Big Brother Is Watching

Stories

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July 2008
- B-Schools Use Palm Scans to Catch Cheats
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 22, 08 1:58 PM CDT
  
  In an effort to foil cheaters, top American business schools will require a high-tech identity check of applicants taking the standardized admissions test, reports the Wall Street Journal . The crackdown on the use of paid impostors will require GMAT takers to undergo a "palm vein" scan, which is unique to each individual. More »
- Printers Let Big Brother Connect Privacy Dots
  
  newser | USA Today | Jul 15, 08 3:13 PM CDT
  
  The growing popularity of laser printers has privacy watchdogs worried, USA Today reports. Many such printers have a feature, designed to foil currency counterfeiters, that puts a signature of microscopic dots on each page. In the US, only the Secret Service can decode the information, but there are concerns the feature could be used to track down dissidents and whistleblowers. More »
- Big Brother Comes to Sweden
  
  newser | Spiked | Jul 13, 08 1:01 PM CDT
  
  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 the right to intercept all incoming foreign communication. “Emulate Sweden? No thanks.” More »
- Justice Breyer's Records Leaked in File-Sharing Snafu
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 9, 08 10:08 AM CDT
  
  An employee at an investment firm made much more than music available when he used a company computer to access the file-sharing site Limewire, reports the Washington Post . He also made it possible for users to access records of 2,000 of the firm's clients—including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Users as far away as Colombia downloaded the data, which can be used to open lines of credit. More »
- Could Stun Bracelets Replace Boarding Passes?
  
  newser | Washington Times | Jul 8, 08 1:44 PM CDT
  
  A bracelet that would track airline passengers and shock them if they get out of hand might be under consideration by the Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Times reports. The Electronic ID Bracelet could someday replace boarding passes. We "are interested in … the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to receiving a written proposal," an official wrote to its maker. More »
- Supporters Blast Obama on His Own Website
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 2, 08 10:53 AM CDT
  
  Barack Obama’s abrupt about-face on new FISA legislation that would grant immunity to telcos that aided the Bush administration in warrantless wiretaps has some supporters hopping mad—and they’re using the forums on the candidate's own website to protest, the New York Times reports. During the primaries Obama pledged to oppose the legislation, but now supports a compromise version. More »
June 2008
- Billboards Reach Out and Almost Touch Someone
  
  newser | MIT Technology Review | Jun 22, 08 8:15 AM CDT
  
  Imagine a world where billboards watch you, react to your movements and invite you to interact with them. That world is pretty much here, reports MIT Technology Review . State-of-the-art motion-capture cameras in new Samsung billboards should provide all the interactivity of a touch screen—without any of the touching. The system could spawn a major new interface technology based on computer sensitivity to gestures. More »
- Big Brother Sees Washington
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Jun 16, 08 1:55 PM CDT
  
  If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured the attention of privacy and civil-liberties advocates, and they're not happy. More »
- Blogger Busts Tripled Last Year: Report
  
  newser | Ars Technica | Jun 16, 08 10:49 AM CDT
  
  The number of blogging "citizen journalists" arrested worldwide in political crackdowns tripled in 2007 from the previous year, Ars Technica reports. Over half of last year's 36 arrests occurred in Egypt, Iran, and China, according to a new survey, which sorted arrests into six categories, most related to stirring up political controversy. More »
- EU Eyes Anti-Terror Camera for Every Seat
  
  newser | New Scientist | Jun 1, 08 6:48 AM CDT
  
  A camera may be planted in every airline seat in Europe, if an EU plan under development is approved. Dubbed SAFEE (Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment), the system would also aim cameras at the aisles. Software would then watch for suspicious movements, gestures, and even facial expressions. More »
May 2008
- Smart Billboards: They're Watching You
  
  newser | New York Times | May 31, 08 7:18 AM CDT
  
  Advertisers are bringing billboards into the 21st century by fitting them with cameras that record details used to determine a passer-by's age, sex, and race, the New York Times reports. Companies plan to use the technology to tailor the advertising to the person standing in front of it. The tiny cameras, which send info back to a central database, are hard for passers-by to spot. More »
- Spy Scandal at German Phone Giant Grows
  
  newser | Der Spiegel | May 30, 08 3:44 PM CDT
  
  Deutsche Telekom apparently didn’t stop at looking through the phone records of board members and journalists in its bid to end leaks. The German phone giant also tracked their movements and may have snooped into personal bank records, Der Spiegel reports. Top executives also worked with a detective agency run by members of the former East German secret police. More »
- German Telecom Spying Ignites Privacy Uproar
  
  newser | New York Times | May 27, 08 4:35 PM CDT
  
  German phone giant Deutsche Telekom has ignited a privacy firestorm by admitting it tracked board members’ phone calls to root out the source of embarrassing press leaks. The dominant national fixed-line provider revealed “severe and far-reaching” misuse of private information, generating anger in a country sensitive to civil liberties abuses, the New York Times reports. More »
- Feds Want to Help Cover Your Web Tracks
  
  newser | Washington Post | May 22, 08 6:57 PM CDT
  
  The Federal Trade Commission is considering guidelines governing how online advertisers target consumers based on their Web surfing—and some lawmakers want them to be mandatory, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates are pushing to limit behavioral tracking, but some Internet companies say that could mean sites won’t be able to keep offering content free. More »
- Government's Spy Powers Up, But Terror Arrests Down
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | May 12, 08 11:15 AM CDT
  
  Big Brother is watching … but hasn’t found much, the Los Angeles Times reports. Despite vastly increased domestic spying activities, terrorism prosecutions have plummeted 50% since 2002; last year alone saw a 19% drop, despite a 9% increase in eavesdropping warrants. The Bush administration, meanwhile, is pushing for even greater surveillance powers, and says the decrease in prosecutions doesn’t mean much. More »
- Facing Suit, FBI Drops Secret Order
  
  newser | Washington Post | May 8, 08 8:56 AM CDT
  
  Facing a lawsuit, the FBI has withdrawn a secret order demanding that an Internet library turn over a user's records—only the third time the bureau has backed down from such a demand, known as a "national security letter." The San Francisco-based Internet Archive, which stores old versions of websites, challenged the order on the grounds that the Patriot Act provision that protects libraries from similar requests should apply online as well. More »
April 2008
- Email Mining Software No Slam-Dunk
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Apr 21, 08 7:31 PM CDT
  
  Software that allows co-workers to share customer and client information without the initial contact's explicit permission is catching on, overcoming worries about privacy that initially kept the applications from gaining traction, the Wall Street Journal reports. One exec who saw "a very harsh reaction from people who viewed it as a Big Brother-type system" at his previous job is having less trouble this time around. More »
- DNA Used to Nab Criminal Kin
  
  newser | Washington Post | Apr 21, 08 12:51 PM CDT
  
  Law-enforcement agencies are using DNA of family members—often without their consent—to identify and convict criminals, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates object that it turns family members into unwitting informants, and subjects innocent relatives to “lifelong genetic surveillance” because someone in their family committed a crime. But investigators say it could increase DNA-solved cases by as much as 40%. More »
- LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | Apr 18, 08 9:59 AM CDT
  
  New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.” More »
- EU Takes Aim at Search Engines Over Personal Data
  
  newser | BBC | Apr 8, 08 3:51 PM CDT
  
  A European advisory body has sharply criticized Internet search companies’ use of personal data, the BBC reports. Its recommendations, likely to be adopted by the European Commission, say search companies should delete users’ information within six months. The opinion comes alongside reports of a new kind of computer cookie that tracks Internet surfers’ behavior in much more detail than ordinary cookies. More »