Surveillance / en Police should never have power to tap journalists' phones, says 茄子直播鈥檚 Jeffrey Dvorkin /news/police-should-never-have-power-tap-journalist-phones <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Police should never have power to tap journalists' phones, says 茄子直播鈥檚 Jeffrey Dvorkin</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-03-quebec-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ef3cARy9 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-03-quebec-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=yQyeIWB9 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-03-quebec-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=WUA011aN 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-03-quebec-lead.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ef3cARy9" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-03T12:03:28-04:00" title="Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 12:03" class="datetime">Thu, 11/03/2016 - 12:03</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Press freedom is at stake with revelations this week that Quebec police have been tracking cell phones of some journalists (photo by jeanbaptisteparis via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/journalism" hreflang="en">Journalism</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">茄子直播 Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/quebec" hreflang="en">Quebec</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/surveillance" hreflang="en">Surveillance</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Canadian journalists and civil liberty advocates are outraged over <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-journalists-police-spying-1.3833507">revelations</a> that various police forces in Quebec have been tracking the cell phones of local journalists.</p> <p>Quebec provincial police admitted this week to police surveillance of six prominent journalists in 2013 as they tried to track down a person alleged to have leaked sensitive wiretap information involving a prominent labour leader. This followed revelations that Montreal police had been keeping&nbsp;tabs on the iPhone of a <em>La Presse </em>reporter, including tracking his&nbsp;whereabouts using his phone's&nbsp;GPS chip.</p> <p>Today, the Quebec government announced a&nbsp;full public inquiry into the growing scandal, but critics are still concerned over what this means for freedom of the press.</p> <p><em>茄子直播 News</em> spoke with <strong>Jeffrey Dvorkin</strong>,&nbsp;director of the journalism program at 茄子直播 Scarborough, about the controversy.&nbsp;He is a former vice-president of news for National Public Radio and a former managing editor with CBC Radio.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Why should Canadians care about this?</strong></p> <p>Canadians should care because access to journalistic work and 鈥渨ork product鈥 (in other words, the stuff that doesn鈥檛 get into the final reporting) should always be obtained with a warrant. Secondly, the amount of information about all of us 鈥 journalists and non-journalists 鈥 should be an area of great concern. We are living in&nbsp;an age of transparency and a diminishing lack of privacy. Google&nbsp;through Gmail&nbsp;has forced us to surrender any concept of privacy. The police are only doing&nbsp;(illegally) what Google does with our permission.</p> <p><strong>Is it common for police to employ surveillance on journalists in Canada?</strong></p> <p>Probably more than&nbsp;we know. We should know what all levels of government are doing to know more about us. Sometimes being paranoid is the only rational response to the times we live in. When I was managing editor at CBC Radio in the '90s, we discovered that the Canadian military could tap our phones without&nbsp;a warrant. We got that changed. At least we hope we did...</p> <p><strong>What effect will these revelations have on investigative journalists in Quebec and elsewhere?</strong></p> <p>It will make journalists more cautious about what is said in supposedly private communications. My own hope is that journalists will not give up on investigative reporting. But instead of being overly dependent on Internet research, more face-to-face, 鈥渟hoe-leather鈥 reporting might be preferred in certain&nbsp;circumstances.</p> <p><strong>Are there any circumstances where police should have the authority to tap journalists鈥 phones?</strong></p> <p>Never. Not without a warrant. If ever there was an argument for more media lawyers, this is it.</p> <p><br> &nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 03 Nov 2016 16:03:28 +0000 lavende4 102222 at Citizen Lab researchers find privacy problems in popular Baidu browser /news/citizen-lab-researchers-find-privacy-problems-popular-baidu-browser <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Citizen Lab researchers find privacy problems in popular Baidu browser</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-02-23T04:12:55-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - 04:12" class="datetime">Tue, 02/23/2016 - 04:12</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Android and Windows versions of the Baidu browser have been found to have security risks. (Photo by Jon Russel via flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/alex-gillis" hreflang="en">Alex Gillis</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Alex Gillis</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/surveillance" hreflang="en">Surveillance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/citizen-lab" hreflang="en">Citizen Lab</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/china" hreflang="en">China</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>University of Toronto undergrad <strong>Jing Zhou</strong> knows a lot about surveillance issues in China and Canada, but even she鈥檚 surprised by findings that hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hacking and surveillance because of a popular internet browser.</p> <p>This week, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Munk School of Global Affairs released a report showing that the Android version of Baidu Browser, made by one of China鈥檚 largest technology companies, leaks a user鈥檚 location, browsing history and other data because of poor or missing encryption whenever the browser is used.</p> <p>And the browser鈥檚 Windows version&nbsp;leaks even more data, including computer serial numbers. Any individual, company and government can hack a device or spy on users鈥 online habits.</p> <p>Zhou is concerned about the human rights implications given the increasing number of people from China worried about hacking and surveillance. She helps to run a 茄子直播 student club called <a href="https://www.ulife.utoronto.ca/organizations/view/id/126342" target="_blank">Choose Humanity</a>, which raises awareness about human rights abuses.</p> <p>鈥淚n Toronto, there are Chinese officials surveilling students, religious practitioners and community members,鈥 says Zhou, who moved from China to Canada in 2001 and is finishing a management degree at 茄子直播. 鈥淣ot only in Canada, but in China, the government and police track down your relations and monitor them.鈥</p> <p>Baidu runs the most used search engine in China 鈥 but it鈥檚 also used around the world in Chinese, English and other languages.</p> <p>Many of the vulnerabilities are due to missing or poor encryption used by something called software development kits (SDKs), which are present in more than 22,000 apps related to Baidu, researchers say.&nbsp;The apps have been downloaded billions of times.</p> <p>鈥淏aidu and anyone monitoring your traffic can use your hardware鈥檚 serial numbers to track your GPS location, nearby wireless networks, and every unencrypted and encrypted web page you visit,鈥 says <strong>Jeffrey Knockel</strong>, the report鈥檚 lead author and a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab. 鈥淢ost users would have no way of knowing their personal data was being transmitted this way, and would be unable to prevent it.鈥</p> <p>In addition, Baidu Browser doesn鈥檛 include special codes (a norm with other browsers) when it downloads routine software updates, which would allow hackers to secretly install malicious software on computers and phones.</p> <p>In May 2015, Citizen Lab identified similar security concerns with UC Browser,鈥媋 popular browser owned by e颅commerce giant Alibaba, also based in China. The security issues in UC Browser were identified in documents leaked by Edward Snowden that revealed that intelligence agencies in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand had used the vulnerabilities to identify users.&nbsp;</p> <p>The report is part of the Citizen Lab鈥檚 ongoing research into p鈥媟ivacy and security of popular mobile applications used in Asia,鈥 including China鈥檚 censorship of Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo search engines and its censorship and surveillance in TOM-Skype, a Chinese version of Skype.</p> <p>In November 2015, Citizen Lab researchers notified Baidu of the browser鈥檚 security issues. The company released updates that remedied some of the issues in January 2016, but many still remain unresolved.</p> <p>鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 use Baidu anyway, as it鈥檚 not as good as Google,鈥 Zhou says. 鈥淣ow that I know about the problems, I鈥檓 glad that I can avoid it in Canada.</p> <p>鈥淭hey have to make Baidu more secure,鈥 Zhou says. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 have to undergo surveillance all the time.鈥</p> <div> <div id="edn1">&nbsp;</div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/Baidu.jpg</div> </div> Tue, 23 Feb 2016 09:12:55 +0000 sgupta 7666 at Fitness tracker flaws exposed by 茄子直播's Citizen Lab and Open Effect /news/fitness-tracker-flaws-exposed-u-ts-citizen-lab-and-open-effect <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Fitness tracker flaws exposed by 茄子直播's Citizen Lab and Open Effect</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-02-02T02:02:40-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - 02:02" class="datetime">Tue, 02/02/2016 - 02:02</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The Apple Watch was the only device tested that had no issues, researchers said (photo by LWYang via flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/alex-gillis" hreflang="en">Alex Gillis</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Alex Gillis</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/surveillance" hreflang="en">Surveillance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sports" hreflang="en">Sports</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sport" hreflang="en">Sport</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/privacy" hreflang="en">Privacy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fitness" hreflang="en">Fitness</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/citizen-lab" hreflang="en">Citizen Lab</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item"> Research backed by Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada鈥檚 Contributions Program </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Barb Gormley didn鈥檛 know that strangers could track her fitness tracker. Or that anyone could rip off personal data leaking from the device.</p> <p>The personal trainer and her clients use the exercise-boosting devices to record steps taken, calories burned and other data about their progress when working out.</p> <p>鈥淧eople are hooked on them,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 feel like I have a training assistant.鈥</p> <p>But the machines also leak personal information 鈥&nbsp;such as name, age and gender 鈥&nbsp;communicated via wifi.</p> <p>Researchers at the University of Toronto released a new report on Feb. 2 that revealed major security and privacy issues in devices made by Basis, Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, Mio, Withings and Xiaomi. The research involved analyzing data transmissions between the Internet and apps for the fitness trackers. The story is already making headlines. (<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fitness-trackers-monitoring-users-1.3428817">Read the CBC coverage</a>.)</p> <p>The report, <a href="https://openeffect.ca/reports/Every_Step_You_Fake.pdf">Every Step You Fake: A Comparative Analysis of Fitness Tracker Privacy and Security</a>, shows that Bluetooth on seven fitness trackers studied leak personal data that enable anyone near a device to track a user鈥檚 location over time. Researchers also found that certain devices by Garmin and Withings transmit information without encryption, leaking other personal data to anyone with the know-how to collect the leaks.&nbsp;</p> <p>The researchers also analyzed the Apple Watch and found no issues.</p> <h2><a href="https://openeffect.ca/reports/Every_Step_You_Fake.pdf">Read the complete report</a></h2> <p>The report is a collaborative effort between Open Effect, a non-profit applied research group focusing on digital privacy and security, and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at 茄子直播. Open Effect previously published research on the security of ad tracking cookies. It also developed Access My Info, an application that makes it easy for Canadians to file legal requests for access to their personal information.</p> <p>鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 thought about the issues too much,鈥 said Gormley, 鈥渢hat somebody could find me using my watch.鈥</p> <p>鈥淭he upside is they鈥檙e so great,鈥 she said. She uses a Garmin device. 鈥淚 guess we鈥檙e maybe a bit blind that there could be a downside.鈥</p> <p>The downside, said <strong>Andrew Hilts</strong>, one of the report鈥檚 authors, stems from the fact that each device has a unique identifier emitted constantly via Bluetooth, even after users think they鈥檝e stopped using it.</p> <p>Hilts, the executive director of Open Effect and a research fellow with the Citizen Lab at the Munk School, said that means anyone 鈥&nbsp;from savvy analytics firms or just someone in a coffee shop 鈥&nbsp;could collect that unique identifier and, in some cases, collect your location and a whole lot more.</p> <p>鈥淭he perception might be, 鈥極kay, I鈥檓 done with this. I鈥檓 turning off Bluetooth,鈥 but your tracker is still emitting this unique identifier, even if your phone has Bluetooth turned off,鈥 Hilts explained.</p> <p>鈥淭here is a Bluetooth privacy standard in place that provides specifications on how device manufacturers can protect the privacy of their users,鈥 Hilts said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to encourage fitness tracking companies to adopt this standard.鈥 Most devices mentioned in the report do not implement Bluetooth privacy, leaving users vulnerable to location-based surveillance.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淲e hope our findings will help consumers make more informed decisions about how they use fitness trackers, help companies improve the privacy and security of their offerings, and help regulators understand the current landscape of wearable products.鈥</p> <p>Their findings come on the heels of a report by Professor&nbsp;<strong>Guy Faulkner</strong>&nbsp;and master's student <strong>Krystn Orr </strong>of 茄子直播's&nbsp;Faculty of Kinesiology &amp; Physical Education that examined the reliability of smartphone pedometer applications.&nbsp;</p> <p>Released at the end of 2015, that research found an 鈥渦nacceptable error percentage鈥&nbsp;in all apps compared with actual pedometers and urged 鈥渃aution in their promotion to the public for self-monitoring physical activity and in their use as tools for assessing physical activity in research trials鈥.</p> <h2><a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/stuck-traffic-these-pedometer-apps-think-youre-walking">Read:&nbsp;Stuck in traffic? These apps think you're walking</a></h2> <p>The Citizen Lab and Open Effect researchers sought contact with the seven fitness tracker companies whose products exhibited security vulnerabilities. Fitbit, Intel (Basis), and Mio responded and engaged the researchers in a dialogue. Fitbit further expressed interest in exploring the topic of implementing Bluetooth privacy features in its communications with the researchers. Out of the devices studied, only the Apple Watch adopted the Bluetooth privacy standard.</p> <p>The report鈥檚 authors, Hilts, <strong>Christopher Parsons</strong> and <strong>Jeffrey Knockel</strong>, reveal a third issue that arose in the Withings and Jawbone devices: users can falsify their own activity levels. The findings cast doubt on the reliability of data for insurance or other purposes.</p> <p>鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 na茂ve,鈥&nbsp;Gormley said. 鈥淢aybe an insurance company is conducting top-secret research on me and decide they don鈥檛 want to give me insurance?鈥</p> <p>鈥淪hould I be worried?鈥&nbsp;</p> <p>(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwy/16893674013/in/photolist-rJQuHB-zijWKT-rx29be-zUuUgC-rgC2Z9-uws237-zsuCpS-zhSKji-ChVb2s-tsVfd1-tKBFJM-sNujMo-tsUEqj-sNujTq-tt41Qc-tKBERK-sNEFuK-rgBZfw-san4Ex-tKvqd2-tHaHbU-tKbDso-tsVfJS-tsUES1-tHaHd7-tKvpEi-tKBFcp-tHaHdC-tsVf2u-tKBEVx-tsVfzU-tHaHwd-tt42e8-tKBFzP-tKBEVT-tKBFhz-tKvpwT-tsUEs3-tsVfom-sNujHq-tHaJ21-tKBFLF-tKvpLR-sNujGo-tsUEiq-sNEFzp-tsVfW5-tKbCKG-tKBF1x-tKbCKw">Visit flickr to see the original of the photo used above</a>)</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2016-02-02-apple-watch-1.jpg</div> </div> Tue, 02 Feb 2016 07:02:40 +0000 sgupta 7624 at NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake at 茄子直播 /news/nsa-whistleblower-thomas-drake-u-t <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake at 茄子直播</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2013-12-09T04:49:09-05:00" title="Monday, December 9, 2013 - 04:49" class="datetime">Mon, 12/09/2013 - 04:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Thomas Drake, whistleblower and former senior NSA official speaks at the 茄子直播 iSchool. (photo by Johnny Guatto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kathleen-o-brien" hreflang="en">Kathleen O'Brien</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Kathleen O'Brien</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/more-news" hreflang="en">More News</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/surveillance" hreflang="en">Surveillance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/privacy" hreflang="en">Privacy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ischool" hreflang="en">iSchool</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Thomas Drake, whistleblower and former senior National Security Agency (NSA) official, began his talk at the University of Toronto by telling the audience that he was&nbsp;told at the airport that&nbsp;his American passport was not enough to get into the country.</p> <p>He had to&nbsp;provide papers showing he was invited to give a lecture at 茄子直播's&nbsp;Faculty of Information (iSchool).</p> <p>Drake cited this&nbsp;as an example of what鈥檚 at stake for democracy and liberty as he began his talk, "Secret NSA/CSEC Surveillance versus Democracy: What's at Stake for the US &amp; Canada?"</p> <p>With interested followers from around the world watching a live feed,&nbsp;Drake explained how, after working at the NSA for six-and-a-half years, he was investigated and charged with espionage for allegedly disclosing secret information. The charges were dropped and since then&nbsp;Drake has devoted his life to helping citizens become more aware.</p> <p>鈥淲hen you see what I went through for five plus years, at the receiving end of a surveillance state in the US, you gain a better appreciation for what truly is at stake," Drake said. "I鈥檝e already lived in a surveillance state. And I don鈥檛 want anyone else to live it with me, and don鈥檛 want the future to be owned by a surveillance state.</p> <p>"We are individuals, human beings, we have rights. That makes us sovereign."</p> <p>Professor <strong>Andrew Clement </strong>invited Mr. Drake to speak after recent explosive disclosures made by another former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, that have challenged notions of privacy and democracy.</p> <p>鈥淭he little we know about these surveillance agencies comes not through our usual institutions of democratic oversight, but because of a few very brave whistle blowers who have worked on the inside, and who have not been able to tolerate what they see, and who at great personal risk, expose the information to let us, the public, be much better informed, to what we have a right to,鈥 Clement said in his introduction.</p> <p>As listeners expected, Drake didn鈥檛 hold back, discussing how in a post-911 era, he feels the government has gone far beyond investigating legitimate threats.</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xgg8K26dcXs" width="560"></iframe></p> <p>鈥淣ational security, an extremely overloaded phrase, is now the state religion in many democracies, including in the US, now increasingly in Canada. When you invoke the label of national security, you are exempt from all inquiries, from all queries, from oversight, and you do not question the high priests of secrecy,鈥&nbsp;Drake said.</p> <p>Master of Information student <strong>Greg Hughes</strong> said he thought the December 5&nbsp;talk was riveting. 鈥淚t was like hearing all the thoughts you've buried or put to the back of your mind about the truth of the surveillance state come to light."</p> <p>Drake urged the crowd to stand up for the truth, and support their right to freedom.</p> <p>"I will never forsake my sovereignty for the sake of the State."</p> <p>iSchool alumna <strong>Christina Darvasi</strong> watched the lecture from Mexico City and tweeted, 鈥淪o jealous I'm no longer at the iSchool to see it live.鈥</p> <p><em>Kathleen O'Brien is a writer with the iSchool at the University of Toronto.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2013-12-05-Thomas-Drake.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 09 Dec 2013 09:49:09 +0000 sgupta 5770 at