surveillance

jpghouse

Lawmakers Ask FCC To Seek Fixes For Phone Network Vulnerabilities

When you think about phone security, you’re probably thinking about the apps on your phone, who’s listening in on the call you make, or perhaps even the metadata you leave behind. You’re probably not thinking about the national and global network of fibers, cables, and businesses that makes your phone call physically possible. But that network has vulnerabilities, and two lawmakers want the FCC to protect consumers from them. [More]

Poster Boy

Facebook Tells Developers To Quit It With The “Surveillance” Already

Your phone knows where you are, because it’s there with you. And when you use social media to post photos and talk with friends about an event you’re at, that’s data that can be scraped and used… including by cops who want to figure out what you’re up to. But not so fast, Facebook now says: If you want to build an app for surveillance, you’re going to have to do it without their data. [More]

Saechang

Researchers Figure Out How To Put Invisible Backdoor In Common Internet Encryption

Even consumers who aren’t necessarily very technically-minded have at least a vague sense that an encrypted site is safer to use than one that isn’t. But encryption, alas, is never a permanent cure-all. And that’s why it’s troubling that new research has found it’s easier than anyone thought to put a backdoor into internet encryption that could let any big, surveillaince-minded entity (good morning, NSA) have a listen. [More]

Brian Klug

Equipment To Spy On Citizens Is A Surprisingly Popular Export

It doesn’t require any super-special equipment to spy on one’s own citizens: the items needed to do so are widely available and pretty affordable compared to other law enforcement and military gear. Yes, spy equipment is a popular U.S. export, and governments out to keep very, very close tabs on their residents are the customers. [More]

Brad Clinesmith

Senator Holds Up Intelligence Authorization Bill Over FBI Digital Surveillance Provisions

Two kinds of bills run the world, or at least the American slice of it: appropriations acts, which give agencies their budgets, and authorization acts, which tell them how to use them and what they are allowed to do. The bill that authorizes all of the United States’ intelligence activities has been making its way through Congress all year, but now has hit a major roadblock in the Senate, as one Senator has taken a stand against some of its surveillance provisions. [More]

frankieleon

Senate Fails To Approve Bill Allowing FBI Searches Of Web, Phone Records Without Court Order

Earlier this week, in response to the recent massacre of 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Senators John McCain of Arizona and Richard Burr of North Carolina introduced a controversial piece of legislation that, if approved, would allow federal law enforcement to perform searches of suspects’ electronic and online records without a traditional court order. However, this morning the Senate narrowly failed to approve the bill. [More]

inajeep

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Limit Law Enforcement’s Rights To Hack Stuff

A group of Senators has announced today that they are introducing a new bill into the Senate designed to prevent mass hacking of Americans’ digital devices. But the lawmakers aren’t targeting shadowy collectives or foreign nationals with their proposed legislation; they’re seeking to limit the scope of actual Federal agencies’ powers. [More]

Cruise Ship Norovirus Season Begins: 252 Passengers Sick On Ship Docked In Maine

Cruise Ship Norovirus Season Begins: 252 Passengers Sick On Ship Docked In Maine

When the cruise season kicked off in Portland, ME this weekend, it didn’t exactly get off to a great start. The first ship to dock in the city’s port is under surveillance for norovirus after more than 250 passengers reportedly became sick.  [More]

Controversial Cybersecurity Bill Makes It Into Omnibus, Will Basically Be Law Any Minute Now

Controversial Cybersecurity Bill Makes It Into Omnibus, Will Basically Be Law Any Minute Now

We are rapidly running out of 2015 left to spend, and so the two houses of Congress have been racing to pass an omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded and the lights on. Because that bill is a must-pass piece of legislation, all kinds of crap has been added, taken away, and snuck back in as we come down to the wire. Among the other bills that have been tacked on is a controversial piece of cybersecurity legislation that has privacy and consumer advocates worried all around. [More]

Privacy Advocates Concerned As Senate Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill

Privacy Advocates Concerned As Senate Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill

Despite previous failures, Congress just keeps on churning through bills that propose to enhance digital security at the cost of digital privacy. The latest in the series sailed through the Senate with wide approval this week, kicking off another wave of privacy concerns. [More]

Court Rules NSA Phone Data Collection That Is Now Changing Anyway Is Still Legal

Court Rules NSA Phone Data Collection That Is Now Changing Anyway Is Still Legal

After several years of back-and-forth rulings, an appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled today that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program can indeed continue… at least until November, when it gets shut down anyway because Congress changed the law in June. [More]

Leaked NSA Documents: AT&T “Highly Collaborative” With NSA Spying, Has “Extreme Willingness” To Help

Leaked NSA Documents: AT&T “Highly Collaborative” With NSA Spying, Has “Extreme Willingness” To Help

The NSA’s spying operations on regular Americans are the unwanted, terrible gift that just keeps on giving. Although most telecom and internet companies have cooperated with the surveillance efforts to one degree or another, at least some of them have the decency to act mildly chagrined about it. But not AT&T. [More]

Court: NSA Bulk Phone Data Collection Program Is Illegal

Court: NSA Bulk Phone Data Collection Program Is Illegal

A federal appeals court has ruled this morning that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program is in violation of federal law. [More]

Congress Has One Month Left To Change Or Renew Controversial Bulk Phone Data Surveillance Program

Congress Has One Month Left To Change Or Renew Controversial Bulk Phone Data Surveillance Program

It’s been two years since we found out that the NSA has been quietly scooping up basically everyone’s phone records, willy-nilly, without warrants. The revelations of widespread surveillance freaked plenty of people out, but under existing law, the agency has acted legally. To get change, then, you’d need to change the law… and Congress has 33 days remaining in which to do exactly that. [More]

Report: “Secret Spy Program” Targeting U.S. Cell Phone Signals From the Skies

Report: “Secret Spy Program” Targeting U.S. Cell Phone Signals From the Skies

As Thanksgiving approaches, perhaps you dread having your turkey with a side of the latest conspiracy theory served up by that uncle (there’s always one) who is convinced the government is spying in from helicopters overhead. This year, though, that relative has some evidence on his side. He’s wrong about the helicopters, as far as we know, but a new report finds that law enforcement agencies actually are using aircraft to scoop up Americans’ mobile phone calls from the skies. [More]

Snooping Sites, Aimless Ads, Sexist Stereotypes: A Look Back At The Week In Tech News

Snooping Sites, Aimless Ads, Sexist Stereotypes: A Look Back At The Week In Tech News

It’s a big, busy world, and even with a smartphone in your pocket at all times it’s hard to read everything written about it in a week. Sometimes, useful info slips through the cracks. So, here are five interesting stories from the world of internet and technology news. [More]