Privacy

The latest list of the 10 worst Internet laws is out, and topping it are proposals to restrict targeted online advertising.

NetChoice, a Washington, D.C. coalition that includes AOL, eBay, VeriSign, and Yahoo as members, today released its updated "iAWFUL" list of misguided, nutty, or simply counterproductive laws.

Topping them is a bill introduced last month by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), which would require the Federal Trade Commission to regulate targeted Internet ads. Last year's iAWFUL list was led by proposals to regulate the data collection and use practices of many Web sites.

"Their favorite … Read more

If you're a resident of one of at least 24 states including Arizona, Georgia, and Washington, your driver's license may no longer be valid for boarding an airplane or entering federal buildings as of May 11, 2011.

That's the deadline that senior House Republicans are calling on the Obama administration to impose, saying states must be required to comply with so-called Real ID rules creating a standardized digital identity card that critics have likened to a national ID.

The political problem for the GOP committee chairmen is that the 2005 Real ID Act has proven to be … Read more

Despite congressional criticism, Facebook is planning to resume the aborted rollout of a feature that allowed the optional sharing of addresses and mobile phone numbers.

Facebook said in a letter (PDF) released today that it is evaluating different ways to "enhance user control" over information sharing that would go into effect "once the feature is re-enabled."

The social-networking site encountered some criticism in January after announcing the feature, which allowed applications to request permission to access user information. Only if the user clicked "Allow" was information shared.

Only three days after announcing the platform … Read more

We've mentioned this before, but a reminder can't hurt: If you're in the San Francisco area, feel free to stop by a WikiLeaks discussion we're hosting at CNET headquarters this evening.

It's organized by the Society of Professional Journalists-Northern California and on the first floor of our building at 235 Second Street (between Howard and Folsom Streets). That's about two blocks from BART and about a 15 minute walk from Caltrain.

Here are the panelists, including yours truly:

* Declan McCullagh, chief political correspondent, CNET * Caille Millner, San Francisco Chronicle * Evan Hansen, editor-in-chief, Wired.com * … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--When agents at the Drug Enforcement Administration learned a suspect was using PGP to encrypt documents, they persuaded a judge to let them sneak into an office complex and install a keystroke logger that recorded the passphrase as it was typed in.

A decade ago, when the search warrant was granted, that kind of black bag job was a rarity. Today, however, law enforcement agents are encountering well-designed encryption products more and more frequently, forcing them to invent better ways to bypass or circumvent the technology.

"Every new agent who goes to the Secret Service academy goes through … Read more

A Senate proposal that has become known as the Internet "kill switch" bill was reintroduced this week, with a tweak its backers say eliminates the possibility of an Egypt-style disconnection happening in the United States.

As CNET reported last month, the 221-page bill hands Homeland Security the power to issue decrees to certain privately owned computer systems after the president declares a "national cyberemergency." A section in the new bill notes that does not include "the authority to shut down the Internet," and the name of the bill has been changed to include the … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The head of the National Security Agency said today that the U.S. military should have the authority to defend "critical networks" from malware and other disruptions.

Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also the head of the Pentagon's U.S. Cyber Command, said at the RSA Conference here that the NSA's "active defenses" designed to defend military networks should be extended to civilian government agencies, and then key private-sector networks as well.

"I believe we have the talent to build a cyber-secure capability that protects our civil liberties and our privacy," … Read more

The FBI said today that it's not calling for restrictions on encryption without back doors for law enforcement.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni told a congressional committee that the bureau's push for expanded Internet wiretapping authority doesn't mean giving law enforcement a master key to encrypted communications, an apparent retreat from her position last fall.

"No one's suggesting that Congress should re-enter the encryption battles of the late 1990s," Caproni said. There's no need to "talk about encryption keys, escrowed keys, and the like--that's not what this is all about." … Read more

The FBI is expected to reveal tomorrow that because of the rise of Web-based e-mail and social networks, it's "increasingly unable" to conduct certain types of surveillance that would be possible on cellular and traditional telephones.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni will outline what the bureau is calling the "Going Dark" problem, meaning that police can be thwarted when conducting court-authorized eavesdropping because Internet companies aren't required to build in back doors in advance, or because technology doesn't permit it.

Any solution, according to a copy of Caproni's prepared comments obtained by … Read more