Free Republic

Wyden: NSA Must Answer Whether it is Buying Americans’ Location Data and Web Browsing Records Before New Director Is Confirmed Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced he will place a hold on the nomination of Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh to serve as director of the National Security Agency (NSA) until the NSA discloses whether it is buying Americans’ location data and web browsing records. In a statement placed in the Congressional record this afternoon, Wyden said the Defense Department has refused to make public important information about purchases of Americans’ personal data — information that the government...

@RepThomasMassie FBI Director Wray admits the government has been working in conjunction with financial institutions like Bank of America to mine personal data such as gun purchase records for law abiding citizens, with no warrants or subpoenas involved.

Should you log in with Facebook or Google on other sites or apps? Short answer: No. You’ve probably seen it on lots of apps and websites: buttons urging you to sign in with your Google or Facebook account. Sometimes it’s to let you share files, photos or emails. Other times it’s to use Google or Facebook as a quick way to log in ... My rule of thumb is to just say no. There are too many ways using these buttons can leak personal information or help Big Tech track you. There are some exceptions when it’s useful — but...

An email sent by the Marble Falls High School principal to senior students inadvertently included student identification numbers, which could possibly be used to learn a student’s school-issued Google account and lunch account password, the school said...The spreadsheet included information as to why some seniors were ineligible to go on the trip...Segovia, his name was on the list because he is failing a class. “It is quite embarrassing

A European Union judge says an EU agreement to exchange air passenger information with Canada to combat terrorism should be revised because parts of it would infringe on people’s rights. Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi said in a legal opinion published Thursday that the deal signed in 2014 should not enter force in its current form. […] Under it, Canadian authorities would have access to the data of European travelers like contact details, credit card and other personal information. …

A government report discovered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) illegally stockpiles gun owners’ personal information. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the go-to federal oversight agency, conducted an audit of ATF and found it does not remove certain identifiable information, despite the law explicitly mandating it do so. GAO conducted reviews for four data systems, and concluded at least two of ATF’s systems violated official protocols.

Facebook “Like” buttons on commercial websites break German law if users are not warned that their personal data is being shared, a court ruled on Wednesday. In a potentially significant ruling for the social media giant, the court banned a shopping website from using the function on its pages if it did not first warn customers their data was being recorded. The Fashion ID site, run by the Peek & Cloppenburg brand, was warned that it could be fined €250,000 for every breach of the order, seen by AFP. The retailer will now be forced to warn users that “liking”...

In a report published to the site Freedom to Tinker and presented at the recent PrivacyCon conference, researchers at Princeton University detail how they detected that Nest's popular thermostat, among other web-connected devices, was transmitting data unencrypted, so in theory, online hackers could have intercepted that private information if they were looking in the right place. However, the issue stemmed from a weather update containing location information of the home and local weather stations, Nest told Mashable. Sensitive information such as home addresses was already encrypted, but the data collected from local weather stations was not. ... When setting up...

In an Internet of Things future, everything from your toothbrush to your car could be collecting data on you -- about your personal habits as well as the way your business works. But with 50 billion objects set to come online by 2020, who will really own that goldmine of information? Data gathered by IoT sensors and systems can pass through any number of hands -- those of the end-user that creates it, or of the company whose hardware collects it, even the software business the processes it, and the app maker that shares it, and all of them may...

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has begun keeping the personal data of some Chinese users on servers in mainland China, marking the first time the tech giant is storing user data on Chinese soil. The storage of user data in China represents a departure from the policies of some technology companies, notably Google Inc (GOOGL.O), which has long refused to build data centers in China due to censorship and privacy concerns. Apple said the move was part of an effort to improve the speed and reliability of its iCloud service, which lets users store pictures, e-mail and other data. Positioning data centers...

Maryland's Health Connection, the state's Obamacare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment. If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website's privacy policy, a ubiquitous fine-print feature on websites that often go unread. Nevertheless, users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms. [snip] .......Any information that you provide to us in your application will be used only to carry out the functions of Maryland Health Connection. The only exception to this policy is that we may share information provided in your...

Silicon Valley is fighting privacy advocates over a California bill, the first of its kind in the nation, that would require companies like Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. to disclose to users the personal data they have collected and with whom they have shared it. The industry backlash is against the "Right to Know Act," a bill introduced in February by Bonnie Lowenthal, a Democratic assemblywoman from Long Beach. It would make Internet companies, upon request, share with Californians personal information they have collected—including buying habits, physical location and sexual orientation—and what they have passed on to third parties such...

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — A consumer advocate group on Monday urged California Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate whether alleged privacy violations by Google were in violation of state law. KNX 1070′s Vytas Safronikas reports Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog said federal regulators must also take action to prevent the search engine from sharing personal data with mobile application developers. The allegations stem from whether Google violated the so-called “Buzz Consent Order” with the Federal Trade Commission by sending personal information to app developers about each user who purchased an app from Google — without obtaining the user’s permission. Personal information...

Facebook Inc. is experimenting with new ways to leverage its greatest asset—personal data on about 900 million people—reigniting concerns about privacy. The strategy: selling access to its users. Facebook is experimenting with new ways to leverage its greatest asset-personal data on about 900 million people-reigniting concerns about privacy. Facebook in recent months has begun allowing marketers to target ads at users based on the email address and phone number they list on their profiles, or based on their surfing habits on other sites. It has also started selling ads that follow Facebook members beyond the confines of the social network....

"EU wants US to share bank data in terrorist deal" Published: 03.24.10, 22:06 / Israel News SNIPPET: "The European Union said Wednesday that it will ask the United States to pass on the personal data of people with U.S. bank accounts if the EU sets up a system of tracking suspected terrorists' finances. The measure is part of a deal allowing the US to check European data for terrorist leads."

First Amendment: Diversity czar Mark Lloyd's FCC votes Thursday on the issue of net neutrality. Advertised as providing access to all, it will do to the information superhighway what Lloyd proposed for talk radio. Not much was said when $7.2 billion was included in the stimulus bill "to accelerate broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefits." The administration has big plans for the Internet — like controlling it. Susan Crawford, the so-called Internet czar, told the Wall Street Journal in April that the broadband billions...

Security: A Senate bill lets the president "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "nongovernmental" computer networks and do what's needed to respond to the threat. Didn't they just collect our e-mail addresses?We wish this was just a piece of the fictional "Dr. Strangelove" that fell to the cutting-room floor, but it's not. It is a real piece of disturbingly vague legislation sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Senate Bill 773 would grant the administration emergency powers (where have we heard that before?) in the event of a cyberemergency that the president would have...

NLPC has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites. The information to be captured includes comments, tag lines, emails, audio, and video. The targeted sites include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and others – any space where the White House “maintains a presence.” In the course of investigating procurement by the White House New Media office, NLPC discovered a 51-page solicitation of bids that was filed on Friday, August 21, 2009. Filed as Solicitation...

Personal data of a million bank customers found on computer sold on eBay for ?35 By Dan Newling Last updated at 11:03 AM on 26th August 2008 Personal details of more than a million bank customers have been found on a computer sold on eBay. Highly sensitive information on American Express, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers was stored on the machine's hard drive. It includes names, addresses, mobile phone numbers, bank account numbers, sort codes, credit card numbers, mothers' maiden names and even signatures. 'A thief's treasure chest': Andrew Chapman with the hard disk drive he bought on...

WASHINGTON -- Thieves took sensitive personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, after a Veterans Affairs employee improperly brought the material home, the government said Monday. The information involved mainly those veterans who served and have been discharged since 1975, said VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. Data of veterans discharged before 1975 who submitted claims to the agency may have been included. Nicholson said there was no evidence the thieves had used the data for identity theft, and an investigation was continuing. "It's highly probable that they do not know what they have," he...