience in cyber space, by reducing the accuracy of PRISM, making their data less useful to them

[bb999]

It will take a long time before people get fed up with it, but this revelation should be long-term beneficial to services like TorMail or any other anonymous e-mail/web browsing service.  VPNs should also see increased customers.

[Lethn]

It depends, to avoid being tracked by most people? Use VPN or a similar service, usually the only time people would be able to find you through an internet connection is if they were particularly determined. What I do for instance is use a fake username like this that everyone can contact me on on the internet and keep my personal information separate, so even if I say, order something online, I use a different username to this one or use my real details and no one is going to know what I've been up to. Oh and if you really want to minimise your internet activity then of course Bitcoin is always an extremely good option, the only problem is not many normal services are accepting it just yet but as I've suggested in other threads you could buy Gold/Silver anonymously and then trade that in real life for cash.

As for PRISM? Like people are saying all over, it's the most hilariously flawed and fucked up surveillance program ever created, if it is automated, chances are you're going to have it setting off more false flags than an anti-virus on pirated software. There's that much information and communication out on the internet now it can and will fuck up systems like that so unless they're putting in a quantum computer then it won't be able to properly keep track of anything never mind an actual terrorist. This is probably going to be one of those programs that the U.S government will refuse to admit that it was wrong on until the bitter end knowing them.

[Elwar]

It depends, to avoid being tracked by most people? Use VPN or a similar service, usually the only time people would be able to find you through an internet connection is if they were particularly determined. What I do for instance is use a fake username like this that everyone can contact me on on the internet and keep my personal information separate, so even if I say, order something online, I use a different username to this one or use my real details and no one is going to know what I've been up to. Oh and if you really want to minimise your internet activity then of course Bitcoin is always an extremely good option, the only problem is not many normal services are accepting it just yet but as I've suggested in other threads you could buy Gold/Silver anonymously and then trade that in real life for cash.

As for PRISM? Like people are saying all over, it's the most hilariously flawed and fucked up surveillance program ever created, if it is automated, chances are you're going to have it setting off more false flags than an anti-virus on pirated software. There's that much information and communication out on the internet now it can and will fuck up systems like that so unless they're putting in a quantum computer then it won't be able to properly keep track of anything never mind an actual terrorist. This is probably going to be one of those programs that the U.S government will refuse to admit that it was wrong on until the bitter end knowing them.

Watson

[domob]

http://prism-break.org/

[RodeoX]

http://prism-break.org/

Nice. Thanks.

Also, LIE. LIE like a MF. You do not have to be truthful on the internet. Junk up the databases with useless lies. Is your phone in your name? Why? I have not had a phone in my real name in forever. Use a variety of fictitious identities for your phone. Talk to your drug dealer, he/she will know how to do this.
Stop using spyware like windows or apple. You don't want that crap anyway. Try Linux and you will never go back to an untrustworthy proprietary OS.

Last and most importantly. Complain to your representatives. Politicians only care about money and votes. Call them out in public! If we are vocal enough we can take back some of our freedoms. 
 

[aigeezer]

http://prism-break.org/

Nice site! I notice it takes BTC donations (yea) but it doesn't have a "currency" category in its list of substitutes (boo). Seems a missed opportunity, now that fiat has become Bernanke's proprietary software.  

Edit: Yikes, it's there now, large as life. I don't know how I missed it. Maybe it just got changed (he whimpered).

[bitzox]

Seems a missed opportunity, now that fiat has become Bernanke's proprietary software.   

The Bernanke does what the Bernanke wants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

[aigeezer]

Seems a missed opportunity, now that fiat has become Bernanke's proprietary software.   

The Bernanke does what the Bernanke wants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

Good one. I love a well-done xtranormal clip. That's a keeper!

[bitzox]

The guy has a whole series that made its rounds across trading desks a few years back. They are both hilarious and painfully accurate.

[2dogs]

http://prism-break.org/

Nice. Thanks.

Also, LIE. LIE like a MF. You do not have to be truthful on the internet. Junk up the databases with useless lies. Is your phone in your name? Why? I have not had a phone in my real name in forever. Use a variety of fictitious identities for your phone. Talk to your drug dealer, he/she will know how to do this.

 

Yup,

DISINFO, PEOPLE!!

[mprep]

http://prism-break.org/

Nice. Thanks.

Also, LIE. LIE like a MF. You do not have to be truthful on the internet. Junk up the databases with useless lies. Is your phone in your name? Why? I have not had a phone in my real name in forever. Use a variety of fictitious identities for your phone. Talk to your drug dealer, he/she will know how to do this.
Stop using spyware like windows or apple. You don't want that crap anyway. Try Linux and you will never go back to an untrustworthy proprietary OS.

Last and most importantly. Complain to your representatives. Politicians only care about money and votes. Call them out in public! If we are vocal enough we can take back some of our freedoms. 
 

You see, not everyone is in contact with their local drug dealer.

[RoadToHell]

Seems a missed opportunity, now that fiat has become Bernanke's proprietary software.   

The Bernanke does what the Bernanke wants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

Good one. I love a well-done xtranormal clip. That's a keeper!

  I want to bang my head against a wall ...

[spike420211]

And last but not least,
use the word "FUCK" very liberally in all correspondence...

[stochastic]

What I am really annoyed about is that it was not confidential because it would tell the enemy what the government is doing.  The information was classified so that the America people would not be informed of the program and thus could not sue on constitutional grounds.  The courts have said secret programs cannot be found to be unconstitutional because they are secret and no one knows if they are actually occurring and no one knows who they are occurring on.

The point of it being confidential is so the public does not know and does not stop the program from occurring.

One interesting thing that I heard on the radio discussing privacy is that as the world becomes more connected and information is digitized privacy of the public becomes less but secrecy also becomes less of these programs.  In he past information was in hard copy and thus hard to disclose.  Now that many people have more access to information because it is digitized and keeping networks has become more specialized the secrecy of these programs is less easy to conceal.

[spike420211]

Remember...
the People's Republic of China has been monitoring THEIR internet even tighter
for over 10 years now, with lackluster results.

[RodeoX]

http://prism-break.org/

Nice. Thanks.

Also, LIE. LIE like a MF. You do not have to be truthful on the internet. Junk up the databases with useless lies. Is your phone in your name? Why? I have not had a phone in my real name in forever. Use a variety of fictitious identities for your phone. Talk to your drug dealer, he/she will know how to do this.
Stop using spyware like windows or apple. You don't want that crap anyway. Try Linux and you will never go back to an untrustworthy proprietary OS.

Last and most importantly. Complain to your representatives. Politicians only care about money and votes. Call them out in public! If we are vocal enough we can take back some of our freedoms. 
 

You see, not everyone is in contact with their local drug dealer.

It's not even true that they would know anything.
I could not resist some wise-assery in my remarks. 

[bitzox]

Remember...
the People's Republic of China has been monitoring THEIR internet even tighter
for over 10 years now, with lackluster results.

I think that would depend on who you ask

[spike420211]

I think that would depend on who you ask

well, they've evolved from outlawing WoW gold tasking to cnc[chinacoin].