Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Snowden Talks: The one that is made of our privacy? – SAPO Tek

In the context of the release of Snowden, the new film by Oliver Stone, the ISCTE served this Wednesday stage a debate two times on digital privacy, security and the challenges that arise from the online use of personal data.

In the first panel, that crossed Michael Pereira, Express, and Luke Harding, a journalist for The Guardian and author of the book, The Files Snowden, the british said, “without a doubt” that “we are taking all privacy”. For Harding, the “case Snowden” gave the world a real image on a subject about which many pretended does not exist, and is now portrayed in the movie.

In 2013, when the ex-military showed the world that the NSA spied a good part of the population of the world through complex networks of surveillance, emerged in society need to ask ourselves “about what to do with our privacy in the digital universe” and we realize that she “could cease to exist in 5 or 10 years if you didn’t do nothing about it.”

however, the journalist of the Guardian argues that we should not let itself be consumed by paranoia although it must be some prevention behaviours that do not occur to the majority. “This week, I and some colleagues and we left all of our smartphones in a room and we bring in another to not run the risk of being heard,” she confessed.

But although these risks are more present for certain groups in the society, others end up the same for being cross, “I shut the webcam of my computer because I know that there are programs that are capable of invading and spying on me through it,” said Harding.

As for the hypothetical granting of pardon Snowden on the part of Barack Obama, the journalist also shows up not very optimistic. Although not consider a scenario impossible, Harding believes that the u.s. will always represent a body interesting to the NSA and other government agencies that certainly would form a marking close to the man, “not with two big men at the door of the house, but a way more discreet” kick.

“The debate about privacy is, at this time, a hypocrisy”

The second panel brought to the discussion the four voices new and different: the historian Pacheco Pereira, the CTO of Microsoft Portugal, Sandra Miranda, engineer Pedro Veiga, coordinator of the National Center for Cybersecurity and the founder of the portal Tugaleaks, Rui Cruz.

at This stage of the discussion, the links between the large technology and the NSA has served as a point of departure. Still following the contribution of Luke Harding, that does not rely on major technology, Michael Pereira questioned the CTO of Microsoft about the posture of the multinational face to the programs, collections of data that are often conducted by governmental agencies. Sandra Miranda was clear on this subject “all the big technology are required to comply with the legal requirements, which are presented”. However, the head was keen to stress that the company does not participate willingly in these initiatives by “reasons purely logical, business related” and ensures that the only data provided are always specific and are part of isolated accounts referred to in the orders of the court.

In the leaks that were aimed at the PRISM, Microsoft was one of the companies listed in a document that spoke of cooperation between corporations and the NSA, but, according to the CTO, the company has adapted to a “post-Snowden” with the “increasing complexity of the encryption levels of your services, with the creation of centers of transparency for governments and with the publication of the court cases in which Microsoft opposes the release of data (three from 2013)”.

Even in Portugal the dangers of surveillance, espionage and identity theft are just as stressed as in other regions. The internet has accentuated the globalization for good and for evil and put all users at the same distance from a hypothetical threat.

Pedro Veiga considers that we need to improve our social safety nets. “Our concern is to ensure that the public networks are secure, and, as in everything, there is room for improvement,” commented, since April, coordinator of the National Centre of cyber Security. In his speech, Pedro Veiga also wanted to underline the importance and the negative impact that other dangers of the digital can make to society and has identified industrial spying as a threat to consider, leaving an example of what a failure of security may mean in the presence of one of these cases: “In Ukraine, a cyber attack to an electric infrastructure was sufficient to throw down. The Center of cyber-Security has the responsibility of ensuring that these things do not happen to public services”.

on The other side of the wall, the “hacktivist” Rui Cruz admits to not believing that you are safe on the internet even when you access business portals credibilizadas, with the duty of ensuring the privacy of its customers, such as banks.

In the wake of the exile of Julian Assange, the Portuguese was one of many inspired by the “hacktivism” that have played the portal of leaks of the australian in a national version. In 2012, Rui Cruz was even charged in the follow-up of a publication where gave to know the content of an e-mail from the Civic Movement for anti-piracy on the Internet. The case was filed, but, three years later, the blogger was detained and prevented from access to the internet during 299 days as a measure of prevention. About this, Rui Cruz is a consideration, “it is easier to kill the messenger than tackle the message.”

Pacheco Pereira had the right to intervene in last place. But, unlike other speakers, the historian makes a more critical analysis of the existence of the actual debate because, for him, the “discussion around online privacy is a hypocrisy”. Pacheco Pereira does not see a justification for the lack of privacy, the denial of the same “is a cultural tendency of the last 20, 30 years,” he argues. “We are losing privacy because of the behavior of the people, by the business and because of our governments”, he added.

Fleeing to the domain computer, which otherwise dominated the whole debate, the historian, has pointed out the finger to the program, e-invoice, a mechanism dispensable from the point of view of tax and that it has allowed the Portuguese state to monitor the people, “to know where they eat, where they come from, where they go,” and so forth.

On the afternoon of Wednesday reinforced the idea that the spying and the surveillance problems are rooted in the digital age. Adopt many forms and have origins often unknown.

In a few words, Luke Harding has defined the future of this issue in response to a question from the audience: “No one is going to stop spying on anyone.”

editorial Note: The news has been updated with more information gathered at the conference

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