NSA privacy busting patent
p2p news / p2pnet:- Net users have something new to worry about.
People “hoping to protect their privacy by using anti-virus software, Web anonymizers, false identities and disabled cookies” may be unraveled by technology flowing from a patent filed by the National Security Agency (NSA) which will “identify the physical location of any Web surfer,” says WorldNetDaily, quoting CNET News.
“Patent 6,947,978, granted this week, describes a process based on latency, or time lag between computers exchanging data, of ‘numerous’ known locations on the Internet to build a ‘network latency topology map’ for all users,” it states.
“Identifying the physical location of an individual user … could then be accomplished by measuring how long it takes to connect to an unknown computer from numerous known machines, and using the latency response to display location on a map."
The NSA patent doesn’t describe the NSA’s intended use of the technology, “noting only general uses like measuring the ‘effectiveness of advertising across geographic regions’ or flagging a password that ‘could be noted or disabled if not used from or near the appropriate location’," but, “given NSA’s status as the nation’s premier cryptologic organization, it’s unlikely the technology will be used to improve advertising,” says CNET, adding:
“The agency has come under fire in the past for spying on American citizens. In the 1970s, the agency was forced to admit that it had used its eavesdropping equipment against Jane Fonda and other anti-Vietnam War activists. The revelation led to a 1978 law banning spying by the agency on U.S. citizens and resident aliens anywhere.”
(Thanks, DaBlade)
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
See:-
WorldNetDaily – National Security Agency gets fix on Internet users, September 25, 2005
September 25th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
So you’re really in Kalamazoo, and you proxy thru France to mask your IP (which may or may not work anyway), but the latency points to Michigan.
Well obviously you can’t decrease your latency very well – but you can increase it! Just bounce the packets around a few times before they go on, and it looks like you’re in Nairobi.
September 25th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
Suppose I’m sitting in NYC and am connected to a desktop in San Francisco via encrypted mstsc/Remote Desktop. The PC is SF is routed through a secure proxy in Chicago from which it signs onto AOL (creating a virtual network adapter with it’s own IP address that resolves to AOL on nslookup/rev DNS) and from there accesses a resource that’s being monitored by the new-fangled NSA widget. All of that latency is going to pinpoint my location anywhere between South Asia and the dark side of the moon.
I would think the method would end up pegging Dulles VA (AOL) or perhaps even the proxy in Chicago, but I can’t imagine it being able to work it’s way back any further and also resolve that the routing doubles back on itself.
But who knows? It’s the NSA and they’ve probably already gotten Redmond to hide some little surprise in Windows that can be used in the direst of emergencies, but only that once because then it would no longer be a surprise.
Also: this is a ‘process’ patent. There’s no device apparently associated with it. Sounds like one of the dreaded ’software patents’ like the hyperlink or “one-click checkout” that are so controversial.
Furthermore, what business does the NSA or any other government agency have in patenting anything? Whatever it is, has been developed with tax dollars and therefore the patent rights should extend to the American people.
Oh, silly me. I forgot that being ‘patriotic’ means never questioning anything our wise and benevolent government does because they are totally focused on what is in the country’s best interests. Never mind……
September 25th, 2005 at 9:47 pm
Sure you can think of many ways to get around it. I already thought of one, artificially increase your ping times, esp by the many ways posted above me.
The thing is, if its too hard to get around it, people won’t bother. That’s what the NSA is relying, and that’s what DRM is all about.
September 26th, 2005 at 12:57 am
And that is, They don’t consider the uploading/downloading speeds or current isp bandwidth fluctuations.
If you use a torrent client for example, and are carrying on with your normal computer tasks, then your ping is going to be considerbly higher than normal. Uploading effects your ping more than downloading in general, because your upload is already quite slow on most connections. This just impaires response speed even more.
How on earth they can get consistant and accurate results from ping times is beyond me. My ping constantly fluctuates because im almost always uploading/downloading. Im assuming most people are the same.
They obviously don’t know much about internet technology, if they think this will give consistant results.
September 26th, 2005 at 7:37 am
I’m amazed the xxAA’s haven’t already patented anything and everything that might geographically locate a given pc. Why? To enforce region coding of online digital content of course!
Ok ok ok it sounds like a totally stupid concept i agree. But remember, this is the cartels we’re talking about. I don’t think anyone’s ever going to accuse them of being excessively intelligent.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:31 am
I said the same thing on Slyck. No government agency has the right to patent anything as ALL government agencies are owned BY THE PEOPLE and thus ALL intellectual property rights BELONG TO THE PEOPLE.
If I was an American I would be taking this case up with the courts in a class action suit against the NSA for even attempting to get a patent for something they DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO.
Come on Yanks, stand up for your rights before you literally have none left, I know they are limited at the moment, but they will soon be completely obliterated if carp like this is permitted to continue.
How DARE a government department apply for a patent, it is nothing less than an insult to democracy. I would be absolutely furious if I was a US citizen.
September 26th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
Many here, including me, believe that the government is full of incompetence. However, there is one thing that the government is very good at, and that is screwing over people. Screwing over people is what the government, in fact, does best. Knowing the Federal government, they will have a team of top computer scientists using some kind of neural nework to determine and triangulate lag times. The government probably has computers logged into the Internet at known locations and use lag time figures from these computer to train the neural network. I wouldn’t put anything past the feds when it comes to methods of screwing people. After all, the government is one of the best.
September 26th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
It’s impossible. Try it yourself. Got to start -> run, then type cmd and press enter. The type ping in the window that appears followed by google.com, then press enter. Now do this after you started a download. And watch the response time in ms increase alot!
Latency is always inconsistant, even if they triangulate your position using multiple computers, the results will still be slower due to downloads/uploads. Ping is mostly affected by upload speed, so people with better uploads will result in lower latency results.
This is the most stupid thing i’ve ever heard of. Shows what kinda things the U.S wastes their money on. I bet they spent years researching this rubbish lol.