Privacy

Your source for the latest privacy news and analysis.

Facebook simplifies privacy settings, calls them too complex
Jul. 01, 2009
Facebook will simplify the way in which it offers privacy options to its users, as it gets ready to give its members for the first time the option to make the content they post on their profiles available to anyone on ...

'Iceman' pleads guilty to massive computer hacking
Jun. 30, 2009
Max Ray Butler, a hacker known as the "Iceman," pleaded guilty to breaking into numerous financial institutions and card-processing networks and stealing credit card and identity data on hundreds of thousands of ...

CDT: New privacy law getting closer
Jun. 30, 2009
Comprehensive legislation to protect consumers' privacy is closer to becoming a reality in the U.S. Congress than it's been in several years, officials with the Center for Democracy and Technology said Tuesday.

Q&A: No alternative to PCI, security council chief insists
Jun. 29, 2009
Robert Russo, the general manager of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, fires back at critics of the PCI data security standard.

Facebook puts privacy controls in users' hands
Jun. 25, 2009
Facebook has updated its Publisher tools to give users more control over who gets to see their posts on the social network.

IBM touts encryption innovation
Jun. 25, 2009
IBM today is saying one of its researchers has made it possible for computer systems to perform calculations on encrypted data without decrypting it. While that sounds somewhat counterintuitive and complicated, IBM says ...

Regulators: EU data protection laws apply to social networks
Jun. 23, 2009
Social-networking sites, and in some instances their users, are responsible for protecting the privacy rights of the people whose information they exchange online, according to an influential European data protection ...

Proxy servers pressed into action to keep Web access in Iran
Jun. 22, 2009
An unknown number of proxy servers set up in recent days are being used to help Iranians to maintain access to unfiltered Web content amid a crackdown over protests in the country.

Google agrees to delete unblurred German Street View data
Jun. 18, 2009
Google has agreed to delete some of the original, unblurred photographs captured by its German Street View service, ceding to demands by Hamburg's Data Protection Office.

India bans import of mobile phones without identity codes
Jun. 18, 2009
The Indian government has banned the import of mobile phones without an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, and has ordered operators to block calls from phones without an IMEI from next month..

Too few fighting the good fight on privacy
Jun. 17, 2009
I'm constantly amazed by the brazenness of certain large companies and governments when it comes to abuse of privacy. The most egregious recent example: The Chinese government announced that starting July 1, it will ...

Real ID opposition sparks revisions to national driver's license standard
Jun. 16, 2009
Widespread opposition to a 2005 bill designed to create a national standard for driver's licenses has prompted a revised version of the bill that no longer contains its most controversial provisions.

YouTube changes cookie use policy on Whitehouse.gov
Jun. 12, 2009
In an apparent acknowledgment of the concerns expressed by privacy advocates, YouTube has changed its use of tracking cookies for videos embedded on the Whitehouse.gov Web site.

How Facebook and Twitter Are Changing Data Privacy Rules
Jun. 11, 2009
CIOs think about privacy the way some people think about exercise: with a sigh and a sense of impending pain. Outside of regulated industries like health care--where patient privacy is paramount--privacy affects CIOs as ...

Germany, Google still in conflict over Street View data
Jun. 05, 2009
Germany and Google remain at an impasse over how long certain data should be retained by the company for its Street View imagery.

Sears settles online tracking complaint from FTC
Jun. 04, 2009
Sears Holdings Management has agreed to settle a complaint from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it failed to tell customers about the wide range of their personal information, including bank statements and ...

Judge dismisses NSA wiretap civil liberties suits
Jun. 04, 2009
A federal judge on Wednesday threw out 46 civil lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies for allowing the National Security Agency to probe their networks for terrorist communications without approval from a ...

Microsoft-led privacy group backs off legislation
Mar. 13, 2009
A Microsoft-led group set up three years ago has backed away from its original goal of pushing for comprehensive U.S. privacy legislation.

FTC urged to investigate security of Google services
Mar. 18, 2009
An online privacy group is calling on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google is making deceptive claims over the security of data stored in cloud-computing services such as Gmail and Google Docs ...

Privacy Commissioner to investigate police data leakage
Mar. 10, 2009
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said Monday it has ordered an investigation to probe into the police's recent data leakage incident.

New travel rules kick in June 1 amid concerns over RFID-tagged passport cards - Network ...
May. 29, 2009
New travel requirements go into effect June 1 at U.S. land and sea borders amid security concerns over an RFID-enabled passport card that has been approved for U.S. travelers.

Why we need a single, strong federal privacy law
May. 26, 2009
Regulatory compliance continues to be the main driver for security spending in almost all industries. But in essence, compliance is assymetrical warfare: it costs a lot more to comply with new regulations than it does ...

News Analysis: Courts grapple with law enforcement's use of GPS tracking
May. 15, 2009
Two recent court decisions highlight the continuing struggles that courts around the country are having over law enforcement's use of GPS devices to track an individual's movements.

Groups rip secrecy over IP protection talks
May. 12, 2009
Secrecy surrounding an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement that's being negotiated by several countries including the U.S., is heightening concerns about the intent of the pact.

160,000 student, alumni accounts breached at UC Berkeley
May. 08, 2009
The University of California, Berkeley has begun notifying more than 160,000 students, alumni and others about the potential compromise of sensitive personal data, following a database intrusion at the university.