Privacy and Anonymity on the Internet Final Review

technological underpinnings of location data collection

"In the U.S., the collection of metadata was permitted after 9/11 under the ''Section 215 Bulk telephony meta- data program''' "collecting data from airport Wifi systems was actually a general means of identifying travel pat- terns and geographic locations using ID data"

(Big data source) Directed

"a human operator obtains the data, obvious examples being CCTV systems or police seeking, say, vehicle ownership records."

(Big data source) Volunteer

"data are in a weak sense ''volunteered'' by the user who gives out information on social media sites and the like. Of course, social media users do not neces- sarily think of their activities in terms of volunteering data to third parties."

(Big data source) Automated

"the data are gathered without a human operator intervening; traces are recorded rou- tinely from transactions with banks or consumer out- lets and communications, using cellphones above all."

Big Data

-''the cap-acity to search, aggregate and cross-reference large data sets'' -Big Data has a supportive relationship with surveillance. Words such as ''bulk data'' and ''dragnet'' and ''mass surveillance'' more than hint that processes referred to as ''Big Data'' are in play.

types of Big Data sources

-directed -automated -volunteered

Silk Road's approach to protecting buyers and sellers from each other

-limiting the items for sale -the escrow system -the commission structure -the reputation mechanism -

The unique features of online communication

-many-to-many -profit motive -amplification -speed -communities -ability to hide identity -

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Communications Act of 1996 legally, the web is largely considered a print medium the key issue regarding this is who is responsible for the content posted by users on websites and in online communities? "no provider or user of interactive computer services shall be treated as a publisher or speaker of any information provided by an information content provider" (Citron and Wittes, 2017) Providers of interactive computer services enjoy immunity from lawsuits when they restrict access to certain content the key issue regarding this is if companies are actually doing enough to monitor and restrict negative content to protect their other users. Online speech and conduct is more protected than speech and conduct in the physical world (Citron and Wittes, 2017)

Silk Road's approach to protecting participants from the government (access, transaction, shipment)

DPR, the one organizing Silk Road, focused on "blurring the link between the sender and receiver by directing users to rely on the Tor network and hiding the location of Silk Road" DPR made it so the URL is not show up as a real IP address, instead, a pseudo IP is made. DPR also made it so users were using Bitcoin and Blockchain, which protecting their identity with purchases.

Strategies

Institutions (social media platforms) and structures of power, "the producers". The people who actually made the product and came up with the design. For example) This would be Instagram creating privacy settings. Allowing people to have "private accounts"

examples of lateral surveillance

Online background checks-associated w/online dating. Basically stuff that you would know if you were having a face to face interaction with them. DIY investigation-gathers information about the subject without the subject's knowledge. For example, googling them, email utility, reverse search, keystroke monitoring, looking up their instagram. Lie detectors, wearable devices.

Regulatory models for the Internet in the 1990s, outcome

Print: no prior restraint outcome: may not stop speech before it had a change to occur Broadcast: licensing outcome: must ask government for permission to speak Telephone: common carrier outcome: doesn't discriminate, may not deny service to any customer

Silk Road's approach to protecting personal information

Silk Road used the Tor network encrypt and protect the buyers and users anonymity and purchase history Outcome: the use of tight encryption made it difficult for the FBI and NSA to track down/trace the criminals

Smith v. Maryland (1979) and the third-party doctrine, how it modifies Katz v. US (1967)

Smith vs Maryland came to the conclusion that the use of the pen register was not in conflict with the fourth amendment. In Katz vs US, the same applied. There was no physical intrusion upon him, only eavesdropping on the phone.

controversy over alt.gov accounts on Twitter

The controversy over alternative government accounts on Twitter is that speakers who pretend to be employees of government agencies utilize social media, especially twitter, to provide their informed, but alternative/unofficial point of view

general argument in favor of anonymous speech

The general argument in favor of anonymous speech is that you can speak freely and avoid the negative consequences

whether speakers or listeners benefit

The speakers benefit because they are able to voice their opinion behind a username without the fear of listeners knowing their identity (this only works if their legal name is not a part of their username).

U.S. v. Carpenter (2018), what parties it covers, what the decision is

This case involved the police and cell phone users. The police were able to collect locations of thousands of people for crime investigations. Carpenter sued and the courts ruled in his favor, seeing the situation as a "search" under the fourth amendment.

Twitter's argument under the Stored Communications Act (1986)

Twitter's argument under the Stored Communication Act (1986) states that the court should declare CBP's actions to be "an unlawful exercise of government power" and they would need a court order under the Stored Communications Act to access information (Twitter v U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2017:2018)

Tactics

Used by individuals, acting in environments defined by the producers. What people did on top of the privacy settings to become even more private Ex) Making a fake account, using a fake name.

meaning of sharing

We are okay with sharing what is important to us with 3rd parties.

benefits of connectedness

We are only okay with sharing information with people that we know.

The relationship between fake content and fake accounts

a fake account doesn't equal fake content

amplification

bots; widens circle of messages

the escrow system

centralized "bank"; benefited the buyers because they wouldn't part with their money until they got their product; unfortunately the site administrator has to be trusted and they are the final decision maker.

Revenge porn

defined as the non-consensual sharing of a person's nude photo/video. A big thing to keep in mind is that they may not have had the intention to cause harm when they sent around the nude, but it did cause harm anyway so a punishment should happen.

platformed sociality, the use of the playground metaphor

in the beginning (when the first playground was built) the children didn't have an influence on how it was built or what would be included in it, how they would use it. Vs. now, things like instagram and other social media platforms are designed by engineers for us and they decide how it is made, but we still have control over how we use it in some ways.

Tor Network

it's an encryption tool that protects both the content of the data and the anonymity of senders and receivers which allows you to "hide your tracks"

how dark markets are different from ordinary physical and electronic marketplaces

it's different from ordinary physical and electronic marketplaces because it used for the illegal online street trade for drugs on the Silk Road

limiting the items for sale

no child pornography, no weapons, no personal information; this helped the site reach a critical mass and signaled principled resistance; unfortunately there was no way to enforce these rules

Connectedness

our human connections to each other that would exist without technology, but when it is used with technology it means that we get something out of the use of social media platforms. Connectedness does not need to use technology, we can achieve it without it.

dark markets

participants hide their identities via encryption tools

Lateral surveillance

peer to peer monitoring of family, friends and acquaintances. It is the response to generalized risk online-one must take responsibility for one's security in a networked communication environment in which people are not always what they seem.

the reputation mechanism

ratings/reviews; benefits buyers and sellers transparency and repeated purchases; unfortunately they are just cheap pseudonyms.

Connectivity

refers to what site operators get out of the use of social media platforms.

platformed sociality

social behavior shaped by technology. For example, when social media platforms suggest who you should follow, or interact with online.

Harassment

the broader category. Harassment laws are often limited to when abuse is communicated directly to the victim, which doesn't cover revenge porn. Harassment is generalized as something that happens multiple times, but with revenge porn it can happen just once and have damaging effects on the person.

Speed

the design of social media is to be instantaneous

Goals that site operators have: Mass customization-

the idea that they provide tailored content to us based on what they find out about us when we are interacting on their site. They hope to get us to buy more or pick their products based on these tailored things that they did to their site.

Centralized inspection

the prison guard example. In this example, there is a watchtower, so the prisoners know they are being monitored, but they don't know exactly when they specifically are being watched. The goal is that the prisoners will always be on their best behavior because they don't know when the guards will be watching and when they will not.

many-to-many

this is opposed to the telephone network (point to point)

ability to hide identity

this protects the speaker, not the listener; users utilize "anonymous" or a handle on a site that protects their identity from practically anybody.

the commission structure

tiered commission, lower rates for higher volume; benefited the site administration and the high-volume sellers; unfortunately it's still a public market (stealth mode will try to solve this)

Goals that individuals have

to be as widely known by others as possible.

communities

trust builds from the bottom