Friday Digest #2: AI Surveillance, Chinese Censorship & Govt Data Breaches
Hi, it’s Sam. Welcome to the second edition of Top10VPN’s Week in Review. This week, we’ll be covering the latest government data breaches, heightened censorship in China, and AI-enabled surveillance.
Plus, we’ve included some great OSINT tools and internet censorship resources that we’ve been using this week.
To find out more about this newsletter, check out our welcome post. And, as ever, if there’s something you think we should include in next week’s newsletter, please get in touch at research@top10vpn.com.
This week, headlines were dominated by Sam Altman’s departure from (and swift return to) OpenAI. But with so much controversy surrounding the companies behind the tech, it’s easy to lose sight of the technology’s real-world impacts.
A report from Forbes showed that surveillance company Social Links is now using ChatGPT to run sentiment analysis and topic identification on social media posts. The company, which was previously accused of scraping huge amounts of data from Facebook and Instagram, was founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Kulikov and has offices in the EU and US.
American Civil Liberties Union’s Jay Stanley told Forbes that using tools like ChatGPT for internet surveillance could “scale up individualized monitoring in a way that could never be done with human monitors.”
The unregulated expansion of tools like ChatGPT will almost inevitably lead to an increase in automated digital surveillance at a time when government surveillance of our social media activity is becoming increasingly widespread.
Significant data breaches were recorded in the US and UK this week. In the UK, information on the sex lives of up to 10,000 people was reportedly stolen from a UK government department. The specific department and reason for holding this data are unknown, but the incident is part of a significant increase in ransomware attacks across various sectors in the UK.
Meanwhile in the US, the hacking group SiegedSec breached a human resources application at Idaho National Laboratory, leaking detailed data on thousands of employees, including social security numbers and bank account information. The breach has national security implications due to the sensitive work of the lab, which is part of the US Department of Energy.
And finally, some worrying reports of disappearing anti-censorship tools have emerged this week. In China, popular anti-censorship tools like the proxy client Clash are vanishing on GitHub. The disappearance of these tools, which millions use to circumvent internet restrictions, is raising concerns about increasing state pressure on developers and the future of internet freedom in China.
What we’re reading
Citizen Lab: Chinese censorship following the death of Li Keqiang
The report by the Citizen Lab documents changes in Chinese internet censorship following the death of Li Keqiang, the former Premier of China. The study, covering seven Chinese internet platforms, discovered both hard and soft censorship of keywords related to Li's death, further demonstrating China's efforts to control the narrative around politically sensitive topics.
Rest of World: The end of anonymity on Chinese social media
Major Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou, now require popular users to display their legal names publicly. This rule has led to a significant shift in the Chinese social media landscape, with some influencers reducing their follower count to stay under the radar, while others have decided to leave the platforms altogether. The policy change is seen as an attempt to increase surveillance and control over influential voices on the internet, potentially stifling freedom of expression and diversity of opinions online.
The Markup: Facebook Watches Teens Online As They Prep for College
An investigation by The Markup found that Meta's pixel tracking tool is used on many popular websites targeting kids to track students' online activities. The tool, which is similar to a browser cookie, collects and transmits data to Facebook, allowing for targeted advertising. The privacy implications are especially concerning given its use on educational sites that students are often required to use.
VPN News
TorrentFreak: Dozens of VPNs & Shadowsocks Named in Leaked Russian Blocking Document
A leaked document from Russia's Ministry of Transport highlights the government's plans to intensify its crackdown on VPN services and the Shadowsocks protocol. The document lists 49 VPN services viewed as potential threats to the "stability, security, and integrity” of the country.
Bleeping Computer: Tor Project removes relays because of for-profit, risky activity
The Tor Project has removed multiple network relays from its system due to their involvement in a high-risk, for-profit cryptocurrency scheme. These relays, which are crucial in anonymizing traffic through the Tor network, are typically operated by volunteers dedicated to internet privacy. Operating relays for profit is seen as contrary to the principles of volunteers fighting internet censorship and surveillance.
Habr: Popular tools for bypassing blocks disappeared from Github overnight
This article (published in Russian) shows the number of censorship-circumvention tools that have recently been removed from Github. The tools are primarily supported by Chinese developers and include popular tools like Clash For Windows. These tools were used daily by millions in China and other regions with high rates of internet censorship.
Tools of the Week
Bendobrown, YouTube Channel
Benjamin Strick’s YouTube is a must-follow for tutorials on maps, data, and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). The channel provides digital sleuthing tutorials, covering techniques like verification, geolocation, data scraping, chronolocation, image reverse searching, advanced Google searching, and mapping data.
Advocacy Assembly: Using Strategic Litigation to Combat Internet Shutdowns
This course by the Centre for Law and Democracy is a 120-minute program designed to educate campaigners and advocates on using strategic litigation against Internet shutdowns. The course is part of the Shutdown Academy and follows course on how to monitor internet shutdowns around the world.
RFC 9505: A Survey of Worldwide Censorship Techniques
If you’re interested in the how internet censorship is implemented, then this recently-updated document from the Internet Research Task Force is a must-read. It’s a comprehensive analysis of the various types of internet censorship techniques, explaining how they are operate and their various technical limitations.
The Latest from Top10VPN.com
Can Someone See Your Internet History If You Use Their WiFi?
This week, we released this comprehensive guide on WiFi privacy. We delve into the types of information a WiFi owner or administrator can access when you're connected to their network. More importantly, the guide offers crucial tips on maintaining your privacy while using someone else's WiFi, ensuring your online activities remain confidential and secure.