"electronic surveillance"
By laure les aus - 21/07/2013
Surveillance is a French term adopted to
design the state of control and invigilating through video-cameras.
Videosurveillance appears late on the 1980’s and is strongly criticised
for Social Sciences because it displays practices for security against
human rights and lose of privacy. Artist like Manu Luksch, Harun Farocki
or Igor Stromajer develop strategies to improve and reformulate this
practices with electronic technologies. There are also practices of
surveillance in the Internet. Cybersurveillance includes other practices
as Cyberactivism and Cybersecurity. It is known that agencies, programs
and enterprises arise the century with cyberwar & netwarattacks.
Free media, independent journalist, hackers, hacktivist and activist are
suspected as cyberattackers. Artists like Paolo Cirio, Konrad Becker,
Fran Illich, Etoy, are working with free media and hacking strategies to
denounce abuse of power and acts against human rights. Resembling
policies of terror, Cybersurveillance leads with terrorism. So,
Wikileaks exist as a contemporary case. Julian Assange and Bradly
Manning are suspected figures of the contemporary Geopolitics. Finally,
the Intellectual property laws have been seriously injured by state
cultural agents under internet surveillance laws and committees for
security prosecuting artists, writers and journalist.
The videosurveillance is the streaming in real time through the use and operation of surveillance systems and CCTV television circuits. Quoting Slavoj Zizek, videosurveillance systems are a persistent threat to privacy. The philosopher affirms “it
is easier to imagine the end of the World, rather than to build an
alternative to the social and production systems in where we live”. Surveillance is not a remedy for the catastrophe, but it represents it. The control is there to guarantee a normative and a social order. The images of videosurveillance do not have a neutral meaning. These are images that spread the fear and legitimate the control[1]. Some artists working with videosurveillance are Harun Farocki, Manu Luksch, Mario Santamaría, Jill Magid, Benjamín Gaullon o Igor Stromajer. Important references are George Orwell “1984”, “Brazil” directed by Terry Gillian or “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang reporting abusive practices of power. According practices of control, the sentence ¿Quis custodiet ipsos custodet? (¿Who will watch the watchers?) recalls about the study of surveillance systems. Some of the cameras are not secure or perfect and part of the content is distributed through Internet turning into a threat for privacy. An innumerable number of liveapplet[2] exist in the internet giving access to private and public webcams (online community cameras, IP cameras without passwords, Dorks or public cameras).
Manu Luksch is an intermedia artist whose practice interrogates conceptions of progress through the devising of tools and frameworks and the instigation of processes. With a strong emphasis on research and dissemination her recent work address to surveillance, corporate data harvesting and the regulation of public space. Actually Manu Luksch participates at the AEC Ars Electronica Centre, Linz, at the exhibition “Out of Control – What the web knows about you[3]”. An exhibition about digital identity where it is exhibited captured data, telecommunications data retention, security, privacy, phising and more items regarding videosurveillance and cybersurveillance. Normally, CCTV, wireless video and surveillance system are imposed as a device to reduce crime. There are other examples of artist working within videosurveillance: Jill Magid or Igor Stromajer. Jill Magid[4] has worked in different museums as TATE Modern London, Ars Santa Monica Barcelona. Her works concludes practices regarding identity and videosurveillance. She develops CCTV environments in public space or inside the museum where she transforms its identity questioning order, power and policies of control. Feminism,
always oppressed by the policies of the states and masculine habits of
power and laws regarding family, is declared part of creation to
re-socialize practices. Igor Stromajer[5] is a media artist from Slovenia. He introduces changes in political and cultural structures to declare failure and error. He uses to work with new technologies and new media such optical devices, robots and internet. His work is represented in the website art project intima.org. Igor Stromajer is interested in the human emotions as a communication with our bodies and as an explanation for technology. According this, he establishes practices of counter-power, where political subject and major forces of development are hacked to produce a change in its system. Resistance tactics
are used to be inserted in opera buildings, town hall and other civil
and common places where the social order is distorted. The artwork Balletika Internetika[6] is a series of tactical art projects by Igor Štromajer and Brane Zorman which began in 2001 with the exploration of Internet ballet. It explores wireless Internet ballet performances combined with guerrilla tactics and mobile live Internet broadcasting strategies. The 10-years project ended in 2011.
But, as well as artist work with CCTV system and internet, the state agents use the concept cybersecurity to stablish surveillance system through the network. It has been created to prevent attacks or cyberattacks to financial structures and against industrial spying. It forms the information war against those who search into the deep web for non-clear information and controversial data. Those are considered attackers and are accused to steal data accessing to connected organisations. Wikileaks is an example. Julian Assange and Bradly Manning are arrested because of this. USA condemns Wikileaks because it condemns abuse of power and violation of human rights in Iraq, Afganistan, Guatanamo. Engineers of anti-virus and the engineering business informatics creates antivirus in order to defence against malware. Policies for data security procure the investment in security, to clean up networks and increase the laws for security. As dictated by Michel Foucault, policies for control and invigilating are excluding human and civil rights and against perseveration laws (UNESCO). Public figures like Eugene Kapersky and the chiefs’ executives of Davos Summit construct an order of the world where the Government investments are based in information and security, rather than heritage and human rights. Hackers fight against intellectual rights, controlled by the culture state agents. Hackers are considered attackers doing social engineering attacks. Cybersecurity has been prepared against them, to prevent human hacking, creating a Network security based in data assurance to protect potential financial subjects. Social engineers fight against hackers, criminals, terrorists, industrial espionage, insiders, and “disgruntled, malicious and former employees”. Those are accused under false judgement, threaten to loose work placement, attacked against its rights to work, prosecuted, invigilated, controlled and constantly submitted to social repression and financial examination, suffering social risk of exclusion. Wicker causes of bullying, moving and harassment have to be revised under civil, social and work rights perspective. Moreover, the investment in security networks causes a growth in privatising the sites and internet. Freedom of expression and creation and those who support the free movement will not collaborate and will persist on resistance collaborating with peer2peer platforms and free networks as archive.org[7]. Furthermore, financial and political information has to be constantly accessible and web browsed by anyone who dares interest in nation, politics and capitalism.
New tactics such as face-to-face, phising, telephone war dialling,
baiting, eavesdropping or scam are used by hackers, spies and state
agents. Finally, many of the companies developing security items, Kapersky or Mti are examples of companies participating in the state defence programs, developing and represented at arms fairs, exhibitions centres and other centres. Bombs, missiles, tanks and guns, as well as “riot control equipment”, are sold to regimes that oppress their own people. Weapons
are sold to both sides of a civil war and countries in a war with each
other. Delegates from countries that need funds for health services,
education and agriculture are persuaded to incur debt to purchase
weapons. This evil trade, same as security and defence programmes, is highly profitable for unscrupulous arms dealers in the UK and overseas. The interests of these companies are to make as much profits as possible, promoting weapons, death and oppression[8].
It is known that Government policies and Department of Security are protecting privileged accounts from cyber-attacks, with laws and rules. Some companies developing tools for the government security policies are SANS Institute or agencies as the Office
of the Secretary, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, the International Trade
Administration or the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration. There is a committee as well, the Internet Crime Complaint Center or the US-CERT United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). Some of them manage the law in order to establish policies: Cyberspace Policy Review or Internet Policy Task Force. According Jacques Ranciere, the policies of dissents are a counterbalance for the abusive policies of state. Free media and independent journalist offer an alternative. Its disagreement against the policies and laws express a political aesthetic interest in this social and netwar. One of those surveillance program used by the United States government is PRISM, for the collection of foreign intelligence information from internet service companies. The PRISM program is enabling in-depth surveillance on live communications and stored information. Data which the NSA is able to obtain with the PRISM program may include email,
video and voice chat, videos, photos, voice over IP conversations, file
transfers, login notifications and social networking details. So according to this, governmental policies are affecting the information to be monitored rather than distributed or communicated[9]. Marshall McLuhan declaimed how the organization of the mass media and the communication systems (having its entire dependence on state plans) will configure the entire spirit of the nation. So, it has to be affronted the case under Foucault revision, where the development of instruments, devices, programs or techniques is an option for the power of a few[10]. Companies, agencies and programs develop policies for cyberwar and netwar. Cyberwar is formed by the military corporations: Fibersenses Technologies, Interstate Electronics. Most of them act as private companies in civil society but belonging to military. Its development is linked to past spying practices. Military technologies develop social programs for information society or communication systems that belong to capitalism forces of production and are not considering alternative practices of production and material resources. Those who acquire land for mines under war situation are linked to communication companies who develop infrastructures using fiber senses or optical lasers.
A part of communication enterprises that have a link with military industries, it exist many multinational companies that are producing against ethic principles or human rights. Security Company Infonic or Shell[11] are suspected. Recently, Greenpeace hacked a website against Shell because of the inadequate practise of spoliation. Also, tax avoidance scandals are one of the main points for activist. Because of the ecologist practices, activist are constantly exposed to surveillance practices of control. The exposure of undercover policeman into the eco-activist movement revealed how the state monitors and undermines political activism. This is a grave threat to our political freedoms. Undercover activities by corporations have to be denounced. According to previously confidential sources, companies such as Nestlé, Shell and McDonalds use covert methods to evade accountability. Corporate intelligence gathering has an important implication for democracy itself. Tax avoidance is a general practice of companies like Starbucks and other companies who collect minerals from 3rd countries (Zambia). The fact that they do not declare its profits makes the global world a state of corruption. Activists, investigative and citizen journalists, and all who care about freedom and democracy in the 21st century are subjected to be monitored and controlled by the state and the police using spying techniques[12]. In the 1980s, Shell, the company hired Rafael Pagan
to develop a strategy plan designed to neutralize boycott groups
campaigning against Shell’s continuing involvement with the apartheid
regime in South Africa[13]
and Manfred Schlickenrieder was a spy for the British corporate
intelligence firm Hakluyt, investigating Greenpeace, Friends of the
Earth, WTO World Trade Organization or the Body Shop and a variety of
other activists groups. Both BP and Shell admit hiring Hakluyt as a private intelligence firm.
The problem is that agencies and programmes will be able to introduce into all citizens privacy. That kind of practices will contribute to develop major causes of espionage,
false accusations, repression of freedom and increased social
inequalities. Threaten and condemned citizens are journalists, who
denounce the abuse of power, the free media and the major editorials. In U.K., Pluto Press[14]
is one of the world’s leading radical publishers, specialising in
progressive, critical perspectives in politics and the social sciences.
Based in London, it has been active for over 40 years and independent
since 1979. It has more than 800 titles in print by authors such as Noam
Chomsky, Howard Zinn, John Pilger, Susan George, Ziauddin Sardar, Greg
Palast, Eduardo Galeano and Vandana Shiva. In U.S., Beacon Press[15]
is an independent publisher of serious non-fiction and fiction. Its
books often change the way readers think about fundamental issues; they
promote such values as freedom of speech and thought; diversity,
religious pluralism, and anti-racism; and respect for diversity in all
areas of life.
On October 22, 2006, Beacon Press commemorated the 35th anniversary of publication of The Senator Gravel Edition of The Pentagon Papers—the first full edition of the top secret Defense Department studies that exposed decades of U.S. decision making in Vietnam. On June 24, 2007, Democracy Now!
host Amy Goodman moderated a panel at General Assembly with Dan
Ellsberg, Senator Mike Gravel and Former USA President Bob West on the
role of Beacon Press in publishing the Pentagon Papers. Another one is Democracy Now[16] supporting everyday citizens and individuals accused to whistleblowers or being targeted under Surveillance Program for NSA National Security Agency. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Democracy Now!’s
War and Peace Report provides the audiences with access to people and
perspectives rarely heard in the U.S. corporate-sponsored media,
including independent and international journalists, ordinary people
from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy,
grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and
independent analysts. For true democracy to work, people need easy
access to independent, diverse sources of news and information. But the
last two decades have seen unprecedented corporate media consolidation. Democracy Now!
is funded entirely through contributions from listeners, viewers, and
foundations. It does not accept advertisers, corporate underwriting, or
government funding. This allows them to maintain independent.
Actually, national policies regarding surveillance are affecting Wikileaks. A tool developed for a Free World of Internet, media and communications. Threaten as a hacktivism and hacking, Wikileaks exposes governmental and corporate secrets. Developed by Julian Assange to unveil conspiracies, acts, torture committed by authoritarian regimes and democratic governments[17]. It is considered civil disobedience and democratic resistance. It aims is to accuse sinister plans of governments, secrets, to fighting deadly wars in Iraq and Afganishtan for national interests. Wikileaks is the enemy of the state because of publishing information. Wikileaks is resistance, is anarchist, and opposed to governments. Wikileaks fights against corruption in government, corporations, misery, pursuit of happiness, and the a-critical mass. Wikileaks distrust power, politicians, institutions, and claims to freedom of press. Wikileaks
expose laws that protect federal workers that are committing waste,
fraud, and abuse of authority. These who belong to Bourgeois society
take the risk, control and power, and contribute to laws for its own
benefits. The US campaign against Wikileaks is as well as for all the enemies of the state. The Administration and the government continually attack Wikileaks. It accuses
military and US international policies (Guantanamo) where practices
against human rights are permitted. Wikileaks publishes memos of US
foreign policy and this is the reason why politicians go for Assange
assassination. Bradley Manning is in prison accused to whistleblower.
Because of it, Wikileaks is not legal in U.S.[18] But there is a social movement supporting Wikileaks. Cyberpunk is a concept invented by Gibson. It is characterised by hackers and DIY ideology. It builds
the world in order to change the imposed ideology of consumerism, a
platform for social change and a subculture which dismantle the barbed
wire around intellectual property. It is known all the states control the intellectual property under its economical law, social class and recently committees and states agents dedicated to invigilate and castigate those who promote freedom of information through internet websites, networks and platforms. On its fight, it exists Cryptoactvism. Julian Assange, from Wikileaks, says that internet has turn in “a post-modern surveillance dystopia”[19]. The three fellow heroes of free information of The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, Tim May, Andy Müller-Maguhn, one of the earliest members of the legendary Chaos Computer Club, support Julian Assange in its fight against corruption. Bradley Manning trial due to start in June will be one of the most important in America's history, the outcome of which will affect future whistleblowers and political dissenters. He commit the largest security breach in American history including the release of the infamous “Collateral Murder” gunsight video[20]. It is a short video posted on Wikileaks Youtube Channel about a collateral murder in Iraq by US helicopter. It was released on July 6, 2010, by Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad. The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg (Beacon Press),
has called Mr. Manning a 'hero'. He is currently imprisoned in Kuwait.
The Apache crew and those behind the cover up depicted in the video have
yet to be charged. WikiLeaks released the classified
US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen
people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad, including two Reuters news
staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom
of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The
video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the
unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two
young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded[21]. Edward Snowden explains why he has devoted his life to expose how the United States is spying on the world. Snowden says he thinks the biggest revelation to emerge from his leaks is the National Security Agency’s collection of all communications into and out of the United States — despite NSA claims that it only targets foreign traffic. Snowden also predicts that the U.S. government would seek to demonize
him and accuse him of aiding America’s enemies. "We have good people
with good values who want to do the right thing, but the structures of
power that exist are working to their own ends to extend their
capability at the expense of the freedoms of all." Edward Joseph Snowden is an American former technical contractor for the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who leaked details of several top-secret U.S. and British government mass surveillance programs to the press. Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof. Mass surveillance has been widely criticized on several grounds such as violations of privacy rights, illegality, and for preventing political and social freedoms, which some fear will ultimately lead to a totalitarian state where political dissent is crushed by COINTELPRO-like programs. Such a state may also be referred to as an electronic police state[22].
On the other hand, policies for human rights are developed by artists, activist and hackers such as Paolo Cirio, Konrad Becker or Fran Ilich promoting free information platforms, newspapers, radios, networks, databases. All developed with free software, under creative commons ideology, against Intellectual property. Supporting the free internet movement, social rights and free media, those are against capitalism, for a new economy and order. Most of these practices consider internet as a freedom space. The cyberspace is taken by artist as a tool to develop social structures for communication to improve its social relations. According human rights, heritage and preservation policies, artists build through software art, net.art and networks devices that contribute to grow public opinion offering a different point of view from the politics, military and abusive practices. Since the emergence of cyberspace, artists are being based in networking practices. The freedom of the cyberspace, although being originally developed as a DARPA industrial military project, it has been affronted as a public space. This concept has a very important connotation for the development of democracy. And since the end of the 2nd World War in Europe, the emergence of the lefties thought and philosophers as Adorno or Hannah Arendt
contributed to edify the perspective for new social practices and
relations with the environment surrounding citizens. The same
connotation - public space - has been introduced in cyberspace and internet. Artists and hackers have helped and contribute to improve the global network offering solutions for communication and many other situations.
In
its claim for freedom and internet uses for personal and social
development, many Cybermanifestos have been written to promote the
defence and rights to use internet as a platform for work. Hackim Bey[23] published in 1985-1991, T.A.Z. The Temporary Autonomous Zones, in Autonomedia.
Its references to imaginary geography and the fictional description of
spaces that artist use for a preservation society is a path to
understand what the cyberspace is. Also, the emergence of the net.art in
America contributed to the writing of manifestos: The Cyphernomicon and The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto by Timothy C. May, and A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow. The Cyphernomicon was written in 1994 by Timothy C. May. It is about the Cypherpunks, a group that have existed since September, 1992. It is conformed by artists using writing cryptography, searching key escrow, clippering the Net and the Information Superhighway. They are finally considered by forces of power as cyberterrorists. They use the crypto anarchy to denounce practices of security, control in the net and against privacy, for freedom and free sources for knowledge. The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto is addressed to all Cypherpunks,
those “physical Cypherpunks” that in Silicon Valley requested more of
the material passed out in meetings to be available electronically for
its entire readership. The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto
was read at the September 1992 founding meeting. It dates back to
mid-1988 and was distributed to some like-minded techno-anarchists at
the "Crypto '88" conference and then again at the "Hackers Conference". A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John
Perry Barlow is declared against Governments of the Industrial World,
those who are giants of flesh and steel. It is said: “I come from
Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of
the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no
sovereignty where we gather.” Those are examples of 90’s manifestos.
Another one, is written by Gert Lovink, The ABC of Tactical Media, on
nettime. A part of a manifesto, nettime has been used as a common
platform for sharing information and a free knowledge.
Artists,
hackers and activist are all considered and threaten as terrorist, with
similar laws, control and social prosecution. According to intellectual
property, state agents are confronted with CC Creative Commons, an Open
Source project funded by Lawrence Lessig. The conditions of production
according internet and new publishing software make easy the process of
distribution of the work – books, albums, films. Regarding property laws
and authors rights, it is said that new ideas can be developed thanks
to the free and sharing platforms. To publish under CC facilitates
guarantees to the author to distribute and contribute to disseminate the
clear task of knowledge. So, the Intellectual Property Commission (CPI)
in Spain is administrated by the Department for Culture. They
investigate in collaboration with other organs of the Government
(Department of Defence par example). They have competences in matters of
surveillance and control of Internet. The Law for Economic
Sustainability, developed by the Minister of Culture M. Angeles Sinde,
from Zapatero’s Government, was created to contribute and develop
internet surveillance. The Intellectual Property Commission (CPI) was
also created. It was in charge of regulating internet downloads,
prosecuting and closing certain webs and sites, controlling the musical
industries production, denying access to media communications, etc. It
gained a very bad popular reputation, claiming its non-development with
multiple demonstrations against it. The Commission has followed its
anti-downloads laws and shutting free platforms for films. Users are
criminalised according the spectacular industries of cinema and music
like SGAE and the companies that dominate the cultural industries. In
this order, laws of intellectual property are a path to cybersecurity.
Open source and free software have the aim to guarantee universal access
and knowledge against multinational and corporations who do it for
economical reason or own profit. Platforms as GNU General Public Licence
funded by Richard Stallman develop software allowing users to a free
use. Contrary, Microsoft sells all of its products, almost obliging the
consumers to acquire this product and the new version, tending to a
capitalist economy of stocks. So free software movements, activisms,
hackers and artist claim for free information, for a common and sharing
practices of information, against property and capitalism, and against
the abuse of power, control and vigilance.
[1]
Las nuevas narrativas de las cámaras de vigilancia, Por: Roberta Bosco y
Stefano Caldana | 01 de julio de 2013, Blog El Pais, http://blogs.elpais.com/arte-en-la-edad-silicio/2013/07/las-nuevas-narrativas-de-las-camaras-de-vigilancia.html
[2] Liveapplet in Google https://www.google.com/search?q=liveapplet
[3] Ars Electronica Center, Out of Control – What the web knows about you, exhibition http://www.aec.at/center/en/ausstellungen/ausser-kontrolle/
[4] Jill Magid http://www.jillmagid.net
[5] Igor Stromajer http://www.intima.org/is.html
[6] Igor Stromajer, Balletika Internetika, http://www.intima.org/bi/index.html
[7]
The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital
library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.
Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians,
scholars, the print disabled, and the general public.
[8] MTI It Security Today, April 2013, http://mti.com/
MTI is a trust developing information structure for security, data
storage, etc. is one of the big companies participating at arms fairs
and venues.
[9]PRISM in Wikipediahttp://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM also Netbehaviour
[11]
Secret Manoeuvres in the Dark. Corporate and Police Spying on
Activists. Eveline Lubbers. ISBN: 9780745331850. 272pp. 14 Jun 2012.
Eveline Lubbers is a Research Fellow at the University of Bath, and an
independent investigator with SpinWatch and privacy advocates buro
Jansen & Janssen. She is the contributing editor of Battling Big
Business: Countering Greenwash, Front Groups and Other Forms of
Corporate Bullying (2002).
[12] More on cybersurveillance and spying November 2004, The Threat Response Spy Files
or A story about an arms manufacturer, a private intelligence company and many infiltrators
or A story about an arms manufacturer, a private intelligence company and many infiltrators
Eveline Lubbers for SpinWatch, Wil van der Schans for buro Jansen & Janssen http://www.evel.nl/spinwatch/TRFrontpage.htm
[13] Secret Manouvres in the Dark, Wordpress http://secretmanoeuvresinthedark.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/kiobel-holds-shell-to-account/
[14] Pluto Press. Independent Progressive Publishing http://www.plutobooks.com/
[15] Beacon Press http://www.beacon.org/
[16] Democracy Now, NSA Whisteblowers: “All U.S. Citizens Targeted by Surveillance Programs, Not Just Verizon customers. http://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/6/nsa_whistleblowers_all_us_citizens_targeted
[17] More information and videos in Wikileaks Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG6oAN5QwTM
[18]
Furball0. On Wikileaks, Bitcoin, Copyleft. Three Critiques of
Hacktivism. The wine and cheese Appreciation Society of Greater London.
Kittens Editorial Collective. January 2013. http://antinational.org/en
[19] Cypherpunk rising: WikiLeaks, encryption, and the coming surveillance dystopia. http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/7/4036040/cypherpunks-julian-assange-wikileaks-encryption-surveillance-dystopia
[21] Collateral Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogFZlRiTHuw
[22] Edward Snowden http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f3q_t7axVc
[23] Hackim Bey http://hermetic.com/bey/By laure les aus - 21/07/2013