Rick Falkvinge
PIA VPN Service
Germany
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Past articles by Rick:
One month from today, the UK reintroduces governmental censorship
A partial ban on pornography online is the thin edge of a 200-ton steel wedge between yourself and any information the government doesn't want you to see. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: Our analog parents had private talks
Our analog parents could have private conversations, both in public and in the sanctity of their homes. Our digital children live in the expectation of being overheard. → Read More
Crazy Swedish bill makes sharing TV as bad a "crime" as manslaughter
A new bill in the Swedish legislature makes ordinary torrent sharing of music, movies, and TV as severe a "crime" as involuntary manslaughter. The Swedish IT community is in shock and disbelief. → Read More
Swedish Police website hacked to mine cryptocurrency
The Swedish Police website was one of the sites captured with the simple BrowseAloud server-side script replacement. This complete lack of IT security should give pause for thought. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: Our childrens' non-purchases are tracked
In the world of our analog parents, we weren't registered and tracked when we bought something. In the world of our digital children, we're registered and tracked even when we DON'T buy something. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: 3rd-party services shouldn't void privacy
The U.S. government argues a doctrine where using a third-party service cancels out any expectation of privacy you have with regard to that service. The analog equivalent was the direct opposite. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: Libraries were analog search engines
You can find few professions as zealous to protect the privacy of its patrons as librarians. But in the digital world of our children, searches are instead harvested for marketing. How did this happen? → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: everything you say or do is recorded
Not even "1984" captured this dystopia: everything our children do is recorded and can be used against them 10, 20, 30 years from today. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: Where did Freedom of Assembly go?
Since our digital childrens' locations are tracked 24/7, they no longer have the freedom to associate with whomever they like and however they like. → Read More
Analog equivalent privacy rights: our children have lost Privacy of Location
Just twelve years ago, your location was something deeply private, especially if you were in a busy place like an airport. Our children have lost this. → Read More
Once again: Privacy promises from a company aren't worth anything
Companies, when they promise you privacy, have no legal ability to do so -- for the very next day, the government can walk into the company's offices. → Read More
Once again: if you carry a sensor of any kind, you must assume it's active
Google has been collecting location data from people with location "off". The Snowden docs taught us that if data collection is possible, it's happening. → Read More
Net Neutrality is necessary bad regulation to fix previous worse regulation
Everybody agrees that net neutrality - a free, fair, and level market with low barriers to entry - is the desired outcome. The opinions differ in method. → Read More
Net Neutrality: let's talk about the abuse of releasing bills on major holidays
There's only one reason to release a major legislative bill on a major holiday, and that's because they know it's controversial: it's deliberate bad faith. → Read More
How did sharing of scientific knowledge become the worst possible crime?
There's only one "crime" that merits Internet censorship -- the free sharing of scientific knowledge and culture. How did we get to this bizarre point? → Read More
EU votes to block websites without due process "For Consumer Protection"
The European Union just voted to give 28 Consumer Protection Authorities the power to censor any website off the Internet without judicial oversight. → Read More
Paywalls drive mass surveillance, giving NSA and the like the advantage
When security vulnerabilities are locked up behind paywalls, organizations that either have unlimited budgets or can ignore pawyalls anyway get an edge. → Read More
Remember, remember: Good evening, London.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November. We need to remind ourselves of this, once a year, that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. → Read More
Three governments demand file-sharing to be worse crime than terrorism
France, Spain, and Portugal are demanding that the "crime" of enjoying music and movies together is regarded as worse than terror and child exploitation. → Read More
Canvas data fingerprinting: yet another browser tracking method
Yet another method has been found that is used to track your browser for marketing databases: the way it paints things on a "canvas". → Read More