“In principle if I am talking indoors, or on the phone, or writing emails, I assume it all gets to the KGB(Belarus state security). So I don’t worry about it, I talk openly and say only what I would say if there were a KGB agent sitting next to me.” This is what an activist […]

Belarus authorities are using phone networks run by some of the world’s biggest telecoms companies to stifle free speech and dissent, said Amnesty International in a report published today. The report, It’s enough for people to feel it exists: Civil society, secrecy and surveillance in Belarus,...

The Stasi’s massive archive held files on millions. Photo credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images Four decades of domination over almost all aspects of life in East Germany came to an abrupt halt exactly 25 years ago today. On 31 March 1990, one of the most intrusive surveillance...