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ZDNet claims the UN is looking into curbing internet anonymity.

By Andrew Redfern @ 15th September 2008 4:37 pm

ZDNet having published a report stating that a group made up of, amongst others, the UN, the US government and the Chinese government, is drafting a series of technical standards to define methods of tracing the source of internet postings and curbing the ability of web users to remain anonymous.

The report, published Monday, states “The documents, seen by ZDNet.co.uk’s sister site CNET News.com, indicate that the US National Security Agency is also participating in the ‘IP Traceback’ drafting group, named Q6/17, which is meeting next week in Geneva to work on the traceback proposal. Members of Q6/17 have declined to release key documents, and meetings are closed to the public.

The potential for eroding internet users’ right to remain anonymous, which is recognised in international law by groups such as the Council of Europe and protected by law in the US, has alarmed some technologists and privacy advocates”.

Such standards would, according to to a source quoted by ZDNet, be contravention in of the UN’s own Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whilst a degree of traceability is without doubt desirable the beneifts would be the thin end of the wedge as governments would gain the ability to trace and crack down on the source of any dissent and opposition.

The move takes discussion on the internet privacy issue to a whole new level and opens up debate about the nature of the internet itself.

Read the full article here at the ZDNet.co.uk website

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