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PRIVACY IN CYBERSPACE

Cryptography Applications

• Freenet: Freenet is free software which lets you publish and obtain information on the Internet without fear of censorship. To achieve this freedom, the network is entirely decentralized and publishers and consumers of information are anonymous. Without anonymity there can never be true freedom of speech, and without decentralization the network will be vulnerable to attack.
• Invisiblog: Lets you publish a weblog using GPG and the Mixmaster anonymous remailer network. You don’t ever have to reveal your identity - not even to us. You don’t have to trust us, because we’ll never know who you are. Invisiblog is an example of the use of encryption for the purposes of authentication without revealing the identity of the author. Invisiblog allows someone to publish anonymously to the world, while still preserving a continuity of authorship. Invisiblog gives several examples of people who would benefit from anonymous blogging:
  • Salam Pax, a pseudonymous blogger claiming to be from Iraq, who posted a diary during the recent war. He has not posted since March 24; some suspect he was captured by Iraqi secret police before US forces reached Baghdad. Journalist Paul Boutin was able to trace Salam’s emails to an ISP in Lebanon.
  • Iranian blogger and journalist Sina Motallebi was arreseted on April 19, and faces charges over the content of his weblog and interviews given to foreign media groups.
  • Tunisian web journalist Zouhair Yahyaoui was arrested and imprisoned for publishing political commentary on his web site. Authorities allegedly used torture to force Yahyaoui to reveal his access passwords.
  • Cuba recently imprisoned 75 dissidents and democracy activists, including a number of online journalists, for writing articles critical of the government. Many of them were turned in by informers amongst colleagues and even family. Some of their associates continue to publish on the web.

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