[kictanet] Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? AND Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data

Alex Gakuru alex.gakuru at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 14 09:20:19 EAT 2007 

Hi again,

- Bloggers must be given special protection because they offer checks and balances to government (e.g. corrupt officials) and corporate excesses (e.g. Working in chemically unsafe conditions, factory workers lock-ups and fires strike...)      
- Most importantly,  FOI(A) must criminalise  communication censorship. 
- Lawful interception of communication is separate from censorship.
- I personally know too well about unexplainable technical "glitches", 
often used as a back door to isolate "dissident" voices.

Consider below possible cases:
 
 - Your current ISP(government-related or otherwise) just decided that your continued use of their services was detrimental to their bottom line.
 
 -They cannot officialy terminate your link ( "legally" if that exists ), therefore they intemittently disrupt the service till you get frustrated and look for another? How many other options do you have?
 
- Unless these are prioritised, then we may have a wonderful Act , but just on paper.

Consorship  is a very serious threat to communication users ( see Chinese case below)

/Alex
 

>For information:
>
>The Internet Society of China (ISC) is not currently affiliated in any
>way with ISOC.  
>
>> Careful of what is done in your name:
>>
>> Internet Society of China recommends ban on anonymous blogging
>> http://www.ifex.org/20fr/content/view/full/78548/
>>
>> Français: La Société Internet de Chine juge l'identification des
>> blogueurs "inévitable"
>>
>> Country/Topic: China Date: 24 October 2006 Source: Reporters
>> Without Borders (RSF) Person(s): Target(s): web dissident(s)
>> Type(s) of violation(s): other Urgency: Bulletin
>>
>> (RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced concern about a recommendation by the
>> Internet Society of China, which is affiliated with the Information
>> Ministry, that bloggers be required to register under their real
>> names when creating a blog. The call came just weeks after
>> authorities in the southwestern province of Chongqing announced
>> that anyone posting "defamatory" videos on the Internet would be
>> punished.
>>
>> "The blog services available in China are already closely
>> controlled," RSF said. "They automatically filter sensitive content
>> and moderators are told to warn bloggers who go too far. Despite
>> these restrictions, the Chinese blogosphere is growing rapidly. But
>> that could be brought to a complete halt by a rule ending anonymity
>> for bloggers. In a country where you can spend 10 years in prison
>> for a few messages posted on the Internet, keeping a political blog
>> under one's own name would be extremely risky."
>>
>> The Internet Society of China announced on 23 October 2006 that,
>> although no rule had yet been established, the introduction of an
>> identification system was inevitable. Internet users would have to
>> give their real names when launching a blog but thereafter would be
>> able to use a pseudonym, the society said.
>>
>> Voicing support for this proposal, the official news agency Xinhua
>> said, "bloggers anonymously disseminating untrue information on the
>>  Internet give a negative image of Chinese society."
>>
>> A regulation adopted in Chongqing province at the end of September
>> 2006 stipulated that defamatory remarks posted online would be
>> punishable by a fine of 5,000 yuans (about 500 euros) and even
>> imprisonment in some cases. The regulation is aimed, above all, at
>> preventing the circulation of satirical videos, which are becoming
>> more and more popular on the Internet in China.
>>
>> "The government has become a master in the art of regulating new
>> technology," RSF said. "Each time a new Internet tool becomes
>> available, the authorities find technical and legal means to
>> control it. Websites and chat forums were the first to suffer from
>> Beijing's censorship. Now it is the turn of blogs and online video
>> exchange systems."
>>
>> China, which now has about 130 million Internet users and more than
>> 17 million bloggers, is also the country with the most
>> highly-developed human and technological resources for censoring
>> the Internet. With 52 people currently in prison for criticising
>> the authorities on a website or blog, China is by far the world's
>> biggest prison for cyber-dissidents.

Rebecca Wanjiku <rebeccawanjiku at yahoo.com> wrote: 
 there are no laws guarding issues such as chief or police asking for your ID, they say they want to know if one is kenyan or not or if one is a wanted criminal or not...
 the closest we came to dealing with this as i can recall is the IPPG document which said one does not have to walk with the ID, it was however not made law and therefore no mechanism for enforcement.
  
 going to sheria house for info.....hmm that is debatable in regard to confidentiality, i think we have a right to est who owns what, but again this is subject to abuse,
 the case of logbook information given by times tower suffices, crooks were using the information provided to forge logbooks and sell non existent vehicles,
 so there need for information that can be supplied, maybe minimal information should be provided and like in the Google/Earthlink case, they should define what is minimal information....to make sure we all secure somehow..

 about the speeches being posted on respective websites, that will reduce the amount of requests and make sure all ministries update their websites....
  
 
 
  ----- Original Message ----
From: Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru at yahoo.com>
To: rebeccawanjiku at yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:22:19 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? AND Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data

This is slightly long  contribution and I hope no information overload again...

Q: When the police, Chief, etc ask for one's ID,  does it expose the individual to tribal discrimination?

Q: When one asks Sheria House for registered companies returns, does it breach corporate confidentiality (along the way "babyteleas") ?

Q: Is one entitled to archived/historical data within 30 days, for example, the names of all chiefs that served, say, Makadara since independence?

Q: Foreign entities operating in government offices, e.g. Maji House, Research Centres, etc must  equally be subjected to disclose research information they are collecting.... 

- "National Interests" must be better defined to safeguard against past abuses.

- All government speeches must be published at their respective ministries 'websites within 24 hrs

- Companies must disclose personal information collected, the purposes and the uses made - otherwise discriminatory consumer profiling will defeat the spirit of this policy.

-------- sorry in case below overloads------

A recent US example on consumer concerns regarding "Information Society, Users Profiling, Privacy and Individual Freedoms"

ACLU slams final San Francisco Wi-Fi contract

Civil liberties protection group claims the contract EarthLink and
Google signed with the city fails to provide ample protection against
data collection

By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
February 07, 2007

The ACLU has turned up the political heat on EarthLink and  Google's
plan for Wi-Fi in San Francisco, telling the city's Board of
Supervisors that the proposed contract doesn't have enough privacy or
free speech protections.

The ACLU of Northern California said in a letter to the supervisors on
Tuesday that both EarthLink's paid service and Google's free offering
would fall short of most of the group's recommendations on collection
and sharing of personal data and possible tracking of users. Among
other things, there are no limits on what kind of information
EarthLink can or will collect, and terms for the Google service call
for requiring "minimal" information on login without defining
"minimal," the letter said. In addition to privacy concerns, the group
is worried that knowing information is being collected will cause
users to limit what they say and do on the Internet.

The city and EarthLink agreed on a contract last month, and EarthLink
is confident the closely watched  project will get off the ground with
deployment of a proof-of-concept network starting in April, said
company spokesman Jerry Grasso. But the proposal has been under fire
since before the contract was completed, and some members of the board
have said a municipally owned system would be better for the city.

EarthLink negotiated the deal with the city and would build and
operate the network, bringing Google in as a tenant providing the
free, slower service. Some critics have warned that San Francisco
could be giving a virtual monopoly on citywide Wi-Fi to private
companies without ensuring user privacy or complete coverage.

The ACLU said a municipal Wi-Fi network should let users opt in or out
of any service that collects data on what they look at or search for
on the Internet, or their e-mail messages. There are no provisions for
that in the paid or free service terms, it said. EarthLink can only
save location information  for 60 days, but there's no limit to how
long it can store personal protected information and no limit to how
long Google can store any information, the ACLU said.

Users of the EarthLink service can opt out of receiving marketing
materials, but EarthLink has free reign to share personal information
with partner companies that help it deliver or promote the service.

Both service providers can hand over users' personal information for
law enforcement or national security reasons without a warrant or
notification of the user, though they would require "court-ordered
documentation" before doing so. If information is sought for a civil
suit, EarthLink or Google would have to tell the user first.

EarthLink's Grasso declined to comment on the ACLU's letter, saying
EarthLink has not seen it. Google and city representatives could not
immediately be reached for comment.

http://www.infoworld.com /article/07/02/07/Hnaclusfwifi _1.html?source=rss&url=http:/ /www.infoworld.com/article/07 /02/07/Hnaclusfwifi_1.html

joseph kihanya <kihanyajn at yahoo.com> wrote: Dear all,

These is a Summary of the two days posts.

Day 1

That FOI should be framed as a right not a freedom.
That FOI should seek to protect e-government/ promote accountability
That if FOI is through e-government, should it not be at no cost?
That FOI will allow for a flow of information thereby eliminating rumours.
That the periods of access under the policy are too longi.e 15 and 30 days, the later being after appeal on refusal

Day 2

That the current environment for access to information is dictated byb the Official Secrets Act which is understood in government service? that all information is secret.Case in point ICT policy.
Thata policy on access( protection) to data held by the private sector is required.


*************************
This has come from the two posts which is greatly appreciated by  yours truly.

The comments are few.

The days are going by and it may be that extensions on these tow important themes would have to be extended to tomorrow with the addition of DAY 3's THEME.

Does anyone have an idea as to how debate may be stimulated further.The Policy document understandably is not very sassy.....law most times is not...but there must be a way....

Anybody?

Also ,Please somebody comment on the Bolivia story.....public interests group persons?

Kihanya

P.S.I will introduce theme for day 3 tomorrow.



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