Does Bodström dream of high-tech hammers?

The Swedish Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström can without a doubt be placed among the European Ministerâ??s most hostile to civil liberties (older posts about this here & here & here). Besides blogging about it (along with many others) Henrik Sandklef and I wrote a debate article concerning this mans naïve faith in technological solutions to crime. It was published in the newspaper (in Swedish) and the Minister replied â?? well sort ofâ?¦he never actually met our arguments on civil rights violations, but claimed that the police needed tools to do their job (in Swedish).

Yesterday the Chairman of the Swedish Police Union, Björn Ericson, wrote in a debate article (in Swedish) that despite the Ministerâ??s claims that the police force has increased by 1500 policemen the actual numbers show that the number of policemen have decreased by almost 700 since 1997. Ericson wonders whether the 1500 policemen are all working deep undercover since nobody besides the Minister seems to know where they are.

Besides the politics (it is, after all, an election year), Ericson brings up a vital point in his article. Who will watch the tapes, analyse the data and read the log files? Much of the current wisdom concerning police enforcement deals with the importance of visibility. Policemen on the streets. It is not only important that the police patrol but also that they be seen to be patrolling.

Technology costs. The cost of building and maintaining a high-tech police force will create higher costs for the police. This will mean that they will have to make budget choices. Either be visible or spend money on technology. Our Minister has shown his inclination lies in the dream of a technological future â?? but what is missing in this dream?

Implementing the high-tech surveillance society will entail making choices. Simple choices with far reaching effects. The Bodström vision entails moving the police from all types of prevention and focus them on the cure. In the long run prevention is more cost efficient than cure. All the high-tech in the world cannot, will not, prevent crime. The only aspect of use is that high-tech may provide proof in the ensuing court case. And this can only be achieved through the trampling of civil liberties and therefore must only be used as little as possible.

The choices the police are being forced to make will therefore change their purpose. They will not be about the prevention of crime but rather the police will become the servants of the courts, the errand boys of the prosecutor. Despite their handcuffs, handguns and truncheons their primary work will be the collection of data for analysis. This is not unworthy work but it does not prevent the bulk of most crimes.

Technology such as that of bugging (phones and computers), DNA databases and surveillance cameras are all tools. Tools work well to resolve certain problems. With the right tools people became efficient â?? a large part of human development can be studied in the development of certain tools (fire, bronze axes, steam engines, silicon chipsâ?¦) but with the wrong tools the work becomes difficult, if not impossible. Of course you can bang in a nail with a screwdriver â?? but at a cost.

Most violent crimes (Terrorism, Saturday-night brawling, violence and abuse at home) will not be prevented by buying technology. The 9/11 terrorists used their own names â?? it would not have mattered to them if they had been asked to donate DNA. Putting more, and better trained, police on the streets â?? does have an effect on crime.

More patrolling policemen would not have prevented 9/11 â?? there is no way to prevent the determined. More patrolling police will not prevent abuse in homes. This takes an even more costly prevention â?? education and social welfare. But it is a better preventative cure for most other crimes. In addition to this it does not violate the civil rights of law-abiding people in the hope of catching the criminal.

There is a saying: When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Thomas Bodström is busying buying the dream of the big high-tech hammer and no matter how many different problems people attempt to explain to him with this approach all he can see is nails â?? and he cannot wait to pound us down.

DNA Databases

The BBC writes that 519 requests from law enforcement agencies to extract data from the UK DNA database have been granted since 2004. No requests have been denied. The BBC writes about the database:

It emerged in January that 24,000 under-18s never cautioned, charged or convicted are on the database, which was established in 1995.

Sweden has been actively moving towards the implementation of a DNA database with the law professor Madeleine Leijonhufvud and the Minister of Justice Tomas Bodström acting main propaganda exponent with simplistic arguments in the national newspapers. Henrik Sandklef and I wrote a debate article (in Swedish) countering some of these arguments.

The short version of my beef against, is firstly that DNA databases is that they re-inforce the idea of technological infallability while being as error prone as any information system. Secondly they will be abused.

As this BBC article shows they have been done in the UK – there is no reason to expect that the same abuse will not occur in other countries.

A very good book on the role of DNA in the criminal justice system is Lazar’s DNA and the Criminal Justice System: The Technology of Justice.

(via Battleangel)

Wanted: Swedish Activist Wiki

Sweden has had a long reputation for being boring. Many Swedes prefer to think of this not as boring but as safe. Trygghet (security) is very big here. Traditionally most of this security was believed to come from the state which would protect its citizens from the cradle to the grave in the classic welfare state captured in the Swedish term Folkhem (Peoples Home). In part this security comes from a long period of neutrality and lack of war or civil conflict.

The upside with security is trust. Swedes tend to be trusting and can therefore get on with their lives. The downside is that trusting people make easy targets.

Sweden does not have a strong individualistic rights based approach and therefore are very easily caught with their trousers down when official agencies approach them. A good example of this was this weeks police raid on the Pirate Bay where amongst other things:

  1. The police took more servers than they needed â?? thereby disrupting the communication of organisations not connected with the raid.
  2. The Pirate Bayâ??s legal representative was asked (required?) to leave a DNA sample â?? a gross misuse of the purpose of DNA tests and a form of intimidation.
  3. The status of surplus information is unclear at present â?? therefore creating an opening for police fishing expeditions.

How does one move from a position of trust and security to a greater awareness of individual rights, legal requirements and the demands which can be made on the legal system? Education.

To achieve this I think there is a need to create a website (preferably a wiki) on the legal position of online activists containing information about rights and obligations in the case of police actions.

A site such as this would provide information on (amongst other things):

  1. What can the police take (and limitations)?
  2. How much or how little should the activist do to help?
  3. Must the activist hand over encryption keys?
  4. What should the activist think about (ask for receipts etcâ?¦)
  5. What happens in the police station? (rights, obligations and experiences)

So does anyone want to start a wiki?

Examples of sites:

Activist Rights – AustraliaDemonstrating and Civil DisobedienceFreeBeagles Legal Advice

Denial of Service

Denial of service attacks have earlier been used as protest forms (more here .pdf). Yesterday the Swedish government website was the target of such an attack. The attack claimed to be a protest against the actions of the Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström for being the minister who has introduced the most amount of repressive legislation in the shortest time (see earlier posts here and here)

The attack was sparked by actions by the Police on the request of the minister to shut down the bittorrent site The Pirate Bay. During the raid several organisations not connected with torrent sharing were closed down and the legal representative of the Pirate Bay was required to leave a DNA sample (see more here). The Pirate Bay was offline for less than five days and yesterday protests were held in both Stockholm and Göteborg.

While not seen as part of the formal/official protests DoS attacks have targed the Swedish Police website and the website of the Swedish Government. For a while a message to Minister of Justice Thomas Bodström was up on a site connected with the attack: “Thomas – we want our freedom back”. Aftonbladet has the screenshot here.

(via Media Culpa)

Free Films Online

While the main discussion on online films revolves (rightly or wrongly) on pirates downloading material. This discussion sometimes forgets that we have now reached a period when a number of films are being released into the public domain. Here is a selection of films available at the Internet Archive. Browsing their collection is lots of fun and may seriously threaten thesis work.

Things to Come (1936), William Cameron Menzies (dir.), The metropolis of Everytown is a city threatened by world war. Pacifist intellectuals try to turn the tide but efforts go unheeded by the self-interested classes, and war arrives with tanks and aeroplanes and gas bombs. The war continues for thirty years, its original purpose forgotten. Everytown is destroyed by air raids and civilization degenerates… (imdb) (Public Domain).

Le Voyage Dans La Lune (dir. George Meiles), an old 1902 film from france about a small group of scientists that travel to space on a rocket to get to the moon. (Licensed via CC Att-NC-SA).

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) (dir. Roy William Neill) Based on the Sir Authur Conan Doyle story “The Dancing Men”, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are placed in WWII europe to help protect a scientist and his invention from the Nazis. (Licensed via CC Att).

The Kid (1921) (dir. Charlie Chaplin) The Kid was Charlie Chaplin’s first full-length movie. It, more than anything else to that date, made Chaplin a living legend. It took over a year to produce, and was an incredible success for Chaplin. (Public Domain).

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) (dir. Alfred Hitchcock) While travelling in Switzerland, the child of a well-off couple is kidnapped. She is held to ensure that her father does not reveal what he knows about a planned assassination. Since they can’t talk to the authorities, the parents plan to begin the search for their daughter on their own. This is the original, British-made movie from 1934 and is now in the Public Domain.

Mechanical Monsters (1941) A ten minute Superman cartoon where he battles a criminal mastermind and his robot army (imdb) (Public Domain).

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) (dir. Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton) the story of a naive, college-educated dandy who must prove himself to his working-class father, a hot-headed riverboat captain, while courting the daughter of his father’s rival, who threatens to put Steamboat Bill, Sr. and his paddle-wheeler out of business. (Public Domain).

The New Adventures of Tarzan. (1935) (dir. Edward Kull) Not many realize this feature, along with ‘Tarzan and the Green Goddess’, were produced by E.R. Burroughs, himself. He wanted a screen portrayal of Tarzan as he had written him, a noble intelligent Ape Man/Lord Greystoke, not as Hollywood had made him (“Me Tarzan, you Jane”). And NO Cheetah.

Three Stooges – Color Craziness (1965) “The New Three Stooges” featured the animated adventures of Moe, Larry, & Curly Joe. The cartoons were introduced by live-action inserts with the real Stooges. These inserts were some of the only Stooges material ever filmed in color, and they also feature long-time Stooge collaberator Emil Sitka. (Public Domain).

PKU & Kriminalitet

I DN 25/1 kan man läsa att antalet människor som begär utträde från PKU-registeret har ökat. Sedan Anna Lindh fallet har 1 437 människor begärt utträde. För mig är anledningen självklar. Det är den missbruk som har skett av PKU-registret. Den skulle endast användas till forskning men har blivit en databas för polisen. Den har utnyttjats bland annat för Anna Lindh fallet samt efter Tsunami vågen. Att folk begär utträde är en reaktion från människor som är oroliga och upprörda över den minskad integritet en polisiär DNA-databas innebär.

Därför häpnar man när man läser detta i artikeln:

– Bovarna blev pÃ¥ det klara med att uppgifterna i pku-registret kunde användas för att knyta en brottsling till brottet och sÃ¥g dÃ¥ till att lämna registret. Självfallet finns det andra än kriminella som begärt utträde ocksÃ¥, säger Björn Liljeros.

Björn Liljeros försöker ge sken av att utträde från PKU-registret görs endast av kriminella! För det första vill jag påpeka att Sverige har inte tillräckligt med kriminella som skulle begära utträde från PKU. Men ännu viktigare är den arrogans med vilket Liljeros verka mena att utträde skall till huvudsak likställas med kriminalitet.

Att värna om sin integritet är ingen kriminell handling. Utträde från PKU-registret är bevis på en stark missnöje med statens bristande förståelse för människors integritet.

Läs mer om faran med DNA-databaser: Heltäckande DNA-register â?? allvarligt hot mot integritet.

Debatt 24/1 – Göteborgs Posten

Här är debattartikeln som Henrik Sandklef & jag fick med i GP idag. Hos GP finns den här.

Naiv tro på teknologi som brottsbekämpare

Högteknologi löser inte brott. Det som behövs är fler poliser. Dessutom måste brottsbekämpning balanseras med integritet. Det borde justitieministern begripa. Utan respekt för rättigheter har syftet med brottsbekämpning misslyckats, skriver Mathias Klang och Henrik Sandklef.

På mycket kort tid har Sverige infört ny repressiv lagstiftning samt ändrat i befintlig lagstiftning på ett sådant sätt att mänskliga rättigheter kommer i kläm. Sverige inför DNA-databaser, ökar polisens möjligheter till avlyssning, ökar användning av kameraövervakning, diskuterar massavlyssning av mobiltelefoner och hemliga husrannsakningar.

Sverige har även varit drivande på Europanivå genom sin entusiasm för
datalagringsdirektivet. Direktivet innebär att operatörer skall tvingas lagra kundernas kommunikationsdata. Denna information omfattar till exempel vem du ringer till, samt, om det är mobilsamtal, var du befinner dig, innehållet i dina sms, vad du tittar på när du är online och så vidare. Datalagring motiveras med kampen mot terrorismen, men ändamålsglidningen har redan börjat.

Efter datalagringsdirektivet antogs, kunde man i Computer Sweden (14/12) läsa följande uttalande av Inger Segelström (s), “Jag är tacksam och glad att vi fÃ¥r en gemensam lagstiftning för hela Europa. Det här är ocksÃ¥ garantin för att integriteten och de mänskliga rättigheterna inte Ã¥sidosätts.”

Repressiva förslag
Logiken är Orwellsk i stil med Krig är fred. Att motivera inskränkningar i vår integritet med just inskränkningar i denna integritet borde vara ett argument som vem som helst genomskådar.

DN skriver i en ledare (22/12) att vi aldrig har haft en justitieminister som på så kort tid initierat så många repressiva förslag. Han kallas en fara för rättssäkerheten. Bodström motiverar behovet av repressiv lagstiftning genom att hänvisa till terrorbekämpning. Denna abstrakta hotbild utnyttjas hänsynslöst, utan reflektion över dess sannolikhet. För att skydda det öppna samhället mot terror måste den öppenhet vi försvarar förminskas. Tyvärr litar vi på Bodström utan att tänka på vad som egentligen händer.

Sverige var en drivande kraft för genomförandet av omfattande datalagring inom EU. Information som lagras kommer att användas. Spärrar utlovas, men är luddigt utformade och kan lätt modifieras. När information finns tillgänglig kommer det att vara svårt att förhindra missbruk.

Enligt Bodström handlar inte detta om nyreglering utan en kodifiering av det som polisen gör. Datalagringsdirektivet en väsentlig skillnad från polisens tidigare praxis. Polisen kunde, om informationen fanns lagrad, få tillgång till materialet. Skillnaden nu är mängden och typen av information som måste lagras.
Sedan bör en justitieminister vara mer aktiv i avvägning av de rättigheter som polisens agerande innebär. Bodströms roll skall inte enbart vara att säkerställa polismetoder genom lag, utan även att begränsa polisen när deras agerande kränker eller hotar rättigheter.

Bodström har, på ett vilseledande sätt, jämfört datalagring med fingeravtryck. Att hänvisa till fingeravtryck är att förenkla och fördumma debatten.

Kartlägger handlingsmönster
Datalagring handlar inte om att bekräfta identitet utan snarare att kartlägga kommunikations- och handlingsmönster, det vill säga att registrera vad du gör, läser och skriver samt vem du kommunicerar med och om vad. Datalagring avslöjar dina åsikter, fingeravtryck din identitet.

Vi förringar inte vikten av brottsbekämpning men förblindas inte av teknologi. Högteknologi löser inte brott. Det som behövs är fler poliser och det kostar. Bodström visar en naiv teknikoptimism genom att lägga resurser på utveckling av övervakningsteknologi. Dessutom måste vi hela tiden balansera brottsbekämpning med integritet. Utan respekt för rättigheter har syftet med brottsbekämpning misslyckats. Vi uppnår inte rättvisa genom minskade rättigheter.

Demokrati bygger på att vi kan kommunicera ostörda av rättsapparaten. Nu har dessa möjligheter tagits bort. Bör vi vara oroliga?

Bodström säger “Bara den som har nÃ¥got att dölja har nÃ¥got att vara rädd för”. Den här retoriken är tyvärr vanligt förekommande i historien, med helt andra resultat för medborgare än vad Bodström vill pÃ¥skina.

Att påstå att oskyldiga inte har något att frukta är ett hån. Oron inför statligt missbruk av personlig data är inte överdriven. Flera stater har utnyttjat olika former av id-handlingar för att förfölja och förtrycka hela folkgrupper. Instanser av statligt missbruk av data och dess effekter är viktiga att komma ihåg, eftersom det felaktiga argumentet att oskyldiga människor inte har något att frukta upprepas ofta, trots att historien regelbundet visat att detta inte är sant.

Vi måste säga nej
En upprepad felaktig tes blir inte sann och att vara oskyldig är ingen garanti för rättvis behandling.

Nu kommer polisiära resurser att läggas på datalagring i stället för annan brottsbekämpning. Vi måste aktivt delta i debatten, vi måste sluta upp med vår blinda tilllit, vi måste ifrågasätta det som låter bra, vi måste säga nej till åsiktsregistrering som faktiskt blir en direkt effekt av datalagring. Men framför allt måste vi sluta acceptera en justitieminister som inte värnar om medborgarnas rättigheter.

In Göteborgs Posten

Henrik Sandklef & I have written a debate article which has been published in the third largest Swedish daily paper. Naturally its in Swedish but the general idea is that the present Minister of Justice Tomas Bodström is unconcerned with human rights issues and is implementing more and more integrity violating schemes (DNA databases, CCTV, hidden surveillance and data retention). A link to the article will be posted when its online. Its online now.

Tillit & Teknologi

Jag skriver nästan ingenting på svenska men nu är jag klar med min första bokkapitell på svenska. Här är första stycket.

Att vara människa är att delta i en komplex social interaktion, men vi lever våra liv genom att delta i samhället inte genom att reflektera över det. Förtroende och tillit är så grundläggande beståndsdelar i våra liv att vi endast lägger märke till dem när systemfel inträffar. Att ta bussen till jobbet är en banal upplevelse inte sällan förknippad med tristess. Men för att vi ska kunna sitta där och uppleva tristessen krävs lager på lager av tillit till en mängd olika legala, tekniska, ekonomiska, sociala och politiska system. Vi utgår ifrån att bussbolaget har anlitat en förare som kan köra, är ansvarsfull, att bussen fungerar, att alla andra bilar i trafiken även denna dag tänker följa reglerna, att våra pengar kommer accepteras, att de andra på bussen följer god buss-sed, att bussen kör enligt tidtabellen och efter den aviserade vägen, samt att den stannar vid hållplatsen när man signalerar att man vill kliva av. Att som människa inte vara tillitsfull skulle vara ohållbart. Den tid vi sparar på att vara tillitsfulla gör att vi enklare kan leva våra liv. Vår tillit har blivit en vana, vi reagerar nu endast om system inte fungerar. Vi blir irriterade när bussen inte följer tidtabellen eftersom vi har en förväntan att tidtabellen skall stämma.

Kapitlet handlar om tillit, DNA-databaser & att inte lita pÃ¥ experter…

Grafitti as Social commentary

Grafitti is a difficult topic. I dislike it when trams and buses are vandalised and filled with repetitive tags and I am not impressed by any sloppy, messy and defacing uses of a can of spraypaint. However this doesnt mean that I dislike everything I see. Some of the work out there falls into a category of its own. I am particulary fond of social commentary. Where there is a large communicative process. The difference? Well tags are simply the marking of turf in the same way as a dog would pee on a lamppost. Important to the dogs in the area perhaps, but not really a communication to anyone else. Social grafitti partakes, and asks others to partake, in a social discourse. One of the best examples of this I have found is the work of Banksy, who makes grafitti a form of social commentary.

“Imagine a city where grafitti wasn’t illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a living breathing thing which belonged to everybody, not just the estate agents and the barons of big business. Image a city like that and stop leaning against the wall – its wet.” Take a look at examples of his outdoor collection here. I particularly like his work on the Israeli/Palistine wall which can be seen here. His work can also be seen in Retort Magazine – Where you can see a picture of Mujahidin Mona Lisa. More of Banksy’s work can be found in his books Existencilism (2002) and Wall and Piece (2005)


existencilism Wall and Piece
Books by Banksy

Another interesting example of interesting grafitti is done by a lesser, but more local anonymous hand holding the spray-can. I came across this wall while working in a nearby town. I would not really have bothered with it much since it is simply the words “Civil Disobedience” (in Swedish) sprayed on the wall of a concrete underpass. The thing that makes this interesting is that the writer asking for (demanding?) disobedience corrects his own sign to conform to spelling.

civil olydnad
On a wall in Uddevalla (Now repainted)

If its disobedience you want – then why bother correcting the direction of the N? Is this actually more than simple tagging? Has the hand that sprayed thought about what it was doing? Is the changing of the N actually a subtle communication by the artist on the ways in which even disobedience is ruled by conventions? This work was trivial but with the changing of the N it becomes a subtle form of communication on the nature of laws, rules and social conventions. All this in two words on a concrete wall that never previously inspired me to think. Dont tell me that grafitti isnt important.