Politics

WASHINGTON--Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, said today he is optimistic that Congress would update a 1986 law, crafted in the pre-Internet era of telephone modems and the black-and-white Macintosh Plus, to protect the privacy of Americans who use the Internet and mobile phones.

The Vermont Democrat said that in his previous career as a prosecutor he had to obtain search warrants to search someone's house. "I question whether it should be that much different if I'm going to search all your files" in electronic form, he said in a keynote speech at … Read more

WASHINGTON--Police would no longer be able to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans' whereabouts, according to legislation introduced today that would require search warrants to monitor the locations of cars or mobile devices.

Bills drafted by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) provides new legal protections for "geolocation information," meaning data that can locate a person through a wireless device or a GPS tracker placed on a vehicle. In March, CNET was the first to report on an earlier draft of the measure.

These rules "will foster the effective use of geolocation data while protecting … Read more

Technologists are warning that the practical effects of a controversial copyright bill backed by Hollywood will "weaken" Internet security and cause other harmful side effects.

As more Internet engineers, networking professionals, and security specialists have evaluated the so-called Protect IP Act that was introduced last month, concern is growing about how it will change the end-to-end nature of the Internet in ways that could do more harm than good. (See CNET's previous coverage.)

The Protect IP Act would give the U.S. Department of Justice the power to seek a court order against an allegedly infringing Web … Read more

An embarrassed Rep. Anthony Weiner acknowledged this afternoon that a "deep personal failing" led him to conduct sexually explicit online chats with women over Facebook and Twitter.

During a press conference in New York City that veered between the acutely embarrassing and mildly lewd, the New York Democrat said he had exercised "terrible judgment" and lied to his family, his constituents, and the press about using Twitter to send a photo of his underwear revealing a certain distinctive outline underneath. (See previous CNET coverage.)

Weiner said he would not resign--unlike former Rep. Christopher Lee (R-N.Y.), … Read more

In the span of only a few days, Rep. Anthony Weiner has firmly ensnared himself in what is fast becoming Capitol Hill's first Twitter sex scandal of sorts.

What began with a photo of grey underwear revealing a certain distinctive outline has mushroomed into a full-fledged obsession among bloggers who have engaged in spirited bouts of digital forensics--and among political reporters who have, so far unsuccessfully, pressed the New York Democrat for specifics.

Weiner's Twitter account was used last weekend to address that rather intimate photo to Gennette Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in Seattle who says she … Read more

The state of Alaska is planning to release 24,000 of former Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mails, which are likely to be closely scrutinized as the 2012 election nears.

State officials told the Anchorage Daily News that they're sending the e-mails to a commercial printer so they can be copied, a process that should take about four days.

The request for the former governor's e-mails comes from the media and stems from as far back as the 2008 presidential campaign, in which the former governor was a vice presidential candidate. Multiple news organizations, including the New York Times, … Read more

news analysis The U.S. Congress has approved a four-year extension of the Patriot Act despite warnings from senators that the Justice Department has twisted the 2001 law into a "secret" surveillance mechanism far broader than Americans realize.

"I believe that when more of my colleagues and the American public come to understand how the Patriot Act has actually been interpreted in secret, they will insist on significant reforms too," said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who tried to block the renewal. Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, offered a similar warning.

The cautionary note … Read more

Wireless providers won't have to comply with extensive requirements in a new bill that would force Internet companies to log data about their customers.

CNET was the first to report this exemption for wireless carriers in an article a few weeks ago. That legislation was publicly announced today by U.S. Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the head of the House Judiciary Committee, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

That appears to be the result of lobbying from wireless providers, which don't want to have to comply with any new governmental mandates. But the exemption has already drawn the ire of the U.S. Justice Department, … Read more

Apple and Google returned to Capitol Hill this morning to defend themselves against accusations from U.S. politicians who claim that the companies aren't doing enough to protect their customers' location privacy.

Today's Senate subcommittee hearing, which Facebook also joined, came only a week after a different Senate subcommittee convened nearly the identical hearing on the identical topic: mobile phones, privacy, and user consent.

"I think anyone who uses a mobile device has an expectation of privacy, and sadly that expectation is not always being met," said Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), chairman of the … Read more