Maps, Localization, and Anonymity
Acabo de tuitar três links para projejos e problemas que concernem o anonimato e a privacidade nos blogs, principalmente para os “citizen journalists”, nos celulares, por geolocalização e redes GSM. A geolocalização também é o tema do projeto “Hitoric Map Works” que oferece a possibilidade de navegar por mapas históriocs interligados aos mapas atuais. No final uma síntese provisória dentro do espírito de “work in progress” deste Carnet de Notes!
O artigo do MediaShift, “Why Bloggers and Citizen Journalists Deserve A Shield Law”, de Clothilde Le Coz, levanta a discussão sobre o direito ao anonimato e a proteção de fontes citadas nos Blogs. O argumento é que os blogs (os blogueiros) devem ter proteção direito à proteção de suas fontes e à liberdade de expressão de forma anônima afim de garantir o direito de expressão sem ser coagido ou censurado. A questão se apresenta nos EUA. No Brasil, a recente lei para internet em período eleitoral impede o anonimato, assim como a constituição brasileira em seu artigo quinto. Um debate sobre o anonimato na internet mereceria ser levado a sério.
Sobre proteção de fontes:
“Today in the United States, there is no legislation that allows bloggers to protect their sources. Yet bloggers have become a great way for the public — and journalists in particular — to keep informed about important topics. A survey from Middleberg Communications and the Society for New Communications Research released on September 22 found that 66 percent of journalists use blogs to assist in their reporting. This means blogs play an important role in newsgathering and the press. So why not legally protect bloggers and citizen journalists by allowing them to use anonymity and protect their sources?
(…) The 2005 case of blogger Josh Wolf also emphasized the importance of online information to society. In July of that year, Wolf filmed a G8 protest in San Francisco. At one point during the protest, a police car was damaged during a clash between protesters and police. A cable station later aired some of the footage that Wolf posted on his blog, and it was then picked up by local affiliates of the national networks. Although Wolf denied having footage of the damaged car, a federal judge ordered him to hand over all of his unedited footage to a grand jury investigation.
Wolf refused on the basis of his rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and a California shield law that allows journalists to refuse to name sources or surrender unpublished material and notes. He was sent to prison for a month.
As much as Wolf spending time in jail was unjust, imagine what would have happened if Wolf wasn’t a journalist and couldn’t argue his right to protect his sources? He would have been forced to give up his footage and thus become an accomplice in the arrest of protesters.”
Sobre o anonimato:
“Reporters Without Borders deals with issues related to anonymity almost every day. Being anonymous on the web has unfortunately become synonymous with behaving in a cowardly fashion, or posting offensive comments. But in many countries, anonymity is all about protecting the security of bloggers who risk their lives in order to publish information.
In Saudi Arabia, the use of real names online is very recent because most bloggers there are afraid of being arrested if they criticize the government. American citizen journalists don’t face these kind of restrictions or threats. For most of us living in the U.S., anonymity is not a matter of personal security.
But consider the example of Twitter user Elliot Madison. He was arrested by the FBI and charged of hindering prosecution after he allegedly used the social networking site Twitter to help protesters evade police at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Madison was giving the location of the riot police on the ground, but so too were reporters and news helicopters. His arrest is certainly of concern, and it could have been avoided if he had the option of protecting his anonymity.”
O segundo tema deste post vem do Ecrans. Aqui a questão é a privacidade e também o anonimato no uso dos smart-phones. Segundo a matéria, um hacker mostrou que as operadoras e, qualquer pessoa com algum conhecimento e equipamentos, pode localizar qualquer celular GSM que tenha um GPS embarcado. E isso sem que o usuário saiba. Vejam trechos do texto “Smartphone : comment suivre son conjoint par GPS” de David Servenay.
“(…) L’expérience consiste à monter un réseau GSM local : en fait, une grosse antenne attachée à un sapin, couplée à un ordinateur sous une tente (ça, c’est l’esprit Burning Man). Puis de faire tourner la machine avec des logiciels libres (“open source” pour les geeks) en reprenant les procédures de base (un protocole, en langage informatique) utilisés par tous les opérateurs et constructeurs de smartphones. Comme me l’a expliqué Romain Beauxis, riverain qui nous avait déjà éclairé sur les possibilités techniques en matière d’écoutes de portables:
(…) “Les smartphones utilisent presque tous un protocole par défaut qui donne leur position géographique. Donc n’importe quel opérateur téléphonique (ou bien des gens qui simulent un réseau GSM, avec OpenBSC) peut connaître la position d’un smartphone, sans que l’utilisateur puisse accepter ou refuser. Dans la pratique : j’achète une station GSM, j’installe le logiciel open source, et je peux connaître la position GPS des téléphones dans mon rayon d’action.”
(…) “Il suffit de mettre une station GSM dans une camionnette, par exemple devant nos bureaux, pour savoir qui est dans ce périmètre. J’ajouterais que même si c’est théoriquement à la portée de n’importe qui, il faut déjà trouver une station GSM, ce qui est sans doute assez dur. Il faut aussi officiellement avoir une autorisation pour utiliser les fréquences.”
Même analyse de Romain Beauxis, pour qui la techno est à la portée d’un « bricoleur ». Pas très rassurant : “Pour ma part, le simple fait que votre fournisseur puisse avoir accès à cette information me paraît problématique. Par exemple, SFR vend déjà en option pro une géolocalisation des téléphones des employés de son client.” (…)
O terceiro tema coloca o uso dos mapas entre o passado e o futuro. É o projeto Historic Maps. A partir da geolocalização do usuário é possível navegar em um mapa do passado interpolado com o presente. Assim, afirmam os idealizadores do projeto:
“Based in Westbrook Maine, Historic Map Works, LLC is an Internet company formed to create a historic digital map database of North America and the world. Drawing on the largest physical collection of American property atlases of its type, it is our aim to be the single best online destination for map enthusiasts and researchers alike.
In addition to our own atlas collection, we incorporated our scans of the antiquarian world map collection from the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education located at the University of Southern Maine. Combining these collections allows site visitors a vast amount of information spanning several centuries of cartographic information.
Maps are then uploaded and cataloged for viewing on our website. Our technicians geocode each map to a modern map to enable the search by address function. Linking the historic images in our database with geocode data allows visitors to search by modern day address or latitude and longitude coordinates. Other methods to view our maps include browsing by geographic location as well as searching our maps via keywords, town names, makers names, or simply by year.”
Um vídeo pode ser visto aqui.