Follow @slate ____________________ * News & Politics * Tech * Business * Arts * Life * Health & Science * Sports * Double X * Podcasts * Photos * Video * Slatest * Blogs * MySlate * 99+ * Future Tense The Citizen's Guide to the Future «OLDER Are Lasers the Future of War? A Future Tense Event Recap. NEWER » Manti Te’o Catfish’d? Here Are Five Other Bizarre Tales of Alleged Internet Dating Imposters. Report: Silicon Valley Internet Surveillance Gear Used by Authoritarian Regimes By Ryan Gallagher | Posted Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, at 5:43 PM ET Share on Facebook Tweet [mySlateLogoBubble.png] MYSLATE [close.jpg] [ ] Save this story. [ ] Follow all Future Tense articles. [ ] Follow the Future Tense blog. [ ] Follow stories by Ryan Gallagher. [saveChanges.png] [close.jpg] [mySlateLogoSmall.png] MySlate is a new tool that lets you track your favorite parts of Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you're interested in, and more. [go.png] 140638150 A computer with a webcam in Russia Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images California is not normally associated with draconian global censorship and surveillance initiatives. But that could be about to change with the release of a new report linking controversial American-made technology to authoritarian regimes across the world. In recent months, a team of researchers part of Canada’s Citizen Lab have been conducting network scans of public servers in countries on almost every continent. Today, they released their findings—which appear to show that networking technology made by Blue Coat, a Silicon Valley-based company, is being used in a host of countries with questionable human rights records. The equipment in question can serve a legitimate purpose—like filtering out spam or malware. But in the hands of an authoritarian regime it can easily be turned into a tool for monitoring users or blocking content. Citizen Lab says it found Blue Coat filtering technology capable of censorship operating in countries including Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It also found Blue Coat technology that can be used for surveillance and tracking of Web users in Afghanistan, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. “What emerged is a picture of the global spread of Blue Coat devices to countries where their presence raises substantial concerns,” the report notes, warning about how “surveillance-by-design” is effectively being built in to new communications infrastructure in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan with Blue Coat’s assistance. This isn’t the first time Blue Coat’s technology has attracted attention. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company was previously investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce after its network monitoring gear ended up in Syria, despite export sanctions being in place. It later emerged the equipment had found its way into the hands of Bashar Assad’s regime through a third-party seller operating in the UAE. Blue Coat initiated an internal investigation and issued a statement at the time saying it was “saddened by the human suffering and loss of human life that may be the result of actions by a repressive regime.” None of the countries in the Citizen Lab report are currently subject to any U.S. embargo that would prohibit Blue Coat selling to them. But what this reveals is how easily countries—even those that are ruled by authoritarians with a history of crackdowns on freedom of expression—can obtain American technology that could potentially be used for mass surveillance and censorship. Blue Coat’s technologies, Citizen Lab notes, do not appear to require it to obtain a license from the Department of Commerce prior to shipment. This means the company has to rely on its own corporate responsibility policies to decide whether to make a sale. Citizen Lab, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, suggests U.S. lawmakers should consider how they can tighten up regulations around such dual use technologies, as is already happening in Europe. But its report also calls for more responsibility from the companies themselves. "Companies can no longer simply assert that it is acceptable to provide their technology to any prospective client, no matter how questionable, until their home governments instruct them otherwise,” it says. Blue Coat had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. Spokeswoman Jennifer Ruzicka said the report was being reviewed and that the company would issue a statement later. We’ll update this post if and when we receive anything. Want more of your favorite content on the MSN homepage? Try the news, sports or entertainment editons. Share on Facebook Tweet [mySlateLogoSmall.png] __________________________________________________________________ «OLDER Are Lasers the Future of War? A Future Tense Event Recap. NEWER » Manti Te’o Catfish’d? Here Are Five Other Bizarre Tales of Alleged Internet Dating Imposters. SLATE'S MOST VIRAL * Pope Benedict’s Abdication Should Remind Us of Long-Standing Allegations Against the Church * This 1922 Kodachrome Test Footage is Strangely Bewitching * Pope Stuns World, Snubs Twitter in Latin Click here to load comments. __________________________________________________________________ « PREV NEXT » __________________________________________________________________ Follow RSS Will Oremus is the lead blogger for Future Tense, reporting on emerging technologies, tech policy, and digital culture. Future Tense is a project from Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University. [BIO_oremus-will-2011.jpg] * * * * * * 1. Explainer Answers Your Papal Resignation Questions By L.V. Anderson | February 11, 2013 * 2. Pope Benedict’s Abdication Should Remind Us of Long-Standing Allegations Against the Church By Christopher Hitchens | February 11, 2013 * 3. Help! There’s a Dead Guy Who Looks Exactly Like Me. Did I Have a Secret Twin? By Emily Yoffe | February 11, 2013 * 4. SI's Swimsuit Issue Reaches Out to Female Readers With ... Beauty Tips. Where Are the Guys In Speedos? By Amanda Hess | February 11, 2013 * 5. Navy SEAL Recalls Moment He Killed Bin Laden By Josh Voorhees | February 11, 2013 * 1. Pope Benedict’s Abdication Should Remind Us of Long-Standing Allegations Against the Church By Christopher Hitchens | February 11, 2013 * 2. This 1922 Kodachrome Test Footage is Strangely Bewitching By Joan Neuberger | February 8, 2013 * 3. 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