The Privacy Blog Podcast - Ep. 21:

In episode 21 of our podcast for July, I talk about:

• A decision giving Canadians more rights to Anonymity
• Iraq's recent blocking of social media and more
• Iran's outright criminalization of social media
• A court decision requiring warrants to access cell tower location data
• Another court stating that irrelevant seized data needs to be deleted after searches
• A massive failure of data anonymization in New York City
• A court requiring a defendant to decrypt his files so they can be searched
• The Supreme Court ruling protecting cellphones from warrantless search.
• Phone tracking streetlights in Chicago
• And a small change for iPhones bringing big privacy benefits

Specifics on recent Iraq censorship orders

Iraq Telecom Ministry Orders ISPs: Kill The Internet in Five Provinces | SMEX: Channeling Advocacy

If this is real, it is an interesting view into the specifics of Internet censorship in Iraq. I find "Block all access to VPN in all Iraq from 4 pm until 7 am on daily basis” particularly interesting.

Just trying to prevent attack coordination at night?

Lance Cottrell is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Anonymizer. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Iraq blocking social media as a defense against ISIS

Iraq Crisis: Twitter, Google, YouTube and Facebook Blocked by Government to Stop Isis Plotting

Many sources are reporting that most major social networks are being blocked in Iraq.

It is generally assumed that this is being done to prevent use of these tools for organization and propaganda by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). I am not seeing reports of blocking VPNs and other censorship circumvention tools. We are actively monitoring Anonymizer for any evidence of such activity.

Lance Cottrell is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Anonymizer. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.