Tag Archives: government

Google, Facebook and Yahoo petition court to disclose government data requests | Engadget

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It’s not every day you see Google, Facebook and Yahoo aligned on a issue, but a push toward increased governmental transparency is just the sort of cause that’ll put competing web companies on the same outraged page. All three noted [September 9, 2013] through their respective channels that they’ve filed petitions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to disclose the number of requests the government has issued for user data under national security statutes.

The full story: Google, Facebook and Yahoo petition court to disclose government data requests | Engadget.

The 10 Governments That Requested (And Got) The Most Facebook User Data | Co.Exist

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74 countries sought data from Facebook for 38,000 of the network’s total 1.15 billion users.

Requests for Facebook data made from Jan to June 2013 (some requests include multiple users):

  1. United States (11,000-12,000 requests, 79% success)
  2. India (3,245 requests, 50% success)
  3. United Kingdom (1,975 requests, 68%success)
  4. Germany (1,886 requests, 37% success)
  5. Italy (1,705 requests, 53% success)
  6. France (1,574 requests, 39% success)
  7. Brazil (715 requests, 33% success)
  8. Australia (546 requests, 64% success)
  9. Spain (479 requests, 51% success)
  10. Poland (233 requests, 9% success)

The full discussion: The 10 Governments That Requested (And Got) The Most Facebook User Data | Co.Exist | ideas + impact.

Pew: 86% Of U.S. Adults Make Efforts To Hide Their “Digital Footprints” Online; Fear Of Creeping Ads And Malicious Hackers Outweighs State Spy Worries | TechCrunch

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As surveyed by the Pew Research Center, the average U.S. citizen appears to be more concerned about the data collecting abilities of advertising networks like those of Google and Facebook, faceless malicious hackers, and even friends and family, than they are the government.

See the full discussion of the research findings: Pew: 86% Of U.S. Adults Make Efforts To Hide Their “Digital Footprints” Online; Fear Of Creeping Ads And Malicious Hackers Outweighs State Spy Worries | TechCrunch.

Governments Requested Information On 38,000 Facebook Users In The First Half Of 2013 | Fast Company

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Facebook received about 38,000 data requests from government agents in 71 countries in the first half of 2013, according to the company’s first Global Government Requests Report, which it published [Tuesday]. The report comprises both criminal and national security requests made in the first six months of the year, with half of those requests coming from the United States.

via Governments Requested Information On 38,000 Facebook Users In The First Half Of 2013 | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.

Recent Internet Censorship Stories You May Have Missed

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Copyright Takedowns on Twitter Are Up 76 Percent | Gizmodo
Twitter just released its latest transparency report detailing government requests for information requests, content removal requests and copyright takedowns. Not just one or two but all three categories are up in the first half of this year.

The UK wants to filter porn. Here’s how it might hurt the Internet. | Washington Post
Prime Minister David Cameron announced a plan to filter online pornography by default for households in the United Kingdom, saying the initiative is about protecting children and “their innocence.”

U.K. to compel customers to opt-in for internet porn | CBC
British internet providers will begin blocking access to online pornography unless customers specifically opt-in to surf sexually explicit material.

Tim Berners-Lee warns against governments controlling the Web | CNET
“When you make something universal…it can be used for good things or nasty things…we just have to make sure it’s not undercut by any large companies or governments trying to use it and get total control.”

What Internet Freedom Means to Me (and You) | Information Space
For the fourth of July, I thought it would be fitting (and fun) to get people’s ideas on Internet freedom.

Internet porn ‘opt in’ is censorship, say Canadians | Your Community | CBC
All internet pornography should be preemptively blocked in Canada, says Conservative MP Joy Smith of Winnipeg, which would force those who want to access adult content to “opt in” with their internet service provider….Many of those within our comments and on social media say that making citizens opt in to access adult content through their ISP would be a form of censorship.

A Map of the Countries That Censor the Internet | Gizmodo
The classification of censorship depends on political censorship like human rights and government opposition, social censorship, conflict/security censorship and various Internet tool censorship.

The Most Convoluted DMCA Takedown Request of All Time | Gizmodo
Anti-Gay group Straight Pride UK is abusing the DMCA takedown process to censor work by a journalist. No surprise there—the DMCA is twisted for all kinds of dumb purposes. The inexplicable part? The hate group filed a takedown on… its own press release. How dare you say that we said the words that we wrote in a press release.

Explore Mashable’s Crowdsourced Digital Bill of Rights

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After six weeks of public discussions, document updates and changes, as well as incorporating input from digital rights experts, Mashable is pleased to unveil its first-ever Digital Bill of Rights, made for the Internet, by the Internet.

via Explore Mashable’s Crowdsourced Digital Bill of Rights.

Digital Bill of Rights

Google Copyright Infringement Reports to Quadruple This Year | Mashable

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The rate of copyright infringement reports Google received in 2013 is on track to quadruple the number of reports received in 2012.

In the first seven months of 2013, publishers have submitted 110.2 million requests to remove copyright-infringing content, compared with 55.2 million requests in all of 2012.

via Google Copyright Infringement Reports to Quadruple This Year | Mashable.

Image: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Image: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

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Governments’ Attempts To Censor Google Have Doubled Since 2011 | TechCrunch

ALA joins Apple, Microsoft in demanding surveillance transparency | District Dispatch | ALA Washington

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Today, the American Library Association (ALA) joined an unprecedented coalition of Internet companies and advocates to deliver a letter to the U.S. government demanding greater transparency around national security-related surveillance of Internet and telephone communications.

via ALA joins Apple, Microsoft in demanding surveillance transparency | District Dispatch | ALA Washington.

The Best Search Engine You’re Probably Not Using | Gizmodo

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Do you like privacy? Do you shun surveillance and eschew spam? Do you like simplicity? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’ll love DuckDuckGo.

via The Best Search Engine You’re Probably Not Using | Gizmodo

DuckDuckGo

Burma’s Lucky Bibliophile | The Irrawaddy Magazine

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When the Ministry of Information’s director general visited Ye Htet Oo’s library in 2010, it could have been disastrous. Ye Htet Oo, then a recent college graduate, was running his new library in downtown Rangoon on the sly, without approval from the former military regime, and was told he could face three months in jail for every book he lent without permission from the censorship board. Unable to get a library license from the government, which saw libraries as a way to spread subversive ideas, he fronted his operation as a bookshop but kept a collection of unapproved library books hidden in a back room. Then one day, unknown to the young bibliophile, the ministry’s director general—who has since become the deputy minister of information and President Thein Sein’s spokesman—entered the “bookshop” and walked straight into the secret room.

For the full article and Q&A with Ye Htet Oo see:  Burma’s Lucky Bibliophile | The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma's Lucky Bibliophile