“Though drivers may not realize it, tens of millions of American cars are being monitored,” reports The Washington Post, “and the number increases with nearly every new vehicle that is leased or sold. The result is that carmakers have turned on a powerful spigot of precious personal data, often without owners’ knowledge, transforming the automobile from a machine that helps us travel to a sophisticated computer on wheels that offers even more access to our personal habits and behaviors than smartphones do.”
LaunchGoogle has been collecting Android users’ locations even when location services are disabled
“Many people realize that smartphones track their locations. But what if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card? Even if you take all of those precautions, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet, a Quartz investigation has revealed.”
LaunchFacebook says it shouldn’t have to stay mum when government seeks user data
“Major technology companies and civil liberties groups have joined Facebook in a closed courtroom battle over secret government access to social media records,” reports The Washington Post’s Ann Marimow.
LaunchWhy one Republican voted to kill privacy rules: “Nobody has to use the Internet”
Today in Republican idiocy, we present a ridiculous statement by Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who is sadly lacking any sense.
LaunchMontana, other states working on legislation to protect broadband internet privacy
“States have started writing their own legislation to protect broadband privacy after Congress voted to repeal regulations that would have required internet providers to obtain their customers’ consent before collecting their personal information,” reports Matt Volz for The Associated Press.
LaunchEdward Snowden says Hillary Clinton’s bogus statements show a “lack of political courage”
Edward Snowden says Hillary Clinton’s bogus statements show a “lack of political courage” “Hillary Clinton twice this week has insisted, contrary to the facts, that
LaunchThe fake traffic schemes that are rotting the Internet
I can think of nothing that has done more harm to the Internet than ad tech… It interferes with everything we try to do on
LaunchNSA spying relies on AT&T’s ‘extreme willingness to help’
NSA spying relies on AT&T’s ‘extreme willingness to help’ “The National Security Agency’s ability to spy on vast quantities of Internet traffic passing through the
LaunchLeading cryptographers oppose FBI’s desire for built-in backdoor to bypass encryption
Leading cryptographers oppose FBI’s desire for built-in backdoor to bypass encryption A group of elite cryptographers today released a paper concluding that any laws requiring
LaunchWhen a company is put up for sale, in many cases, your data is, too
When a company is put up for sale, in many cases, your data is, too Some Internet companies claim they will not sell users’ data,
LaunchThe great SIM heist: How spies stole the keys to the encryption castle
The great SIM heist: How spies stole the keys to the encryption castle Using documents provided by Edward Snowden, The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill and Josh
LaunchRe/Code’s Kara Swisher talks with Barack Obama about encryption becoming a default
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Where there is a situation in which we’re trying to get a specific case of a possible national security threat — is
LaunchShades of Orwell’s 1984: Samsung reveals its SmartTV is always listening
Shades of Orwell’s 1984: Samsung reveals its SmartTV is always listening The Daily Beast’s Shane Harris reports, “You may be loving your new Internet-connected television
LaunchActivist pulls off clever Wi-Fi honeypot to protest surveillance state
That we can identify government officials, journalists and politicians with the help of a wireless network and their less thoughtful use of online services demonstrates
Launch“With Chrome, you give up a lot of control over your own security.”
With Chrome, you give up a lot of control over your own security. — Blogger Chris Travers, who works on the LedgerSMB project, explaining that
LaunchSupreme Court of Canada delivers huge victory for Internet privacy
Supreme Court of Canada delivers huge victory for Internet privacy Blogger Michael Geist breaks down the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v Spencer,
LaunchFacebook’s latest privacy announcement is a political smokescreen
The privacy announcements today are a political smokescreen to enable Facebook to engage in more data gathering… They claim to protect user privacy at the
LaunchMajor technology companies building technical defenses against NSA
Major technology companies building technical defenses against NSA The New York Times reports that technology giants like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook are finally resisting
LaunchNSA chief: Snowden “probably not” a Russian spy
NSA chief: Snowden “probably not” a Russian spy The head of the National Security Agency has admitted the NSA doesn’t believe it likely that Edward
LaunchU.S. Marshals seize local cops’ spying records to keep them from ACLU
U.S. Marshals seize local cops’ spying records to keep them from ACLU In a move that staff for the American Civil Liberties Union are calling
LaunchMark Zuckerberg rebukes Obama administration over NSA spying
When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we’re protecting you against criminals, not our own government. The U.S. government should be the
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