We crawl the web to find the companies that track people, then Disconnect blocks those companies’ tracking requests in your browser. Click the items below to learn more about Disconnect’s features.
via Private Browsing.
From a man who has done plenty wrong in privacy recently, this is a very very good idea. People who want the source code do have to sign a NDA. I don’t know what’s in the NDA, but this seems reasonable.
Plasterk geeft broncode Basisregistratie Personen vrij – Webwereld.
In the first half it was 714 accounts. In 2012 it was 1438 accounts. This is information from Office 365, Hotmail and Skype.
Nederlandse politie vordert meer klantdata bij Microsoft – Webwereld.
All that is needed to break into and search a Dutch residence is a “suspicion” that there “may be” an illegal immigrant in there. Once inside, the (military) police is allowed to search through absolutely everything in a violent manner, stopping short of breaking down walls. You can stop them by showing your identity papers (“Ausweiss, Bitte!”) but they can of course claim that they suspect there are more people hiding under beds, in cupboards, etc. until they have satisfactorily destroyed your belongings.
Obviously there is no way that the <sarcasm>incredibly competent</sarcasm> NL Police force would misuse this power, just as there is no abuse of CCTV footage, telecoms tapping, airport pervert scanners etc etc. In this case personal vendettas are an easy thing to fix, but scarier is the race targeting they could do. Considering this is part of anti-immigrant legislation, this may be a portent of Fred Teeven and the VVD / PvdA coaltion governments plans.
See you freedom, welcome police state!
Teeven breidt mogelijkheden vreemdelingentoezicht uit | Nieuwsbericht | Rijksoverheid.nl.
The Detroit News reports, ‘A government report finds that major automakers are keeping information about where drivers have been — collected from onboard navigation systems — for varying lengths of time. Owners of those cars can’t demand that the information be destroyed.
http://m.slashdot.org/story/196543
After many court cases, it looks like BREIN (the Dutch RIAA) and Tim Kuyk have finally suffered a humiliating defeat. In a victory for common sense and freedom, they were made to pay EUR 326000,- in legal fees to the providers, who showed that not only was a blockade completely unenforcable, there were plenty of alternatives to TPB. This means there is no reason to limit the freedom providers have to run their businesses.
Haags Hof heft Pirate Bay-blokkade providers op – Webwereld.
Unbelievably, the word ‘candy’ is registered as a trademark in the EU and is now about to be registered in the US as well… Can I copyright the word “the” please?!
Candy Crush dev stuffs EU 'candy' trademark down gob • The Register.
In the study, the New America Foundation reviewed 225 terrorism cases and found that traditional investigation and law enforcement methods actually did the most to prevent attacks. About a third of the leads in terrorism cases came from tips or an informant, while old school surveillance warrants were used in 48 cases. All things told, bulk telephony metadata collection provided evidence in only one case, a case that didn’t even present the threat of an attack against the United States.
via NSA Phone Spying Is Useless In Preventing Terrorist Attacks, Study Says.
A UK company who has never done anything with the word manages to claim it in the EU.
Google has taken a dim view of the CyanogenMod Installer, an app that makes it easier to install alternative firmwares on Android phones, leading its developers to pull it from the Google Play Store.The installer was the first major undertaking by Cyanogen Inc., the Seattle company recently formed to promote CyanogenMod, its open-source alternative Android build for smartphones and tablets; it’s intended to replace official distributions of the mobile operating system.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/28/cyanogenmod_installer_pulled_from_google_play/
I thought Android was supposed to be the open, user configurable, friendly, alternative OS. Guess Google wants it to be as closed as Apple IOS
I just launched a beta version of RadioSearchEngine.com – the world’s first radio search engine. There are other directories of A-Z lists of radio stations, but this is the first search engine where any song or artist can be located on stations playing from anywhere in the world. A universal web player for the first time connects to and plays nearly every station offering immediate audio satisfaction and unprecedented user control – See more at: http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=378#sthash.RqNJMCHx.dpuf
http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=378
There went Spotify…
Wikileaks releases the text and positions of a trans Pacific version of ACTA, another way to erode internet rights through patents.
Feedly has done an evil thing: it is now demanding anyone who uses the service to log in via a Google+ account – thereby helping the Chocolate Factory to scrape yet more data from netizens.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/feedly_insists_on_google_plus_sign_in/
Update:
Feedly is rolling this back, 1000s of users quit using Feedly
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/feedly_kills_google_plus_login/
Aside from the fact that these dabases leak all the time and it’s a major breach of privacy, this will only help track a few hundred suspected terrorists. Coming two weeks after launching AlertOnline, an initiative raising awereness of the dangers of online activity, this seems a bit wry.
Feedly has done an evil thing: it is now demanding anyone who uses the service to log in via a Google+ account – thereby helping the Chocolate Factory to scrape yet more data from netizens.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/feedly_insists_on_google_plus_sign_in/
An identity theft service that sold Social Security and drivers license numbers — as well as bank account and credit card data on millions of Americans — purchased much of its data from Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, according to a lengthy investigation by KrebsOnSecurity.
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/
Opslag van vingerafdrukken is illegaal, zegt EU Hof – Webwereld.
You can have them on the passport, but not in a centralised or distributed database. Yay privacy!
For the first time in one report, the Brennan Center takes a comprehensive look at the multiple ways U.S. intelligence agencies collect, share, and store data on average Americans. The report, which surveys across five intelligence agencies, finds that non-terrorism related data can be kept for up to 75 years or more, clogging national security databases and creating opportunities for abuse, and recommends multiple reforms that seek to tighten control over the government’s handling of Americans’ information.
http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/what-government-does-americans-data
Because they don’t have to germ a court order to make you decrypt and unlock your mobile any more
A high rolling gambler and his accomplice tapped into the Crown casino video surveillance cctv system and were able to read other players cards. In just 8 hands (!) this led to them winning some $32 million herals sun
The only way to get your tweetdeck will be through the webbased version. Boo! Engadget
Privacy is a vague, undefined term which can be used very broadly. Obscurity is much more narrow, which means it can be more practically used to define preferable outcomes when it comes to protecting privacy.
Adam Harvey creates fashion items that keep Big Brother off your back. He has experimented with hairstyles and makeup that confuse facial recognition. He has a pocket that blocks all transmissions to and from your cellphone. A hijab that thwarts thermal imaging technology.
The ultimate in good looking tinfoil hats.
Anti-Drone Camouflage: What to Wear in Total Surveillance | Wired Design | Wired.com.
Apparently he invented tiny incremental improvements on paper and used a trick to delay the patent submitting process so that he could incorporate existing technologies into patents filed ages ago. He also made the patents huge, vague and filed them again and again after refusal. Then he started to sue and sue and sue.
Oracle has lost a court case, where the Dutch government asked specifically for SAP software in their tender. The judge ruled that as the Dutch .gov allready uses SAP, they can ask for it and rule out other vendors if they want. Oracle won’t dispute the ruling, as it works out well for them: the NL .gov can also specifically ask for Oracle products.
This is bad news for smaller software vendors who may want to develop alternatives, but won’t be able to get in because they don’t allready supply NL .gov. The tendering laws were implemented specifically to suppres this and give small and upcoming companies a chance. Well done Judge.
'Vonnis tegen Oracle moedigt vendor lock-in aan' | Webwereld.