Privacy

MI5 new e-mail alert service sends web subscription forms to the US without encryption, according to an investigation by Spyblog.

A civil rights group filed Freedom of Information Act request seeking information about United States President's statement that he is authorized to open people's mail without a warrant, calling George W. Bush?s record of violating privacy rights "dismal"[ ACLU].

The American Civil Liberties Union is also calling on Congress to exercise its oversight function and to require the Postal Service to report to Congress annually and publicly the number of times each year it opens mail without a warrant.

Undoubtedly you have all seen photographs of people on TV and online who have been blurred to hide faces. For the most part this is all fine with peoples' faces as there isn't a convenient way to reverse the blur back into a photo so detailed that you can recognise the photo. So that's good if that is what you intended. However, many people also resort to blurring sensitive numbers and text. I'll illustrate why that is a BAD idea.

Walls of an auditorium were covered with thousands of sheets of paper -- printouts from MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and other online sites that were filled with back-stabbing gossip, unflattering images, and details about partying and dating exploits.

This guide has been modified from an article that originally appeared on Global Voices Online, a nonprofit global citizens' media project sponsored by and launched from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School. For additional information on blogging anonymously, you may also want to download Reporters Without Borders' Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.

Secure Flight, the U.S. government's stalled program to screen domestic air passengers against terrorism watch lists, violated federal law during a crucial test phase, according to a report to be issued today by the Homeland Security Department's privacy office.

A laptop containing the personal information on 382,000 current and retired workers of Chicago-based Boeing Co. was stolen from an employee's car earlier this month, according to Boeing spokesman Tim Neale. He declined to say exactly where the laptop was stolen.

The information included employees' Social Security numbers, home addresses, telephone numbers and birth dates, as well as salary information, Neale said. Although the laptop was turned off and was password protected, Neale said the data on it was not encrypted.

The University of California, Los Angeles alerted 800,000 people today that their personal information may have been compromised after discovering that hackers have been exploiting an undetected security hole in a database for more than a year.

The database contains personal information about current and former students, faculty and staff, applicants and parents of students or applicants who applied for financial aid.

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

Thieves stole equipment from a driver?s license center and got away with computers containing personal information on more than 11,000 people, state officials said Thursday.

The thieves got a camera and a printer during the break-in late Tuesday, plus enough card stock and laminate to make about 750 fake licenses, said Betty Serian, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation deputy secretary, at a news conference Thursday.

They also stole two computers containing data on 11,384 people.