Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Privacy Issues: Google, Gmail & Internet Privacy

The headline reads:

Google says people can't expect privacy when sending to Gmail

Many people have feared that privacy was not as crystal clear as some would hope. And these fears are being realized all the time, as we move forward. As in life, there are many blurred lines when dealing with tough issues. Should large internet firms provide governments and law enforcement agencies with information that some say should be totally private? What if it helps against "evil-doers?" But then, at what point -- and who -- decides how far this can go?

In any case, the article continues:

If you care about privacy, it's time to drop Google.

That's what Consumer Watchdog is recommending following Google's admission that people shouldn't expect privacy when they send messages to a Gmail account, any more than people would were they to send a business letter that could be opened by an assistant.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Big Brother IS watching! (Privacy not what some would expect.)

The UK's Guardian reports:

The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims "collection directly from the servers" of major US service providers.

Although the presentation claims the program is run with the assistance of the companies, all those who responded to a Guardian request for comment on Thursday denied knowledge of any such program.

In a statement, Google said: "Google cares deeply about the security of our users' data. We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government 'back door' into our systems, but Google does not have a back door for the government to access private user data."

Several senior tech executives insisted that they had no knowledge of PRISM or of any similar scheme. They said they would never have been involved in such a program. "If they are doing this, they are doing it without our knowledge," one said.

An Apple spokesman said it had "never heard" of PRISM.

The NSA access was enabled by changes to US surveillance law introduced under President Bush and renewed under Obama in December 2012.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Prepare to have your Email Read

"With a new major hacking incident seemingly daily, the Department of Defense is scrambling to find the right shield against future for attacks. But why hide behind a shield when you can charge onto the battlefield underneath the invisible but ironclad cloak of the National Security Agency? That's exactly how the DoD is mounting it's first strike back at the hackers--a preemptive strike that will increase online surveillance at defense contractors by partnering with internet service providers for privileged access to the rivers of data flowing through their cables. AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink are all on board."