"[...] This series thus proposes to unpack the concepts of transparency and volatility across three major arenas of international affairs: security, diplomacy, and development. Each issue-area features two essays, each focusing on different aspects of transparency and/or volatility. Two additional e
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ssays (by Gerald Hyman and Joseph Siegle) examine the ramifications of the growing interplay between issue-areas in the information age. Some authors situate their research within the context of academic literature, while others are more focused on policy and/or operational contexts. Taken together, the papers in this series seek to usefully organize the issue under inquiry in order to render it manageable and understandable to a wider scholarly, policy, and practitioner audience.
While this paper series uses transparency and volatility as a framework for examining international relations in the information age, it does not necessarily place information and communication technologies at the forefront of the analysis. While some papers do focus on ICT, the purpose is not to minutely examine new forms of technology and their impact. Rather, the premise for this series is that ubiquitous global communication flows have, over time, created an encompassing information environment that nurtures transparency and volatility as pervasive conditions and/or guiding norms." (Introduction, page 4)
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"This report evaluates the risks and vulnerabilities of mobile phone services and apps in 12 specified countries: the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, the People’s Republic of China, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom
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of Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Tunisian Republic, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Rather than focus on a single innovation, this study analyzes multiple mobile technologies – including operating systems, applications and mobile protocols – to determine their capacity to protect security and privacy and to combat censorship and surveillance. Throughout this study the protection of mobile phone users was of paramount importance." (Executive summary)
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"This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet privacy, assessing where they support or compete with each other in different circumstances. The publication maps out the issues in the current regulatory landscape of Internet privacy from the viewpoint
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of freedom of expression. It provides an overview of legal protection, self-regulatory guidelines, normative challenges, and case studies relating to the topic." (Foreword, page 5)
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"GISWatch 2012 explores how the internet is being used to ensure transparency and accountability, the challenges that civil society activists face in fighting corruption, and when the internet fails as an enabler of a transparent and fair society. The eight thematic reports and 48 country reports pu
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blished ask provocative questions such as: Is a surveillance society necessarily a bad thing if it fights corruption? And how successful have e-government programmes been in fighting corruption? They explore options for activism by youth and musicians online, as well as the art of using visual evidence to expose delusions of power. By focusing on individual cases or stories of corruption, the country reports take a practical look at the role of the internet in combating corruption at all levels." (Back cover)
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"Speak safe" introduces reporters, journalists and bloggers to simple yet effective practices for maintaining control of important information and communications. Thirteen short chapters, of two to four pages each, provide basic knowledge about issues such as safe emailing, surfing, Wi-Fi, data dele
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tion, the risks of sharing data online, or mobile phone safety. Several online resources are introduced, where additional information, tutorials and software can be found." (CAMECO Update November 2013)
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"The research explored children’s online behaviour, risks and vulnerability to harm, documenting existing preventive and protective measures to combat their online abuse and exploitation. The study draws on lessons from high- and middle-income countries, viewed through the lens of the dynamic that
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, given the speed of innovation, other countries may soon experience. What we have learned is that a singular approach to combating these crimes is not effective. What is required is a collective effort by policymakers, law enforcement agencies, social workers, teachers, parents and the private sector to systematically protect children. We have also discovered that many children are comfortable navigating the Internet and are able to avoid risks. They may see themselves as protectors of younger children and are themselves agents for change. Children should be allowed to express their views on how to mitigate risks, and they should be listened to and empowered to safely exploit the benefi ts of the Internet. However, despite children’s agency, we should not overestimate their ability to protect themselves. Ultimately, the onus lies with adults to put in place a framework that ensures children equal and equitable access to the Internet, along with a safer online environment." (Foreword)
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"The right to privacy and the right to information are both essential human rights in the modern information society. For the most part, these two rights complement each other in holding governments accountable to individuals. But there is a potential conflict between these rights when there is a de
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mand for access to personal information held by government bodies. Where the two rights overlap, states need to develop mechanisms for identifying core issues to limit conflicts and for balancing the rights. This paper examines legislative and structural means to better define and balance the rights to privacy and information." (Executive summary)
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"Internet censorship poses a large and growing challenge to online freedom of expression around the world. Censorship circumvention tools are critical to bypass restrictions on the internet and thereby to protect free expression online. Circumvention tools are primarily designed to bypass internet f
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iltering. Therefore, the core principle behind these technologies is to find alternative paths for data packets. These alternative paths use one or more collaborative servers in order to bypass the network of blocking mechanisms. This document provides a comparison among different circumvention tools, both in terms of their technical merits, as well as how users of these tools describe their experience with them. The countries included in this report are Azerbaijan, Burma, China and Iran." (Executive summary, page 9)
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"In the year of the Arab uprisings Global Information Society Watch 2011 investigates how governments and internet and mobile phone companies are trying to restrict freedom online – and how citizens are responding to this using the very same technologies. Everyone is familiar with the stories of E
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gypt and Tunisia. GISWatch authors tell these and other lesser-known stories from more than 60 countries. Stories about: Prison conditions in Argentina - prisoners are using the internet to protest living conditions and demand respect for their rights; Torture in Indonesia - the torture of two West Papuan farmers was recorded on a mobile phone and leaked to the internet, the video spread to well-known human rights sites sparking public outrage and a formal investigation by the authorities; The tsunami in Japan - citizens used social media to share actionable information during the devastating tsunami, and in the aftermath online discussions contradicted misleading reports coming from state authorities. GISWatch also includes thematic reports and an introduction from Frank La Rue, Un special rapporteur." (Back cover)
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"In this report we describe the results of a survey of 98 bloggers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) carried out in May 2011 in order to study bloggers’ perceptions of online risk and the actions they take to address digital communications security, including both Internet and cell phone
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use. The survey was implemented in the wake of the Arab spring and documents a proliferation of online security problems among the respondents. In the survey, we address the respondents’ perceptions of online risk, their knowledge of digital security practices, and their reported online security practices. The survey results indicate that there is much room for improving online security practices, even among this sample of respondents who are likely to have relatively high technical knowledge and experience." (Introduction)
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"Die Forderung nach Sicherheit im Internet, besonders in Hinblick auf die persönlichen Daten, die Gewährung der Freiheit dieses Mediums ohne staatliche Eingriffe, die Diskussion um adäquate Formen des Urheberrechts und seiner Durchsetzung sowie eine Fokussierung auf die Risiken verbunden mit eine
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m latenten Vorwurf eines unbedingten Reglementierungswillens des Staates sind Eckpunkte der deutschen netzpolitischen Debatte. Die Publikation soll mit Blick auf die netzpolitischen Entscheidungen in anderen Ländern einen Referenzrahmen bieten, der die Diskussion in Deutschland befruchten kann." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Warum findet Facebook jeden meiner Bekannten? Auf welche Datenspuren hat der Staat Zugriff? Und was kann man aus ihnen herauslesen? Die Experten für Informationssicherheit, Constanze Kurz und Frank Rieger, weisen uns den Weg zu einer neuen digitalen Mündigkeit. Sachkundig und verständlich erklä
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ren sie, was sich hinter den Benutzeroberflächen tatsächlich verbirgt. Aus dem Strom scheinbar harmloser Daten, die wir tagtäglich im Netz hinterlassen, werden geldwerte Informationen geschöpft, deren Ausmaß und Gehalt wir uns gar nicht vorstellen können. Ob der Staat oder Google, alle bedienen sich am Datensatz Mensch. Es ist an der Zeit, das eigene digitale Schicksal wieder selbst in die Hand zu nehmen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"The report explores the various legal and policy mechanisms that are crucial for the free flow of information, providing guidance for policy-makers and other relevant users, for the creation of environments conducive to the freedom of expression. As this publication makes clear, freedom of expressi
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on is not just a by-product of technical change: it must be protected by legal and regulatory measures that balance a variety of potentially conflicting values and interests in a complex global ecology of choices. The impetus that this report provides for the prioritization of research in this field encourages further scrutiny of the multifaceted issues that govern the conditions for freedom of expression on the Internet. The findings of this research point to the need to better track a wider array of global legal and regulatory trends." (Preface)
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"La libertad de expresión y el derecho de acceso a la información frente a los derechos de personalidad tratándose de figuras públicas, es un tema que a raíz de la alternancia de poder en México y la diversificación y pluralidad en los canales de comunicación se ha convertido en tema naciona
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l e internacional. Diversos han sido los casos que han llegado a tribunales (en vía civil y penal) a nivel de las Entidades Federativas y sobre todo del Distrito Federal. Ante la falta de actualización de las leyes en materia civil y penal nos enfrentamos a una ambigüedad terminológica que termina perjudicando a las partes que concurren a dirimir sus derechos ante la autoridad, ahora , debido a la deficiente redacción se presentan casos de abusos de derechos tolerados y hasta permitidos por la propia ley." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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