Chris Walters writes: Financial blogger Felix Salmon wants to know why there isn’t regulatory oversight of Mint and other financial management websites, especially if they’re going to sell data created from their users’ transaction histories. Mint’s CEO Aaron Patzer spoke at SXSW on Saturday and said that the company is sitting on a gold mine…
Category: Featured News
Eleventh Circuit Decision Largely Eliminates Fourth Amendment E-mail Protections
Orin Kerr writes: Last Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit handed down a Fourth Amendment case, Rehberg v. Paulk, that takes a very narrow view of how the Fourth Amendment applies to e-mail. The Eleventh Circuit held that constitutional protection in stored copies of e-mail held by third parties disappears as soon as any copy of the…
MySpace Jumps Into Bulk User Data Sales
Marshall Kirkpatrick reports: MySpace has taken a bold step and allowed a large quantity of bulk user data to be put up for sale on startup data marketplace InfoChimps. Data offered includes user playlists, mood updates, mobile updates, photos, vents, reviews, blog posts, names and zipcodes. Friend lists are not included. Remember, Facebook and Twitter…
Bacteria Trail Betrays Identity Of Computer Users
Thomas Claburn reports that now our bacteria can compromise our privacy: Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found that the bacteria trail left behind on objects like computer keyboards and mice can analyzed and used to help identify users of those devices. “Your body is coated with bacteria inside and out,” says…