Privacy and data protection

I hate to bring up the subject of people spying on people, but it seems to be entering the realms of an epidemic.

Many no doubt nice human beings are installing closed circuit TV systems in order to protect their properties from marauding anarchists or burglars who want to enter their houses to browse Facebook.

Once they have these systems, they begin to realize that they can use them to snoop on their neighbors -- especially the ones where the husband wears a skirt to greet the mailman.

Now the place that has more cameras than steak and kidney pies, … Read more

Senior U.S. national security officials have created a list of possible cyberattack targets on the orders of President Barack Obama, according to a secret document obtained by the Guardian dating back to last fall.

The report's authors say they obtained "Presidential Policy Directive 20," an 18-page top-secret paper written in October 2012 but never published. The Guardian says that the document details "Offensive Cyber Effects Operations" that can "advance U.S. national objectives" by striking potential targets with a range of effects "from the subtle to the severely damaging."

U.… Read more

You've been hearing about a top-secret government program reportedly giving the NSA access to digital consumer information held by large tech companies. But what is it, really, and how does it affect you? Reports are changing fast, so we created this FAQ to let you know what is known so far. We will continue to update it as the facts become clear.

What is PRISM? PRISM stands for "Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization, and Management," and is a "data tool" designed to collect and … Read more

The U.K. government may have been complicit in secretly gathering intelligence from Internet companies, which were named on Thursday by a Washington Post report.

According to The Guardian, which has covered the brewing and ever-developing privacy saga extensively, the ability for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) -- the U.K. government's electronic intercepts and listening station -- to tap directly into the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) PRISM database, may bypass mutual intelligence and information sharing treaties.

The London-based newspaper obtained documents allegedly confirming the suspicions. In the papers, the NSA included "special … Read more

President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will have a serious discussion on cybersecurity at a summit they're holding today in California, according to a new report.

Speaking to an unidentified U.S. official, Reuters reported Friday that Obama will ask that Xi assures him that China takes seriously the gripes the U.S. has with its alleged hacking efforts. It's believed that for years, China has been hacking into U.S. government and company servers and gaining access to classified information. Over the last several months, however, more of the details on that alleged hacking … Read more

The White House is defending the decision to collect the telephone records of U.S. citizens by labeling it an anti-terrorist measure.

The move by the National Security Agency to gather the phone records of Verizon customers was revealed on Wednesday by U.K. newspaper The Guardian. A court's top-secret order forced Verizon to hand over information about domestic and overseas calls "on an ongoing daily basis."

The court order, which can be seen on The Guardian's Web site, forces Verizon to release all call details or "telephony metadata" created by the carrier for … Read more

Windows 8.1 will have a couple of tricks up its sleeve for people who use fingerprint readers.

One of Monday's sessions at Microsoft's TechEd conference highlighted the support that Windows 8.1 will offer for fingerprint recognition, as described by The Verge. Prior versions of Windows handled fingerprint readers through third-party software. But Windows 8.1 will be the first edition of Windows to natively support the technology.

Users will be able to log into their PCs via a Microsoft Account, purchase apps, and open different programs with a swipe of the finger. They'll even be … Read more

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has won another one.

A New Zealand court on Friday ruled that the warrants used by law enforcement officials to raid Dotcom's home in 2012 were illegal. Therefore, the court said, police are required to provide copies of all relevant evidence in the prosecution of Dotcom for alleged piracy. Any material that is deemed by the court not to be relevant must be returned to Dotcom.

Until now, Dotcom's defense attorneys did not have access to the seized evidence. According to Reuters, which earlier reported on the story, the attorneys asserted that there were … Read more

Evernote, the popular note-taking app available on the Web and on mobile devices, has some new security features.

The company announced the new features on its blog on Thursday, saying that it's now offering three security tools that it didn't before. First up is two-step verification, which requires that users input both a password and a security code that can be sent to their mobile device. The company says that the two-step verification will only happen when users install Evernote on a device or access the service from the Web. It's also optional, so it can be … Read more