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For many living in a terror-spooked country, it might seem like a great government innovation: Use vans equipped with mobile X-ray units to scan vehicles at major sporting events, or even randomly, for bombs or contraband

NEW JERSEY (WPIX) — A freshman at Rutgers University is believed to have committed suicide after he was secretly taped by two other students during a sexual encounter, police said. The video was allegedly broadcast on the internet.

Remember back in the dark ages when Bush-Hitler wanted to look at the emails of potential terrorists and civil liberties groups were up in arms? Well, Obama wants to do something similar. Only, Obama's plans seem to be even more sweeping -- not looking at individual emails or Blackberry messages but ordering the redesigning of all systems so intel and law enforcement could look at them if they wanted to. Sure, a few ACLU types will be up in arms. But my guess is that this will be passed with overwhelming majorities and will outrage almost no one that matters....

Privacy-conscious travelers may cringe to think of the full-body scanners finding their way into dozens of airport checkpoints around the country. Most likely aren't aware that the same technology, capable of seeing through walls and clothes, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets. American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Mass., has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter X-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighboring vehicles or cargo containers to snoop into their contents. And while the biggest buyer of AS&E's machines over the last seven years has been...

Despite outrage over George Bush's limited ability to wiretap into American phone calls, Obama wants to take it a step further and be able to monitor every single form of communication any American citizen uses. The same kind of authority the government has to wiretap into phone calls could be coming to Facebook, instant messaging, and every American's browser history, thanks to a push from the Obama administration. The White House plans to introduce a bill into Congress next year that would give Obama the ability to tap into literally every communication any citizen makes online. The move causes a...

The Obama administration is developing plans that would require all Internet-based communication services -- such as encrypted BlackBerry e-mail, Facebook, and Skype -- to be capable of complying with federal wiretap orders, according to a report published Monday. National security officials and federal law enforcement argue their ability to eavesdrop on terror suspects is increasingly "going dark," The New York Times reported, as more communication takes place via Internet services, rather than by traditional telephone. The bill, which the White House plans to deliver to Congress next year, would require communication service providers be technically capable of intercepting and decrypting...

A Pennsylvania teen who stored intimate photos of herself on her cell phone — but never e-mailed or shared them with anyone other than her longtime boyfriend — settled her federal privacy case against high school officials who had seized the phone without a warrant and turned it over to prosecutors. Still unsettled, however, is the question of how far educators can go when it comes to fulfilling their obligation to keep sexually explicit images, audio and text from reaching the eyes and ears of minors while on school grounds. "I hope this settlement will lead school officials in the...

A new ruling says that--in most cases--government and law agencies don't need a search warrant to track cell phones.Tuesday a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled that--in most cases--the FBI and other police agencies do not need a search warrant in order to track the location of cell phones used by Americans. The three-judge panel of the Third Circuit sided with the Obama Administration (pdf) in the belief that a signed search warrant--one based on a probable cause to suspect criminal activity--isn't necessary when obtaining logs from wireless carriers that depict the whereabouts of a cell phone. However the panel...

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements. That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government...

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway - and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements. That is the bizarre - and scary - rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government...

What's the most embarrassing thing you could imagine doing with a can of condensed milk? How about having to ask a doctor to remove it from your rectum - because you stuck it there in a misguided stab at self-stimulation? Sounds like fiction, but it happened in real life. CBS News has the X-ray to prove it. And it's not the only shocking X-ray out there. From screwdrivers in the skull to children impaled on car antennas or with pins caught in their throats, doctors come across some pretty amazing images. This batch has been generously provided by Dr. Tim...

The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation. The administration wants to add just four words -- "electronic communication transactional records" -- to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge's approval. Government lawyers say this category of information includes the addresses to which an Internet user sends e-mail; the times and dates e-mail was sent and received; and possibly a...

Walmart Means To Spy On Clothing Use July 23, 2010 by Douglas A. McIntyre Walmart (NYSE: WMT) plans to put radio chips into clothing including underwear. The big box retailer wants to know what and how much people buy so it can order enough inventory.Walmart will be, of course, accused of spying on its customers,but the question is whether there is any harm in it.The move should certainly improve the company’s supply chain management.The new system will allow Walmart to see right down to the size level which clothing in about to go out of stock. If  it is effective,  all the...

I don't know how Freepers have received a letter from the United States Department of Commerce relating to the American Community Survey but my neighbor did and was appalled at the questions. It is fourteen pages long and one of the most intrusive invasions on Privacy Rights I have ever seen. Here is the questions you are, according to their laws, REQUIRED to answer: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACS-1(info)(2010)%20Stateside%20English_web.pdf

Peer-through-the-clothing body scanners will be deployed to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport in August, part of enhanced passenger screening to detect hidden weapons and liquid explosives, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday. The first two pieces of radiation imaging equipment at the nation’s eighth-busiest airport should be in operation in August, and another 16 will be up and running by December, said Marlene McClinton, spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System. The Transportation Security Administration announced in May that Hobby Airport would become the first airport in Houston to receive the multimillion-dollar devices. But none has so far arrived, McClinton said....

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state of Ohio has collected millions of dollars selling records with your name, address, driver's license number and other personal information so it can be used in all sorts of ways, from crafting insurance policies to screening job candidates. Since 2005, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles has sold more than 1.39 billion records containing personal information to various companies, municipalities and other customers for about $42 million, according to state records. Most of those records sold for a fraction of a penny each -- $0.00139 to be exact. "It's just amazing," Sen. Tom Patton, a Strongsville...

As our daily interactions and transactions have become increasingly “wired,” we have yet to see any truly comprehensive attempts at securing online identities. Our complex system of usernames and passwords is astoundingly outdated and increasingly prone to security breaches and theft. Yet, so far it has been mostly up to the individual to protect himself against various forms of identity fraud—with larger corporations taking relatively little responsibility. But this could change in a big way. Right now the federal government is proposing a new system being referred to as the “Identity Ecosystem”—which was highlighted in the recently-released draft paper, “National...

The remote-wipe capability that Google recently invoked to remove a harmless application from some Android phones isn't the only remote control feature that the company built into its mobile OS. It turns out that Android also includes a feature that enables Google to remotely install apps on users' phones as well. Jon Oberheide, the security researcher who developed the application that Google remotely removed from Android phones, noticed during his research that the Android OS includes a feature called INSTALL_ASSET that allows Google to remotely install applications on users' phones. "I don't know what design decision they based that on....

If you drive a General Motors or Ford vehicle and subscribe to proper services, you’ll be able to avoid printing maps and schlepping them to the car before the end of the month. That’s because both auto companies today announced new partnerships with Google that enable users to beam turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps directly to their OnStar or SYNC navigation systems that are built into their cars’ dashboards. If you drive a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury, you’ll click a “Send to SYNC” link on Google Maps results. Once you’re in your car, and if you subscribe to SYNC’s Traffic,...