
Reset the Net - Sami_Lehtinen
https://www.resetthenet.org/
======
dan_bk
We're totally anti-surveillance, and that's why we let a bunch of companies
track you around the Web, here's the list of requests (potentially tracking
you) made behind your back:

optimizely.com googleapis.com amazonaws.com heroku.com googleusercontent.com
google-analytics.com newrelic.com chartbeat.com chartbeat.net youtube-
nocookie.com googlevideo.com google.com

~~~
ChrisAntaki
Yes, that's a great & valid point. We use those to gain intelligence on how to
build more effective communications. At the same time, we totally encourage
you to use plugins like Ghostery & NoScript, That way, you'll be protected
from those services across the entire net. VPNs are also a great tool.

If you use Firefox, here's another plugin I made, which you might dig -
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/happy-
bonobo-...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/happy-bonobo-
plugins-mimety/?src=userprofile)

~~~
smutticus
Is this an honest response or are you trolling? This is not a troll question,
as I really don't know the answer.

You can't decry government spying while simultaneously ignoring spying by
large companies. They're both equally wrong.

The only message I got from this website was, "We don't get it."

~~~
ChrisAntaki
Sorry you didn't like the site. We aren't perfect, but we make an effort to
constantly improve. I'll bring up your concerns relating to tracking in the
next meeting.

------
IgorPartola
While I was a fan of the previous campaign (the day we fight back), this one
seems DOA. First, there is no actual action to be taken. There is a date, but
to get to what the campaign is trying to do you have to watch a two minute
video at the end of which it boils down to two calls to action:

1\. Developers should add "NSA-resistant features" to their products. No
mention of what this actually means.

2\. Users should try apps that support their privacy and spread the word about
them. No mention of what the apps actually are.

The site itself, as others said, tracks users through Google Analytics. That's
right, the same Google that is sending every bit of user data it gets directly
to the NSA. You are encouraging us to disable logging in our applications... I
don't know what to say to this.

Now, for some more constructive suggestions:

1\. Instead of "trying apps", why not focus a bit more on some specific
things. For example "try Tor". Most users don't know what that is, but it's a
tangible actionable thing someone can spend 30 minutes on and learn something
actually valuable.

2\. Or, try GPG. This is harder, but I believe can still be something that
power users can grasp.

3\. For developers, why not hack on Firefox or Chromium to add a Tor-enable
private mode. Encourage and fund this project, so that most people can press a
button and get a Tor-enabled browser immediately.

4\. Or, get developers to set up more Tor nodes and bridges.

5\. Or, get developers to finally bring IPv6 to Tor.

6\. Or, get developers to create alternatives to specific popular services
that are currently monitored by the NSA. The reason GMail is so popular is
because it's got a fantastic UI. No open source webmail client comes close.
Get developers to volunteer time to develop an alternative that users can host
themselves.

~~~
ChrisAntaki
We purposefully kept the video vague, so that developers could choose what
they felt were the most appropriate improvements, to the vast array of
applications out there.

Thanks for your ideas. OTR is another good thing to add, for chat
applications. Also, good point regarding user interface. As was discussed at
SXSW, friendly UI's have a huge affect on the popularity of an application.

~~~
IgorPartola
Glad you are reading this. One more thing: if you could add a text transcript
of the main points of the video that'd be awesome. If I was on my phone I
definitely wouldn't have watched the video.

~~~
ChrisAntaki
Thanks, we'll try and integrate that into the website.

------
higherpurpose
This is a great campaign. I hope it gets the attention it deserves. I hope
they intend to list some of those apps that we can "pledge to use", and maybe
even have donation buttons next to them. Donating to them might get people to
actually continue to use them afterwards, and not just try them once and
forget about them.

~~~
simias
I agree, I think that's the right approach. You can't expect all the
governments in the world to stop doing what they're doing and "leave the net
alone", we have to develop the technology to put the internet out of reach.

And we already have most of the tools, most people just didn't bother to use
them until now. PGP is more than 20 years old and we're still trying to figure
out how to protect our emails.

~~~
ChrisAntaki
Great point. As discussed at SXSW recently, the more user friendly an
application, the more likely it will attain users. Writing software takes
energy, and writing secure software is... a challenge. Hopefully though, as
time goes on, more frontend developers & designers can join the open source
movement, and contribute to making secure applications feel intuitive and
friendly.

------
mnw21cam
Hand over your email address to our database, and we'll tell you how to
protect your data, like, say, your email address.

~~~
Karunamon
Can we please stop pretending that email addresses are in any possible sense
private information? They're the internet equivalent of a phone number (you
know, those things that get printed on dead trees en masse).

Someone getting your email address when you didn't want them to have it is a
minor annoyance at worst.

~~~
KhalPanda
I agree, but why bother sending an email at all. Just put the information that
would have been in the email on the damn page.

~~~
Karunamon
It's obviously a newsletter subscription. Below the box:

 _Fight for the Future and Center for Rights will contact you about future
campaigns._

~~~
KhalPanda
Yes. _Obviously_. But it's just the complete, wrong delivery method to issue
the content for the they're addressing here, as 90% of the other comments here
have said, which was my point.

~~~
ChrisAntaki
We totally respect if you don't want to sign up and give your email.

Please don't let it stop you from helping to make the web more secure, if
you're into it. :)

------
judah
They don't explain how they intend to reset the net, or how you can help,
other than handing them your email address.

~~~
judah
I missed the video. OK, so they want devs to add "one NSA-resistant feature"
to their web apps. Perhaps they could give examples? I mean, are we talking
simple things like SSL, or something more complex?

~~~
ChrisAntaki
Definitely. We'll add examples soon. The obvious ones are using SSL, OTR,
removing or avoiding logs when possible, and of course, the ultimate being end
to end encryption as Snowden recently discussed at SXSW.

------
trevoragilbert
HOW TO RESET THE INTERNET. A GUIDE.

Step 1: Give us your email address Step 2: We'll send you an email Step 3:
After an enormous amount of spam and malware from us, you'll change your email
address and restore your computer, rendering all previous tracking
meaningless.

Welcome to a Reset Internet.

------
CK101
Dont you think the NSA already has a contigency to something like this? If
anything thinking big should be what we are doing, because those people are
planning something huge and i dont think they'll let anything get in their
way.

Just an opinion!

------
SimeVidas
"…add one NSA-resistant feature to your app". What features would that be?

~~~
simias
Well, if your app uses the network use SSL for instance. Avoid cleartext
wherever possible.

~~~
mindslight
The problem is that SSL (transport security) is the _only_ "NSA-resistant"
feature that can ever be added to a website, or incrementally added to an app.
And it only works until you (or your hosting provider) gets big enough that
NSA demands (or takes) direct access to you, the man-in-the-middle.

Unless your application is open source, administered by a user-controlled
package manager, based on end-to-end encryption with user-managed keys, and
takes steps to obscure communication-graph metadata, touting the addition of
"NSA-resistant" security features is selling snake oil.

------
josinalvo
Well, they dont seem to have given us the ideas, just the inspiring video.

Instead of complaining, someone should write a detailing blog post.

(not me though. Dont have the knowledge yet)

------
todd3834
Watching the video made me want to yell out "Hack the planet!" . At the end I
was hoping for some NSA blocking techniques to share with those less technical
but I was left with nothing. I feel like the biggest call to action was to
show their banner on my webpages. Feels like this is more of a viral campaign
than a tactical offense. I don't think it is, I just feel like there is a
missed opportunity by not sharing the NSA blocking information.

------
mtgx
Flagged into oblivion. You never fail to disappointed, HN!

