Technocracy

Glenn Greenwald: Pentagon’s new massive expansion of ‘cyber-security’ unit is about everything except defense

"This Cyber Command Unit operates under the command of Gen. Keith Alexander, who also happens to be the head of the National Security Agency, the highly secretive government network that spies on the communications of foreign nationals - and American citizens. The Pentagon's rhetorical justification for this expansion is deeply misleading. Beyond that, these activities pose a wide array of serious threats to internet freedom, privacy, and international law that, as usual, will be conducted with full-scale secrecy and with little to no oversight and accountability, with a small army of private-sector corporations who will benefit most from this expansion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Pentagon’s new massive expansion of ‘cyber-security’ unit is about everything except defense

The Internet Has Been Conquered: Get Busy With the Next Steps

"For years, people like me have been telling everyone who will listen that they need to start using encryption and to stop cooperating with the strangling of the Internet. Sadly, not many people cared. They were far more interested in free services and shiny new iGadgets. Ah well… at least I did my part. My point today is this: It’s over. The state has won. The Internet will be fully controlled in just a few years. Actually, it’s worse than that. Within that same amount of time, the Internet will not only be a Worldwide Surveillance Web, but it will be a Worldwide Manipulation Web." Continue reading →

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What Are Stores Collecting When They Swipe Your ID?

"CBS13 told you last month how more stores are tracking returns hoping to weed out fraud which the industry claims is a $17 billion problem annually. We got answers learning from the Department of Motor Vehicles everything on the front of your driver’s license is accessible through the magnetic strip or bar code including your name, address, birth date, hair and color and even your height and weight. Legally stores can collect the information and keep it for as long as they want if it’s for 'fraud prevention'." Continue reading →

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NYPD Comissioner Ray Kelly: Police to use Tera-Hertz scanners within six months

"The New York Police Department will begin using scanner technology that can see through a person’s clothes within the year, according to Commissioner Ray Kelly. 'We’ve been looking at it for several years, looking at it with the Department of Defense, and also Metropolitan Police in London,' he said on CBS News’ Face the Nation. New technology called Tera-Hertz scanners or T-Ray machines can be used to detect whether a person is carrying a concealed firearm. The new device utilizes T-rays, which pass through fabric and paper, but not cannot pass through metals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD Comissioner Ray Kelly: Police to use Tera-Hertz scanners within six months

At Davos the Elite Ponder Stale Cybersecurity Issues—and Charlize Theron

"Cybersecurity is on the minds of the Davos-ians because it could cost them money. Apparently they have just learned that 'there is barely a large company out there today which has not had its infrastructure and systems breached.' They have also realized that this is going to require some sort of collective action–and the private sector does not do collective action well. Australia and the United Kingdom are actively forcing companies to work together. Last week the European Union proposed a law that would require tech companies to report server issues and security breaches to the government." Continue reading →

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Major ISPs set to implement ‘six strikes’ online piracy program

"A new voluntary system aimed at rooting out online copyright piracy using a controversial 'six strikes' system is set to be implemented by US Internet providers soon, with the impact unclear. The program was created with the music and film industry and the largest Internet firms, with some prodding by US government. Participating in the program are the five largest broadband Internet providers — Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Cablevision and Verizon — covering some 85 percent of US residential customers." Continue reading →

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Authoritarian regimes use Silicon Valley software to censor Internet

"Authoritarian regimes around the world are using technology from a Silicon Valley firm for Internet surveillance, filtering and censorship, according to a report by Canadian researchers. The report this week from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said devices from California-based security firm Blue Coat Systems were being used in China, Russia, Venezuela and other countries with 'a history of concerns over human rights.'" Continue reading →

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Law-enforcer misuse of driver database soars

"Florida's driver-and-vehicle database, the system that can help law enforcement identify victims of fatal crashes and decipher the identity of a suspect, can be a useful tool for cops. But at least 74 law enforcers were suspected of misusing D.A.V.I.D. in 2012, a nearly 400 percent increase from 2011, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Officers who needlessly pull information or photographs from D.A.V.I.D. that would otherwise be private could face criminal charges, sanctions or disciplinary action. And yet the temptation of looking up a relative, a celebrity's address or a romantic interest is too great for some law enforcers." Continue reading →

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DNA database not so anonymous on the Internet: study

"As more and more of our personal data — and those of the people we know and are related to — gets posted online, the anonymity promised by the remove of a computer screen gets more and more elusive. That’s what a team of scientists uncovered when they started playing Sherlock with a batch of genetic data posted online for researchers to use. The data was anonymous: the participants’ names were not published. But using the information that was provided, including age and where they live, along with freely available Internet resources, the researchers were able to identify nearly 50 of the individuals in the genomic database." Continue reading →

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Google reports ‘steady increase’ in gov’t requests for user data

"Google on Wednesday reported a 'steady increase' in government requests to hand over data from Internet users in the second half of 2012. The Web giant’s semiannual 'transparency report' showed the most requests came from the the United States, with 8,438 requests for information about 14,868 users. In releasing details of requests in the United States, Google said 68 percent of the requests it received from government entities were through subpoenas, which 'are the easiest to get because they typically don’t involve judges,' according to Salgado." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle reports ‘steady increase’ in gov’t requests for user data