bbc cell phone tracking story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_874000/874419.stm Video postcards can be sent with 3rd-Generation phones By BBC News Online internet reporter Mark Ward The next generation of mobile phones will make it much easier for the police to carry out covert surveillance of citizens, say civil liberty campaigners. They warn that the combination of location revealing technology built into the phones and rights given to the police under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act mean the owners of such phones can be watched. They are advising people that using one of the new phones might make it hard for them to maintain their privacy. In recognition of the implications, phone companies are planning to let people conceal where they are at the touch of a button. Phone metre Although existing GSM handsets can be used as location devices, they typically only give a fix to within a couple of hundred meters. Future phones will direct you to the nearest Indian take away While this is good enough to tell drivers about traffic problems on the roads ahead, mobile phone companies are not using the technology for much more than this. Accuracy can be improved if handsets are fitted with special software and the mobile phone operators adopt complementary software for their networks. Using this technology, handsets can be pinpointed to within 50 metres of their actual position. Newer mobile phone technologies such as the General Packet Radio Services and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Services have more accurate locating systems built in. GPRS services are due to become widely available later this year and UMTS telephone networks are due to be switched on in 2002. Timing triangle Both GPRS and UMTS can locate a handset to within 15 metres by timing how long it takes packets of data to travel from different base stations to the handset. The handset then uses this to calculate where the phone is in the area covered by the base stations. "Service providers are going to do that calculation routinely so they can sell the data to companies that want to send you mail and messages," said Caspar Bowden, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research. Often people will be happy to reveal their location and who they are, particularly if they are looking for a cash point or a good restaurant in a town they are visiting. Many companies are keen to use this location data so they can send special offers, such as cut-price cinema tickets, to anyone walking past their doors. Others are planning to combine location data and personal information to target people with adverts customised to match their preferences. Privacy protection But, said Mr Bowden, the newly passed Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act could allow for the data to be used for a more sinister purpose. He said the RIP Act regards the information used to locate phones as "communications data" and says police do not need a warrant to obtain it. As a result, he said, the police could use this information to conduct covert surveillance of anyone using such a phone. Phone companies are planning to let people opt in and out of the location-based services to ensure privacy is not compromised and people are not bombarded with messages they do not want to read. "It has always been our aim to enable the customer to decide whether or not to have his or her location sent to the network," said a spokesman for mobile service provider Orange. But all this means is that the information is not being passed on to advertisers, said Mr Bowden. "Whether or not you want to receive ads, the location data will be collected," he said.
The Sound Of Security?
New credit-card technology uses sound waves to enforce security By Jathon Sapsford THE WALL STREET JOURNAL August 14 Ñ An Israeli start-up has created a bit of gadgetry that uses sound waves to address some of the biggest issues of e-commerce: fraud, privacy and convenience TO DEMONSTRATE, Alan Sege of ComSense Technologies Ltd. holds up a bit of white plastic that looks like a credit card. The executive points the card at his beat-up Sony laptop computer. He pushes a small round circle on the card he calls a ÒCom DotÓ Ñ dot-com in reverse Ñ and the card emits a coded sound pitched so high the human ear canÕt hear it. The computerÕs microphone picks up the signal, and the card emits an audible chirp to let Mr. Sege know the transmission is complete. Ê Ê Ê ÊÒGood morning, Alan,Ó the computer says in response, and a Web page suddenly appears on the screen. The system has used the Com DotÕs ultrasonic signal to identify Mr. Sege. Ê Ê Ê ÊThe set-up, being unveiled by ComSense Monday, also asks users for a password as a further security check. Then it can tap into a distant server computer over the Web to pull up confidential information that the user has provided, such as account numbers or address, making it easier to shop, trade securities or perform other online tasks. The system can even automatically fill in order forms when consumers shop on the Web. Ê Ê Ê ÊÒThe card just goes ding-dong and youÕre done,Ó says George Shuster of Magalia, Calif., a 73-year-old retired Air Force colonel who tested the system as part of a trial sponsored by America Online Inc. ÒIt was painless.Ó Ê Ê Ê ÊMany computers already have a built-in microphone and sound board, which are needed to decipher the cardÕs ultrasonic codes. ComSense hopes to have credit-card companies install in their cards the computer chip, tiny battery and speaker needed to make the technology work. It is pitching it to big U.S. credit-card companies, including Visa USA, and Internet services such as Lycos Inc., and is seeking patents on the system. Ê Ê Ê ÊInvestors in the 50-employee company include individuals such as Intuit Inc. co-founder Tom Proulx and Robin Neustein, a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group; and venture funds including Argoquest Inc. and IsraelÕs Polaris. Ê Ê Ê ÊComSense has another backer: Its nonexecutive chairman since June has been Malcolm Williamson, chief executive of Visa International, the parent organization of the credit-card association. However, Mr. Williamson has recused himself from VisaÕs discussions about whether to use the technology. Ê Ê Ê ÊComSense is only the latest in a string of companies to put gizmos into plastic cards. So far, the results have been mixed. So-called smart cards, with computer chips that store credit or data, have achieved some acceptance in Europe, where they are used for phone cards or to hold an individualÕs health-care records. But they have been slow to catch on in the U.S. And to use a smart card for Web transactions requires a Òcard reader,Ó a piece of hardware that the consumer has to buy and hook up to his PC. Ê Ê Ê ÊComSenseÕs technology remains unproven. Visa says it is still testing it. And there are competing technologies such as ÒbiometricÓ readers, which scan usersÕ fingers or eyes to prove that they are who they say they are. Ê Ê Ê ÊChris Christiansen, an analyst at International Data Corp., said another possible hurdle is ambient noise, which could drown out the cardÕs signal. But he said the benefits far outweigh this concern. He said the card also could confirm a userÕs identity during telephone transactions, because the signal can be carried over phone wires or cellular phone waves, a crucial application as the Web goes wireless. ÒI thought it was pretty slick,Ó the IDC analyst concluded. ÊUnlike smart cards, which actually store sensitive data, ComSenseÕs card merely sends signals that tap into data housed on a server. Backers say that will help cut down on fraud. ComSense is marketing the server technology as a go-between that a bank or credit-card issuer could use to vouch for the userÕs identity and credit standing. The server would send the online merchant a coded confirmation signal rather than a card number. Ê Ê Ê ÊÒI used to be leery about sending my credit-card information all over the place,Ó says Mr. Shuster, the retired Air Force colonel testing the technology. ÒBut this is less risky because it is stored in only one spot.Ó
Privacy Groups Say Cell Phone Rule Gives Police Wider Powers
Eric Rosenberg c.2000 Hearst Newspapers WASHINGTON - In what privacy rights advocates say is a significant threat to civil liberties in the digital age, law enforcement agencies may soon be able to turn the cellular phone into a ready-made tool for nosing around in private lives. J If a federal rule stands up to a court challenge here, the FBI and local police will be allowed to track a cell phone user's location while monitoring bank and data transactions made with the device - all without the need for a court-ordered wiretap. J ``This is a very serious breach of privacy,'' said Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York. It's the equivalent of ``putting a peep hole in a every new home through which law enforcement can look.'' He said the rule ``means that cell phones become location-tracking devices, which can be used to monitor our movements.'' J Nearly 100 million Americans use cell phones. In an era when an ever-increasing amount of communications and commerce - including Internet activity - is conducted over cellular phones, the rule could disrupt a fragile balance between the privacy needs of individuals and the investigation needs of law enforcement. J David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a watchdog group, said the potential government powers ``raise significant privacy issues.'' The government is ``seeking surveillance capabilities that far exceed the powers law enforcement has had in the past and is entitled to under the law,'' he added. J Shari Steele, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy oversight group based in San Francisco, said that the proposed rule is ``a really, really big grab'' to expand government's investigative powers. J For example, under current federal rules, if investigators want to tap a phone, either a cell phone or a regular one, they must get permission from a judge. As part of the petition for a wiretap warrant, the agency must provide the court with evidence of probable cause that the suspect whose phone is to be tapped is engaging in criminal activity. J But under the new rule, law enforcement would gain the additional power to track the approximate location of a cell phone user without having to ask a judge. ``That gives them a tremendous amount of power they didn't have before,'' Steele said. J The technology exists to allow investigators to determine the general location of a cell phone user. The country is divided into ``cells'' several miles wide that provide service for cell phone users. By knowing in what cell a call begins and ends, investigators glean a fairly good understanding of a user's movements. J The government disagrees with the privacy critics, asserting that law enforcement agencies need to be able to monitor cell phones in order to keep pace with criminals, who are increasingly turning to the devices and to the Internet to conduct illicit dealings. J The Justice Department said in a court filing in Washington that privacy interests ``are adequately protected'' under the rule. J Meanwhile, the use of wiretaps is surging. In 1999, the number of wiretaps ordered by federal and local authorities on pagers, cell phones, e-mail and faxes increased about 20 percent over the previous year, pushing the total number of government wiretaps to a record 1,350, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The Justice Department accounted for 601 of the court-approved wiretaps. J About three-quarters of the wiretaps were used in drug investigations. J In one high-profile case last year, federal agents arrested 98 people in a drug-smuggling ring stretching from El Paso to the Northeast. The arrests in part were facilitated by the use of a `roving wiretap'' to track the use of several cell phones used in drug transactions. J The FBI recently ran headlong into a major controversy over another digital-age eavesdropping capability known as Carnivore. Carnivore scans the Internet and captures ``packets,'' the standard unit of digital communication that the FBI also is seeking in the cell phone rule. J Carnivore, which would be installed at Internet service providers like America Online, scours the on-line activities of a suspect. Members of Congress and privacy groups, outraged that the device gives the FBI access to the entirety of the Internet provider's electronic traffic, assert that the system is rife for potential abuse. J At issue in the cell phone case is a proposed Federal Communications Commission regulation issued at the behest of the Justice Department nearly one year ago. It directed that by Sept. 30, 2001, cellular phone companies must be able to provide authorities with the general location of cellular phone users. Under the order, the police may obtain location information based where a
horseflesh und piggies
At 05:46 PM 8/14/00 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >If you are going to go to all of that trouble you might >as well just shoot the horse and its rider. But remember, in California, you can't sell the meat for food. (Of the horse, that is; the recent "you can't sell horses for food" referendum said nothing about cannibalism, or even eating pork.)
Mail-order cat piss (was Re: Trolls)
At 07:03 PM 8/14/00 -0400, Steven Furlong wrote: > >I could probably come up with uses for cat pee if I set my mind to it. >I'm having considerable difficulty with the idea of commercially- >available cat pee. Is it sanitized? Are Dept of Health certificates >needed? How on earth can you make a profit selling cat pee by mail? >Who _thought_ of selling cat pee, let alone by mail? > >The mind wobbles. You can buy scents to attract and repel animals, e.g. for hunting or gardening, respectively. Since they are not for internal (or topical, AFAIK) use, they are not regulated. I don't imagine the market for say estrous deer butt-glands is huge, but if you need that stuff, it'll cost ya.
Re: The Sound Of Security?
At 04:25 AM 8/15/00 -0400, A. Melon wrote: >New credit-card technology uses >sound waves to enforce security So now in addition to shoulder-surfing we worry about ultrasonic tape recorders...
Mail-order cat piss (was Re: Trolls)
At 09:36 PM 8/14/00 -0400, Eric Murray wrote: > Horses are much more visual than >anything else In that case the polihooligans should dress up in strange costumes. Only the horses that have worked the SF parades (or certain parts of Hollywood) would be able to deal with the sights...
Mail-order cat piss (was Re: Trolls)
At 12:56 AM 8/15/00 -0400, Reese wrote: >Horse manure accomplishes the same thing, if used instead of cattle manure >as a fertilizer. Well just as the hoohah got started, someone from PETA dropped a ton of horse manure on the hotel steps. Didn't keep the pigs or horses away. (The activist was dressed in a pig costume, which made for a nice photo of his arrest. http://www.latimes.com/news/state/2813/t75982.html)
Re: AOL and "hate speech"
X-Loop: openpgp.net From: "petro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> In any case, I never suggested that MenWithGuns should force AOL to > >> modify its hate speech policy. > > > >It could have been easily interpreted as such (and it has been). > > Anyone who has been reading Mr. May's missives for any length > of time would not interpret it so. Well, they wouldn't interpret it > as MenWithGovermentGuns anyway. It's funny, I would have said the same if I *wouldn't have* read The Moron's "missives" for some length. However, once I saw "the government should go in and kidnap Elian, and kill his US relatives while they're at it", I think that "The Moron is a libertarian" has somehow lost any chance of being true, at least for me. Mark
C2NET
We have another winner! Red Hat adds Web server software with C2Net buy By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com August 14, 2000, 10:20 a.m. PT Red Hat has agreed to acquire C2Net in a stock deal worth about $44 million, expanding its domain from Linux to another major open-source package, Apache Web server software. The move puts pressure on Covalent Technologies, a start-up that also sells support for Apache software, and Linuxcare, which plans to expand to support other open-source software packages besides Linux. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-2518832.html
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Re: Quantum Cryptography and resistance
At 01:37 PM 8/15/00 -0400, Timothy Brown wrote: >Hey, folks - > >Can anyone provide pointers for the layman to documents describing >theoretical cryptosystems resistant to quantum cryptanalysis? The >assumption is made that those systems would be implemented on quantum >computing devices. > >Essentially what i'm asking is: How would cryptography evolve once a >quantum computer is available? > Simple. Use bigger keys. Bigger by the work-factor that quantum computation gives you (see Grover's algorithm). E.g., a 512-bit symmetric block cipher should be good for a few more years, quantum computers or not. 3-AES anyone?
Re: Quantum Cryptography and resistance
On Tue, 15 Aug 2000, David Honig wrote: [original poster asks :] > >Essentially what i'm asking is: How would cryptography evolve once a > >quantum computer is available? > > > > Simple. Use bigger keys. Bigger by the work-factor that quantum > computation gives you (see Grover's algorithm). E.g., a 512-bit symmetric > block cipher should be good for a few more years, quantum computers > or not. 3-AES anyone? yup. but don't forget public key crypto... what happens if quantum computers become practical : symmetric crypto : barring specialised attacks for a cipher, brute force search goes from 2^n to 2^(n/2) steps. So 128 bit keys take 2^64 steps or so to break, 256 bit keys take 2^128, 512 bit keys take 2^256 steps. So at 256 bits or higher, you should be fine. public-key crypto : factoring and discrete log become "easy." Thus RSA and Diffie-Hellman and all their cousins become broken. Search begins in earnest for alternative one-way functions and public-key cryptosystems. As far as I know, NTRU doesn't have a quantum algorithm for breaking it; there may be others. Actually, this brings up a point - what weird public-key cryptosystems not based on factoring or discrete log are there? I can think of Arithmetica's system and NTRU off the top of my head, but not much more. Thanks, -David
Re: horseflesh und piggies
> But remember, in California, you can't sell the meat for food. > (Of the horse, that is; the recent "you can't sell horses > for food" referendum You can't *sell* horses for food, but could you host a free BBQ? (Imagine protesters making signs for "Official DNC BBQ -->" and serving up horse and pig in the park.) Heh. > said nothing about cannibalism, or even eating pork.) *Are* there any anti-cannibalism laws? (Assuming, of course, that you came into the meat lawfully...)
Re: user name and password?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > http://cryptome.org/ > > I tried to access the archives and got the attached jpg. > > I wonder if fumble, bumble and inept is involved with this? Use http://216.167.120.50/ instead. There were "problems" a few weeks back, caused by asshole, jerkoff, and dickhead. -- Steve Furlong, Computer Condottiere Have GNU, will travel 518-374-4720 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mail-order cat piss (was Re: Trolls)
This is legitimate, the urine of foxes and bobcats is regularly used to keep pests out of gardens such as squirrels, moles, voles, and other such critters. I understand that Skunks can be kept away with such products too. rdc Harmon Seaver wrote: > Heck, you can get some pretty nice scents from ads in the back of > Fur-Fish-Game, the trapper's magazine. Also any place that sells > trapping supplies (I know there are some web sites for trap supplies > now, but don't have an URL) would carry scents. Cat, fox, coyote urine > and gland scents, skunk, you betcha! And it's amazingly strong. And long > lasting.
Mail-order cat piss (was Re: Trolls)
At 09:48 AM 15/08/00 -0400, David Honig wrote: >At 12:56 AM 8/15/00 -0400, Reese wrote: >>Horse manure accomplishes the same thing, if used instead of cattle manure >>as a fertilizer. > >Well just as the hoohah got started, someone from PETA dropped >a ton of horse manure on the hotel steps. Didn't keep the pigs or >horses away. The original poster suggested cat piss to keep the deer away, horse manure does the same trick - with regard to deer. Reese
