1. Monthly archive
  2. November 2015

November 2015

FBI bugged steps of Silicon Valley courthouse

Defense attorneys have asked a federal judge to throw out more than 200 hours of conversations FBI agents recorded using hidden microphones planted near the steps of a county courthouse in Silicon Valley (CA). The lawyers are representing defendants accused of engaging in an illicit real estate bid-rigging and fraud conspiracy. The steps to the San Mateo County (CA) courthouse are frequently the scene of public auctions for foreclosed homes. Federal prosecutors have admitted that on at least 31 occasions in 2009 and 2010, FBI agents used concealed microphones to record auction participants as they spoke, often in hushed voices with partners, attorneys, and others. Because the federal agents didn't obtain a court order, the defense attorneys argue the bugging violated Constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

According to the filing, agents planted eavesdropping devices in at least three locations: a metal sprinkler box attached to a wall near the courthouse entrance, a large planter box to the right of the courthouse entrance, and vehicles parked on the street in front of the courthouse entrance. All three areas are locations where people have a reasonable expectation to have private conversations and where lawyers and clients could reasonably be expected to have privileged conversations, the defense argued.

How The Intercept is balancing useful analytics with reader privacy

For the modern media company, each reader represents a potential buffet of user information. IP addresses, browsing preferences and demographic data all are fair game for publishers looking to build detailed profiles of their audiences. Edward Snowden, the former military contractor who laid bare the extent of National Security Agency surveillance, described a bleak state of affairs for Internet security in a recent interview, noting that “information is being stolen” by companies and governments with every click. News organizations in general rely on user data to tell them what stories are being viewed, who’s viewing them and for how long they’re being viewed for. But this practice poses a problem for outlets that want to safeguard the privacy of their readers without sacrificing useful information that can tell them more about their audience. That’s precisely the dilemma that The Intercept faced throughout much of its infancy.

Co-founded by national security journalists Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept has taken steps to ensure the anonymity of its sources. But the outlet still wrestled with how to measure the tendencies of its readers without compromising their identities. The solution? Create a workaround where The Intercept receives a picture of audience activity that doesn’t disclose information that could be used against its readers. That idea, which has been in the works for nearly a year, comes to fruition in Nov as The Intercept rolls out a new audience measurement system in partnership with analytics firm Parse.ly.

FCC Chairman Wheeler at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities

Just a few weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission held a Summit on the communications needs of people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities. We had some of the thought leaders from around the country come to the FCC and share ideas for how to ensure that telecommunications products and services are accessible. The Summit identified two pressing challenges: first, the lack of equipment and services that meet the unique and varied needs of people with cognitive disabilities; and, second, the lack of awareness across government and the private sector about accessibility rights and enforcement mechanisms. Drawing from these lessons learned, we have charted out next steps.

It starts with a more comprehensive needs assessment to determine the types of accessibility features needed to advance the current state-of-play. Next, we will begin targeted outreach efforts in early 2016 not only to educate individuals with cognitive disabilities about their rights to communications products and services, but also to engage individuals who can help. Then we plan to step up engagement with other agencies, with requests for expanded research on these issues. By mid-2016, our goal is to have a Cognitive Accessibility Pledge for telecommunications carriers, service providers, and government stakeholders that outlines principles for an inclusive information and communications technology ecosystem and a commitment to greater engagement for policymaking and innovation.

FCC’s Gigi Sohn at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association Regulatory Conference

More than four billion people on our planet are not yet connected to the Internet. In the 49 least developed countries, over 90 percent of the population is not online. About 10 million Americans can’t get wired broadband at any speed if they wanted it because the infrastructure is not in place. Additionally, at the end of 2014, approximately 22 million Europeans were without fixed broadband coverage. To help solve this divide, international governments, non-governmental organizations, and major corporations have come together to sponsor initiatives like “Global Connect” -- a program that seeks to connect an additional 1.5 billion people to the Internet by 2020.

I’d like to highlight what we see as the most effective tool for achieving our goals: competition. Simply put, a thriving, competitive market advances the public interest and promotes innovation and investment across the information and communication technology sector.

The Federal Communications Commission strongly supports policy that recognizes access to broadband as essential to full participation in our society and economy. Creating opportunities for such access through light-touch regulations simultaneously promotes both competition and the public interest. It’s been my honor to share some of the FCC’s accomplishments today. Working together, we can continue to harness the power of broadband technology, expand opportunity, and promote competition around the globe.

Some common sense on data encryption

[Commentary] In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, US law enforcement officials are predictably calling for wider ranging changes to electronic surveillance laws, including limitations on data encryption technologies, which can keep messages, conversations, and other digital exchanges undetected or undecipherable. This despite the fact that, so far at least, there is no evidence that encrypted information played any part -- let alone a leading role -- in the terrorist acts. The attack has unleashed the full range of hyperbole, with law enforcement officials arguing that encryption is largely to blame for the failure to prevent the violence, and privacy advocates insisting that regardless of how the terrorists communicated with each other, technology regulation should play no part in the solution. Here’s my unpopular view: both sides are wrong, and they know it.

Right or wrong, technical obstacles for government agencies tasked with thwarting terrorism will only grow more overwhelming. Legal reform, if it happens, will only be a stopgap solution on the road to an Internet that can’t be spied on by anybody. In the United States, resetting the balance remains the job, as it has for over two centuries, of legal limits on search and seizure backstopped up by the Bill of Rights.

[Larry Downes is the project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy]

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