John Solomon and Carrie Johnson report: The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or simply persuading phone companies to provide records, according to internal bureau memos and interviews. FBI officials issued approvals after the fact to justify their actions….
Microsoft to Purge User Data Collected on Bing After Six Months
Kevin O’Brien reports: Bowing to pressure in Europe, Microsoft on Tuesday said it will redesign the worldwide operation of its online search engine, Bing, to eliminate all data collected on users after six months. John Vassallo, a Microsoft vice president and associate general counsel, said the company would introduce the changes over the next 18…
Ca: Privacy commissioner examining online data collection by social media
The Canadian Press reports: Canada’s privacy commissioner is launching a series of public consultations to investigate online data collection through social networking and consumer profiling. Jennifer Stoddart is examining the privacy risks associated with the online tracking, profiling and targeting of consumers, in the lead up to a review of the Personal Information Protection and…
The “adequacy” regime is inadequate
Peter Fleischer comments: There are many people in Europe who would rather eat their “chapeau” than admit that non-European countries like the United States might have adequate privacy protection, based on long-standing cultural or ideological bias. In my opinion, it’s the European “adequacy” regime that has become inadequate in today’s world. It’s near the top…