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Project Habitance

{{Short description|Operation by the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom}}

{{infobox law enforcement operation

|name = Project Habitance

|type = Child Pornography sting operations

|executed_by = United Kingdom National Crime Agency, Germany, Brazil, United States

|countries_number = 4

|target = Dark web child pornography websites

|date_begin = Before 2018

|date_end = after 2021

}}

Project Habitance aka Operation Habitance was the United Kingdom's (UK) National Crime Agency's (NCA) project tackling child sexual exploitation offending on the dark web. The project and its operations are not fully declassified, but there are documents that show it was running at least from 2018 to 2021.

The NCA through its operation said in 2020 that it was monitoring some 70 dark web sites that were accessible, and by working with partners, the NCA had identified a significant number of unique global IP addresses visiting the dark web sites. With 5 percent of the IP addresses originating from users in the UK.{{cite web |title=National Crime Agency inspection An inspection of the National Crime Agency’s criminal intelligence function |url=https://assets-hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/uploads/an-inspection-of-the-national-crime-agency-criminal-intelligence-function.pdf |publisher=Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services |access-date=30 March 2024 |language=English |date=July 2020 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114042732/https://assets-hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/uploads/an-inspection-of-the-national-crime-agency-criminal-intelligence-function.pdf |url-status=live }}

In 2019 the NCA, working in partnership with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation under (FBI) Project Jarvis,{{cite web |last1=Iseman, Esq. |first1=Scott W. |title=Letter to Judge McAvoy to Unseal documents |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.116.0.pdf |website=Courtlistener.com |publisher=Free Law Project |access-date=30 March 2024 |page=1 |date=16 May 2022 |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330061900/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.116.0.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Belliss |first1=Rick |last2=Freedman |first2=Carla B. |title=Letter to Judge McAvoy |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.97.0.pdf |website=Courtlistener.com |publisher=Free Law Project |access-date=30 March 2024 |page=4 |date=2 May 2022 |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330061617/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.97.0.pdf |url-status=live }} availed their resources via Operation Habitance to the Brazilian Federal Police as part of their Operation Lobos 1, and to the German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) in a Tor deanonymization project as a dragnet of the administrators and users of the websites: Baby-Heart, Hurt-meh, Boyvids 4.0, Anjos Prohibidos (BR)/Forbidden-Angels, and Loli Lust,{{cite web|access-date=28 October 2022|publisher=aNPR|title=Resumo Lobos|url=https://www.anpr.org.br/media/com_submissoes/files//Resumo-Lobos2021-12-14-16-51-49.pdf|archive-date=2023-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118014828/https://www.anpr.org.br/media/com_submissoes/files//Resumo-Lobos2021-12-14-16-51-49.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|access-date=19 February 2024|publisher=aNPR|title=Resumo Lobos Court Translation|url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nywd.134337/gov.uscourts.nywd.134337.100.4.pdf|archive-date=19 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219171122/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nywd.134337/gov.uscourts.nywd.134337.100.4.pdf|url-status=live}} Girland{{cite web |last1=O'Neil |first1=William J. |title=Defendant’s Redacted Reply To Government’s Response To Motion To Compel Discovery |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.233074/gov.uscourts.mad.233074.113.0.pdf |website=Courtlistener.com |publisher=Free Law Project |access-date=30 March 2024 |page=6 |date=30 March 2024 |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330054535/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.233074/gov.uscourts.mad.233074.113.0.pdf |url-status=live }} and other websites. During the time the Tor Onion services were active, starting in early March 2019, the NCA and their partners conducted traffic analysis under the Targeted Equipment Interference (TEI) warrants 91-TEI-0147-2019 and 91-TEI-0146-2019{{cite web |title=Exhibit B – TEI Warrant Notification |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.46.3.pdf |website=Courtlistener |publisher=Free Law Project |access-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219181646/https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443/gov.uscourts.nynd.126443.46.3.pdf |archive-date=19 February 2024 |page=6 |language=English |format=PDF |date=16 September 2019 |url-status=live}}

File:FOIA release Redacted 2022-ICLI-00049 0039.pdf

File:Liberty Lane FBI AA 2 Agency Letter (01-14-25).pdf

Methodology

"According to the Research by the German ARD political magazine Panorama STRG_F (NDR/funk), [https://play.funk.net/channel/strgf-11384]{{cite news |author1=Robert Bongen |author2=Daniel Moßbrucker |title=O2 ccustomers temporarily monitored |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/panorama/telefonueberwachung-telefonica--bka-ermittlungen-paedokriminelle-100.html |access-date=15 March 2025 |agency=ARD-aktuell |publisher=tagesschau}} reported that law enforcement agencies infiltrated the Tor network in order to expose criminals. The reporters had access to documents showing four successful deanonymizations."{{cite web |title=Schlagwort: Operation Liberty Lane |url=https://marx.wtf/tag/operation-liberty-lane/ |website=marx.wtf |access-date=15 March 2025 |date=10 October 2025}}

The process involved a process that translates from German as "IP Catching" The method utilizes timing analyses also called timing attacks or Traffic analysis{{cite web |first1=nusenu |author1=nusenu |title=Is “KAX17” performing de-anonymization Attacks against Tor Users? |url=https://nusenu.medium.com/is-kax17-performing-de-anonymization-attacks-against-tor-users-42e566defce8 |website=Medium |publisher=Medium |access-date=15 March 2025 |date=November 29, 2021}} and were at least performed in 2019 Q3 and 2021 Q2 The name of the United States software used to accomplish this deanonyization is thought to be "Good Listener" as part of "Operation Woodpecker Ridge".{{cite web |first1=Efficient_Wish_9790 |title=Operation Liberty Lane (LE Running Guard and middle nodes to deanonymize HS users) |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/comments/19benkx/operation_liberty_lane_le_running_gaurd_and/?rdt=36199 |website=reddit.com |access-date=15 March 2025 |language=English}} As the names of these tools and a manual were mentioned in emails that were obtained via FOIA request about the Project. There are claims that this method of identifying TOR IP user addresses is illegal

Results

The NCA says that through its programs, it had been making on average 520 arrests each month as of 2020, and that it had "safeguarded" 700 children each month.

Legality

The legality of this will undoubtedly continue to be litigated for a number of years as it's a novel technology with unknown implications for privacy, accuracy or precision. Different countries constitutions may or may not forbid this, and common law will have to suss this out in the courts. "Benjamin Lück of the Society for Civil Rights, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening fundamental rights, describes the process as "a profound infringement on the rights of innocent parties" that must be explicitly regulated by lawmakers. He argues that "IP catching" is approaching "light data retention."

Secrecy

In 2020, the U.K. HMICFRS's confirmed the existence of Operation Habitance in a report, but the next year, a U.K FOIA commissioner in Wales affirmed the Gwent Police department's refusal under FOIA section 25(3) (see report) File:IC-89921-T6T3 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Commissioner Decision Regarding Project Habitance and Inhabitance.pdf to even confirm the existence of the operation or their involvement. The U.S. FBI FOIA has not been much better, as of 2022 the U.S. has acknowledged receipt of information from the NCA regarding allegations generated by Project Habitance, but has redacted all relevant information on the few records they have released. Journalists first reached out to Ricochet in July 2023 about the cases of deanonymization of Tor Users, with fears of Authoritarian regimes being able to deanonymize them.{{cite news |last1=Linow |first1=Oliver |title=Daniel Moßbrucker: More and more Tor nodes are being monitored |url=https://www.dw.com/de/daniel-mo%C3%9Fbrucker-immer-mehr-tor-knoten-werden-%C3%BCberwacht/a-70322301 |access-date=15 March 2025 |publisher=Deutsche Welle - DW |date=September 25, 2024 |language=German |format=Webpage}}

Participating law enforcement agencies

External links

  • [https://www.courtlistener.com/tags/spiritguide/my3/ List of U.S. cases]
  • [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BW7HlE8BnECzSn2TuEkxjEc8XHyqsjvR/view?usp=drive_link Alternative format for list of U.S. Cases with details.]
  • [https://marx.wtf/tag/operation-liberty-lane/] Operation Liberty Lane information tracking
  • [https://nusenu.medium.com/is-kax17-performing-de-anonymization-attacks-against-tor-users-42e566defce8]KAX17 article by Nuensu

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References

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Category:U.K. National Crime Agency Operations