Tag Archives: privacy

Twitter Drops Lawsuit After Trump Administration Withdraws Summons To Unmask Anti-Trump Account

The San Jose Mercury News reports: Twitter dropped its legal fight with the federal government Friday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection reversed course and withdrew a summons seeking to unmask the users of an account critical of the Trump administration. “Because the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntarily dismissed without prejudice all claims against defendant,” said to a …

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GOP Moves To Dismantle Internet Privacy Laws

The New York Times reports: Republican senators moved Thursday to dismantle landmark internet privacy protections for consumers in the first decisive strike against telecommunications and technology regulations created during the Obama administration, and a harbinger of further deregulation. The measure passed in a 50-to-48 vote largely along party lines. The House is expected to mirror the Senate’s action next week, …

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Consumer Reports To Test Mobile Apps, Connected Devices, And Software For Privacy Safeguards

From the Consumer Reports company blog: In our recent CR Consumer Voices survey, 65 percent of Americans told us they are either slightly or not at all confident that their personal data is private and not distributed without their knowledge. We think it’s unfair and unrealistic to expect consumers to constantly play defense when the products and services they use …

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New iPhone Technology Remotely Disables Cameras

The Guardian reports: House Democrats were able to garner wall-to-wall media coverage of their sit-in by broadcasting live from a congressman’s smartphone on 23 June. Yet that may not be possible in the future if a new patent recently granted to Apple is an indication of technology restrictions to come. The patent shows that Apple may allow iPhone cameras to …

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TRAILER: Snowden

From the Daily Beast: The trailer for the forthcoming Oliver Stone movie Snowden has been viewed over two million times less than 24 hours after it was posted on Youtube, suggesting huge interest in the story of one of America’s most polarizing heroes/traitors, ahead of the film’s release in September this year. After the clip was posted, the real Edward …

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Senate Intelligence Committee Readies Encryption Bill Mandating Assistance From Technology Companies

The Hill reports: A long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee encryption bill would force companies to provide “technical assistance” to government investigators seeking locked data, according to a discussion draft obtained by The Hill. The measure — from Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — is a response to concerns that criminals are increasingly using encrypted devices …

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CALIFORNIA: FBI Unlocks San Bernardino Terrorist’s iPhone On Their Own, Drops Lawsuit Against Apple

From the Los Angeles Times: Federal officials on Monday dropped their legal fight against Apple after unlocking the iPhone used by an assailant in last year’s San Bernardino terror attack, leaving unsettled a vexing debate over privacy and security amid rapid advances in technology. The move comes a week after Justice Department officials put a sudden hold on their demands …

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Gawker Hit With Another $25M In Hulk Hogan Case

Via Mediaite: After awarding $115 million to Hulk Hogan for economic and emotional damages in his trial against Gawker, they dropped another bomb on the gossip site with just over $25 million in punitive damages on Monday. While the first amount was designated to compensate Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, for the damage Gawker caused by posting excerpts of a …

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Apple CEO Tim Cook Vows To Continue Fight Against Feds: We Have A Responsibility On Privacy [VIDEO]

MacWorld reports: On Monday, Apple chief executive Tim Cook positioned his company’s stance on protecting privacy as a patriotic duty. Cook addressed the ongoing iPhone privacy issue briefly as part of a presentation where Apple is expected to announce an new iPad Pro mini as well as a smaller iPhone. “We built the iPhone for you, our customers,” Cook said. …

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FLORIDA: Jury Awards Wrestler Hulk Hogan $115M In Invasion Of Privacy Lawsuit Against Gawker.com

The New York Times reports: The retired wrestler Hulk Hogan was awarded $115 million in damages on Friday by a Florida jury in an invasion of privacy case against Gawker.com over its publication of a sex tape — an astounding figure that tops the $100 million he had asked for, that will probably grow before the trial concludes, and that …

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John Oliver On Apple Vs FBI [VIDEO]

Mashable recaps: Apple’s refusal to create a backdoor that would help the FBI get into an iPhone that once belonged to a terrorist caused a number of reactions from businessmen, IT experts and politicians. Few, however, have the ability to summarize different aspects of a complex issue (and throw in a few jokes) as comedian John Oliver, who dissected the …

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Precrime: China Goes Minority Report

Bloomberg reports: China’s effort to flush out threats to stability is expanding into an area that used to exist only in dystopian sci-fi: pre-crime. The Communist Party has directed one of the country’s largest state-run defense contractors, China Electronics Technology Group, to develop software to collate data on jobs, hobbies, consumption habits, and other behavior of ordinary citizens to predict …

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Apple CEO Tim Cook Denounces Federal Court’s Order To Hack iPhone Of San Bernardino Terrorist

Apple CEO Tim Cook today issued a lengthy public letter which forcefully denounces a federal court’s order that his company provide the means to hack the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists.  The Associated Press reports: Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook says his company will fight a federal magistrate’s order to hack its users in connection with the …

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Edward Snowden Joins Twitter

The Intercept reports: Edward Snowden isn’t just a hashtag anymore. The NSA whistleblower joined Twitter on Tuesday, using the @snowden Twitter handle. Snowden, who has lived in Russia since turning over a trove of top-secret documents to reporters more than two years ago, has remained in the public eye thanks to frequent appearances and interviews using video links and sometimes …

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Senate Approves Revised Patriot Act

NPR reports: The Senate has approved the USA Freedom Act, which will alter the way U.S. agencies conduct surveillance and gather data. A final vote on the bill came late Tuesday afternoon, after amendments to the bill failed. President Obama can now sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches him, after an expedited enrollment process. Sen. Rand …

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Rand Paul Claims Patriot Act Victory

Sen. Rand Paul is claiming victory over last night’s expiration of several major portions of the Patriot Act, but he may be merely grandstanding as the Senate is expected to quickly reauthorize the expired laws. The Senate entered a debate period late Sunday on the Patriot Act that pushed beyond the midnight deadline. With the debate ongoing, that effectively ends …

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Thousands Of Sites Block Congress In Protest Against The Patriot Act

Via The Hill: Thousands of websites are blocking Congress’s access to their sites in a show of force to protest the Patriot Act. Led by the online activist group Fight for the Future, more than 10,000 sites have added code that redirects any visitors from Internet protocol (IP) addresses from Congress away from their site and towards a protest page. …

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Rand Paul Vows To Filibuster Patriot Act

Sen. Rand Paul said yesterday that he plans to filibuster against the impending reauthorization vote for the Patriot Act. “I’m going to lead the charge in the next couple of weeks as the Patriot Act comes forward,” he said in a one-on-one interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader. “We will be filibustering. We will be trying to stop it. …

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NYC Artist Wins Privacy Suit Over Photos Taken Through His Neighbors’ Windows

Two years ago I reported that residents of a luxury Tribeca building were furious about an art gallery’s exhibition of photos taken through their windows from an apartment across the street. A lawsuit shortly followed, of course, and this week a panel of  judges made their decision: Want privacy? Buy shades. That was the message sent by a panel of …

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Google Contact Lens Cameras?

CNET says Google is working on it: Google has a patent pending for a contact lens with a micro camera and sensors embedded on the surface controlled by blinking, which would enable you to take hands-free pictures and could help the blind navigate the everyday obstacles of the world. Although still apparently hypothetical, the patent combines ideas from Google Glass …

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