Steve Stecklow reports: In the summer of 2008, Iranian security agents arrived at the family home of Saleh Hamid, who was visiting his parents during a break from his university studies. The plain-clothes agents, he says, shackled him and drove him blindfolded to a local intelligence detention center. There, he says, they beat him with…
Category: Business
Microsoft to keep privacy protection
Diana Bass reports: Microsoft is sticking with a decision to make it harder to track users’ online behavior, earning plaudits from privacy groups but drawing fire from the advertisers that its money-losing Web unit needs most. Despite months of criticism that the new tools cut off valuable customer-targeting information, Microsoft has no plans to change…
FTC investigates mobile apps makers on children’s privacy
Jessica Guynn reports: Parents often hand over their smartphones and tablet computers to keep their kids entertained. But most parents are unaware the mobile apps and games that delight their kids are secretly collecting personal information they then share with marketers and other third parties. Now federal regulators are investigating whether mobile apps makers, in…
Pa. woman sues Google over Gmail privacy, claims violation of wiretap laws
The Associated Press reports on a me-too lawsuit against Google: A Pennsylvania woman has accused Google of illegal wiretapping for “intercepting” emails she sent to Gmail accounts and publishing content-related ads. Her lawsuit echoes others filed across the country by class-action lawyers who say the practice violates wiretap laws in some states. They represent email…