{"id":2139,"date":"2011-10-26T19:31:55","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T23:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2011-10-26T19:31:55","modified_gmt":"2011-10-26T23:31:55","slug":"the-register-global-internet-surveillance-skyrocketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/the-register-global-internet-surveillance-skyrocketing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Register: Global internet surveillance skyrocketing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

(Photo courtesy: USAID)<\/p><\/div>\n

As I’ve mentioned in many previous articles<\/a>, the internet is surely an excellent first-world technology. However, as this article from The Register<\/a> points out, \u00a0the internet also hides a much shadowier, more alarming nature, exemplified in the growing amount of internet surveillance.<\/p>\n

A top US government official believes that the internet is under fierce attack by authoritarian governments worldwide, and that the situation is rapidly deteriorating.<\/p>\n

“Today we face a series of challenges at the intersection of human rights, connected technologies, business, and government. It’s a busy intersection \u2013 and a lot of people want to put up traffic lights,” said US Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, speaking at the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

[…]And as information communications technology moves ever deeper into less-developed countries, Posner sees the problems increasing. “These are the places where repressive regimes are getting hold of the latest, greatest Western technologies and using them to spy on their own citizens for purposes of silencing dissent,” he said. “Journalists, bloggers and activists are of course the primary targets.”<\/p>\n

From his point of view, governments in some of these emerging markets “appear fiercely determined to control what people do online.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, this underlines the straightforward, egalitarian nature of an alternative media source: \u00a0shortwave radio. \u00a0People living under the control of such a regime can turn to radio to hear voices from across the globe, to dispel inaccuracies and fallacies, and learn the truth. \u00a0Unlike the internet, there’s no virtual gateway that can be locked down by a government’s heavy hand. Shortwave radio has no regard for border crossings.<\/p>\n

\"\"Best of all, no one can prevent these listeners from listening; no one can track them or their listening habits.<\/p>\n

Herein lies my fear that, as many large international broadcasters such as the BBC, VOA<\/a>, DW and others abandon shortwave service to invest in the internet, we put all our eggs in one tenuous basket. Certainly, we can invest in technologies which attempt to stall government efforts to temper our internet presence in, for example, China; but what about the people accessing these protective internet sites? \u00a0Who is watching them and their surfing habits?<\/p>\n

Crack<\/em>. \u00a0There goes democracy…<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’ve mentioned in many previous articles, the internet is surely an excellent first-world technology. However, as this article from The Register points out, \u00a0the internet also hides a much shadowier, more alarming nature, exemplified in the growing amount of internet surveillance. A top US government official believes that the internet is under fierce attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[662,661,84],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-internet","tag-soapbox","tag-why-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-yv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2147,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/us-christian-broadcaster-still-believes-in-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":0},"title":"US Christian Broadcaster Still Believes in Shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"November 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: VOA News) With the rise of the Internet, some news broadcasters, including the Voice of America, are moving away from shortwave radio. But some religious broadcasters in America still believe in the medium. \"Our view is that there is a great future for shortwave,\" says Charles Caudil, president of\u00a0World\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/WorldChristianBroadcasting.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10721,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/a-map-of-every-device-connected-to-the-internet\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":1},"title":"A map of every device connected to the Internet","author":"Thomas","date":"September 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Mehmet Burk, shares this tweet from Sherry Rehman: Portrait of an unequally connected planet. A map of every device connected to the internet: http:\/\/t.co\/TWZqtBVyf9. pic.twitter.com\/B7NA4ZpWCN\u201d \u2014 sherryrehman (@sherryrehman) September 1, 2014 Many thanks, Mehmet! Though this map may not be completely accurate since IP addresses in IPv4\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(Source: John Matherly, via Gizmodo)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Bwam-MeIEAAiJ-i.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Bwam-MeIEAAiJ-i.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Bwam-MeIEAAiJ-i.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64466,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/rnz-pacific-launches-2025-26-cyclone-watch-service-on-shortwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":2},"title":"RNZ Pacific Launches 2025\u201326 Cyclone Watch Service on Shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Ian Millett (N3CVA), who writes: Thomas, This was posted to the RNZ website at 2 pm NZ time November 1. RNZI announces start of Pacific Cyclone Watch Service \u00a0https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/international\/pacific-news\/577507\/rnz-pacific-cyclone-watch-service-activated A photo of a shortwave radio in a news article on Radio New Zealand International\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_20200605_201148.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10855,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/bloomberg-russia-plans-break-from-global-web\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":3},"title":"Bloomberg: Russia Plans Break From Global Web","author":"Thomas","date":"September 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Bloomberg) Russia plans next week to discuss contingency measures to cut the country off from the global Internet in what the Kremlin called a necessary step to shield the nation from the U.S.-controlled worldwide Web. Russia\u2019s state security council will examine ways to ensure domestic users can be redirected\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"Russian Federation (orthographic projection) - Crimea disputed\" by FutureTrillionaire - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Russian_Federation_(orthographic_projection)_-_Crimea_disputed.svg#mediaviewer\/File:Russian_Federation_(orthographic_projection)_-_Crimea_disputed.svg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Russia.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Russia.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Russia.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3412,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/cricket-muve-zte-score-our-pick-for-a-portable-wi-fi-radio-on-sale-at-bestbuy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":4},"title":"Cricket – Muve ZTE Score: Our pick for a portable wi-fi radio, on sale at BestBuy","author":"Thomas","date":"April 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In our two-part series on Internet radio--Rethinking Internet Radio Part 1 and Part 2--we pointed out a very affordable and effective option for listening to internet radio: the Cricket Muve ZTE Score no-contract Android phone combined with the TuneIn radio app. Immediately after posting the article, the price of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_1160-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":675,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/radio-world-whatever-happened-to-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":2139,"position":5},"title":"Radio World: Whatever Happened to Shortwave Radio?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"For all its transmission expense and audio problems, analog shortwave radio has one clear advantage over the Internet and domestic radio\/TV: It cannot be easily blocked \u2014 even when states try to disrupt its signals using jamming transmitters. This is one of the best articles I've read recently about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/swdial.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}