Tag Archives: UsGovernment

US will reportedly require consumers to register their drones

Posted on by
If you get a new drone this holiday season, you might have to register it with the US government. According to a report from NBC News, the US is ready to announce new requirements for consumers purchasing drones, the most notable of which is that y...

US government declassifies documents concerning telephonic data collection

Posted on by

DNP US government releases documents concerning data collected under the PATRIOT Act

Today brings another victory for transparency as the US government has just declassified three documents pursuant to the collection of telephonic metadata authorized by section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. The documents, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, include the 2009 and 2011 reports concerning the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act as well as the order for business record collection. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the subject, NSA Deputy Director John Inglis made public for the first time the mechanism for accessing the metadata at the government's disposal. According to Inglis, telephonic information -- which does not include names, addresses, or social security numbers -- exists in databases but cannot be accessed without reasonable suspicion of association with terrorists. Deputy Attorney General James Cole went on to say, "Nobody is listening to anybody's conversations." This revelation might be cold comfort to those concerned about the government's ownership of this data to begin with, but it does pull back the curtain somewhat on the NSA's policies and procedures. To read these declassified -- and heavily redacted -- documents in full, head on over to the source link below.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

US government will declassify Yahoo documents and court decision by September

Posted on by

DNP US government will declassify Yahoo FISA documents by September

Earlier this month, the US government was put in the hot seat with regards to the Justice Department's 2008 battle with Yahoo over its request for user data. Yahoo fought the PRISM demand and ultimately lost; five years later, we're finally going to be able to see the court decision that's been kept under lock and key since then. The clock is ticking for the federal government, as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has set a September deadline for unveiling those classified documents. While this might be a victory for transparency, it's important to remember that declassification doesn't necessarily mean full disclosure. The government will still have the option to redact certain portions of text that it feels must remain classified. Considering its reticence to share the information in the first place, we can probably expect to see a liberal distribution of those pesky black rectangles.

Filed under:

Comments

Via: GigaOM

White House telecom advisor proposes privacy code of conduct for apps

Posted on by

NTIA drafts app code of conduct, aims to give users more data collection transparency

The White House's main telecom adviser, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has issued a first draft of a mobile apps code of contact, with the goal of giving consumers more control of their privacy. It was created over several years in cooperation with privacy advocates, app developers and gatekeepers like Apple, Google and Blackberry. If adopted, publishers will be required to provide "short form notices" telling consumers whether or not their data is being collected and how it's being used. Such data would include biometrics, browser history, phone or SMS logs, contact info, financial data, health, medical or therapy info, user files and location data.

The document was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, though it wasn't crazy about the amount of time the process took, saying that "comprehensive privacy legislation" was also needed. It's worth noting that major app store operators already agreed recently to put new privacy policy standards in place that conform with California's Online Privacy Protection Act. There's also the irony of the US government pushing for more consumer privacy, while perhaps being the largest abuser via PRISM. Dig into the source for the full read.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: TNW

Source: NTIA

Google Drive reportedly encrypting files, keeping prying eyes off of your cloud

Posted on by

CNET has learned that Google may be implementing measures to keep the government (or anyone else) out of your Google Drive-stored data. Should this be true, folks concerned about their privacy -- everyone, we would hope -- might rest easier in a post-PRISM world. According to one of CNET's anonymous sources, this isn't some flight of fancy, either: A small percentage of Drive files are already protected. Of course, even such digital protection is not guaranteed to keep your files private, but it would force those who would like a peek to obtain your login credentials first. Not that Uncle Sam would ever do such a thing without legal permission, right?

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: CNET

Apple releases statement on customer privacy, received over 4,000 government information requests in six months

Posted on by

Following the likes of Microsoft and Facebook, Apple has publicly responded to the explosion in interest in the NSA's PRISM program, and has been authorized to reveal some of the data on what it's shared with the US government in the past. It apparently first heard of the program when the media started to ask about it earlier this month and has reiterated that it provides no government agency with direct access to its servers. It does, however, get its fair share of requests for customer data from US law enforcement, receiving between 4,000 and 5,000 of them between December 1 2012 and May 31 2013. These requests covered over 9,000 accounts or devices, and come from federal, state and local authorities. Apple elaborated a little on these information requests too, saying that the majority of these requests have involved searching for missing children, preventing suicides and robberies. The company says it has "always placed a priority on protecting our customers' personal data," and its legal team evaluates each request. Apparently, Apple can't decrypt (and thus share) iMessage and FaceTime data, which is encrypted end-to-end. We've added its full statement after the break.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Source: Apple

US officials say less than 300 phone numbers were investigated in 2012, data thwarted terrorist plots

Posted on by

With all the coverage of PRSIM and the NSA's data collection have been getting recently, it's no surprise that the US government is eager to rationalize its actions. The crux of the latest defense seems to be that the government isn't using its treasure trove of data very often: according to recently declassified documents, the NSA used the database to investigate less than 300 phone numbers last year. These efforts reportedly prevented terrorist actions in more than 20 countries.

It's a small assurance, but a vague one, and the NSA knows it -- according to the Associated Press, the organization is trying to get the records of these thwarted plots declassified to demonstrate the program's value to concerned citizens. The reveal of such data might be a convincing argument, but disquieting revelations continue to roll out: members of congress are now reporting that the NSA has acknowledged that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Either way, we're certainly open to more government transparency.

Comments

Via: CNET (1), (2)

Source: AP

US government funds five-year tech research ‘hub’ to make substantially cheaper, more powerful batteries

Posted on by

US government funds fiveyear tech research 'hub' to make more powerful, cheaper battery tech

Want substantially better battery tech? Sometimes, you just have draw together the greatest heroes scientists and engineers and just hammer these things out -- and it helps when there's some money to splash around, too. The US government's awarding $120 million over five years to a new research hub that will draw together a handful of progressive independent research programs, coordinating five national labs, five universities and four private firms to push the humble power pack to new heights. These future advances may not be precisely geared toward making your phone go (even) further however, with energy storage improvements likely to feed into improved vehicle battery storage and charging and better ways to hold onto renewable energy sources. The hub management is being compared to the likes of AT&T Bell's transistor development, the Manhattan project and MIT's Lincoln lab that was responsible for the radar. So no pressure there then.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Via: Gizmodo

Source: Energy.gov

Reuters: White House finds no evidence of spying by Huawei, feels unsafe anyway (update: White House denies)

Posted on by

Reuters: White House finds no evidence of spying by Huawei, feels unsafe anywayJust last week, a Congress committee associated Huawei with "credible allegations" of "bribery, corruption, discriminatory behavior and copyright infringement." The report, of course, was part of the Legislative branch's ongoing concern of the company's alleged threat to national security. Today Huawei may have finally caught a break from the US government, albeit a somewhat backhanded one: according to Reuters, a White House ordered review says that there is no evidence of spying on the Chinese company's part. The other side of the hand lands when the report cites exploitable vulnerabilities in Huawei hardware -- one person familiar with the White House review said it found the company's equipment "riddled with holes," and susceptible to hacking. Security complaints aside, the government's old spying concerns are still there. "China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes," said the House Intelligence Committee's Dutch Ruppersberger, explaining to Reuters that both Huawei and ZTE has pinned their limited cooperation on restrictions from the local government. Even if Huawei hasn't been caught spying, it's still something it could do -- and that's reason enough, it seems, for the US government to avoid doing business with the firm.

Update: White House spokesperson Caitlin Hayden told The Hill that no such investigation has been made, stating: "The White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment buyer as reported in Reuters," recalling the US government's exclusion of Huawei in the planning for America's interoperable wireless emergency network.

Filed under: , ,

Reuters: White House finds no evidence of spying by Huawei, feels unsafe anyway (update: White House denies) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceReuters, The Hill  | Email this | Comments