Privacy

Facebook has changed the way its password reset tool works so that it does not easily verify e-mail addresses after CNET News contacted it with concerns from an Israeli security expert. On a separate matter, the company also has asked the maker of the Photo Stalker Facebook app to make it clear that despite the name, the app conforms to Facebook's privacy guidelines.

First off, Facebook is making it harder for spammers to mine the site for valid e-mail addresses.

Last weekend, a popular blog service in Vietnam, Ngoisaoblog, announced there had been a “devastating” incident: They “lost” 50,000 entries of bloggers.

According to the service’s master group, Ngoisaoblog server broke down without clear reasons, resulting in the loss of all data of Ngoisaoblog and some sub-pages. However, they had a backup copy of Ngoisaoblog until August 2008. This means that all entries and information on specialised pages from August 2008 until now were lost.

The recent privacy glitch with Google Docs is just the latest example of security concerns with Google's cloud computing services, and the Federal Trade Commission should take note, according to a filing from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

Online hackers have stolen personal information from almost 6000 Shell customers in New Zealand and Australia.

Shell spokeswoman Jackie Maitland confirmed to NZPA today that 1400 New Zealand customers were affected and another 4500 in Australia. Both the New Zealand police e-crimes unit and the Queensland police were investigating.

Ms Maitland said the information obtained by the hackers was contained in online application forms for a Shell fuel card. The company became aware of the hacking on February 17 and has contacted all the people concerned.

Google is announcing a new service - Google Voice. Apart from the automatic transcripts of voicemail, call filtering and other user benefits, the service will give Google access to enormous amounts of information about your life - including recordings of your voice mail.

Of course, the Google creed is - Do no evil! But let's dig deeper into what Google will get their hands on:

"Whether you're browsing the Internet, sending or receiving text messages, or chatting on your cell phone, information you may think is private very often is not." Says Wealth Preservation & Privacy Expert Mark Nestmann.

A glitch within Google's free Google Docs utility caused some private documents to be exposed, the company has confirmed. Only a small number of users was affected, and the issue has now been fixed.

Engineers discovered the Google Docs privacy problem over the weekend, initially posting about it in the official Docs Help forum. The bug, Google representatives believe, was limited to less than 0.05 percent of all documents within the system -- and the files affected were exposed only on a limited basis.

Just a day after the Information Commissioner raided a firm for possessing a covert database of construction workers’ personal information, it emerged that the police force is keeping a potentially illegal database listing the details of political activists and journalists.

In a Guardian newspaper investigation, the Metropolitan Police force, which is said to have pioneered surveillance techniques at demonstrations, was accused of storing details including names, photographs, political associations and video footage of protesters and reporters.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has opened a web site designed to help you keep the government from getting its grubby mitts on your hard-drive.

EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston said the Surveillance Self-Defence project offers citizens a legal and technical toolkit with tips on how to defend themselves in case the government attempts to search, steal, subpoena or spy on their most private data.

The site is at http://ssd.eff.org

Personal medical records belonging to Scotland's rich and powerful - including Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Holyrood's First Minister Alex Salmond - have been illegally accessed in a breach of a national database that holds details of 2.5 million people.