Australian authorities are looking into whether Facebook is in breach of local privacy laws in the way it handles user data. A report released by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart last week found “serious” flaws in some of the social networking site’s practises. […] Australian Privacy Commissioner Kartin Curtis this week said her office was…
Category: Online
New technology to make digital data self-destruct
A group of computer scientists at the University of Washington has developed a way to make electronic messages “self destruct” after a certain period of time, like messages in sand lost to the surf. The researchers said they think the new software, called Vanish, which requires encrypting messages, will be needed more and more as…
Iran implements Internet data retention law
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has implemented a law requiring the country’s Internet service providers to retain records of users’ incoming and outgoing data for at least three months, according to a Monday report by the state-run PressTV news agency. The government said the law is designed to help catch those who illegally steal others’ personal…
RIM fights BlackBerry snoop gaffe
RIM, maker of the BlackBerry mobile phone, has told the Reg that Etisalat is talking tosh and the BlackBerry remains a secure platform, after the United Arab Emirates operator “patched” the device with surveillance software. The “patch” which Etisalat sent out last week was actually a surveillance application, designed to make copies of received e-mails,…