03 March, 2006

We know who you are, Mr Anonymous surfer!

Internet cafes in the UAE will now ask you for a photo ID before you can log on to the net. If you're under 16, your name will do.

The authorities feel that this would help curb cyber crime.

Your visit will be recorded in the cafe records and should you, gentle reader, be indulging in acts on the net that you don't want your mom to find out about - now's the time to quit.

They won't be monitoring each and every page you visit though. Well, that's what Gulf News is saying anyway.

If it stops Mr Anonymous posting nasty comments on our blogs, I'm all for it ;-)

10 comments:

samuraisam said...

yeah I heard about this.
Security at net cafe's is such a joke anyway.

We all know they aren't going to be asking for photo ID from the vast majority, because there are quite a few net cafe's frequented by people of the wastafarian nature.

Farrukh Naeem said...

One wonders, is logging surfer behaviour next?

samuraisam said...

logging every website that upto 4 million people visit is impossible.
impossible task.
Besides that, what does it actually prove? if someone hacks into your comptuer or uses your wireless connection and visits websites then you haven't actually visited them.
What if your friend uses your computer and visits a site?

Farrukh Naeem said...

That's where the photo ID comes in.

One could have server software logging only selected keyword usage (Al Qaida), sites (iwantporn.com)or servers to zero-in on a suspect. (No, I don't work for the 'authorties' - just have an imaginative mind... LOL.)

Interestingly, people with nefarious plans will find all these things elementary to bypass.

You know what I mean!

samuraisam said...

yeah it's still difficult to go through 4 million peoples internet access logs.

And if you had anything worth hiding you wouldn't be doing it over your little ho-hum dinky @emirates.net.ae connection.

I'm even worried about doing banking stuff over etisalat /:

And what do you plan on proving by people accessing an al-qaeda website? people visit them for information. You can't arrest someone for reading Mein Kampf, it doesn't prove anything.
But judging from visitor stats on my blog, i'd say someone from dubai is likely to type "how to make terrorist attack in dubai"
Want to arrest people for looking at porn? Impossible. Totally fucking Impossible. You may aswell arrest people for drinking, and kick out all the tourists if that is the attitude.

This is to target hacking and fraud, targeting other stuff is near impossible.
I'm sure the gov't really is concerned about anonymous comments posted on peoples blogs. not.

samuraisam said...

Also this is going to prove valuable to the UAE's international reputation.
Imagine the tourists coming here, most europeans and americans go apeshit over privacy issues, the UAE is going to have nationally restricted public internet access. Sounds a bit more of a move to the country to the west of the UAE, the big one, with lots of oil...

Farrukh Naeem said...

What? I'll still be getting those annoying anonymous comments despite all these new measures?

And I thought it was time to celebrate :-(

J. Edward Tremlett said...

Well, I bet we'll soon be seeing a boom in fake IDs. Darn those authorities and their sneaky ways!

J

Anonymous said...

that's wrong!and yep,it's an invasion of privacy!

Farrukh Naeem said...

Thanks for the tip missenme. Can i disable people snooping up on my surfing behaviour too? Now, that is the question.

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