Privacy

A new pilot project from Microsoft and IBM offers a high-tech twist on this bit of common sense: allowing you to divulge less information about yourself protects your privacy.

Their joint effort is built on the observation that, in many cases, there's no need for someone verifying your credentials to know everything about you. A bouncer at a nightclub needs to know that you're 21, not your name or home address. A county database may only require proof that you're a local resident, not your phone number or e-mail address.

Microsoft and IBM's solution is called … Read more

Federal law needs to be updated to halt the common police practice of tracking the whereabouts of Americans' mobile devices without a search warrant, a Democratic senator said today.

Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said it was time for Congress to put an end to this privacy-intrusive practice, which the Obama Justice Department has sought to defend in court.

In an luncheon speech at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., Wyden said his staff was drafting legislation to restore "the balance necessary to protect individual rights" by requiring police to obtain a search warrant signed by … Read more

Members of Congress chided the U.S. Department of Justice today for suggesting a new law requiring Internet companies to keep records of user activity, but not disclosing details on how it should be crafted to aid criminal investigations.

At a House of Representatives hearing, as CNET was the first to report, the Justice Department endorsed the concept of forcing Internet companies to collect and store data about their customers that they would not normally retain. This echoes the Bush administration's position under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

But Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal division, irked … Read more

Criminal investigations "are being frustrated" because no law currently exists to force Internet providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, the U.S. Department of Justice will announce tomorrow.

CNET obtained a copy of the department's position on mandatory data retention--saying Congress should strike a "more appropriate balance" between privacy and police concerns--that will be announced at a House of Representatives hearing tomorrow.

"Data retention is fundamental to the department's work in investigating and prosecuting almost every type of crime," Jason Weinstein, deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal … Read more

The House Republicans' first major technology initiative is about to be unveiled: a push to force Internet companies to keep track of what their users are doing.

A House panel chaired by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin is scheduled to hold a hearing tomorrow morning to discuss forcing Internet providers, and perhaps Web companies as well, to store records of their users' activities for later review by police.

One focus will be on reviving a dormant proposal for data retention that would require companies to store Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for two years, CNET has learned.

Tomorrow's data … Read more

A controversial bill handing President Obama power over privately owned computer systems during a "national cyberemergency," and prohibiting any review by the court system, will return this year.

Internet companies should not be alarmed by the legislation, first introduced last summer by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), a Senate aide said last week. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"We're not trying to mandate any requirements for the entire Internet, the entire Internet backbone," said Brandon Milhorn, Republican staff director … Read more

An ex-WikiLeaks volunteer has hired American lawyers to oppose the U.S. government's efforts to obtain the contents of her Twitter account, CNET has learned.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic parliament who helped with WikiLeaks' release of a classified U.S. military video, is being represented by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"We're looking at options and various things we can do to help our client," EFF legal director Cindy Cohn said yesterday. "She's disturbed that her information is being sought."

On Friday, Twitter notified Jónsdóttir and a handful of other subscribers … Read more

The U.S. Justice Department has obtained a court order directing Twitter to turn over information about the accounts of activists with ties to WikiLeaks, including an Icelandic politician, a legendary Dutch hacker, and a U.S. computer programmer.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, one of 63 members of Iceland's national parliament, said this afternoon that Twitter notified her of the order's existence and told her she has 10 days to oppose the request for information about activity on her account since November 1, 2009.

"I think I am being given a message, almost like someone … Read more

Earlier this week Apple was sued, along with several app developers, for allegedly sending personal information to ad networks without the users' knowledge or consent. According to one industry lawyer, there could be more lawsuits on the way.

Speaking with InformationWeek on Wednesday, attorney Kevin Pomfret said the trend of consumers turning to the courts to protect their privacy is likely to continue. "I would not be surprise if there were more lawsuits," said Pomfret.

A lawyer who advises businesses on privacy issues, Pomfret said the law is "unclear" in this area.

Apple is no stranger … Read more