surveillance

Security researchers recently found that IM conversations on the Chinese Skype program were not only filtered, but also recorded on a massive, nonsecure, server. The possibility of surveillance flies in the face of Skype's supposed strong encryption, and has provoked outcry among privacy advocates.

Users of the TOM-Skype platform, marketed in cooperation with a Chinese company, were "regularly scanned for sensitive keywords, and if present, the resulting data [were] uploaded and stored on servers in China," according to the report by Nart Villeneuve. Voice communications may have been catalogged, but researchers reported they did not find recorded … Read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Bush administration on behalf of AT&T customers to halt what it called the "massively illegal" warrantless surveillance of Americans' Internet and telephone communications.

In addition to suing the National Security Agency, the nonprofit Internet advocacy group also names President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as well as others.

"For years, the NSA has been engaged in a massive and massively illegal fishing expedition through AT&T's domestic networks and … Read more

3VR Security announced on Monday the 3VR SmartCam, a new line of megapixel surveillance cameras, and a new 3VR SmartSearch Network Video Recorder. The two work together to create a complete network surveillance solution.

Because it sends only critical information, such as motion and faces, to the 3VR system for analysis, the 3VR SmartCam uses less storage, network, and computer requirements than comparable megapixel cameras, the company says. This helps minimize CPU requirements by as much as 90 percent.

The SmartCam also comes with digital pan-tilt-zoom capabilities. Operators can quickly view specific regions and see important details of scenes, or … Read more

A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous.

The U.S. National Security Agency is also participating in the "IP Traceback" drafting group, named Q6/17, which is meeting next week in Geneva to work on the traceback proposal. Members of Q6/17 have declined to release key documents, and meetings are closed to the public.

The potential for eroding Internet users' right to remain anonymous, which is protected by law … Read more

Some commentators are getting their knickers in a twist because they feel they are now unable to twist their lover's knickers around their fingers.

The world is, apparently, experiencing major changes in extramarital sexual behavior. And the reason for these changes is the development of superior technological gadgetry over the last few years.

According to Nick Harding of London's Independent newspaper, the United Kingdom's divorce rate is going down, and one of the reasons, he posits, is that it is far too easy for your spouse to catch you cheating, if not in flagrante delicto, then certainly … Read more

From the folks who brought you the creepy and simultaneously cool (depending on who's using it) DVR flashlight, comes another 007-inspired piece of high-tech security gear. On Wednesday, Swann Communications introduced the IP-3G ConnectCam 1000.

The ConnectCam is a 802.11G wireless network camera that lets users view their own surveillance video on their 3G phone (setup of the camera's options requires a PC) from anywhere in the world, according to Swann. I really need to get my superiors to send me to New Zealand to test out this whole "anywhere in the world" thing.

The … Read more

Ever since Michael Moore's movie Roger and Me, Flint, Michigan has not registered on the list of America's Joyous Top Ten.

So it's not strange, then, that the city of Flint is trying to find sponsors for its surveillance cameras.

Well, not very strange.

City officials have become somewhat excited by the success of a surveillance camera at a significant junction, on the corner of Cecil Drive and Jewel Drive. Now they want more.

But they claim they don't have enough money, even with the cash they seem to have accumulated from successful drug busts.

So … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Bob Barr hopes his enthusiasm for electronic privacy will boost his Libertarian Party campaign for the White House. Call it a long-shot bid for the geek vote.

Absent Barack Obama and John McCain found in flagrante delicto with, say, Osama bin Laden and a 12-year old, Barr will not be the next president of the United States. But he is polling surprisingly well, with a Zogby poll last week putting him at 6 percent nationally, meaning he could siphon away enough limited-government votes from McCain to affect the November election.

Barr was a GOP member of Congress best known … Read more

The Democratic-controlled Senate handed President Bush a major political victory on Wednesday by voting to derail lawsuits against telecommunications companies that unlawfully opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

Senators voted 69 to 28 for the bill, which would rewrite federal wiretap laws by granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies as long as the government claims the request was "lawful" and authorized by the president.

Wednesday's vote followed a last-minute effort by liberal and libertarian activists to convince enough Democrats to kill or modify the bill. DailyKos called the bill "a pardon to Bush"; … Read more