House amendment would require warrants for web history searches

A new House deal has the potential to prevent the nightmare scenario in which Feds might not need a warrant to see what sites you’ve visited, videos you’ve watched and searches you’ve made. Earlier this month, we learned that the Senate was preparing...

Yes, the Patriot Act amendment to track us online is real

Just being able to calmly purchase toilet paper feels like reason enough to celebrate these days. But one thing a lot of people won’t be cracking champagne over this month is the renewal of the Patriot Act/USA Freedom Act — and its terrible inclusion...

The NSA says it stopped tracking cellphone locations without a warrant

Last year the Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that a search warrant is required for law enforcement to perform cellphone tower searches to track someone's location. The Daily Beast reported on a letter sent by the Office of the Director of Na...

What’s coming to Netflix in November: ‘The Irishman’ and ‘Queer Eye’

November is a colossal month in the streaming ecosystem, with heavyweight newcomers Apple TV+ and Disney+ both making their debuts. Netflix doesn't plan to go quietly into the night though, as it has plenty of major titles coming to its platform over...

NSA improperly collected even more call records than we thought

According to documents obtained by the ACLU, the NSA's problem of collecting unauthorized American phone call data is worse than we first thought. Last May, the NSA deleted more than 600 million call records that it collected in error. The agency cla...

Netflix puts a ‘Patriot Act’ episode about bad internet access on DVD

The latest episode of Netflix variety talk show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj focuses on the digital divide. In it, Minhaj breaks down some of the many reasons why internet access is so terrible across much of the US, including the roles of carriers...

Philippine court says online snooping illegal


MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines Supreme Court said online surveillance by authorities is illegal without a court order and that online libel is a criminal offense, in a ruling Tuesday that...

Gov’t, Internet companies Compromise on disclosure


US reaches deal with Internet companies on requests to reveal demands for customer information WASHINGTON (AP) — The government and leading Internet companies on Monday announced a compromise that...