» EFF Testifies in Congress on Transparency - Tells Lawmakers White House Must Lead by Example
18/03/10 23:00 from EFF: Deep Links
Today, EFF Senior Counsel David Sobel testified in a congressional hearing on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Obama administration. David's testimony outlined the disconnect between the White House's strong message ..
» Look Out: Washington Ready to Roll Out National Worker ID Card
18/03/10 22:56 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
The idea of a national ID card keeps coming back-- first is was REAL ID , now its a Social Security Card with a biometric component. The biggest contributor to identity theft in the United States is the abuse of Social Security Numbers for..
» Kentucky Supreme Court Reverses Ruling Challenging Domain Name Seizures, Tells Registrants to Try Again
18/03/10 22:36 from EFF: Deep Links
Today, the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed a state court of appeals ruling blocking an attempt by the Commonwealth of Kentucky to seize 141 domain names allegedly tied to illegal gambling. The Kentucky Supreme Court held that while many of..
» Facebook\'s Beacon Privacy Violation Makes it 9M Richer
18/03/10 22:36 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
Facebook offered to settle all lawsuits that resulted from its failed Beacon application, which violated users\' privacy. The Beacon application without user prior agreement reported online purchases to social contacts of users, which broke..
» Internet Users Find it Easy to Talk to Strangers
18/03/10 22:26 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
Something that you learned as a child is soon forgotten by adults living and working online. \"Don\'t talk to strangers!\" The same users if approached on the street and asked for their name, birth date, and social security number would not r..
» Google Buzz Exemplifies Privacy Problems, FTC Commissioner Says
18/03/10 22:21 from Privacy News
Close March 17, 2010, 2:37 PM ET By Emily Steel Citing the recent launch of Google\'s social-networking service, Google Buzz, outgoing Federal Trade Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour said technology companies are setting a dangerous precede..
» Accusations Fly in Viacom, YouTube Copyright Fight
18/03/10 21:47 from 27B Stroke 6
Google deliberately weakened its copyright compliance standards after it acquired YouTube in 2006 so it “would profit from illegal downloads,” Google co-founder Sergey Brin once said, according to a Friday filing by Viacom in i..
» FTC to Internet Companies: Start Using SSL
18/03/10 21:32 from EFF: Deep Links
HTTPS is the backbone of web security. The protocol, which is also commonly known as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), is what guarantees we can use the web to transmit sensitive information — financial, medical, or other — with ..
» Public Hearing on California's 'Smart Grid' on Friday
18/03/10 21:22 from EFF: Deep Links
Worried about plans for California's \"smart grid\" ? We are too. Energy usage data, with new hyper-close monitoring provided by the \"smart grid\", allows intimate reconstruction of your household activities -- like when you wake up, whe..
» Boeing Completes Design of Shipboard Super-Laser
18/03/10 20:47 from Danger Room
The U.S. military is bankrolling all kinds of projects to harness the power of directed energy, from laser-equipped aircraft that can shoot down ballistic missiles to smaller beam weapons mounted on Humvees that could zap mortars or artill..
» And, the Vertical Landing
18/03/10 20:37 from Defense Tech
As promised, Lockheed Martin pulled off the first vertical landing of the F35B today. LockMart’s test pilot hovered for a minute at 150 feet and then “rode 41,000 pounds of thrust” provided by the Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan and dropped ..
» Court: Cyberbullying Threats Are Not Protected Speech
18/03/10 20:23 from 27B Stroke 6
A California appeals court ruled this week that threatening posts made by readers of a website are not protected free speech, allowing a case charging the posters with hate crimes and defamation to proceed. The case raises fundamental ques..
» Court Slaps Prosecutor Who Threatened Child-Porn Charges Over ‘Sexting’
18/03/10 19:01 from 27B Stroke 6
A Pennsylvania appellate court upheld a preliminary injunction on Wednesday barring local prosecutors from filing felony child-porn charges against a teenage girl who took a partially nude photo of herself with her cellphone. The court sai..
» VIDEO: Great Presentation on Thinking About Real World Games
18/03/10 18:31 from Global Guerrillas
Cultural entrepreneurs need to use every possible advantage when building systems that can outcompete a powerful, corrupt and dominant status quo. For me, one advantage includes using game tech/design as a means of radically improving eco..
» Is the FBI Watching Your Every Move on Facebook?
18/03/10 18:06 from Privacy News
It seems U.S. law enforcement wants to be your friend on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
» Ibis Reader \"Checks Off\" EFF's Digital Books Checklist
18/03/10 17:43 from EFF: Deep Links
In February, we published \"Digital Books and Your Rights,\" a checklist for readers considering buying into the digital book marketplace. The folks behind the Ibis Reader ebook service have gone ahead and posted thoughtful answers to each q..
» NLOS-LS Missile Fail Could Impact Navy’s LCS
18/03/10 16:42 from Defense Tech
The failure of the Army’s Non Line-of-Sight-Launch System (NLOS-LS) Precision Attack Missile (PAM) to hit its intended targets in a recent series of live fire tests might not just be an Army problem. See, the NLOS-PAM system, also called “..
» Bureaucrat Who Allegedly Hired ‘Jason Bournes’ Speaks
18/03/10 15:15 from Danger Room
The Pentagon official who allegedly boasted of running his own private team of “ Jason Bournes ” is finally speaking out. Early this week, the New York Times landed a curious scoop about a freelance spy ring in Afghanistan and ..
» JFCOM’s JOE Whacks Defense Industry
18/03/10 15:01 from Defense Tech
If there is a single overriding theme to Joint Forces Command’s newly released Joint Operating Environment 2010 report, it is the reminder that a critical component of national power is economic power; something often lost on military anal..
» ONLINE GAMES, SUPEREMPOWERMENT, AND A BETTER WORLD
18/03/10 14:18 from Global Guerrillas
\" We\'re witnessing what amounts to no less than a mass exodus to virtual worlds and online game environments. \" Edward Castronova (Ed\'s an economist that studies online games. I met him at a Highland\'s conference a couple of years ago, ..
» Street View Removes Pic Of Murdered Teen
18/03/10 12:55 from Privacy News
An image of Facebook murder victim Ashleigh Hall standing outside her home weeks before she was killed has been removed from Google Street View.
» Disabling Cars by Remote Control
18/03/10 12:41 from Schneier on Security
Who didn\'t see this coming? More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of..
» Judges Approves $9.5 Million Facebook \'Beacon\' Accord
18/03/10 07:43 from Privacy News
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a $9.5 million settlement to a class action lawsuit challenging Facebook\'s program that monitored and published what users of the social networking site were buying or renting from Blockbuster, Oversto..
» New F-35B Hover Video
18/03/10 03:30 from Defense Tech
Lockheed Martin released video today of the first ever F-35B “free air hover” over the tarmac at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Lead F-35B test pilot Graham Tomlinson slowed the aircraft from 200 knots to 0 knots then hovered 150 fe..
» Body Scanner Unveiled at KCI
18/03/10 03:17 from Privacy News
Get ready for the big reveal: you\'ll face passing through a new full-body scanner installed at KCI Airport as early as next week.
» Ruling: State Can Dump Non-Sex Offenders Into Registry
17/03/10 23:06 from 27B Stroke 6
Georgia\'s Supreme Court is upholding the government\'s right to put non-sex offenders on the state\'s sex-offender registry, highlighting a little-noticed (but growing) nationwide practice. Atlanta criminal defense attorney Ann Marie Fitz es..
» Geotag your life: websites that broadcast location raise privacy concerns
17/03/10 22:43 from Privacy News
As if knowing what your friend had for lunch wasn\'t enough, now you can see where she was eating it as well.
» Book Now: Nuclear Disarmament Conference in Tehran
17/03/10 22:13 from Danger Room
Tensions remain high over Iran\'s nuclear ambitions, and Western nations are pushing for tougher sanctions against the Islamic regime. What better time to book a holiday in Tehran, right? Next month, the Iranian government is inviting acade..
» Wiring Up The Big Brother Machine... And Fighting It
17/03/10 20:03 from EFF: Deep Links
Here's a movie pitch: One lone telecommunications technician, going about his ordinary daily work in San Francisco, begins to realize things aren't quite what they seem. There's a \"secret room\" downstairs, and ordinary emplo..
» Judge Approves $9.5 Million Facebook ‘Beacon’ Accord
17/03/10 19:18 from 27B Stroke 6
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a $9.5 million settlement to a class action lawsuit challenging Facebook\'s program that monitored and published what users of the social networking site were buying or renting from Blockbuster, Oversto..
» Hacker Disables More Than 100 Cars Remotely
17/03/10 18:52 from 27B Stroke 6
More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in the..
» Your Car May Know If An Accident Is Your Fault
17/03/10 18:27 from Privacy News
Toyota began installing event data recorders in some of its vehicles nearly a decade ago.
» China’s Shipbuilding in a Regional Context
17/03/10 18:01 from Defense Tech
Over at the Naval Institute blog , Craig Hooper harps on one of my big complaints with much of the current China analysis: engaging in simplistic bilateral comparisons of U.S. and Chinese military power. As history teaches us, great power ..
» Darpa Wants Self-Guiding, Storytelling Cameras
17/03/10 16:57 from Danger Room
The Pentagon\'s risk-taking research agency is kicking off a new program to turn everyday cameras into autonomous ‘bots with problem-solving smarts. Darpa is already after all kinds of highly intelligent robo-critters. In the past few..
» Debating the Pros and Cons of LCS
17/03/10 15:30 from Defense Tech
The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom, netted a pair of cocaine seizures on its first operational deployment in the Caribbean, even running down a “go fast” boat; with its embarked MH-60 helicopter. “This is a perfect demonstrat..
» GAO: Whole Body Scanners Raise Questions About Effectiveness
17/03/10 15:23 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
U.S. could spend $3 billion to place whole body scanners in airports around the world. A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report states that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says each whole body image machine wou..
» Danger Room Explainer: Outsourced Intel in Afghanistan
17/03/10 13:49 from Danger Room
When is intelligence really intelligence, and when is it merely “atmospherics”? It may sound abstract, but it goes to the heart of a New York Times scoop about a defense official who apparently set up an off-the-books intellige..
» Casino Hack
17/03/10 11:33 from Schneier on Security
Nice hack : Using insider knowledge the two hacked into software that controlled remote betting machines on live roulette wheels, the report said. The machines would print out winning betting slips regardless of the results on the wheel, P..
» Census Bureau assures confidentiality, but privacy concerns persist
17/03/10 10:11 from Privacy News
The U.S. Census Bureau maintains that its data collection is safe, simple and secure, but some Americans - for reasons both personal and political - still worry that their information could be misused.
» K.C. International Airport introduces full-body scanners
17/03/10 05:38 from Privacy News
Travelers embarking on some Southwest Airlines flights out of Kansas City International Airport will be facing a new layer of security starting next week.
» Some U.S. Air Travelers Complain About Body Scans
17/03/10 01:03 from Privacy News
Hundreds of U.S. air travelers have lodged complaints over use of full-body security scanners in the past year, charging they violate personal privacy and may be harmful to their health, documents released on Tuesday showed.
» FCC Releases Broadband Plan
16/03/10 20:44 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
The Federal Communications Commission released its plan for broadband deployment within the United States. Broadband is all about high-speed two-way Internet connectivity.The US lags behind many European nations, Japan, and South Korea in ..
» Mission Accomplished: Astroturfing Baghdad
16/03/10 20:41 from Danger Room
Lots of strange press releases land in my inbox, but the first line of this one stood out: “The world leader in artificial turf is proud to announce that the first artificial turf sports field in Iraq for the U.S. Government has been..
» It\'s Official: Facebook Rules the Web
16/03/10 20:36 from Privacy News
Facebook ruled the Web last week just squeaking past Google to become the most popular online destination among United States users.
» Fusion Centers Looking for Applications for Data Mining Capacity
16/03/10 20:05 from Privacy.org - The Source for News, Information, and Action
The Department of Homeland Security Department has funded 72 state and local Fusion Centers , which establish data mining relationships with public and private data warehouses. Local and state law-enforcement agencies that operate Fusion C..
» SEC: Hacker Manipulated Stock Prices
16/03/10 19:14 from 27B Stroke 6
U.S. regulators are moving to freeze the assets and trading accounts of a Russian accused of hacking into personal online portfolios and manipulating the price of dozens of stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and New York Stock Exchan..
» Undercover Feds on Social Networking Sites Raise Questions
16/03/10 17:35 from 27B Stroke 6
The next time someone ties to “friend” you on Facebook, it may turn out to be an undercover fed looking to examine your private messages and photos, or surveil your friends and family, according to an internal Justice Departmen..
» Free Reverse Phone Lookup: Cell Number Look Up Directory With Name and Address?
16/03/10 16:10 from Privacy News
Submitted by Vika Rogoff on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 15:14. How to reverse look up a cell phone number online? Are there free cell phone directories? If you are trying to search a published landline number, White Pages directory may be your best ..
» EFF Posts Documents Detailing Law Enforcement Collection of Data From Social Media Sites
16/03/10 16:05 from EFF: Deep Links
EFF has posted documents shedding light on how law enforcement agencies use social networking sites to gather information in investigations. The records, obtained from the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice Criminal Divisio..
» Congress Holds Hearings on Unobtainium
16/03/10 16:03 from Danger Room
For a while now, the Pentagon has been concerned about U.S. dependence on rare-earth metals. Precision weapons, Priuses and iPhones depend on components made from rare earths like terbium, dysprosium, yttrium and thulium. And the dependenc..