The FBI has been lobbying top internet companies like Yahoo and Google to support a proposal that would force them to provide backdoors for government surveillance, according to CNET. . The Bureau has been quietly meeting with representatives of these companies, as well as Microsoft (which owns Hotmail and Skype), Facebook and others to argue for a legislative proposal, drafted by the FBI, that would require social-networking sites and VoIP, instant messaging and e-mail providers to alter their code to make their products wiretap-friendly. The link for this article located at Wired is no longer available. . The government's call for regulations that require tech firms to create access points poses threats to consumer confidentiality and safety.. Backdoor Access, Government Overreach, User Privacy, Internet Security, Surveillance Legislation. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
In March 1990, when few people had even heard of the internet, U.S. Secret Service agents raided the Texas offices of a small board-game maker, seizing computer equipment and reading customers' e-mail stored on one machine. A group of online pioneers already worried about how the nation's laws were being applied to new technologies became even more fearful and decided to intervene. And thus the Electronic Frontier Foundation was born -- 16 years ago this Monday -- taking on the Secret Service as its first case, one the EFF ultimately won when a judge agreed that the government had no right to read the e-mails or keep the equipment. . The link for this article located at Wired.com is no longer available. . The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) advocates for digital rights, challenging government overreach and protecting online privacy since 1990 through key legal battles. Digital Rights, Tech Activism, Internet Privacy. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Congress will vote any day now on new legislation that would renew parts of the USA PATRIOT Act scheduled to expire or "sunset" at the end of the year, while possibly handing the FBI even more unchecked power to snoop on your mail and private records, including logs of your Internet activities. . PATRIOT's notorious Section 215 allows intelligence investigators to demand private records about citizens who aren't suspected of spying or terrorism, including medical, financial, and library records, while other parts of PATRIOT radically expanded the government's power to subpoena records or conduct wiretaps to see what you're doing online. The current PATRIOT bills could make these and a host of other highly controversial provisions permanent. Some in the Senate want to go even further, and allow the FBI to secretly demand any and all types of records without a judge's permission, using new do-it-yourself "administrative subpoenas." Meanwhile, the sensible checks and balances proposed in the Security and Freedom Ensured Act (SAFE), an alternative PATRIOT reform bill, have yet to be seriously considered. Don't let Congress defy the bipartisan will of the hundreds of local communities that have passed resolutions opposing the PATRIOT Act. Contact your legislators today and tell them to vote against PATRIOT renewal and for PATRIOT reform! The link for this article located at EFF is no longer available. . PATRIOT's notorious Section 215 allows intelligence investigators to demand private records about ci. congress, legislation, would, renew, parts, patriot. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Citing a provision of the Patriot Act, the FBI is sending letters to journalists telling them to secretly prepare to turn over their notes, e-mails and sources to the bureau. Should we throw out the First Amendment to nail a hacker, writes SecurityFocus columnist Mark Rasch.. . .. Citing a provision of the Patriot Act, the FBI is sending letters to journalists telling them to secretly prepare to turn over their notes, e-mails and sources to the bureau. Should we throw out the First Amendment to nail a hacker, writes SecurityFocus columnist Mark Rasch. Frequent readers of this space know that I am no apologist for hackers like Adrian Lamo, who, in the guise of protection, access others' computer systems without authorization, and then publicize these vulnerabilities. When Lamo did this to the New York Times, he violated two of my cardinal rules: Don't make enemies with people appointed for life by the President of the United States; and don't make enemies of people who buy their ink by the gallon. Now, in the scope of prosecuting Lamo, the FBI is doing the hacker one better by violating both of these precepts in one fell swoop. . The CIA's contentious demand from reporters ignites moral dilemmas surrounding privacy and security regulations as outlined in the Freedom Act.. Journalist Privacy, Ethical Security, Patriot Act, Government Overreach. . Anthony Pell
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