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The FBI’s new unit is on an aggressive mission to secure technology to prevent the government from “going dark” in regards to surveillance of internet and wireless communications, reports cnet. The FBI wants companies not to oppose a law that would give government a “back door” for monitoring social networks, email, instant messaging, and VOIP providers.
ISIS, a wireless Mobile Payment System to be launched this summer, is yet another step towards a cashless society, introducing mobile wallets, a joint venture created by three major mobile operators, Verizon , AT&T, and T-Mobile USA. A mobile wallet will be part of a user’s mobile device, allowing for a more timely and “highly personalized” shopping experience. The technology would allow a customer to check-out at stores by merely tapping or waving their mobile phone over a payment reader. It would hold account information, credit cards, gift cards and loyalty cards, and be a two-way communication between customers and financial institutions, as well as marketers, offering promotions, coupons, and alerts about products related to past purchases.
Image from vancouversun.com
Google’s brilliant Street View has been appreciated as an innovative resource, as well as invasive foe, and it’s looking like it’s “accidental” disregard for the Fourth Amendment may not have been so accidental.
The project was supposed to be for the betterment of mankind, or something along those lines. But Google’s altruism has been called into question when it was revealed that it was using its wired Street View vehicles as warwagons to troll unsecured wireles connection connections. Further, the Google cars were discovered to be intercepting unsecured email and SMS traffic, data mining peoples’ private conversations.
Google cast this hidden capability as a “bug” in the Street View code, created by a misguided engineer. But according to the FCC while Google appears to have broken no laws in spying on people on unsecured lines, emails between the engineer in charge of the program and two other employees — including a senior manager — indicate that the program was not a rogue effort. It was in fact on the radar of at least some members of Google’s senior staff.
The FCC did dock Google $25K — essentially a slap on the wrist for the multi-billion dollar tech firm — for impeding its investigation. But Google claims it has nothing to hide and is publishing the emails described by the FCC, with the engineers and manager’s names redacted.
Google now admits that five of its engineers were involved in the effort, but it denies knowingly playing unwelcome house guest on home internet connections across North America and Europe.
The internet firm categorizes the snooping as “minimal” and says that the program was not even big enough to be reviewed by the company’s legal staff. The program was launched in Oct. 2006 by “Engineer Doe” and was pre-approved by at least one manager who devoted resources to the project.
Read full article: FCC Knowingly Used Street View Cars to Snoop On Emails, Texts
Related story: Google Street View Car Catches People in the Act
CISPA Internet Bill Destroys 4th Amendment and Passes House of Representatives
If you’re not familiar with this bill, get familiar. We’re all at risk, and if this passes, we’ll never get our Fourth Amendment back.
CISPA is SOPA on steroids: How It Effects You
CISPA – Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act Full Text.
CALL YOUR SENATORS. It’s only 2 phone calls. Call now and leave a message. With two clicks, you can find their phone numbers at www.contactingthecongress.org
If you’re not sure what to say, just summarize what is said here: Congress Set to Invade Your Privacy – Again
Stop feeding the machine all your personal information, and stop using a DOD-supported company name as a verb. Search for the truth on Startpage, a search engine with a privacy policy that actually protects you.
