{"id":567,"date":"2019-11-20T21:31:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T21:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/?p=567"},"modified":"2020-11-13T16:03:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T16:03:24","slug":"internet-privacy-anonymity-in-the-age-of-internet-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/internet-privacy-anonymity-in-the-age-of-internet-surveillance\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet Privacy: Anonymity in the Age of Internet Surveillance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edward Snowden\u2019s 2013 revelations<\/a> have been heavily debated on both sides by privacy proponents and surveillance supporters alike. However, the one thing that remains indisputable is the impact on trust and the dialogue it has opened up on the topic of internet privacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The far-fetched narratives about mass surveillance and governments collaborating with big corporations to undermine privacy and security seems to have jumped out from the realms of dystopian stories and landed in our everyday lives. This is why many users now opt to use the Tor network to maintain their online anonymity. The network uses onion routing and relays to encrypt internet traffic thrice to enable anonymous communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll look at some of the cases where\ngovernments and corporations shelved their moral (and often legal)\nresponsibilities to introduce security backdoors that leave us vulnerable to\nbreaches by them and other attackers. We\u2019ll also discuss how to protect your\nprivacy online using open source software<\/a> and other tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before that, for those of us unsure about the difference between privacy and anonymity \u2014 and if they are as important as they’re made out to be \u2014 let\u2019s dive into a quick overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet Privacy: What Do Privacy and Anonymity Mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Privacy refers to keeping the activities you do online\nhidden<\/strong> even though everyone knows your identity. Anonymity refers to\nkeeping your identity under the wraps<\/strong> though your activities are visible to\neveryone. Within a system that claims to keep you anonymous, there should be no\nway to link your specific actions to your identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s understand these concepts with an example scenario: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s Alice’s birthday, and her parents invite all of her\nclassmates \u2014 as well as their families \u2014 to her birthday party. Everyone\u2019s\nhaving a blast until it\u2019s time to cut the cake. That\u2019s when they discover that\nsomeone (or multiple people) already ate most of it! In this case, the event is\nvisible \u2014 someone ate the cake! But because it could be any of the people attending\nthe party, and assuming there is no way to single one person out, it preserves\nanonymity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now suppose it was Alice’s younger brother, Tom, who ended\nup eating the cake. He doesn\u2019t want to be grounded for the rest of the week, so\nhe wants his actions (i.e. eating the cake) to remain a secret. While everyone\nat the party knows who Tom is, nobody is aware of what he did, and that’s\nprivacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government, with the help of their cohorts, claims to want\nto keep us shielded from the Toms of the world. They want to do this by\nwiretapping, tracking, monitoring all our actions (legally or illegally). While\nsome might be comfortable with internet surveillance because they believe that\nthey have nothing to hide, others think such individuals don’t realize the full\nimplications such surveillance has on civil rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings us to the next question\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet Privacy: Why It’s Crucial, Even If You Think You Have Nothing to Hide?  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all heard of situations in the workplace where an\nemployee or supervisor\u2019s unprofessional or abusive behavior got reported to human\nresources (HR) or the ethics and compliance team. Maybe you\u2019ve made such a\nconfidential report against a colleague or supervisor. In such cases, you may\nwant to report a supervisor\u2019s behavior anonymously so as not to derail your own\ncareer in the event that they somehow find out that you reported them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extend this concept to cover an entire nation. Who keeps\ntabs on the government that we elect to assess whether they\u2019re using their\npowers responsibly? And if we raise our voices when they abuse their powers,\nwhat options do we have apart from seeking asylum in a country without\nextradition laws? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doesn\u2019t anonymity suddenly sound like a really good option right\nabout now? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any establishment can peep into the lives and minds of\nall citizens to collect data, monitor their actions and make evaluations based\non that information, who\u2019s to say they won\u2019t eventually have the power to\nmanipulate and control us? It\u2019s a slippery slope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of social movements, especially for marginalized\ngroups, begin in the shadows and gain momentum over time because they\u2019re viewed\nas having no place in a conventional society. Not all countries are equally\nopen to progress, and not everyone on this planet has access to fundamental\nhuman rights. In such scenarios, if online privacy and security become\njeopardized, it takes away the platform where individuals can voice their\nconcerns and be heard without risking backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet Privacy: To Trust or Not to Trust? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get a brief glimpse into how serious the threat to online privacy can be, let\u2019s explore a few examples. The following showcase the U.S. and U.K. governments\u2019 blatant disregard for internet privacy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prism is the name of a surveillance program under the NSA\nthat compels tech companies like Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Apple, etc. to\ngrant access to user data on their servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image Source: Wikimedia.org (https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f3\/PRISM_Collection_Details.jpg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Optic Nerve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Optic Nerve, a program started by the British intelligence\nagency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) with the NSA\u2019s assistance,\nis one that turned the webcams of millions of Britons and Americans against\nthem. It allowed secret access into Yahoo! Webcam chats and took one still\nimage for every five minutes of video per user. These images and their\nassociated metadata were then subjected to experimental facial recognition\nsoftware. In a six-month period in 2008, it spied on the private conversions of\nabout two million Yahoo! users. The users\u2019 interactions were watched without\nany targeted focus or limit to only on those individuals who were believed to pose\na national security threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIGINT Enabling Project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The SIGINT Enabling Project<\/a> shatters yet another delusion about the government making efforts in the right direction when it comes to internet security. The NSA spent $250 million per year on this project to bypass encryption in commercial products. They tampered with standards such as those outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to weaken protocols and promote vulnerable cryptography. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a Reuters report<\/a>, the NSA paid $10 million to RSA, an influential network security company, to create backdoors in encryption products. RSA set DUAL_EC_DRBG<\/a>, an algorithm known as a Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator, as the default cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator (CSPRNG) in its BSAFE toolkit. Until 2014, DUAL_EC_DRBG was considered one of the NIST standardized CSPRNGs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world that we live in today is one dominated by alliances such as Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes<\/a>. There are several mass surveillance projects<\/a> run by governments from across the world that attempt to sidestep security controls by force of law, exploiting backdoors, or hacking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all of this in mind, what can you do to protect your internet privacy? In the following section, we look at how you can protect your privacy online using various tools and techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet Privacy: 10 Ways to Increase Your Data Privacy and Anonymity Online<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every time you visit a website,\nyour browser can potentially reveal a wealth of information about you \u2014 everything\nfrom your browsing history and search queries to the movements of the mouse on a\nweb page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever wonder why you get flooded\nwith ads similar to the bag you added to your shopping cart? It\u2019s because\nwebsites use cookies that can profile you based on your digital behavior,\nsearch history, and interests. This information is exceedingly useful (and\nvaluable) to advertisers, website owners, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what can you do to limit\ntheir access to your data and increase your internet privacy? Let\u2019s look at\nsome ways to avoid tracking while surfing the internet. You can choose to\nimplement some or all of these depending upon your preferred level of online\nprivacy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Clear Your Cache and Delete Temporary Internet Files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Want to increase your internet privacy in the most basic way? Delete your browser cache and temporary internet files to remove stored cookies. The Cookie AutoDelete<\/a> extension, available on both Chrome and Mozilla, allows you to automate this task. (Note that this will also clear your saved passwords and other details that prepopulate your forms!) Use a password manager instead if you need to autofill your credentials on various sites. Password managers such as Dashlane<\/a> can also be added as extensions to store, manage, and autofill your passwords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nyour cookies are deleted, use ad blockers and anti-tracking tools to avoid\ndisclosing your browsing habits without consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Use Incognito or Private Browsing Mode<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Use\nincognito mode while surfing, especially if you\u2019re on a shared computer or\ndevice. but be aware that it doesn\u2019t hide your browsing history from your\ninternet service provider. The private browsing mode merely removes the cookies\nand deletes your browsing history after you close the window. It\u2019s similar to how\nyou manually clean out the cache and delete temporary internet files. Like the\nabove, it doesn\u2019t provide you with anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can allow ad blockers, anti-tracking extensions, and other security plugins to run in incognito mode by adjusting the settings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Use Extensions That Protect Your Privacy Online<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ad blockers and anti-tracking extensions such as Ghostery<\/a> and Privacy Badger<\/a> allow you to have some control over your browsing experience. You can view which trackers they block and choose to block or unblock additional trackers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VPN extensions like NordVPN<\/a> and SurfEasy<\/a>, or free alternatives like Windscribe<\/a>, offer ways to encrypt your traffic from your machine to the exit point of the VPN network. These solutions aim to prevent eavesdroppers from listening in on your network traffic. Websites you visit will see the VPN\u2019s IP address instead of yours. There have been concerns about some free as well as paid VPNs, so be sure to research thoroughly before opting for any such service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also opt for extensions like FoxyProxy<\/a> to switch your connection across multiple proxy servers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Use the Tor Network to Surf the Internet <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Use\nthe Tor browser as it was built for enabling anonymous communication. It uses\nonion routing to not only prevent third-party trackers from following you\naround but also to mask your IP address from prying eyes. The idea is to\nprevent an observer from linking your activities on the web to you. Of course,\nthat requires certain precautions on your end as well, such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n