Until all pieces of the cloud — and the internet — are known secure, it’s hard to trust that any level of server-side encryption will completely do the job.
You would probably think that the NSA and other shadowy government agencies are the world’s biggest cloud proponents: all your data, all the time, in the cloud, where Prism and XKeyscore can, apparently, access it.
Continue reading… “Google now triple-encrypts all data in Google Cloud Storage”
Do you need to go off the grid for a little while? You can turn your phone off or you can just slip it inside the OFF Pocket. It’s a portable privacy pocket of sorts that makes your phone untrackable and unhackable. It can successfully shield 100dB of signal in the 800MHz to 2.4GHz frequency range. That includes cellular signals, GPS, and WiFi.
Continue reading… “Off Pocket takes your phone off the grid temporarily”
NSA headquarters.
The latest scoop from The Guardian’s concerns the ability of National Security Agency analysts to search vast databases of emails, online chats, and web browsing histories, among other online activity.
Continue reading… “Future NSA abuses are highly likely”
The XKeyscore software collects the contents and metadata from emails, online chats and Web browsing history for virtually anyone.
A Guardian report has revealed that NSA training materials openly said that the XKeyscore system, which it says formed a significant part of its PRISM surveillance activities disclosed by Edward Snowden last month, collected massive amounts of data, including the contents and the metadata of emails and chats.
Continue reading… “XKeyscore – new NSA tool sees “nearly everything” you do online”
National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.
New York Times: The revelations that telecom carriers have been secretly giving the National Security Agency information about Americans’ phone calls, and that the N.S.A. has been capturing e-mail and other private communications from Internet companies as part of a secret program called Prism, have not enraged most Americans. Lulled, perhaps, by the Obama administration’s claims that these “modest encroachments on privacy” were approved by Congress and by federal judges, public opinion quickly migrated from shock to “meh.”
Continue reading… “NSA surveillance is criminal”
Google Glass
Privacy issues related to Google Glass are drawing government attention. A U.S. Congressional Privacy Caucus committee sent a letter to Google chief executive Larry Page asking just how the company plans to protect both people wearing the device and the people it records.
Continue reading… “Google Glass privacy issues raises questions from U.S. government”
The more data there is, the less any of it can be said to be private.
The European Union introduced privacy legislation in 1995. The legislation defined “personal data” as any information that could identify a person, directly or indirectly. The legislators were apparently thinking of things like documents with an identification number, and they wanted them protected just as if they carried your name.
Continue reading… “Is anonymity mathematically impossible because of big data?”
Private drones have the potential to invade privacy.
Google’s Eric Schmidt went on record saying last week that cheap, miniature “everyman” drones should be banned by international treaties. Schmidt wants to keep such devices from falling into the hands of terrorists, but he also worries about their potential to invade privacy. Let’s say, for example, you were having a dispute with a neighbor. “How would you feel if your neighbor went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their back yard. It just flies over your house all day,” Schmidt asked. “How would you feel about it?”
Continue reading… “Eric Schmidt calls for regulation of private drones”
Facebook even tracks non-Facebook users.
We are going to start with three data points.
One: Some of the Chinese military hackers who were implicated in a broad set of attacks against the U.S. government and corporations were identified because they accessed Facebook from the same network infrastructure they used to carry out their attacks.
Continue reading… “Why the internet is a surveillance state”
The right to keep and fly drones.
A Virginia House panel approved, last week, a two-year moratorium on drone use within the state. In December, the City Council in Berkeley debated a similar proposal from its Peace and Justice Commission. The Peace and Justice Commission wanted to prohibit the city from purchasing, borrowing, testing or using drones, or allowing “drones in transit.” However, hobbyists would have been allowed to use drones which didn’t carry cameras or audio surveillance equipment. The legislation was shot down because, as Berkeley Councilman Gordon Wozniak argued, “Berkeley doesn’t have jurisdiction over its airspace and can’t enforce it unless we buy Patriot missiles to shoot things down.” Both of these bills were prompted by law enforcement officials wanting to use drones for surveillance and intelligence gathering.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) calls this “spying.”
Continue reading… “The right of the American people to keep and fly drones”
There is no black and white answer concerning consumers’ online privacy.
More and more each day the internet infiltrates commerce and social life and consumers are becoming more aware that their personal information is becoming less and less personal. Some websites and apps have transparent sharing policies. Some of them state exactly what information they will use for advertising but others aren’t so clear.
Continue reading… “Can you ever erase yourself from the internet?”
“These growing inquiries can have a serious chilling effect on free expression – and real privacy implications.”
The Government wants more of your data, but copyright holders are getting slightly less active in requesting tweettakedowns. The social/news/media network published its second Twitter Transparency Report today in conjunction with #DataPrivacyDay. Twitter’s goal is to be open about revealing how many government requests it gets for user information and DMCA copyright takedowns. Its first Transparency Report was published seven months ago, in July.
Continue reading… “U.S. is the most data hungry country according to Twitter’s Transparency Report”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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