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NEWS ABOUT: eavesdropping

Feds Push for Stronger Law on Wiretapping

Government can't keep up with phone companies' upgrades

(Newser) - Law enforcement and counterterrorism officials are pressing to change a 1994 wiretapping law to force wireless carriers to make their phones easier to wiretap. Telecom companies have been upgrading their services faster than the government can keep up, the New York Times explains. Now an Obama administration task force is... More »

Your Cell Phone May Be Eavesdropping

(Newser) - Be careful where you leave your cell phone. All it takes is a quick download—the equivalent of loading a ringtone—to install software that wiretaps your calls and even records ambient noise when the phone is unused. Experts say a surprising number of spouses, co-workers, and parents are using... More »

Gonzales: I'm a Casualty of War on Terror

Controversial ex-AG defends White House role

(Newser) - Controversial former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales didn't deserve the flak he got as a high-ranking Bush administration official, he tells the Wall Street Journal. Gonzales was pilloried for his involvement in the government's "war on terror" policies, but he denies drafting the legal opinions that supported harsh interrogation techniques... More »

NYPD Clashes With Justice on Surveillance

Cops say feds blunt anti-terror efforts; AG testy in series of letters

(Newser) - The Department of Justice has firmly rejected efforts by the New York Police Department to relax restrictions on eavesdropping, triggering a war of words between the agencies’ heads, the New York Times reports. The NYPD wants broader latitude for electronic surveillance, and less red tape for its requests, but Justice... More »

Military Snooped on Troops' Phone Sex

Intercept operators listened to calls of troops, journalists, aid workers for fun

(Newser) - The US military routinely listened in on highly personal private phone calls of Americans calling home from the Middle East, two former operators told ABC News. President Bush has insisted that only the calls of terror suspects are monitored, but the whistleblowers say operators monitored the calls of blameless military... More »

Big Brother Comes to Sweden

New surveillance law has country partying like it's 1984

(Newser) - Don’t believe the hype: “Sweden is no cuddly liberal democracy,” writes Nathalie Rothschild for Spiked, berating her home country for “introducing the most Draconian surveillance law in Europe.” Known as the FRA law but nicknamed "Lex Orwell" by opponents, the legislation gives intelligence agencies... More »

Telecoms Gain Immunity From Wiretap Suits

'It’s not compromise; it’s pure theater,' says one plaintiff.

(Newser) - Yesterday's Congressional deal on warrantless wiretapping will wipe out some 40 pending lawsuits against phone companies that took part in the Bush administration's eavesdropping scheme, ending 5 months of Democratic resistance to giving the telcos immunity for their actions. In what the New York Times calls to the biggest change... More »

Eavesdropping on Internet Calls Is Easy

Researchers find potential encryption security problems

(Newser) - Not only are most Internet phone calls not encrypted, but a bandwidth-saving technique could undermine encryption once it’s implemented. Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that a compression method called variable-bit-rate encoding makes it possible for eavesdroppers to identify given phrases in an encrypted VoIP call 50% of the time,... More »

Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law

Nervous phone firms agree to cooperate with government

(Newser) - US spy agencies are continuing wiretap surveillance despite the fact that a law re-authorizing the administration's controversial program failed to pass a divided legislature last weekend. Telecommunications companies are cooperating with the government despite concerns, Reuters reports. Wiretaps will resume under the current law "at least for now,"... More »

Free Phone Service Listens In, Tailors Ads

Startup sparks privacy concerns with marketing that draws on conversations

(Newser) - In much the same way that Gmail scans emails to push relevant advertising, a California start-up is using voice-recognition software to translate the strategy to Internet phone calls. Puddingmedia offers free phone service if customers allow eavesdropping on their conversations, the AP reports. The data isn't recorded, but privacy advocates... More »

Russia and China Spying at Cold War Levels, Top Spy Warns

Patriot Act not enough, he tells lawmakers

(Newser) - China and Russia are spying on the US at nearly cold war levels, the nation's top spy told lawmakers today. Vice Admiral McConnell defended the Patriot Act as necessary for US defense and asked Congress to give intelligence agencies even greater eavesdropping powers. His  testimony comes weeks after an alleged... More »

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