CARACAS, Venezuela — That the US government has been snooping on Internet users worldwide does not surprise global netizens, who said they already had few expectations of online privacy as governments increasingly monitor people's digital lives, often with Internet companies' acquiescence. Privacy activists concerned over the US National Security Agency's selective monitoring of Internet traffic called on people to take measures to better protect their digital data ranging from emails to photos to social network posts. But most people eschew encryption and other privacy tools and seemed resigned to the open book their online lives have become. “It doesn't surprise me one bit. They've been doing it for years,” said Jamie Griffiths, a 26-year-old architect working on his laptop in a London cafe. “I wouldn't send anything via email that I wouldn't want a third party to read.” From Baghdad, to Bogota, Colombia, many said they already carefully censor what they write online and assume governments are regularly spying on online activity, be it as part of global counter-terrorism or domestic surveillance efforts. Leaked confidential documents show the NSA and FBI have been sifting through personal data by directly accessing the US-based servers of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, AOL, Skype, PalTalk, Apple and YouTube. Following Thursday's revelation, US President Barack Obama said Friday that the surveillance did not “target” US citizens or others living in the US — which does not mean their communications were not caught up in the dragnet. But that didn't dampen the outrage of people who resent what they consider Washington's self-anointed role as the world's policeman. “To the United States, everyone is suspicious, even the pope!” said leftist Colombian Sen. Alexander Lopez. “Everyone is under observation these days and this should be taken up by the United Nations.” Lopez said he has no plans to close his Google and Microsoft email accounts. He figures he'll be spied on no matter what he does. The revelation of global data vacuuming could hurt US technology companies if Internet users become disillusioned and abandon them in favor of homegrown alternatives that offer greater security. US privacy activist Christopher Soghoian said he finds it “insane” that so many politicians outside the United States use Google gmail accounts. “This has given the NSA an advantage over every other intelligence system in the world. The Americans don't have to hack as much, because everyone in the world sends their data to American companies,” he said. Soghoian predicted an increasing push by governments and companies in Europe in particular, where privacy has been a much bigger issue for voters than in the United States, away from storing data in US-based server farms. The disclosure of the NSA data-vacuuming program known as PRISM is only the latest “of many US government programs created to infringe on personal freedoms,” said Carlos Affonso Pereira de Souza, a technology policy professor at FGV think tank in Rio de Janeiro. The governments of China, Iran, Bahrain are among other nations that already aggressively oversee online activity, in many cases putting people in prison for political blog posts and other messages. Israel's attorney general in April upheld a practice allowing security personnel to read email accounts of suspicious individuals when they arrive at the airport, arguing it prevents militants from entering the country. China has long imposed tight control over media and spied on private communications among its citizens, especially government critics and activists, sifting through their email, listening in on their phone conversations and snooping on their cyber activities. Major Internet companies employ internal reviewers who regularly censor content posted by users and scrub off offensive language, including political topics the authorities do not wish to be publicly discussed. South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world, has a law that allows authorities to ask telecommunications companies without a court order to provide information such as names, resident registration numbers, addresses and phone numbers of their subscribers. But this doesn't involve the substance of conversations users had using communications software provided by the companies. Ko Young-churl, a journalism professor and communications expert at Jeju National University in South Korea, said most South Koreans are complacent about security for their personal data online ... “and most South Koreans don't realize authorities could use such tools against them.” The UN report said such activity has been expanding as technology advances, and that countries should prioritize protecting people's online rights. “In order to meet their human rights obligations, States must ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and privacy are at the heart of their communications surveillance frameworks,” the report reads. Its author, Guatemalan Frank La Rue, calls for legal standards to ensure “privacy, security and anonymity of communications” to protect people including journalists, human rights defenders and whistleblowers. — AP
