privacy

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Loose FBI Rules Raise Privacy Fears

People are unfairly targeted, complain Muslim groups

(Newser) - The FBI has been given far too much leeway to gather information on individuals and groups, charge Muslim and civil liberties organizations. Guidelines in a newly disclosed FBI manual allow the bureau to probe people or organizations without any factual evidence against them. Agents are given broad powers to proactively...

FBI Database Tracks Hotel Reservations, Car Rentals

(Newser) - Big Brother alert: A data-mining system set up by the FBI ostensibly to catch terrorists is quickly growing into a database that tracks the comings and goings of ordinary citizens. The database has tens of thousands of records from private corporations, including some Wyndham hotel reservations, Avis car rentals, and...

Montana May Be 1st to Make Suicide a Right

If affirmed, state would be first to guarantee right constitutionally

(Newser) - The Montana Supreme Court tomorrow will take up the issue of—and likely affirm the right to—assisted suicide, the New York Times reports. The case is being brought on behalf of Robert Baxter, who died last year from leukemia after fighting for the right to end his own life....

Facebook Beefs Up Privacy Protection

Canadian concerns prompt changes in how apps get info

(Newser) - In response to criticism by the Canadian government, Facebook is enacting far-reaching changes in how third-party applications gain access to personal data, TechCrunch reports. Currently, Facebook applications ask users once, upon installation, for approval to access personal information. Under the new rules, the apps will have to ask repeatedly as...

Switzerland Shows Google Street View a Stop Sign

(Newser) - A Swiss government official is demanding that Google immediately remove any image of Switzerland from its "Street View Maps," and the company said today it would discuss the matter with the privacy rights regulator. Switzerland's federal data protection commissioner says Google's pictures violate the country's strict privacy laws...

Facebook Sued for Privacy Breach

(Newser) - A group of Facebook users has sued the social networking company for violating consumer privacy laws by harvesting personal information for commercial purposes and failing to compensate clients, reports CNET. "Plaintiffs and the general public desire and expect a level of privacy, which Facebook has failed to satisfy,"...

Facebook Crosses Line on Privacy ... Again
Facebook Crosses Line
on Privacy ... Again
ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2009 12:54 PM CDT

Facebook Crosses Line on Privacy ... Again

Recognize that face in an ad? It could be your friend—or you.

(Newser) - Imagine Peter Smith’s surprise when an ad for “hot singles” on Facebook featured a picture of … his wife. The site blames that flap on a third-party company violating policy, but the incident underscores Facebook’s notoriously unclear privacy settings, writes Bob Sullivan for MSNBC: “A hard-to-spot...

Coroner's Staff Improperly Viewed Jackson Documents

(Newser) - Poor Michael. Even in death, he can't catch a break on privacy. Staffers at the Los Angeles coroner's office looked up the pop star's death certificate hundreds of times and even printed out copies, reports the Los Angeles Times. The office also found possible security breaches in two other computer...

Canada Says Facebook Breaks Privacy Laws

(Newser) - Facebook suffers from "serious privacy gaps" and must become more transparent about how personal information is handled to comply with the law, says a government watchdog in Canada. The report by the country's privacy commissioner marks the first time a government has found Facebook to be acting illegally, reports...

Why One Mom Drew the Line at Skype
Why One Mom Drew the Line
at Skype
COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2009 2:05 PM CDT

Why One Mom Drew the Line at Skype

Technology that brings us together can pull us apart, she writes

(Newser) - Today’s world of cellphones, tweets, and texts makes it possible to stay constantly in touch—but where do we draw the line between contact and privacy, connection and independence? When it comes to family intimacy over distance, that question comes into sharp relief, Peggy Orenstein reflects in the New ...

Whistleblowers Eye 6-Figure Gov't Retirees

Amid criticism, group outs fat-cat pensioners on the public dime

(Newser) - A California interest group is on a mission to publicize the names of public retirees with outsize pensions, arguing that they’re bankrupting local governments, the Wall Street Journal reports. Atop one list sits a former small-town administrator who pulls in $499,674.84 a year. But critics say this...

Mont. City Wants Facebook Password From Job-Seekers

Mont. city requires applicants to give access to social networking accounts

(Newser) - Job applicants for the city of Bozeman, Mont., had better be prepared to submit their passwords for social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. A miffed applicant emailed Montana's News Station about the practice, which City Attorney Greg Sullivan quickly defended. "We do those types of investigations to...

Facebook Photo Busts Student Charged in DUI

Pics of tequila-swilling 20-year-old incite judge's wrath

(Newser) - A 20-year-old college student awaiting trial on reckless homicide and DUI charges learned the perils of too-candid Facebook photos yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Erika Scoliere is now sporting an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet after violating a court order not to drink while out on bail. “It appears the defendant...

Octuplet Hospital Fined in Privacy Breach

(Newser) - The California hospital where Nadya Suleman's octuplets were born has been fined $250,000 for failing to stop employees from snooping into medical files on the famous case. "It's the hospital's job to prevent these breaches from occurring," said a state official shortly after imposing the fine against...

UK Privacy Cops Won't Block Google Street View

Privacy groups overruled in favor of technology

(Newser) - Google Street View can keep capturing everyday British embarrassments, the nation’s information commission says, rejecting privacy groups that hoped the tech giant would be stopped. The agency ruled such a drastic step “disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment.” British law allows filming from public...

High Court Skeptical of Strip-Search Case

And sounds skeptical

(Newser) - Savana Redding’s lawyers made their case before the Supreme Court yesterday, condemning the strip-search of a 13-year-old in a hunt for ibuprofen as unreasonable search and seizure. But the justices were skeptical, the LA Times reports, with their questions indicating they were leery of limiting school officials’ powers to...

British Village Chases Out Google Street View 'Spy'

Mob of wealthy villagers feared Google could help burglars case their houses

(Newser) - Google's attempt to add the scenic English village of Broughton to Street View was foiled by angry villagers, the Guardian reports. Residents, fearing that internet closeups of their homes would be an invitation to burglars, formed a human barrier to block the Google camera car after being alerted by a...

Hospital Fires Staffers for Octuplet Snooping

(Newser) - The hospital where octuplet mom Nadya Suleman birthed her brood has fired 15 of its employees and disciplined another eight for unauthorized peeking at Suleman’s medical records, the Los Angeles Times reports. The breech, discovered 10 days ago, has been reported to state authorities and to Suleman. The snoopers...

School Strip-Search Case Heads to Supreme Court

Law is murky on the limits of privacy in school

(Newser) - In 2003, staff at an Arizona middle school strip-searched Savana Redding, then 13, after getting a tip that she had prescription-strength ibuprofen. They didn't find any, and Redding sued. Next month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the school's policy violated Redding's constitutional rights, reports the New York ...

Google Removes Naked Kids From London Street View

Toddlers identifiable in controversial Street View map feature

(Newser) - As mounting privacy concerns hit Google's new Street View service in the UK, the company has removed pictures of naked children playing outdoors in London. The British government is considering launching an investigation if officials determine that Google has made other images of naked children available to internet users, reports...

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