Gavin Clarke reports: Updated Mozilla has rolled out Firefox 14, which automatically encrypts web searches through Google, but the new release leaves an important back door open to advertisers. The move also quietly undermines Mozilla’s crusade in the past years on maintaining the privacy of netizens by using Do-Not-Track as a plea to websites not to…
Category: Business
Skype refuses to confirm or deny eavesdropping rumours
Liat Clark reports: Video chat provider Skype has refused to deny that wiretaps can now be used to infiltrate its hosted conversations, according to a news report. After repeatedly putting the question to Skype representatives, a Slate reporter’s inquiries were met with the vague response: “[Skype] co-operates with law enforcement agencies as much as is legally and technically possible.” The…
The Lesson of Google’s Safari Hack
Michael Chertoff has an OpEd in the WSJ: In the cyber age, privacy and security are two sides of the same coin. Digital privacy concerns can’t be separated from security ones, and vice versa. That’s why the government’s response to “Safarigate”—in which Google hacked a popular Web browser, changing users’ settings without their knowledge—is troubling….
Consumer Data, but Not for Consumers
Natasha Singer describes what happens when she tried to learn what information data broker Acxiom holds about her: But after I filled out an online request form and sent a personal check for $5 to cover the processing fee, the company simply sent me a list of some of my previous residential addresses. In other…