The importance of free access to the internet

Jigsaw, the technology incubator created by Google and now run as a subsidiary of Alphabet, has created a tool, Intra, to protect users against DNS manipulation, one of the most common forms of censorship used by governments to block access to news pages, social media platforms and communication applications, and has put it to the test in Venezuela, a country with evident problems of access to information. It is common for some governments, in addition to trying to monitor the Internet connections of their citizens, alter or block the DNS servers to prevent access to certain pages or redirect users to other pages.

Once downloaded, the app acts as a switch, along the lines of a VPN that can be connected or disconnected, and creates an encrypted connection between the user’s smartphone and Google’s own DNS servers (the well-known 8.8.8.8 and 8.8. 4.4 available to the public since December 2009), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 which I have already discussed) and other providers, which makes it harder to intercept, censor or monitor. It is important to use providers with reasonable and reliable privacy policies to protect the user, as in the cases cited, in the event of a possible request for government information. The tool is free and very easy to use and binary (connected or disconnected), which facilitates its adoption and makes it possible to use the network with certain guarantees in environments subject to government surveillance or at risk of malicious attacks. It works on 99% of Android smartphones, and is already included by default in the new version, Android Pie, but Google believes it is so important that it can be installed in other versions of the heterogeneous Android pool.

The company tried to carry out a discreet and limited trial, but found that within weeks, it had been distributed through all kinds of channels between activists and the public not only in Venezuela, but all over the world. Along with the use of VPNs and other mesh networking tools such as Firechat, which I have also discussed, and which played a big role in the in the so-called Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong in 2014, which allow communication even without Internet access, this is a very interesting toolbox that could help keep access to the Internet free, regardless of the efforts of some governments to censor it or put it under control, as well as protecting people who try to access content without being monitored.

More than sixty countries now subject their citizens to systems that censor certain content on the Internet, including China, Turkey, Iran and Venezuela, which tend to do so for political or religious reasons, while others block other kinds of content, such as games or pornography. The stated aim of such governments may be to “protect” people by preventing access to certain content considered malicious or dangerous, but in reality, this is old-fashioned censorship and surveillance.

Preserving a free and uncensored internet should be one of the fundamental missions of all technology companies. As the tool is put to the test in other countries subject to censorship, I look forward to seeing the reactions and the results.

(En espa?ol, aquí)

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