Screenshot of BRICS cable network map, via
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- Open datacenters in Brazil that will be subject to the country's privacy laws
- Take data out of the cloud and store it locally in these centers
- Pass legislation forcing the Googles and Facebooks of the net to store any data that originates in Brazil in Brazil, plus delete all data once a user account is closed
- Complete the ongoing development of the BRICS cable—an undersea broadband network that will connect the so-called BRICS emerging economic nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
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To really upset US cyber-dominance, users might have to condemn themselves to a life without Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Apple. You’d need to create not just a new network, but new services that guarantee all data stays in the local, independent internet. That’s what the Rousseff's proposing, but convincing people to ditch Gmail for a secure email service provided by the Brazilian postal service is no small task—even if those services are offered for free or dirt cheap.There's also the question of whether the corporate web behemoths will agree to comply with new legal demands about where they put their data, even if those laws are coming from a country with as big a marketplace and potential for web growth as Brazil.Even if companies agree not to store Brazilian data on their servers, and locals forgo the convenience of legacy web services, and the data travels exclusively over an alternative infrastructure like the BRICS cable, total privacy still isn’t possible, because people have friends and relatives all over the world.If, say, you email an American with a Gmail account from a secure service in Brazil, or comment on a Brit's status update, Google and Facebook—and thus, likely the NSA—can still “see” those interactions. “There's really no way to fix this entirely for legacy services,” said Schoen. “If I want to send postcards to people in France with a strong guarantee that the French government can't read my postcards, I'm probably out of luck.”None of this to say it's not possible, or worth trying, to move toward a less US-centric internet, especially in post-PRISM fever. Progress has already been made migrating some control away from the US stronghold. “The internet's strength was initially its decentralization, and I think that moving back in that direction, which will involve sacrificing some convenience, would be best,” said Wright.Nor is Brazil the only one trying: The United Nations, with many countries backing the move, has lobbied for years for an international body, be it the UN or a group of multiple stakeholders, to take over the reins—and with some success.For her part, President Rousseff is set to speak at the UN’s General Assembly later this month, where she could take this moment of high temperatures to corral other nations to follow Brazil’s lead.To really upset US cyber-dominance, users might have to condemn themselves to a life without Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Apple.