Andrew Orlowski reports: Google’s roving Street View spycam may blur your face, but it’s got your number. The Street View service is under fire in Germany for scanning private WLAN networks, and recording users’ unique Mac (Media Access Control) addresses, as the car trundles along. Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Peter Schaar says he’s…
Category: Featured News
Hotmail’s social networking busts your privacy
It seems that every week, social networking sites or free services are unilaterally changing their features and exposing people’s private information without prior consent or a chance to fully opt out before changes are implemented. Over on Windows Secrets, Woody Leonhard blogs: In its rush to take on Facebook and Google Buzz, Microsoft is now…
Legal spying via the cell phone system
Elinor Mills reports: Two researchers say they have found a way to exploit weaknesses in the mobile telecom system to legally spy on people by figuring out the private cell phone number of anyone they want, tracking their whereabouts, and listening to their voice mail. Independent security researcher Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey, a security…
Draft of ACTA released
The draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was released yesterday, and there’s a lot of buzz because it does not contain a “three-strikes” rule for those who illegally download copyrighted material. Here are some links to some of the coverage and commentary: Rashmi Rangnath, staff attorney for Public Knowledge, provides an analysis and commentary,…