privacy - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Google Street View Privacy Breach: Lawmakers Get Mad

  Want a metric for the speed of US government? Just look at the response to Google Street View cars' accidental collection of private data.

• Germany launches criminal investigation of Google

  German prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation over whether Google broke data protection regulations when it collected fragments of Wi-Fi data while shooting imagery for its mapping application.

• Study: 60 per cent of Facebook users mulling to quit

  Due to prevailing privacy concerns, several Facebook members are thinking to quit the popular social networking site -- at least 60% of them -- according to a latest survey conducted by IT security firm, Sophos.

• A bill of rights for Facebook users

  Like it or not, Facebook has become a fact of life. Many of us depend on the service to share our interests and life events with our friends. In my experience, Facebook membership is hard to resist (peer pressure), and even harder to give up once you get hooked.

• Privacy expert: It's good PR to say no to the government

  A leading privacy researcher is urging companies to say no to government requests for data, arguing that it's good for business.

• EFF: Forget cookies, your browser has fingerprints

  Even without cookies, popular browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox give Web sites enough information to get a unique picture of their visitors about 94 percent of the time, according to research compiled over the past few months by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

• Google stops sniffing Wi-Fi data after privacy gaffe

  Google has decided to stop its Street View cars from sniffing wireless networking data after an embarrassing privacy gaffe.

• Privacy concerns won’t stymie e-health uptake: NSW Health

  People concerned about the privacy implications of a move to transferable electronic health and medical records should not be dissuaded by doubt as the benefits outweigh potential drawbacks, according to health industry executives.

• Google search anonymizer up and running again

  A service that allows Google's search engine to be used anonymously is running again after a code change briefly knocked it down.

• Commissioner launches privacy guide

  The Privacy Commissioner has launched new information to guide businesses on how to handle personal information. Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, described the Privacy Impact Assessment Guide (PIA Guide) as a tool for companies to use when working on projects that use the personal information of consumers.

• Privacy Commissioner warns of dangers in scanning IDs in pubs and clubs

  Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, is warning CIOs of pubs and clubs around Australia to be aware of privacy obligations to their patrons.

• Facebook vs. LinkedIn: Which has the better privacy?

  Privacy advocates' criticism over recent moves by Facebook and Google Buzz begs the question: Is privacy possible in a social network? And, if so, which social-network service does it the best?

• Facebook security flaw makes private chats public

  Facebook said Wednesday a security flaw allowed many users to see the private chats of their friends.

• Facebook bug exposes private chats

  A bug allowed Facebook users to view their friends' chat sessions on the site, prompting the social-networking company to disable its internal instant-messaging service. The bug also let people see their friends' pending friend requests.

• Lawmakers unveil online privacy legislation

  Two U.S. lawmakers have released a draft bill that would require companies that collect personal information from customers to disclose how they collect and share that information, but several privacy and consumer groups said the proposal would legalize current privacy violations online.