Slashdot:
"Facebook has agreed to shut down its much-maligned Beacon advertising system in order to settle a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in August of last year, alleged that Facebook and its Beacon affiliates like Blockbuster and Overstock.com violated a series of laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act, the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the California Computer Crime Law. The proposed settlement, announced late on Friday, calls not only for Facebook to discontinue Beacon, but also back the creation of an independent foundation devoted to promoting online privacy, safety and security. The money for the foundation will come from a US$9.5 million settlement fund."
Sunday 20 September 2009
Sunday 17 May 2009
UK's Expensive Net Spying Plan Proceeds
PCPro:
The Government has dropped plans to create a massive database of all internet communications, following stern criticism from privacy advocates.
Instead the Government wants ISPs and mobile phone companies to retain details of mobile phone calls, emails and internet sites visited.
As with the original scheme, the actual content of the phone calls and messages won't be recorded, just the dates, duration and location/IP address of messages sent. The security services would then have to apply to the ISP or telecoms company to have the data released.
The new proposals would also require ISPs to retain details of communications that originated in other countries but passed over the UK's network, such as instant messages.
ITPro:
The government is set to require all telcos to record data between communications – mobile phones, text message, emails and instant messages, as well as internet browsing sessions to social networking sites such as Facebook.
The details of the Intercept Modernisation Programme were laid out in a consultation document released today. The government will be accepting advice on the plans until July 2009.
Any firm considered a communications service provider (CSP) – such as internet service providers (ISPS) and mobile operators – would be required to hold onto such data in case the government needed it, for anti-terror or policing reasons, for example.
Such CSPs will also be required to collect data from services that are based overseas but use UK networks.
A document from the Home Office stressed the data held would include who, when, where and how communications connections were made – but not the content. For example, the information held on an email would include who sent it, to whom they sent it, and when it was sent, but the content of the email would not be stored.
The Register:
Spy chiefs are already spending hundreds of millions of pounds on a mass internet surveillance system, despite Jacqui Smith's announcement earlier this week that proposals for a central warehouse of communications data had been dumped on privacy grounds.
The system - uncovered today by The Register and The Sunday Times - is being installed under a GCHQ project called Mastering the Internet (MTI). It will include thousands of deep packet inspection probes inside communications providers' networks, as well as massive computing power at the intelligence agency's Cheltenham base, "the concrete doughnut".
Sources with knowledge of the project said contracts have already been awarded to private sector partners.
The Government has dropped plans to create a massive database of all internet communications, following stern criticism from privacy advocates.
Instead the Government wants ISPs and mobile phone companies to retain details of mobile phone calls, emails and internet sites visited.
As with the original scheme, the actual content of the phone calls and messages won't be recorded, just the dates, duration and location/IP address of messages sent. The security services would then have to apply to the ISP or telecoms company to have the data released.
The new proposals would also require ISPs to retain details of communications that originated in other countries but passed over the UK's network, such as instant messages.
ITPro:
The government is set to require all telcos to record data between communications – mobile phones, text message, emails and instant messages, as well as internet browsing sessions to social networking sites such as Facebook.
The details of the Intercept Modernisation Programme were laid out in a consultation document released today. The government will be accepting advice on the plans until July 2009.
Any firm considered a communications service provider (CSP) – such as internet service providers (ISPS) and mobile operators – would be required to hold onto such data in case the government needed it, for anti-terror or policing reasons, for example.
Such CSPs will also be required to collect data from services that are based overseas but use UK networks.
A document from the Home Office stressed the data held would include who, when, where and how communications connections were made – but not the content. For example, the information held on an email would include who sent it, to whom they sent it, and when it was sent, but the content of the email would not be stored.
The Register:
Spy chiefs are already spending hundreds of millions of pounds on a mass internet surveillance system, despite Jacqui Smith's announcement earlier this week that proposals for a central warehouse of communications data had been dumped on privacy grounds.
The system - uncovered today by The Register and The Sunday Times - is being installed under a GCHQ project called Mastering the Internet (MTI). It will include thousands of deep packet inspection probes inside communications providers' networks, as well as massive computing power at the intelligence agency's Cheltenham base, "the concrete doughnut".
Sources with knowledge of the project said contracts have already been awarded to private sector partners.
Thursday 19 March 2009
UK is considering snooping on all social networking traffic
Yet another attempt by the UK gov to spy on people and deprive them from their privacy. Slashdot reports:
"The UK government, which is becoming increasingly Orwellian, has said that it is considering snooping on all social networking traffic including Facebook, MySpace, and bebo. This supposedly anti-terrorist measure may be proposed as part of the Intercept Modernisation Programme according to minister Vernon Coaker, and is exactly the sort of deep packet inspection web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee warned about last week. The measure would get around the inconvenience for the government of not being able to snoop on all UK web traffic."
"The UK government, which is becoming increasingly Orwellian, has said that it is considering snooping on all social networking traffic including Facebook, MySpace, and bebo. This supposedly anti-terrorist measure may be proposed as part of the Intercept Modernisation Programme according to minister Vernon Coaker, and is exactly the sort of deep packet inspection web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee warned about last week. The measure would get around the inconvenience for the government of not being able to snoop on all UK web traffic."
Monday 23 February 2009
EU wants to tap your Skype calls
Slashdot reports:
"Suspicious phone conversations on Skype could be targeted for tapping as part of a pan-European crackdown on what law authorities believe is a massive technical loophole in current wiretapping laws, allowing criminals to communicate without fear of being overheard by the police. Eurojust, a European Union agency responsible for coordinating judicial investigations across different jurisdictions, has announced the opening of an investigation involving all 27 countries of the European Union."
Monday 26 January 2009
Monster.com Data Stolen
This is a copy and paste from a Slashdot post:
"There's been another break-in at Monster.com. It's surprising that there are still unencrypted passwords stored in database despite the previous hack, as is the decision to not email users — presumably so that no one will make a fuss. From PC World: 'Monster.com user IDs and passwords were stolen, along with names, e-mail addresses, birth dates, gender, ethnicity, and in some cases, users' states of residence. The information does not include Social Security numbers, which Monster.com said it doesn't collect, or resumes. Monster.com posted the warning about the breach on Friday morning and does not plan to send e-mails to users about the issue, said Nikki Richardson, a Monster.com spokeswoman. The SANS Internet Storm Center also posted a note about the break-in on Friday.'"
Indymedia Server Seized By UK Police
This is a copy paste from a Slashdot post:
"On 22 January 2009, Kent Police seized an Indymedia server hosted by Manchester-based colocation facility UK Grid and run by the alternative news platform Indymedia UK. The server was taken in relation to comments on an article regarding the convictions in the recent Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) trial. Seven activists were sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison." The complete story is worth reading; timbrown continues: "I'm posting this as a concerned UK administrator who hosts a number of sites. The message appears to be clear: the UK establishment does not want political content, legitimate or otherwise, hosted from these shores. The message has been noted, however free speech must be supported even where it may not be agreeable."
Monday 5 January 2009
UK Police allowed to hack into your home PCs
According to this Slashdot post:
"The Times of London reports that the United Kingdom's Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain to routinely hack into people's personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state that drives 'a coach and horses' through privacy laws."
"The Times of London reports that the United Kingdom's Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain to routinely hack into people's personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state that drives 'a coach and horses' through privacy laws."
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