A woman who passed national security information to UK authorities spent six months in fear for her life, after Tiscali published her phone number and address in public directories, despite repeated requests to keep the information secret. Tiscali now faces broad questions about the safety of its other ex-directory subscribers and over whether it can…
Hobby or harassment? Blogger Strom jailed for cop site
Elisha Strom has been sitting in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail for two weeks. Her alleged crime? Publishing the address of an officer on the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement, JADE, task force. […] The Code of Virginia forbids publication of law-enforcement officers’ addresses or photographs with the “intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass” in §18.2-186.4. Most recently…
Council denies snooping through families’ bins
Contractors have been sorting through Salisbury householders’ rubbish to check whether they are recycling enough. But Wiltshire Council denies they were prying or invading people’s privacy. It says they were simply carrying out surveys to assess what was being thrown away in general, and not examining what was in any single bin. The former Salisbury…
Google safe browsing feature could compromise privacy
Turns out a browser security extension from Google for Chrome and Firefox browsers can actually put user privacy at risk, according to a researcher here at the Black Hat USA conference. Robert “RSnake” Hansen, CEO of SecTheory LLC, says he discovered that Google’s Safe Browsing anti-phishing and anti-malware feature for Chrome and Firefox actually gathers…