Setec Astronomy!

The recent revelation of Project Auroragold by the NSA revealed the agency’s plans to use the telecommunication network to have the ability to tap any cellphone in the world. While this is yet another PR disaster for the NSA after Snowden et al, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Any intelligence agency, be it the NSA, MI6, or the KGB, should take steps to enhance its capability and reach around the world. Through it, theoretically, it can protect the national interests of its nation. Intelligence agencies all over the world are already listening and eavesdropping. In the words of Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister:

“Let’s be honest, we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else. We don’t have the same means as the United States — which makes us jealous.”

What the NSA is undertaking is a natural consequence of the powers afforded to it by the nation’s leaders. Just last month, the senate failed to pass the legislation targeted at curtailing NSA’s intelligence operations. The NSA like any other agency is acting like it should it is the requisite responsibility on the elected leaders to ensure that the agency does not violate its powers. One cannot expect an intelligence agency to be transparent, however, the lack of clarity and outright lies about its surveillance program is what is troubling. And the consequence of being the intelligence agency of the sole superpower makes the NSA an easy target. People like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are driven by a sense of righteousness and purpose to right a wrong. These modern day Guy Fawkes’ are a natural outcome of the recent revelations about NSA’s surveillance program and its perception of the Goliath.

We cannot live in a world envisioned by Julian Assange of no secrets and complete transparency. In the words of Jaron Lanier:

“a free flow of digital information enables two diametrically opposed patterns:  low-commitment anarchy on the one hand and absolute secrecy married to total ambition on the other”

Certain information has to be safeguarded by the governments to maintain order in the society. On the other hand, we cannot have too many secrets where vigilantes will arise to break the code. (Yes I watched Sneakers for the umpteenth time!)

As the US continues to serve as the sole superpower (despite the economic rise of China), the world needs a responsible and organized NSA. Dissidents, leaks, and cyber attacks are a consequence of its status and current perception. Perhaps the NSA can draw a page from a tiny-island nation of Singapore and its deployment of a PRISM-type infrastructure.

Is resistance futile?

Like it or not, you are already a cloud consumer. The services being offered through the cloud are growing exponentially – from using email (gmail) for communications, to interacting with family, friends, and colleagues through social media (facebook, twitter, and linkedin). Online cloud storage services (dropbox, g-drive, cloud drive) offer you a chance to store all your documents online nullifying the risk of losing them and making them accessible from anywhere in the world. Both Google and Apple provide automated backup of your data to the cloud from pictures you take through your phone to the emails you send. It is a great time to be a cloud consumer but this convenience comes at a cost.

With all this data being stored online the fundamental question that we ask is who owns the personal information once it is uploaded to the ether? Does the cloud service provider have any rights to this data?

Terms of service stated by Facebook and Google recognize the ultimate ownership of data by the consumer:

Facebook:  “You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.”

Google: “Google does not claim any ownership in any of the content, including any text, data, information, images, photographs, music, sound, video, or other material, that you upload, transmit or store in your Gmail account. We will not use any of your content for any purpose except to provide you with the Service.”

On the face of it, this seems like a reasonable guarantee of privacy of your personal data. However, the fact remains that the privacy boundaries for these two giants and countless other cloud service providers have never been properly tested or explored.

The recent revelations of PRISM and the powers afforded through the Patriot Act nullify any false hope of security. When the former CIA Director and 4-star general of the US Army can be implicated through cyber investigations, what chance do all of us pawns have? While we may not be truly living in an Orwellian world, the fact remains that the Big Brother is watching and any attempts to escape will only arouse further scrutiny – case in point provided by the users of the TOR browser who became high priority targets for the NSA – full article here

Picard couldn’t resist! How can we?

So the question is, is there is any way to safeguard our privacy in the ever-changing and evolving landscape afforded by the cloud? Or is any resistance to this a futile attempt at a false sense of security?

While the escape from government maybe futile, the risks from rogue enterprises or institutions that can use your data for nefarious purposes can be countered