[tor-talk] Tor in Mexico

[andrew at torproject.org]

On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 08:30:45PM +0100, matej.kovacic at owca.info wrote 1.0K bytes in 28 lines about:
: The site mentioned (http://www.nuevolaredoenvivo.es.tl/) is promoting
: Tor use. It seems the victim used Tor, but the gangsters were able to
: identify and kill him anyway...

There's nothing in the chron.com report, nor that site, that ties Tor
usage to the targeted/killed people. 

Using a hidden service may help protect both the site and users.

I talked to a journalist from a newspaper in Mexico City concerned about
journalist safety in light of the ongoing drug wars. Most of the
discussion was about how internet surveillance can happen and things
people can do to stay safe, even if they aren't reporting on the drug
wars.

There was another journalist from an activist organization with the same
sorts of questions.

In both cases, the bulk of the discussion wasn't around the technology,
but about the social aspects of anonymity. If you use tor to successfully
hide from an adversary who runs the ISP, but login to facebook and join
an anti-zeta group under your real name and profile, well, you've lost
your anonymity.

I mentioned http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/, specifically
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/guide/, as examples of
places to learn more about blogging/reporting in dangerous areas. CPJ
also has a guide to reporting in dangerous places,
https://www.cpj.org/reports/2003/02/journalist-safety-guide.php. 

This violence against journalists (both citizen and traditional) is
nothing new for lots of places in the world. It seems American's aren't
used to seeing it this close to our borders,
https://www.cpj.org/americas/mexico/.

Tor alone cannot save you in completely hostile situations. Understanding
the environment and making decisions on your own is key. Many people are
struggling with the understanding part due to being overwhelmed with
the technical knowledge required to stay completely safe online, yet
still live in a hostile area. The lack of understanding leads to poor or
uninformed decisions. No software is going to solve some of these issues.

>From talking to DEA agents and former drug/gang members, the drug cartels
are just as advanced as the police forces, if not more so.  We're seeing
the results of this in the targeted killings based on online activities.

-- 
Andrew
pgp key: 0x74ED336B