Twitter blocks government 'spy centers' from accessing user data:
Twitter has blocked federally funded "domestic spy centers" from using a powerful social media monitoring tool after public records revealed that the government had special access to users' information for controversial surveillance efforts.
The government centers are partnerships between agencies that work to collect vast amounts of information purportedly to analyze "threats". The spy centers, according to the ACLU, target protesters, journalists and others protected by free speech rights while also racially profiling people deemed "suspicious" by law enforcement.
In one email, Dataminr told Los Angeles police that its product could be customized to track protests, adding: "Twitter owns part of Dataminr (5%) so our access to their data is unmatched – no other company ingests the full firehouse of 500 million tweets in real-time ... Twitter has been very clear with my CEO: 'Dataminr is the only company with full, unrestricted access.'"
"Dataminr is committed to privacy and civil liberties protections," the company said in a statement. "We have worked closely with Twitter to modify our product and incorporate feedback that ensures the strongest safeguards are in place for people who use Twitter."
Also at aclunc.org and The Verge.
This all sounds very familiar...
Previously: Twitter Cuts Off U.S. Spy Agency Access to Search Tool
Related Stories
Twitter has cut off U.S. intelligence agency access to Dataminr, a partly-owned search tool that sifts through tweets in real time. The decision may be due to the bad "optics" of being closely associated with U.S. spies:
Twitter Inc. cut off U.S. intelligence agencies from access to a service that sifts through the entire output of its social-media postings, the latest example of tension between Silicon Valley and the federal government over terrorism and privacy.
The move, which hasn't been publicly announced, was confirmed by a senior U.S. intelligence official and other people familiar with the matter. The service — which sends out alerts of unfolding terrorist attacks, political unrest and other potentially important events — isn't directly provided by Twitter, but instead by Dataminr Inc., a private company that mines public Twitter feeds for clients.
Also at The Verge and PC World.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 17 2016, @05:02PM
I don't get why people are so content with using a service that is just so keen on spying on it's users.
I mean, it's old news that Twitter shadow banned (secretly silence) that reporter when he released documents on US drone killings, effectively censoring news.
It's old news that Twitter then didn't censor anyone during the Arab Spring. "We're a political platform" they say, until US drone killings. Fuck them.
This isn't just Twitter either. It's old news that the NSA is literally in bed with Dropbox, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google who happily provide them with the 'necessary' data without court orders. Have your fucking pick.
And yet, everyone continues using those services.
Am I the only one here that's going a bit crazy over all of this voluntary cattle branding?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday December 17 2016, @07:12PM
Twitter seems low on the totem pole of things to be worried of. You can use your fake names, open new accounts if you get blocked, or block geodata from being sent to Twitter (and use a VPN to fool IP geolocating). Compare that to Facebook and other social networks. Or Dropbox, where you upload your content for scanning.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 17 2016, @07:12PM
> And yet, everyone continues using those services.
You work with the tools you have, not the tools you wish you had.
As soon as you provide an alternative that isn't subject to the same risks, I'm sure people will be all over it.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday December 17 2016, @07:35PM
Are you sure? [wikipedia.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 18 2016, @03:19PM
Security on the surface web is destroyed, due to not only technological problems (e.g. Heartbleed's currently-unknown siblings), but also to government agents with gag orders and National Security Letters.
The only fix seems to be to create a new Internet making use of technologies that thwart government intervention, such as GNUnet. (I2P, freenet, and Tor look good at first glance, but there are serious problems underlying all of them, from gov control of Tor exit nodes to the others being built on the now-abandoned Java language.)