The FBI really hates data security and privacy. I mean HATES it. In a speech before the Brookings Institution last week, FBI Director Jim Comey called for a “legislative or regulatory fix” to the “problem” that third-party custodians of records, or providers of hardware or software make their products or services secure for their customers. Of…
Details“This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.” We have all heard this missive whenever we call an 800 number, or any big company. But when we “consent” to having our voice “recorded,” what exactly have we consented to? A recent article by the Associated Press shows how banks, credit card companies and others…
DetailsSondra Prince of Watertown, New York was a social media queen. She had a Facebook page with pictures of herself splayed out on a brand new BMW. She displayed her personal information, including pictures of her children, her license plate number, and some at least sexually suggestive photographs. This was a silly thing for Prince…
DetailsOnline social media site Twitter recently sued the U.S. government to allow the site to protect the privacy of its users. Generally, you see the U.S. government through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues online providers and others for not complying with their privacy policies, or for releasing consumer information without their knowledge or consent. In this case,…
DetailsLife moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. When Ferris Bueller took his famous “Day Off,” he entrusted his best friend Cameron’s father’s 1961 Ferrari 250GT California (“less than 100 made”) to parking lot attendant Richard Edson. When they returned to the parking lot,…
DetailsLaw enforcement’s response to the announcement by Apple (and later Google’s Android) that it would be encrypting by default the contents of users’ phones was met with predictable outrage by some representatives of the law enforcement community. This outrage is fundamentally misplaced, and shows just how “out of the loop” the law enforcement and intelligence…
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