spies

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users, is expected to argue in court on Tuesday that it's unconstitutional to prevent Americans from suing the telecom companies that allegedly helped the federal government unlawfully spy on them.

The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) gives telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for opening their networks to the National Security Agency. The telecoms can walk away from lawsuits as long as the government claims the request was "lawful" and authorized by the president. Before the law was passed, EFF had brought a lawsuit against AT&T that is before … Read more

Inside all of us, there lives an inner creep just itching to get out and secretly take photos of unsuspecting members of the opposite sex. The secret book camera, offered here by Keith Carollo and Chris Bick of Fred Flare, definitely confirms that theory. The camera uses inexpensive 110 film and is the perfect size to stick in your backpack or Miley Cyrus-approved clutch purse.

You know what this camera reminds me of? That one scene in Troop Beverly Hills where shevillain Velda Plendor hides a camera inside the Girl Scouts book so Herman can spy on the tragically affluent Girl Scouts of Beverly Hills. Wait, what? You're not as self-deprecating as I am? OK, well I loved TBH and now I can finally live out my cinematic fantasies. Never mind that it's seafoam green and made to look like an antique toy for children--I just so happen to have $55 burning a hole in my apron. Patches?! We don't need no stinkin' patches!

Check out more pictures of the camera after the jump.… Read more

Beware of flashing your keys in public.

Computer scientists at the University of California at San Diego have developed software that can make a duplicate of a key from just a distant photo of it using technology available to almost anyone.

Referred to as Sneakey, the system is capable of "teleduplication--extracting a key's complete and precise bitting code at a distance via optical decoding and then cutting precise duplicates," according to Sneakey's Web site.

Part of the project's mission is to make people realize that traditional keys are not really as safe as they might … Read more

We all know that Apple is gathering the chattering classes together Tuesday in Cupertino, Calif., to unveil the latest MacBooks. But unlike many previous Apple product debuts, the Interwebs have been awash recently with reasonably believable-looking leaked spy shots of the laptops, or their component parts.

The latest comes from Chinese site MacX.cn, which purports to show the new aluminum chassis of the 13-inch MacBook. Interesting to note that the side view (pics are after the break) seems to omit the FireWire port currently found on the standard MacBook. … Read more

This time via a Chinese Web site (which is now timing out, perhaps due to heavy traffic), and reposted on MacRumors.com, Engadget, and others. Just what this photo purports to show seems a little unclear to us, but it may very well be the left side and keyboard tray (minus the actual keys) of a new MacBook Pro.

This does seem to fit in with recent rumors that the new MacBooks will be made from, if not one, then a very small number of aluminum sheets, bent into shape using a process referred to as the "brick." (… Read more

Spy cameras these days come in different shapes and sizes. For the Bond wannabe, there's the really petite Minox spy camera, a pen camera, and the sunglasses shooter. These gadgets probably won't look good on an accountant (or nerd), and this is where the calculator camera comes in.

Chinavasion is touting the gizmo as the "ultimate wireless office surveillance" tool. A small camera is built into the side of the calculator, so you can pretend to be punching in figures while you're actually recording a clip of your office nemesis picking his nose, to blackmail … Read more

Web 2.0 activists keep repeating that there is no such thing as privacy. Now the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it tends to be known in movies, has declared that it is using Web 2.0's finest creation, Facebook, in order to find new devotees.

A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign Office whispered: "The Secret Intelligence Service's open recruitment campaign continues to target wide pools of talent representative of British society today. A number of channels are used to promote job opportunities in the organisation. Facebook is a recent example."

This … Read more

If you thought that the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping was limited to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, think again.

While these household names of the telecom industry almost certainly helped the government to illegally snoop on their customers, statements by a number of legal experts suggest that collaboration with the NSA may run far deeper into the wireless phone industry. With over 3,000 wireless companies operating in the United States, the majority of industry-aided snooping likely occurs under the radar, with the dirty-work being handled by companies that most consumers have never heard of.

A recent … Read more

One might expect James Bond's MySpace page to list shaken martinis, Walther PPKs, and Aston Martins among his interests.

While that scenario is a bit far-fetched, agents for the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency are testing a social-networking site designed for use by analysts within the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, according to a report on CNN's Web site. Instead of posting thoughts on music and movies, the agents use the site--called A-Space--to share information on terrorist activities and troop movements around the world.

The social networking site has been undergoing testing for months and is expected … Read more