Comments on: Spying on Zimbabwe’s cybercafes http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/11/03/spying-on-zimbabwes-cybercafes/ EthanZ's musings on Africa, media and international development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:45:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeremy http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/11/03/spying-on-zimbabwes-cybercafes/comment-page-1/#comment-95775 Jeremy Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:27:04 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1094#comment-95775 Thanks, Ethan. Maybe, we'll see you out in the field some time. Thanks, Ethan. Maybe, we’ll see you out in the field some time.

]]> By: Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Voices from Zimbabwe http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/11/03/spying-on-zimbabwes-cybercafes/comment-page-1/#comment-83869 Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Voices from Zimbabwe Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:54:51 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1094#comment-83869 [...] While Zimbabwe’s repressive Interceptions of Communications Bill (ICB) has been withdrawn following reservations expressed by the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC), Ethan Zuckerman blogs at My Heart’s in Accra that Zimbabwe’s spy agency, the CIO, will in fact spy on people accessing the web in internet cafes, There’s two ways to read this development. One is that the government is already monitoring net communications and realizes that cybercafe usage is a weak link in their surveillance system. I think this is pretty unlikely - the tests I ran in Zimbabwe showed no overt net filtering and no blockage of proxies, Tor or other circumvention tools. That means that cybercafes are hardly the biggest security hole from the government’s perspective. More likely, I think, is that this is part of the overall Zimbabwean strategy to encourage self-censorship through intimidation. If CIO and PISI officers could be in any cybercafe, you might think twice about sending information to friends outside the country. It doesn’t matter if the officers are actually there or not - if you think they might be, you’re likely to self-censor. [...] [...] While Zimbabwe’s repressive Interceptions of Communications Bill (ICB) has been withdrawn following reservations expressed by the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC), Ethan Zuckerman blogs at My Heart’s in Accra that Zimbabwe’s spy agency, the CIO, will in fact spy on people accessing the web in internet cafes, There’s two ways to read this development. One is that the government is already monitoring net communications and realizes that cybercafe usage is a weak link in their surveillance system. I think this is pretty unlikely – the tests I ran in Zimbabwe showed no overt net filtering and no blockage of proxies, Tor or other circumvention tools. That means that cybercafes are hardly the biggest security hole from the government’s perspective. More likely, I think, is that this is part of the overall Zimbabwean strategy to encourage self-censorship through intimidation. If CIO and PISI officers could be in any cybercafe, you might think twice about sending information to friends outside the country. It doesn’t matter if the officers are actually there or not – if you think they might be, you’re likely to self-censor. [...]

]]> By: Ethan http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/11/03/spying-on-zimbabwes-cybercafes/comment-page-1/#comment-78216 Ethan Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:34:12 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1094#comment-78216 Welcome to Accra, Jeremy - hope VITA is a good experience for you. I miss working with USAID in Accra - they were very supportive of our work with Geekcorps and the city is a wonderful place to see the full diversity of modern West Africa. I'm more than a little jealous of you. Welcome to Accra, Jeremy – hope VITA is a good experience for you. I miss working with USAID in Accra – they were very supportive of our work with Geekcorps and the city is a wonderful place to see the full diversity of modern West Africa. I’m more than a little jealous of you.

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2006/11/03/spying-on-zimbabwes-cybercafes/comment-page-1/#comment-77402 Jeremy Sat, 04 Nov 2006 22:41:34 +0000 http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1094#comment-77402 I can't resist a blog about Accra. That's where I am based with USAID. I just started an international development discussion forum and I'm hoping we see writing like this from time to time. The link is www.internationalstrategy.org if you are interested. Best, Jeremy I can’t resist a blog about Accra. That’s where I am based with USAID. I just started an international development discussion forum and I’m hoping we see writing like this from time to time. The link is http://www.internationalstrategy.org if you are interested.

Best,
Jeremy

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