WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning says we need to rethink …

Online privacy is becoming an increasing concern for people as our digital habits are increasingly tracked.

Its a problem thats been top of mind for Chelsea Manning, the activist best known for whistleblowing that disclosed nearly 750,000 classified as well as unclassified but sensitive documents related to the military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks.

Manning spoke at South by Southwest on Sunday, discussing privacy and her latest venture as a security consultant at Nym Technologies, a Switzerland-based company that is focused on preventing governments and corporations from tracking people online. During the session, she discussed privacy technology with Harry Halpin, Nyms CEO.

Nym Technologies security consultant Chelsea Manning said digital privacy will require rebuilding internet infrastructure.

Manning argued that because our data online is increasingly being collected by entities including Google and the United States, as well as foreign governments including China and Russia, digital privacy will require rethinking and rebuilding internet infrastructure.

We're going to have to rethink ... how we communicate every day, because it's not working," Manning said. "We are giving over large amounts of information by default."

She said its not fair to expect the average person to navigate their internet privacy, especially as it becomes more difficult to avoid tracking even when using virtual private networks.

I struggle with digital security every day. I use TikTok, I use Instagram, and I'm an expert in this, Manning said. We can't expect the average person who doesn't have a technical background to be an expert at securing your information and protecting your information.

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Manning was convicted by court martial in 2013 of violating the Espionage Act, among other offenses, after leaking documents to the whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks. The former Army soldier and intelligence analyst was sent to prison in 2010, but was released in 2017 after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence. She also recently wrote a memoir, "README.txt."

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Since her release from prison, Manning said she has been forward thinking on issues related to technology, privacy and surveillance. She said her future-looking mindset starts with her past experiences including her imprisonment, as well as other life events and traits, including being a young trans person who was unhoused in Chicago, being an avid gamer and technologist, and someone who likes to express themselves on social media.

Taking the background and taking a lot of experiences and difficult days, including being in prison and facing the consequences of revealing things to the world, allows me to have the insight to think about how we move forward, Manning said.

Manning and Halprin spoke about Nyms software, which is encryption-focused and gives users infrastructure for messaging platforms, web browsers and other software applications that allow them to encrypt and send peoples data and their own data confidentially across the internet. Encryption, the type of technology used by apps such as Signal, refers to a process that obscures information to make it unreadable without authorization.

There are more companies than ever that can now effectively have what I consider God's eye, to look down and see every (data) packet that's moving through the internet itself," Halpin said. "Your metadata leaves a unique fingerprint."

Harry Halpin, CEO of Nym Technologies, left, talks with Nym security consultant Chelsea Manning, right, about the future of internet privacy in a South by Southwest session at the Hilton Hotel on Sunday.

Manning said the methods used to track people online also have become cheaper and easier, and as a result people in the 1990s were having more private conversations than anyone today is, regardless of whether the conservation is by phone.

Manning mentioned the likely familiar feeling that our devices are listening to us when we see an ad for something we had a conversation about, or even just thought about, earlier that day. Manning said in reality, prior surveillance and data have taught companies through our metadata what we are interested in and what random product we are likely to click on a 2 a.m.

We essentially leave this gigantic snail trail everywhere we go of metadata, and you can't really do anything about it even if you don't have a phone or computer, Manning said. Humans are shockingly predictable. ... From a purely data perspective, its shocking how close, 90, 95% close, these algorithms can be.

Manning has been long thinking about online privacy, even in prison, where she continued to work on cryptography, a data security term referring to technology that can ensure some level or full anonymity. Cryptographers, of which Manning considers herself, write or crack encryption code.

We were shocked, but pleasantly surprised, to see that from jail she had come up with a proposal to defeat surveillance on the internet to preserve our privacy, Halpin said.

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Manning views cryptography as a way the average person, and especially vulnerable people without a technologist background, can protect their privacy and argued that we need more privacy tools, hardware and software to keep people safe online. She said they need to be fast, cheap and easy to work.

Emerging technologies including blockchain and cryptocurrency also rely on cryptology. This includes Nym, which in part has been able to grow because of cryptocurrency digital assets that can be used to make online payments. Nym has its own coin, NYM token. The companys name comes from the Greek word for name.

But Manning isnt a fan of cryptocurrency and said during the session that in recent years it sucked the life out of cryptography interest.

Cryptography is what I'm really truly interested in," Manning said. "I want to try to get people to realize there is more to cryptography than what happened over the last few years (with cryptocurrency) before this crash with these different scams and scandals."

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Manning said she also is deeply troubled by world events of the past few years, including the pandemic, supply chain issues, increased policing, political tension and an intense economic environment, and what an increase in surveillance technology could mean for those issues.

I keep getting this feeling, deep inside me every time Im on a Zoom call or scrolling down TikTok or when I'm stuck on my phone at 1 a.m. looking for meaning, Manning said. Ive never felt more alienated in my entire life than the last few years, and I've been to prison.

The whistleblower said she also is concerned about what the surveillance could mean for people as laws such as abortion bans go into place, certain behaviors become illegal overnight, and people's online history could be used against them.

"Your threat model changes from being a law-abiding citizen to being 'I don't know what I am or where I fit' overnight because of a legal change," Manning said. "It can happen to any group of people, but it mostly happens to minority groups in particular, and you're essentially being forced as a non-tech individual to protect yourself against a very sophisticated attack."

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning talks online privacy at SXSW

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