yes, i can recommend christopher as an excellent person and a troublemaker par excellance.
On Aug 25, 2012, at 8:05 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > For those in Bangalore, this sounds like fun. > > Udhay > > http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/role-of-us-tech-companies-in-govt-surveillance > > Role of the US Tech Companies in Government Surveillance: A Lecture by > Christopher Soghoian > > Christopher Soghoian will deliver a lecture on the role US tech > companies play in assisting government surveillance at the Centre for > Internet & Society office in Bangalore on August 27, 2012. > > When Aug 27, 2012 > from 05:00 PM to 07:00 PM > Where The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore > > > Your internet, phone and web application providers are all, for the > most part, in bed with US and other foreign government agencies. They > all routinely disclose their customers' communications and other > private data to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Worse, > firms like Google and Microsoft specifically log data in order to > assist the government. How many government requests does your ISP get > for its customers' communications each year? How many do they comply > with? How many do they fight? How much do they charge for the > surveillance assistance they provide? Who knows? Most companies have a > strict policy of not discussing such topics. > > The differences in the privacy practices of the major players in the > telecommunications and internet applications market are significant. > Some firms retain identifying data for years, while others retain no > data at all; some voluntarily provide the government access to user > data, while other companies refuse to voluntarily disclose data > without a court order; some companies charge government agencies when > they request user data, while others disclose it for free. For an > individual, later investigated by the police or intelligence services, > the data retention practices adopted by their phone company or email > provider can significantly impact their freedom. > > Unfortunately, although many companies claim to care about end-user > privacy, and some even that they compete on their privacy features, > none seem to be willing to compete on the extent to which they assist > or resist the government in its surveillance activities. Because > information about each firms' practices is not publicly known, > consumers cannot vote with their wallets, and pick service providers > that best protect their privacy. > > This talk will pierce the veil of secrecy surrounding these practices. > Based upon a combination of Freedom of Information Act requests, off > the record conversations with industry lawyers, and investigative > journalism, the practices of many of these firms will be revealed. > > ________________________________ > > Christopher's Personal Experience > > In the year 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided > Christopher’s home at 2.00 a.m. seizing his personal documents and > computers. Two attorneys, Stephen Braga and Jennifer Granick came to > his defence. With their expert assistance, Christopher was able to get > back his possessions within three weeks, and FBI’s criminal and TSA’s > civil investigations were closed without any charges being filed. > > Jennifer Granick came to Christopher’s assistance once again (joined > by Steve Leckar) in 2010 after the Federal Trade Commission’s > Inspector General investigated Christopher for using his government > badge to attend a closed-door surveillance industry conference. It was > at that event that Christopher recorded an executive from wireless > carrier ‘Sprint’ bragging about the eight million times his company > had obtained GPS data on its customers for law enforcement agencies in > the previous years. > > To know more, read Christopher Soghoian’s dissertation titled "The > Spies We Trust: Third Party Service Providers and Law Enforcement > Surveillance". [PDF, 1056 Kb] > > ________________________________ > > About Christopher Soghoian > > Christopher Soghoian is a privacy researcher and activist, working at > the intersection of technology, law and policy. He is a Principal > Technologist and Senior Policy Analyst at the American Civil Liberties > Union and is based in Washington, D.C. > > Soghoian completed his Ph.D. at Indiana University in 2012, which > focused on the role that third party service providers play in > facilitating law enforcement surveillance of their customers. In order > to gather data, he has made extensive use of the Freedom of > Information Act, sued the Department of Justice pro se, and used > several other investigative research methods. His research has > appeared in publications including the Berkeley Technology Law Journal > and been cited by several federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit > Court of Appeals. > > Between the years, 2009-2010, he was the first ever in-house > technologist at the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Privacy and > Identity Protection, where he worked on investigations of Facebook, > Twitter, MySpace and Netflix. Prior to joining the FTC, he co-created > the Do Not Track privacy anti-tracking mechanism now adopted by all of > the major web browsers. > > He is a TEDGlobal 2012 Fellow, was an Open Society Foundations Fellow > between the years, 2011-2012, and was a Student Fellow at the Berkman > Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University between 2008 and > 2009. >
