Privacy

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Privacy and Trust Go Hand-In-Hand

A few days ago, Eric Goldman wrote an interesting thinkpiece in CircleID regarding users' feeling about privacy. He seems to conclude that the existent regulations and policies on the matter are unnecessary, since Privacy doesn't "really" matters to the consumer. Eric based his argumentation on a number of surveys, stating that, even when the user expresses concerns about their privacy, on line behavior shows a different reality. We don't want to discuss here the soundness of surveys as a reliable source of information, but the author could be assuming too much in his analysis. more

ICANN Can’t Take Care of Everything

Bruce Young tells a story of an Internet user who gets into trouble because "his" domain name was registered in the name of a web hosting provider that went bankrupt later on...As far as registrars are concerned, ICANN is currently doing its homework on domain name portability. As far as web hosting companies are concerned, though, these suggestions only look appealing at first sight. Upon closer inspection, they wouldn't be good policy... more

U.S. Senate’s Hearing on ICANN

Later today, Senator Conrad Burns, who chairs the U.S. Senate subcommittee responsible for supervising ICANN, will be holding a hearing on a number of issues.

At the beginning of the year, a press release called "Burns Unveils NexGenTen Agenda For Communications Reform and Security in the 21st Century", had reported:

"U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) announced his top priorities for his chairmanship of the Senate Communications Subcommittee during the 108th legislative session. The ten items, called the Burns NexGenTen Tech Agenda, aim to strengthen security and usher reform for 21st Century Communication... more

ICANN Workshop Displays Diverging Perspectives on WHOIS

At a workshop held in late June in Montreal (Canada) -- Karl Auerbach had submitted some live coverage to CircleID --, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) had an in-depth look at various aspects of the Internet's WHOIS databases. These databases associate social information (like holders' names and contact information) with network identifiers, such as IP addresses and domain names. Current policy for these databases -- in particular in the generic top level domain area -- is part of ICANN's contracts with domain name retailers ("registrars") and database operators ("registries"), and permits for use of the data by arbitrary parties for arbitrary purposes. more

New Data on Domain Name Contact Availability and Privacy

Nearly 90% of the internet's generic top-level (gTLD) domain names do not have identifying contact information in the Registration Data Directory Services (RDDS) system, according to a report by Interisle Consulting Group. A key finding of the report is the rapid growth of registrar-provided proxy service offerings and the inclusion of these services for both new and existing registrations. more

Apple Under Fire for Removing VPN Apps from Russia’s App Store

Apple has reportedly removed nearly 60 VPN apps from its Russia App Store, significantly higher than the 25 VPNs acknowledged by Russian authorities, according to a recent report by the App Censorship Project. more

The “Pact for the Future”: A Bold Vision for Global Cooperation with Lingering Doubts on SDGs Progress

Global leaders gathered in New York at the Summit of the Future and adopted the "Pact for the Future" on Sunday 22nd September. This is a historic milestone as the Pact is the first international agreement aimed at securing a better digital future for all, grounded in human rights. The recent adoption of the "Pact for the Future" at the United Nations General Assembly marks a significant step toward revitalizing multilateral cooperation in an increasingly fragmented world. more

China Proposes Cyberspace IDs to Simplify Online Identity Verification

The Chinese government is considering a new system allowing citizens to use cyberspace IDs instead of providing personal information to internet service providers. more

The Evolution of DNS: Adapting to the Changing Internet Landscape

The DNS is a crucial part of today's Internet. With the fracturing of the network's address space as a byproduct of IPv4 address run down and the protracted IPv6 transition the Internet's name space is now the defining attribute of the Internet that makes it one network. However, the DNS is not a rigid and unchanging technology. It has changed considerably over the lifetime of the Internet and here I'd like to look at what's changed and what's remained the same. more

Canadian Bill S-210 Sparks Controversy Over Internet Regulations

A new bill in the Canadian Senate, Bill S-210, has ignited a heated debate over its potential impact on the Internet in Canada. The bill, which mandates strict age verification for online content, has raised significant concerns among privacy advocates, network operators, and digital rights groups. more

Researchers Expose Privacy Risks in Apple and Starlink’s Geo-Location Data, Uncovering Military and Civilian Tracking

Researchers from the University of Maryland have revealed significant privacy and security concerns related to the way Apple and Starlink geo-locate devices. Their study found that Apple's Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) collects and publicly shares precise locations of Wi-Fi access points. more

The Rise of WiFi Sensing and Its Implications for Home Security and Surveillance

It's incredibly hard to keep things private in the new digital age. There are far too many stories circulating about people who talked to a friend on the phone or texted about something and almost instantly got hit with ads for the subject of the conversation. And that happens without malware - no telling what information you're giving out if your devices have been infected with malicious software that is spying on you. more

U.S. Congress Nears Breakthrough Agreement on National Online Data Protection Framework

In a landmark move that may pave the way for enhanced online data protection in the United States, key congressional committee leaders are on the brink of finalizing a national framework to safeguard Americans' personal data on the Internet.  more

CENTR Warns Against EU FiDA Proposal’s Impact on Consumer Access and Business Continuity

The Council of European National Top-level domain Registries (CENTR) has issued recommendations to modify the EU's Financial Data Access Regulation proposal, warning about the potentially irreversible effects on European consumers and businesses. more

Digital Sovereignty and Internet Standards

There have been a number of occasions when the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has made a principled decision upholding users' expectations of privacy in their use of IETF-standardised technologies. (Either that, or they were applying their own somewhat liberal collective bias and to the technologies they were working on!) The first major such incident that I can recall is the IETF's response to the US CALEA measures. more