Google's one-way mirror: a business model for privacy invasion by Daniël Verhoeven

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Author: Daniël Verhoeven

About the importance of Mirror neurons, also in CMC intention counts

Mirror Neurons were discovered in 1994 in the macaque brain by Gallese and Rizzolatti. What do Mirror Neurons do? They mirror observed actions:

"The observation of an object-related hand action leads to the activation of the same neural network active during its actual execution. Action observation causes in the observer the automatic activation of the same neural mechanism triggered by action execution." (Gallese, 2005).

In the years that follow, Gallese and others (also called the Parma Group because they all work at the university of Parma in Italy) explore the Mirror Neuron system. The Mirror Neuron system is also demonstrated in the human brain.

Suveilance Selfdefence Project « EFF [part 4]

From EFF.org

Defensive Technology

If you are looking for basic technical information on how to protect the privacy of your data — whether it's on your own computer, on the wire, or in the hands of a third party — you've come to the right place. Although we hope you'll have the time to review all of the information in the SSD guide, if you're in a hurry to get to the technical details, this is where you can read articles that will explain:

• the basics of the relevant technologies, such as the Internet Basics and Encryption Basics articles


• how to improve the security of different communication applications, such as your web browsers, email systems and IM clients


• how to protect your privacy by using defensive technologies such as secure deletion software, file and disk encryption software, and virtual private networks


• the overarching security threat posed by malware, how to evaluate that threat, and how to reduce it

Just remember: technology changes quickly. We'll be doing our best to keep these articles updated to reflect current developments, but in the meantime, you should take the time to review information from multiple sources before making any serious security decisions.

Suveilance Selfdefence Project « EFF [part 2]

From EFF.org

Electronic Eavesdropping is Legally Hard for the Government, But Technically Easy

As you learned in the last section, wiretapping is legally difficult for the government: it must obtain a hard-to-get intercept order or "super-warrant" from a court, subject to strict oversight and variety of strong privacy protections. However, wiretapping is typically very technically easy for the government. For example, practically anyone within range of your laptop's wireless signal, including the government, can intercept your wireless Internet communications. Similarly, practically anyone within range of your cell phone's radio signal, including the government, can — with a few hundred bucks to buy the right equipment — eavesdrop on your cell phone conversations.

As far as communications that travel over telecommunications' companies cables and wires rather than (or in addition to) traveling over the air, the government has very sophisticated wiretapping capabilities. For example, using a nationwide surveillance system called "DCSNet" ("DCS" stands for "Digital Collection System") that is tied into key telecommunications switches across the country, FBI agents can from the comfort of their field offices "go up" on a particular phone line and start intercepting or pen-trap tapping wireline phone calls, cellular phone calls, SMS text messages and push-to-talk communications, or start tracking a cell phone's location, at a moment's notice. The government is believed to have similar capabilities when it comes to Internet communications. The extensive and powerful capabilities of the DCSNet, first uncovered in government documents that EFF obtained in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (details at http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/061708CKK), are well-summarized in the Wired.com article "Point, Click...Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates".

Suveilance Selfdefence Project « EFF [part 1]

From EFF.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it.

Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) exists to answer two main questions: What can the government legally do to spy on your computer data and communications? And what can you legally do to protect yourself against such spying?

After an introductory discussion of how you should think about making security decisions — it's all about risk management — we'll be answering those two questions for three types of data:

First, we're going to talk about the threat to the data stored on your computer posed by searches and seizures by law enforcement, as well as subpoenas demanding your records.

Second, we're going to talk about the threat to your data on the wire — that is, your data as it's being transmitted — posed by wiretapping and other real-time surveillance of your telephone and Internet communications by law enforcement.

Third, we're going to describe the information about you that is stored by third parties like your phone company and your Internet service provider, and how law enforcement officials can get it.