[Chapter-delegates] ISOC position on NSA Spying

Tue Jun 11 19:32:04 PDT 2013

Christian, all,

couple of quick points here:

1. what is being called "metadata" in press bulletins and other communications is actually "traffic data." If I am reading well, this data is phone numbers for initiation and termination (caller and called parties), call durations, possibly locations, IP addresses (again maybe locations) (could also include protocol, size, port, etc. in packet headers.) Again (please correct me if wrong): this is not metadata. It is data.

2. as such, this data would be under Personal Data Protection laws in most countries which have one. In Europe the Data Retention Directive gives countries the choice to keep this kind of data for up to 18 months (or more specifically, to mandate by law that operators keep this kind of data) and mandates as well what parties (law enforcement) can have access to this data, and under which circumstances (judge's orders, for example.) (thanks, Veni, for useful reminders at ungodly hours.) 

3. we in ISOC chapters must also turn our attention to the national implications of the published interventions. What are our governments and our telcos, ISPs, and OSPs authorizing? The "didn't know" excuse expired last Thursday and they should be diligently investigating. And, what similar programs, with related software - think FinFisher - are they executing locally? can we help each other share tools, good practice, methods, etc.? For reference see among maaaaany examples see "You Only Click Twice" by the CitizenLab at the University of Toronto, https://citizenlab.org/2013/03/you-only-click-twice-finfishers-global-proliferation-2/ - we should also ask whether or to what extent we'd be sure to stay within ISOC guidelines without consulting HQ, who must also be forthcoming on this aspect soon.

4. re HQ communications: I think we can all understand that ISOC should not race to express itself but something like "we find reasons for concern, we will investigate whether A, B, C, consider the possibilities that D, E, F, engage with our own Advisory Council, org members, individual members, and Chapters, and then come up with a statement" and this may not be a public, official communication but at least delivered to the mentioned parties.

Yours,

Alejandro Pisanty

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________________________________________
Desde: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] en nombre de Christian de Larrinaga [cdel at firsthand.net]
Enviado el: martes, 11 de junio de 2013 18:04
Hasta: David Solomonoff
CC: Chapter Delegates; ISOCNY BOD
Asunto: Re: [Chapter-delegates] ISOC position on NSA Spying

David,

The one light at the end of this tunnel for us outside US is to hear the
outrage of our friends in the US.

However the US domestic emphasis of is small beer to the consequences of
US treatment of non US sourced data and IPR traversing US entities.

best

Christian

David Solomonoff wrote:
> The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance
> apparatus, if true, are a stunning abuse of our basic rights to freedom
> and privacy.
>
> A coalition has formed to demand that the U.S. Congress reveal the full
> extent of the NSA's domestic spying programs. I'm personally joining the
> Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, Free Press, Fight for the
> Future, Access and many more consumer activist groups as part of that
> coalition.
>
> I believe that the Internet Society should sign their petition as well.
>
> http://www.stopwatching.us
>
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