Sweden has fallen

I whish people would stop confusing the debate about privacy with terrorists. "Terrorist" is the buzzword the swedish government uses to convince tha ignorant people to not dare to protest, to go on with their business and let their government "protect" them. Anyone with the slightest interrest in the computing world knows that terrorists can go on with their business as usual, regardless of this swedish golden wall, or Echelon for that matter... So please forget about terrorists in this thread, they are not relevant to the discussion. Basta.

Lets talk about some ways how to send messages without getting caught in this Golden Wall of sweden.
Software like Truecrypt and other encrypting software are the obvious. PGP is another, I personally think it was little bit too much hassle to use it (havent tried it for a couple of years though) with the public an private keys...

Truecrypt is nice and simple since you can create file with two passwords, the first is if you are forced for some reason to reveal it. That password will open the file and show the files you want to show to the world and the other is to open the hidden container within that file where you keep the things you dont want the swedish spyes to see.

I read about another more simple way: Write your text in a word processor, take a screenshot of the text and send it as a attachment.
Anyone know if would be that simple to send a message to circumvent surveillance?

 

The Swedish FRA has a far more sinister software than just word recognizing/analyzing software. This software creates databases of anyones communicating habits and connects the dots. It will automatically build a database on who you communicate with. Anyone can see what sort of misinterpretations that can lead to. Lets say I unknowingly chat with a known drugdealer on msn, or, god beware: A TERRORIST! or even worse a PEDOPHILE!!! (another of these popular buzzword whenever someone wants to lower integrity ) that connection will forever be recorded in that database. I guess TOR is the only way to get around that...

 

So let's mention politics, then, since we're talking security. If politicians become a threat to our privacy they belong to the same malware scum we're trying to fight all the time. Incidentally it surfaced - several years ago - that Swedish military likes to employ hackers with a criminal record. The military spokesman wasn't even embarrassed: "Well, what do you expect? Of course we want the most competent people" was, basically, the response. It's also a fact that FRA, the native equivalent of NSA, which is to carry out the surveillance, has been doing exactly that, illegally, for at least ten years, with no reaction from the political institutions intended to keep them at bay. Sweet, democratic politics, that: sheer criminal activity.

As I've said above, March 15, 2009, is the day the entire European Union is expected to be under surveillance. For those countries that haven't yet implemented the dictate, Sweden may very well become the paradigm. Is that what we want, really? Wouldn't taking to the streets, as suggested by XeroBank above, be just one more way to fight malware in that case?

 

To all:

Off-topic post removed.

If you wish to discuss the privacy implications (local or global) reflected by recent events in Sweden, by all means do so. Please do this without dragging generalized political commentary along for the ride - and yes, any thinking person should be able to readily accomplish that.

If you wish that this thread to be closed without further comment, continue down the road of generalized nationalistic and/or politically oriented rants.

Regards,

Blue

 

Good point. Truecrypt and GPG should be standard applications for anyone the least concerned about his/her privacy. Still there's a problem. If we're content with fighting government hacking by traditional methods we get stuck in that endless game of move and counter-move that we've learned to accept when it comes to malware. Is that really the best strategy for fighting the polititcal elite, with its immense resources?

 

You're exactly right, and no, it isn't the best strategy. But, without calling too much attention to ourselves and possibly being labeled a "threat" for going above and beyond in an attempt to save privacy, it's the only strategy we have, for now.

 

I may be wrong, but I think that so far only Italy, Belgium, UK and Denmark practice data retention, and only in Denmark as a direct response to the EU dictate. It means there's still time for the majority of Europe's people to act. We Swedes didn't really believe that it would be possible to pass an openly anti-democratic law, that's why the preceding debate in various media/blogs was rather down-played and lame. Now we know the truth. We should have done what XeroBank implies: go out in the streets and make ourselves seen and heard. Ironically that's exactly what our own history tells us. Collective action is always the first line of defense when the battle is between the people and the ruling elite. If you're a EU resident - please don't just shrug your shoulders and put your faith in your encryption software like die dumme Schweden.

 

Unfortunately people, not just in the countries where rights are dwindling, but worldwide, tend to forget history, which leaves the door wide open for history's mistakes and tragedies to be repeated.

 

That's because no one listens to George Santayana.

 

Another way is to create an email account to use as a dead drop. You give the account access password to whomever you want to communicate with. The create your email and leave it in the draft folder. The other person will go and check and sweep the draft folder for messages and leave any replies for you. The way this works is there is logon activity to the account but nothing sent or received. This can only be used for the short term, a week or two at best and the account should be created and access with Tor or Jap. If you really want to keep off the grid, leave a pgp encrypted text file on a usenet forum like alt.test (one with hundreds if not thousands of daily posts) and have a prearranged alphanumeric sequence for the subject so it can be found quickly. None of this is new by any means. But sometimes the old tricks are the best tricks. Just as the Diana one-time pad still can not be cracked.