Iran's Latest Move To Stifle Dissent: Requiring ID Cards To Go Online

from the dangerous-ideas dept

Wed, Nov 28th 2012 11:55pm — Glyn Moody

For a while, Techdirt has been tracking Iran's continuing efforts to throttle its citizens' access to troublesome materials online. These have included blocking all audio and video files, and even shutting down Gmail, albeit temporarily. But stopping people accessing sites in this way is not the only approach. Here's another, from a report by Der Spiegel (original in German): Iran's government is introducing a biometric ID card that will function at the same time as an access card to the Web. Without registration via "smart card" the Internet will be blocked for citizens -- an insidious strategy for monitoring the opposition on the Internet.
All Iranians over the age of 14 will be required to have one of these new ID cards, which will store a digitised fingerprint and other personal information in an encrypted form. Once these cards are ubiquitous in the offline world, it's only a short step to require them to be used everywhere in the online world too, which would effectively abolish all anonymity and privacy there.

Iran's latest move is a useful reminder that wherever they are used, ID cards or their equivalent can become powerful enabling tools for perfect online surveillance. Other oppressive regimes will doubtless be watching the Iran experience closely.

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: free speech, id cards, internet license, iran

30 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:10am

As useful as trying to stop setboxes cards from being cloned.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- arcan, 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:17am
  
  Re:
  But can you settle your problems by using them in a children's card game?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:41am
    
    Re: Re:
    What problems?
    
    A police state that wants to see everything I do?
    I could do that!
    
    Children cards games + steganography = awesome bypass.
    
    You can even do it on Facebook, you can put encrypted messages or hidden encrypted messages right there and only the people with the keys will be able to read it.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 6:22am
    
    Re: Re:
    HA, you've activated my trap card "Fascist Regime!" Prepare to lose.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Zakida Paul (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:41am

How long before the US and UK go down this road? I suspect it is already in the works and our governments are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Call me Al, 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:59am
  
  Re:
  "For the children..."
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- btrussell (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 3:58am
  
  Re:
  "US and UK"
  
  I was wondering why he didn't use that instead of "other repressive regimes."
  
  Must have been a line spacing concern.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Richard (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 1:56am

Business?
How will visiting foriegn businessmen, academics, etc access the internet? Isn't this going to be either
a) Full of holes
or
b) Effectively cutting Iran off from economic and cultiral development.
or
c) Both of the above.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The Real Michael, 29 Nov 2012 @ 5:09am
  
  Re: Business?
  This sort of action is typical with authoritarian rule.
  
  A few years ago Iran wanted to have people wear armbands in order to identify them. (It wasn't about "safety" or any of that nonsense, it was about having an easy way to seperate the Muslims from the Jews and Christians.) People relented and there was diplomatic pressure to stop the program, so it was scrapped ...for the time being.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 2:31am

i can hear Congress etc now 'WOW! That's a brilliant idea! We can track everyone doing everything! Who wants to be the sponsor, then?'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The Real Michael, 29 Nov 2012 @ 4:55am
  
  Re:
  I wonder how many times they'll bring up "national security" and "protect the children" as their easy go-to justification.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 2:49am

Oh crap. There goes Iran giving more ideas away to Hollywood and for FREE too! What fools.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 8:41am
  
  Re:
  You have a SERIOUS case of misplaced priorities there. Which is more important, your filesharing, or the freedom of Iranians?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Hephaestus (profile), 30 Nov 2012 @ 12:27am
    
    Re: Re:
    File sharing of course. You know pirate furry fandom videos are more important than a nation of 79 million people.
    
    AC get a clue.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
goj boy, 29 Nov 2012 @ 3:53am

thy should just use facebook
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 4:09am

All card systems have the same flaw, electronic systems identify the card, and not the person carrying it. A check against biometric information is required to validate that the card matches the person, and if this is stored on the card then a fake card can be made to match the person carrying it.
If no such check is carried out, cloned cards become useful to get someone else blamed for online activity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ehud Gavron (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 4:21am

The US is already there. Don't you read Techdirt?
http://epic.org/privacy/id_cards/

It's called the REAL ID act, and it's delayed start goes into effect next year.

Welcome to Amerika.

E
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The Real Michael, 29 Nov 2012 @ 5:02am
  
  Re: The US is already there. Don't you read Techdirt?
  I've known about that for awhile. This just verifies that they put those Smart ID tracking systems into the schools in order to condition our youth into blind acceptance of a big brother surveillance state.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 9:56am
    
    Re: Re: The US is already there. Don't you read Techdirt?
    The Rutherford Institute (sounds like a secret, Big Brother in the making, "institute") is being sued for tracking students.
    
    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121125/15041521137/court-temporarily-blocks-school-district-s uspending-student-refusing-to-wear-student-idtracking-device.shtml
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 6:51am
  
  Re: The US is already there. Don't you read Techdirt?
  Real Id - A solution searching for a problem
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 7:09am
  
  Re: The US is already there. Don't you read Techdirt?
  Link about it going into effect?
  
  As far I can tell it hasn't been followed up on.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
gorehound (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 5:24am

But the question I want to know Iran:
How's that RIAL Doing ?

LOL
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
an Iranian, 29 Nov 2012 @ 6:06am

Where do you get such news?
I am Iranian and against those mullahs but never heard such thing!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 9:06am

Cynical
Other oppressive regimes will doubtless be watching the Iran experience closely.
Is it just me, but since this is talking about ID cards, my brain automatically added "like the UK" in between "regimes" and "will"...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 3:00pm

USA will copy this very soon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 29 Nov 2012 @ 4:11pm
  
  Re:
  And given the outrage it's will quickly burn in flames.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Spaceman Spiff (profile), 29 Nov 2012 @ 8:37pm

Give them what they want
Iran wants to exercise mushroom management of their people - keep them in the dark and feed them sh!t... Let them, but take it one step further - block ALL internet access to Iran, including the government and its leaders. Don't let them email, phone, or communicate over the Internet (phones are mostly routed over the Internet any longer) to ANYONE. Let them use snail-mail for all communications to other entities, and just see how long they last in power!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Aerilus, 30 Nov 2012 @ 2:12am

and what US based company is supplying them the system from its Chinese factory?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Dec 2012 @ 3:29pm

I remember hearing Kaspersky, I think, saying everyone should have an ID card to log on the internet. I wouldn't be surprised if Russia is helping Iran build this network. Possibly using it as a test bed for future deployment in Russia, and probably China.
.
Either way, this is a sad day for humanity. Especially for the citizens (slaves) of Iran. Their internet (intra-net) will no longer be a place of infinite knowledge. Nor will it be a place of free expression, which is required to post knowledge online for other people to view and learn.
.
Ultimately, this will only weaken the human race, by slowing our growth and development of knowledge. I honestly can't express how big a blow this is to humanity as a whole. This will only end in slavery, oppression, and a weak/unhappy society. Iran may as well shut their intranet off, because it's become little more than oppressive tool to brainwash it's citizens.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
romani, 5 Jun 2013 @ 10:09am

SERIOUS case
You have a SERIOUS case of misplaced priorities there. Which is more important, your filesharing, or the freedom of Iranians?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]