Even though the FBI has figured out a work-around that — for now — allows the agency to bypass an iPhone’s encryption, the debate still continues about which is more important: privacy for all consumers, or ready-but-limited access for law enforcement? Today, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp made it clear which side of that argument it comes down on. [More]
privacy
Comcast Says FCC Privacy Rules Will Hurt Consumers By Not Allowing Them To See More Comcast Ads
By 4.1.16
The number-one complaint we get from Consumerist readers is “You guys just don’t have enough ads on your site! Where are all the pop-ups, roll-overs, pop-overs, auto-play videos, and page-crashing ad units that make surfing the web so dang enjoyable?” We hear you, we do; we just don’t have the staff to sell all those ads you want bogging down your browser and tracking you across pages and platforms. And even if we did, those pesky jerks at the FCC are trying to rob us — and consumers — of more options to be marketed to, and commodified by, our Internet service providers. [More]
Divided FCC Votes To Approve Lifeline Modernization, Consider New ISP Privacy Rules
By 3.31.16
The Federal Communications Commission today in their monthly meeting voted narrowly to move forward with two high-profile, contentious proposals. One is formally adopting a plan to modernize the Lifeline program, and the other is to start considering how to apply stronger consumer privacy protections to ISPs. [More]
Senator Calls For Everyone To Rally Around Encryption Like They Did Against SOPA
By 3.31.16
While the debate about encryption (brought to the foreground by the recent fight between Apple and the FBI) continues to rage on, at least one U.S. senator has clearly had enough, and is ready to draw a line in the sand. [More]
FBI Now Helping Other Law Enforcement Agencies Bypass Apple’s iPhone Security Measures
By 3.30.16
One of Apple’s biggest concerns about being compelled to assist the FBI in bypassing the security measures on the iPhone was that it would be just the first of many requests to get around the device’s encryption, thus increasing the odds of this work-around getting into the hands of hackers. Now comes news that the FBI — which was able to crack the iPhone lockdown without Apple’s assistance — is offering to unlock Apple devices for other law enforcement agencies. [More]
Government Has Used 1789 Law To Compel Apple & Google To Unlock More Than 63 Smartphones
By 3.30.16
The high-profile legal standoff between Apple and the FBI recently came to an end when the government unlocked a terrorist’s iPhone without Apple’s assistance, but new data confirms that this single showdown is just one of dozens of cases where the federal government has successfully used a more than 225-year-old law to compel Apple or Google to aid authorities in bypassing smartphone security measures. [More]
Wells Fargo To Pay $8.5M For Recording Calls Without Telling Customers
By 3.29.16
California law requires that, before any party involved in a phone call can record the conversation, all parties must be made aware they are being recorded. Violations of that law can get quite costly; just ask Wells Fargo, which has to ante up $8.5 million to close a state investigation into the bank’s repeated invasions of privacy. [More]
Broadband Industry: It’s Unfair If Facebook Can Collect Your Data, But AT&T Can’t
By 3.29.16
Later this week, the Federal Communications Commission will be voting on a proposal intended to protect some of your personal data from being shared by your Internet service provider, by requiring that the ISP first get your permission. As the vote approaches, the broadband industry is trying to make the case that your ISP’s collecting and sharing of customer data is no different than Facebook or Google’s. [More]
After Unlocking iPhone On Its Own, Government Drops Effort To Compel Apple’s Help
By 3.28.16
Last week, it was reported that the FBI had figured out how to unlock the iPhone belonging to one of the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, CA, on Dec. 2, 2015. Now, it’s official, as the government has dropped its attempt to compel Apple to aid the FBI in bypassing the device’s security — but this is just the first of likely many fights over this issue. [More]
FBI Investigating Virus That Took Major Hospital Chain Offline
By 3.28.16
Earlier today, healthcare provider MedStar Health, which operates nearly a dozen hospitals in the D.C. area and some 100 clinics, took its network offline after detecting the presence of a computer virus. Now the FBI is investigating. [More]
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Nation Needs To Decide How Much Power Government Has Over Data, Privacy
By 3.21.16
Apple CEO Tim Cook used today’s press event for the new iPhone to once again make his case against court orders trying compel Apple to aid law enforcement in unlocking iPhones belonging to criminal suspects. [More]
Your Prescription Information Isn’t Really Private
By 3.18.16
Who sees your prescription information? No, there are more people involved than just the pharmacists and technicians at your local drugstore and your doctor and his or her employees. Information about your medications can also end up with data miners, insurance companies other than your health insurer, and companies that your pharmacy does business with. [More]
Apple Engineers Might Resist Court Order To Weaken iPhone Encryption
By 3.18.16
A federal court in California is currently weighing whether or not Apple could be compelled to aid the FBI in unlocking an iPhone that belonged to one of the terrorists behind the Dec. 2, 2015 shootings in San Bernardino, CA. But even if the court rules that Apple must assist the government in opening the device, some engineers at the company are reportedly considering resistance. [More]
App Developers Warned: You Need To Tell Consumers First If You’re Going To Eavesdrop
By 3.17.16
Your phone has a microphone, and it listens — but not just when you’re making a call or practicing a second language on purpose. It listens whenever an app tells it to, and to whatever happens to be around you for it to hear. And if an app does that without telling you first, it could be in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission. [More]
Driver Ticketed After Police See Facebook Video Of Him Ignoring A Stop Sign
By 3.17.16
A man in Colorado recently received a traffic ticket for blowing through a Stop sign — not because a police officer witnessed the violation in person, but because the driver posted video of the incident on Facebook. [More]
Facebook’s WhatsApp May Be Next In Law Enforcement’s Privacy Battle
By 3.14.16
The federal government’s courtroom war with Apple over iPhone encryption may be grabbing all the headlines, but a number of tech companies offer devices, apps, and messaging services with privacy settings that frustrate police investigations. And according to a new report, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp instant messaging app could be the next to face a legal challenge from the feds. [More]
John Oliver Rewrites Apple Ads To Make Them More Honest About Encryption
By 3.14.16
On Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver looked at length at the ongoing, complicated legal battle between Apple and the FBI, which has asked a court to compel the tech company to rewrite its software to allow authorities to search crime suspects’ locked iPhones. And while Oliver ultimately came down in defense of Apple’s position in the matter, he also believes the company could be more direct about presenting the reality of the situation. [More]
New Online Tool Shows You What The Heck Privacy Policies Actually Say
By 3.11.16
We’ve talked about privacy policies a lot before. While they exist to give consumers information about what data is being collected and how it’s being used, they tend to share one big problem in common: aside from a few exceptions, most privacy policies are utterly impenetrable for the average reader. [More]
