#OnlineSafetyBill
Should privacy be a superpower for the techno-elite?
There are few better ways to stoke a class-warfare debate in the UK than to either (a) point-out or (b) question whether something is “elitist” — private schooling, private healthcare, private housing, even private transport — and now in the post-OnlineSafetyBill world there’s a new one: private privacy.
Bluntly: I have a daughter, and the Government want to be able to spy on all her communications. I can teach her how to circumvent all of that, because encryption is simply a matter of using computers to speak your words in impenetrable numbers.
As I wrote on Twitter:
I am a parent, and I want my daughter to grow up knowing that she can have absolute privacy in communication – because she can, in fact this is something which has been guaranteed to everyone since the invention of public key encryption in 1975. *BUT* this is a capability which should not be reserved for the politically and technically capable. SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO TEACH HER FRIENDS HOW TO COMMUNICATE SAFELY AND PRIVATELY
The next generations should not need special apps & tech wizardry: Our children’s experiences are the templates for their future, and if they are denied privacy and agency rather than being taught how to harness it and how to *be* safe online… then they never will be safe, especially “at scale.”
…
Keeping kids safe is not a matter to be thrown to the platforms and blamed upon “tech”; it requires active parenting, active education, and actively equipping those in loco parentis to perform their jobs appropriately.
The Government is derelict here, not the Internet.
My daughter will learn to use encryption, for fun. She will use PGP to be “old skool” and because nobody can take that away. She will understand key management, exploits, and backdoors. But should this capability be a “superpower” for her? Or should everyone have that? Also we, together, will discuss: how to spot and report grooming, how to avoid being exploited, how to get care and minimise harm if it happens. And also: how to doxx perpetrators.
This is the best way I can help her to be safe for a lifetime, even when I’m gone.
How about you?
*BUT* this is a capability which should not be reserved for the politically and technically capable.
SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO TEACH HER FRIENDS HOW TO COMMUNICATE SAFELY AND PRIVATELY
The next generations should not need special apps & tech wizardry:https://t.co/huV3tfxx73
— Alec Muffett (@AlecMuffett) June 24, 2023
STUFF TO READ: How to sum up 1700 pages in four words | @webdevlaw on the purposefully intimidating Ofcom “Online Safety” consultation, and where we’ve seen similar before
Sounds familiar:
And let’s be clear: it took months for the EC to even consider that they’d made a mistake. Before they did that, they threw in a lot of attacks against the campaigners, the advocates, and anyone who had a problem with a law meant to “rein in the tech giants” but which slapped them in the face instead.
https://webdevlaw.uk/2023/11/11/how-to-sum-up-1700-pages-in-four-words/
An overview of the potential effects of the UK #OnlineSafetyBill from the Law Society of Scotland. Featuring our CEO, Lucy Crompton-Reid, and the Open Rights Group. https://bit.ly/3GcbFX5
Ofcom Releases its Proposal for Implementing the Online Safety Act
Ofcom has published a detailed overview on how it intends on enforcing the Online Safety Act. We take a look at this proposal.
Earlier, we noted that UK regulator, Ofcom, was going to release a proposal of how it intends o
https://www.freezenet.ca/ofcom-releases-its-proposal-for-implementing-the-online-safety-act/
#Censorship #britain #HarmfulContent #Ofcom #OnlineHarms #OnlineSafetyAct #OnlineSafetyBill #UK
The UK is a useful idiot for authoritarian regimes.
The Online Safety Bill is set to puncture the security of messaging apps to enable mass surveillance. It’ll give permission for it to be done in other countries.
World-leading stuff 🇬🇧
📽️ Channel 4 News @Mer__edith
#OnlineSafetyBill #e2ee #privacy #surveillance #ukpolitics
Original Post: https://social.openrightsgroup.org/@openrightsgroup/110666145945462470
Simple explanation of what risks the UK government's Online Spyware Bill poses and the real reasons behind it:
https://odysee.com/@AlphaNerd:8/the-uk-is-trying-to-outlaw-encryption:3
As always, the same game is being played. Create a problem like child abuse, grooming gangs then sell or enforce the solution.
#OnlineSafetyBill #e2ee #privacy #surveillance #ukpolitics #censorship #freeSpeech #korruption
UK’s Graeme Biggar Issues Massive Anti-Encryption Rant Following Encryption Ban Law Passing
The National Crime Agency director, Graeme Biggar, apparently had a massive anti-encryption rant following the passage the Online Safety Act.
#Privacy #Security #britain #E2EEncryption #encryption #Facebook #GraemeBiggar #Meta #Ofcom #OnlineRightsGroup #OnlineSafetyBill #UK
Online Safety Bill become law: After years of debate, the government's controversial Online Safety Bill, which aims to make the internet safer for children, has become law. ➜
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67221691?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=280163211&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8UnGpq-tbiYXWng3OyK8RNZz2xW9qsrdCvU5LeEITpH5wamyK_Viscgn-eUcwyeV9TMjPr2_TETvFAz--5k2JI0l5b7w&utm_content=280163211&utm_source=hs_email
#StaySafeOnline #OnlineSafetyBill #UK
So, what’s the deal with #E2EE in the #UK now that the #OnlineSafetyBill is law?
Ars Technica: The UK’s problematic Online Safety Act is now law https://arstechnica.com/?p=1979426 #Tech #arstechnica #IT #Technology #OnlineSafetyBill #syndication #encryption #bigtech #privacy #Policy #uk
The UK’s problematic Online Safety Act is now law - Enlarge (credit: panorios/Getty Images)
Jeremy Wright was the ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1979426 #onlinesafetybill #syndication #encryption #bigtech #privacy #policy #uk
UK’s Online Safety Bill Receives Royal Assent, Imperilling Digital Rights
It's the moment British digital rights advocates have dreaded. The UK's Online Safety Bill is now law.
The UK Online Safety Bill is a bill no more. Last month, we reported on the bill's passage, effectively making
https://www.freezenet.ca/uks-online-safety-bill-receives-royal-assent-imperilling-digital-rights/
#Censorship #AgeVerification #britain #encryption #Ofcom #OnlineSafetyBill #UK #WhatsApp
@Walrus @Tattooed_mummy It's not just the Torys. The #OnlineSafetyBill is only the British version of the EU #DigitalServicesAct and the #chatcontrol project.
Under supervision of Commission President Ursula #vonderLeyen the EU is changing into something really scary 😢
Post-#OnlineSafetyBill, how about I run my blog as a pay-per-month postal subscription service? You give me like a fiver a month or something, I write my blogs as normal, but then instead of putting them on the internet I print them out and post them to you? Either that or once a month we all get together in the basement of a seedy pub, you all wear blindfolds, and I whisper my stories to you in the darkness?
"Proton, a mail platform with a focus on privacy, says it would be prepared to fight the government in court if it is asked to alter its end-to-end encryption."
#news #Uk #OnlineSafetyBill
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67221691
@kendricklmao8 I heard a privacy advocate being castigated by a safety campaigner for sounding 'like a stuck record' on #r4today re #onlinesafetybill.
The reason he seemed like a stuck record to the latter is because of wilful ignorance.
Having spent ages convincing friends and colleagues to switch to #signal if I have to lose it because of the #onlinesafetybill i will be livid to say the least !
»The #UK’s controversial #OnlineSafetyBill finally becomes law: its contents have been contentious, especially because of their potential impact on #encryptedmessaging.« https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23922397/uk-online-safety-bill-law-passed-royal-assent-moderation-regulation?eicker.news #tech #media
Breaking news: The UK's Online Safety Bill has finally become law! They're aiming to be the "safest place in the world to be online." Does that mean no more cat memes? 😿 Let's hope the bill doesn't bring down the "purrfect" balance between safety and mischief! 🐾 #OnlineSafetyBill #PawsitiveVibesOnly
deepest sympathies to the #UK
the so-called #OnlineSafetyBill will not make anyone "safe".
The #OnlineSafetyBill has just received royal assent - we now have the Online Safety Act! Lo roi le veult.
Those parts of the regime not subject to commencement orders will come into force at midnight - and those include some of OFCOM's code-making powers.
Parliament will be prorogued today, which means it is royal assent day for the #OnlineSafetyBill which is receiving royal assent with a batch of others, including the Energy Bill, the Levelling Up Bill and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. There's a little ceremony which you can watch on Parliament tv later today.
@RLapidarius @digitalcourage @echo_pbreyer Dort passiert doch dasselbe 🤷♂️
#OnlineSafetyBill ist die britische Variante, entspricht unserem #DigitaleDiensteGesetz + #Chatkontrolle 😩
Auch dort gab es große Kritik an den Ideen zur Chatkontrolle, also wurde erstmal eine OSB light in Kraft gesetzt. Die sind also auf genau dem gleichen Stand wie die Mitgliedsländer der EU.
@mima @mondoweiss Of course I don't know why they decided to do that. But there is a lot of pressure now because of the #EU 😩 Already pushing a Pro-Netanjahu narrative on the big social media platforms.
Instead of them, we now have EU-Commissioner #Breton, under supervision of Commission President #vonderLeyen (and together with Dame #Dawes of #Ofcom in the UK) controlling a big part of our online life.
#DigitalServicesAct & #Chatcontrol (EU)
#OnlineSafetyBill (UK)
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-probes-meta-and-tiktok-over-hamas-israel-online-content/a-67152044
Call me an old cynic (“YOU’RE AN OLD CYNIC!”) but I think we can see how this will go. It will “clean up” stuff that doesn’t need to be cleaned up, and fail to clean up stuff (that some people say, but others will disagree) needs to be cleaned up.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/24/techscape-uk-online-safety-bill-clean-up-internet
Meta's algorithm labelling people as terrorists highlights how even seemingly straightforward automated systems can make mistakes, that invariably exacerbate racism and discrimination.
This is going to be an even bigger problem when the Online Safety Bill is implemented and tech companies are obliged to identify illegal content and prevent it from being posted.
Over-moderation will seriously harm freedom of expression.
@Mollysdailykiss Only the tip of the iceberg 😩
If the original version of the #OnlineSafetyBill would have passed, there would be mass surveillance of EVERYBODY using digital devices in the UK.
(And that's just the British version of the #DigitalServicesAct and the #chatcontrol plans of Ursula von der Leyen and her EU Commission 😩)
Ylva Johansson is now claiming that because of the horrifying UK #OnlineSafetyBill the EU would be a safe-heaven for #CSAM ...
It's a race to the bottom on privacy now.
I would wager intel community is more deeply entrenched threading the needle / necessity, for encryption compromise bills.
Afterall, when it comes to collecting your data, sharing is caring! 🕵️ 💼 📡 :terminal:
#EU #ClientSideScanning #e2ee #encryption #OnlineSafetyBill #Chatcontrol #infosec #Cybersecurity #privacy
And here's a code of practice for app store operators, setting out minimum standards for privacy:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-app-store-operators-and-app-developers
The link gives you both the original version and the updated version.
Note when the #OnlineSafetyBill comes into force, OFCOM will be required to report on app stores and whether they should be regulated.
@mimikama Niemand sollte #Zuckerberg oder #Musk vertrauen, aber es sollte auch nicht die Gefährlichkeit der Kommission #vonderLeyen unterschätzt werden 🤷♂️
#DigitaleDiensteGesetz #Chatkontrolle
#Chatcontrol #DigitalServiceAct
#OnlineSafetyBill
https://digitalcourage.social/@digitalcourage/111227387282276052
The UK government wants existing content to be removed and to stop content 'from appearing at all', requiring tech companies to use algorithms to scan content before it's posted.
AI inevitably makes mistakes and companies will likely err on the side of caution to avoid fines, meaning over-moderation to comply with the #OnlineSafetyBill.
There's a significant risk that content relating to events in #Palestine could be seen by automated moderation systems as potentially supportive of terrorism.
'Illegal content to be removed from platforms under the Online Safety Bill includes a range of terrorism offences in Schedule 5, which can be easily widened.
Offences that are regarded as 'priorities' for content to be removed include:
🔴 publishing image of uniform of a proscribed organisation
🔴 arranging a meeting supportive of a proscribed organisation
🔴 expressing an opinion/belief supportive of a proscribed organisation
The #OnlineSafetyBill compels tech firms to prevent users from encountering 'illegal' content.
A broad directive like Braverman's letter could lead to content featuring a Palestinian flag being removed, with a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Suella Braverman’s letter to the police on the harassment of Jewish people in the UK following Hamas' attack on Israel raises issues for freedom of expression.
We're concerned about the consequences of such a letter when the Online Safety Bill becomes law:
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/response-to-braverman/
EFF’s Paige Collings joins the Tech Policy Podcast to discuss how the recently passed UK Online Safety Bill threatens end-to-end-encryption—and online privacy worldwide.
https://podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/356-the-uk-targets-end-to-end-encryption
#privacy #OnlineSafetyBill #UK
From the #USA:
“The Kids Online Safety Act has gained support from right-wing groups that want to crack down on LGBTQ content, and now Senator Elizabeth Warren.”
This combination of forces exists in the UK for same reasons. Beware what they ask for as the OSB proceeds.
🚨 COVERING THORN LOBBYING GOV TO MANDATE CLIENTSIDE SCANNING LEGISLATION (encryption compromise)
#encryption #crypto #e2ee #Signal #WhatsApp #ChatControl #KOSA #EARNITACT #OnlineSafetyBill #UK #EU #USA #clientsidescanning #HumanRights #privacy #infosec #cybersecurity #Journalism #ethics
Watch On #Peertube Mirror
🚨 NGO LOBBYING GOV CLIENTSIDE SCANNING AGAINST ENCRYPTION
#encryption #crypto #e2ee #Signal #WhatsApp #ChatControl #KOSA #EARNITACT #OnlineSafetyBill #UK #EU #USA #clientsidescanning #HumanRights #privacy #infosec #cybersecurity #Journalism #ethics
#YOUTUBE PREMIER ABOUT TO START (join the live chat!):
So who gets to decide what is illegal content?
There was a finite opportunity (now lost) to insist that content should be clearly identified as "anonymous" or "name and address supplied" and insist the platforms do a proper job on the latter. That way parental control tools could do a reasonable job on preventing our children "talking to strangers" if they so wished.
As it is, all that will happen is the big players will go "offshore " to avoid #OnlineSafetyBill
So we should be very worried about the Online Safety Bill and the impact it will have on our freedom of expression.
But we shouldn’t confuse it with the chair of a non-governmental Parliamentary committee writing to a company and asking them to demonetise a particular person.
#OnlineSafetyBill #freespeech
#RussellBrand #censorship #freedomofexpression
The Online Safety Bill grants extra protections for legacy media outlets as a ‘recognised news publisher’, like a fast-track complaints procedure if their journalistic content gets censored.
But you, the ordinary user, won’t have the right of complaint or power to appeal wrongful censorship.
#OnlineSafetyBill #freespeech
#RussellBrand #censorship #freedomofexpression
Our issue with the #OnlineSafetyBill is that tech companies will have to use algorithms to decide whether content is illegal and remove it before it’s even been posted.
This isn’t about demonetisation, it’s about platforms being forced to block or take down more of your posts.
We’ll never know how many ordinary people have their content censored by the Bill once it is implemented.
Unlike #RussellBrand it’s very likely you won’t have a high profile to raise awareness.
Russell Brand has said that YouTube’s decision to demonetise him is in the ‘context of the Online Safety Bill’.
While ORG has concerns about the Bill’s powers for censorship and surveillance, it’s misleading to blame a Bill that's not yet received Royal Assent for this decision.
Signal CEO Reaffirms Exit of UK if Ordered to Break Encryption Via Online Safety Bill
The CEO of encrypted chat service, Signal, has reaffirmed that they will leave the UK if they are asked to break their encryption.
Fallout from the UKs disastrous passage
#Business #Privacy #Security #backdoor #britain #encryption #EndtoendEncryption #OnlineSafetyBill #Signal #UK
I wanted to highlight how much the #UK #OnlineSafetyBill means via opposing it with art. Most of the people underestimate how these legislations can be such a big threat to democracy. Privacy and freedom is and should be a universal human right, but they want to keep us under total control regardless of what.
Special thanks to
@Mer__edith for inspiring me to create this!
This week was one where I actually *wrote* articles/posts for a change! 🎉
For my work at @internetsociety , I wrote:
- about the reports we were seeing (but were unable to verify) of #Internet shutdowns in #Libya : https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/monitoring-reports-of-internet-shutdown-in-libya
- About #Techxit, the collateral damage of the UK's #OnlineSafetyBill - https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2023/09/techxit-the-uk-declares-its-exit-from-the-high-tech-startup-world/
For my personal sites:
- About Facebook's multiple account support:
https://www.disruptiveconversations.com/2023/09/the-curious-aspect-of-facebook-supporting-multiple-personas.html
Only 3 posts... but that's 3 more than I wrote the week before!!
This week's net.wars, "Surveillance machines on wheels", mourns the passage of the online safety bill, mulls Farhood Manjou's discussion of ageism in Silicon Valley, and highlights the Mozilla Foundation report on the privacy disaster that is modern cars: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2023/09/22/surveillance-machines-on-wheels/ #NetWars #Cars #ageism #OnlineSafetyBill #encryption
Techxit: The UK Declares Its Exit from the High-Tech Startup World
"With this one act, the UK has declared its exit from the high-tech startup world and doomed the UK to be a follower of Europe, the USA, India, and everywhere else that encourages innovation."
- @danyork writing about the #UK #OnlineSafetyBill
@futureidentity @JamesBaker
"Could" is the key word in the article.
Hard to believe a gov that won't stop raw sewage dumping is going to persecute the #OnlineSafetyBill so zealously.
Let's keep it in perspective. The #OSB is necessary legislation that will need to evolve over time. Let's focus on getting good governance and quit attacking the bill itself for what "could" happen.
@futureidentity @JamesBaker
I certainly agree the economics drive the worst form of surveillance capitalism.
If not the #OnlineSafetyBill, what reform would you suggest?
The #onlinesafetybill will be used to stop people gaining access to resources they need. "adult" can surely be extended to sexual health, queer and trans resources.
And what about people who don't have ID to verify their age?
I guess the #onlinesafetybill passing means you're all going back to Limewire to get your porn. Definitely much safer, right?
On a more serious note, does this include access to anything "adult" like sexual health resources, trans resources, queer resources, etc? Seems normal and good, that.
Age verification is coming with the Online Safety Bill. It’ll force the choice of blocking content to ensure platforms are suitable for children or make all users verify their age.
This is “a huge boon to age verification companies, for little practical benefit for child safety, and much harm to people’s privacy.”
🗣 @jim - ORG Exec Director.
#OnlineSafetyBill #privacy #ukpoltics #freedomofexpression
https://www.verdict.co.uk/news/uk-online-safety-bill-how-can-sites-verify-users-ages/
Im picking up a lot of people being annoyed about the Online Safety Bill. Once they actually try and implement it then I suspect there will be quite a backlash. People will find the censorship restrictive and get annoyed at age gating. Loads of people saying they will try and use VPN/ToR to get around it. #onlinesafetybill #privacy #censorship
“While the UK government has admitted it’s not possible to safely scan all of our private messages, it has granted Ofcom the powers to force tech companies to do so in the future.”
🗣 @JamesBaker, ORG Campaigns Manager.
I'm not usually the activist type by any measure of the word, but the Online Safety Bill, whether enforceable or not (hint: It's not), is a terrible idea and a massive invasion of privacy. Many vulnerable people depend on End-to-End Encryption for their safety. As it stands, this bill is achieving the opposite of what it was meant to do. There are undoubtedly better ways to address this issue.
Britain needs to update the "playbook for dictators"! The #OnlineSafetyBill just passed - with the option to break #encryption anytime.
We at Tutanota will not accept the Online Safety Bill.
Our passion is to fight for your right to #privacy. 💪
"Today The UK Parliament Undermined The Privacy, Security, And Freedom Of All Internet Users"
EFF's take on the UK's "Online Safety Bill"
Will it kill encryption? Any other way to read it? 🤔
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/today-uk-parliament-undermined-privacy-security-and-freedom-all-internet-users
#Encryption #UK #OnlineSafetyBill #OSB
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Tutanota will never break its encryption.
With the #OnlineSafetyBill the UK sets a devastating example, one that can not simply be accepted.
"Alterskontrollen, scharf moderierte Inhalte und eine vorerst aufgeschobene Chatkontrolle: Britischen Nutzer:innen steht ein merklich anderes Internet bevor."
Britisches Parlament beschließt #OnlineSafetyBill
https://netzpolitik.org/2023/kindersicherung-fuers-internet-britisches-parlament-beschliesst-online-safety-bill/
#UK #Privacy #Data #Uberwachung #Antireport #Netzpolitik #Altersverifikation