WASHINGTON (AP) - A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people’s private communications and financial information.
A recent story called Why is Everyone Connected With Google So Creepy exposes Google’s connection to a scheme to scan people’s DNA and extract medical information from it.
(more…)
Facebook is a rapidly growing social networking site. Here are some resources on why you should not use Facebook:
Related story: Government to Datamine Social Networking Sites.
A new device at airports uses X-rays to strip search you. In the near future you may have to get naked to get on the airplane. It’s for your own safety.
A new version of the device can be deployed in vans. This allows the government to strip search you anywhere without your knowledge as shown by these photos.
RFID chips now come in powder form. RFID chips keep getting smaller. Maybe the implanted chip of the future will be a microscopic injection.
RFID keeps getting smaller. On February 13, Hitachi unveiled a tiny, new powder type RFID chip measuring 0.05 x 0.05 mm the smallest yet which they aim to begin marketing in 2 to 3 years.
See photos here
Conspiracy theorists often wonder how powerful the spy satellites that orbit the Earth are.
You can get an idea of the resolution of satellite spy cameras by looking at Google Earth and Google Maps. Google Earth only has civilian-grade satellite camera resolution, but take a look at how powerful it is:
Next time you look up at the sky, smile — you may be on camera.
I found this interesting set of quotes from the extreme right wing.
A short excerpt—a quote from George Bush Sr.:
"I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."
Highly recommended reading.
Inforworld writes about how Microsoft has collaborated with the NSA in the development of Windows Vista’s security:
The U.S. agency best known for eavesdropping on telephone calls had a hand in the development of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.
The National Security Agency (NSA) stepped in to help Microsoft develop a configuration of its next-generation operating system that would meet U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requirements, said NSA Spokesman Ken White.
[…]
Still, the NSA’s involvement in Vista raises red flags for some. “There could be some good reason for concern,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “Some bells are going to go off when the government’s spy agency is working with the private sector’s top developer of operating systems.”
Part of this concern may stem from the NSA’s reported historical interest in gaining “back-door” access to encrypted data produced by products from U.S. computer companies like Microsoft.
In 1999, U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said that “high level deal-making on access to encrypted data had taken place between the NSA and IBM and Microsoft,” according to EPIC’s Web site.
With Vista expected to eventually power the majority of the world’s personal computers, it would be tempting for the government agency to push for a way to gain access to data on these systems, privacy advocates say.
More info from Microsoft here.
This problem is not new and exists even in earlier versions of Windows like Windows XP. The German military has even banned Microsoft software because they belive that the NSA is using Windows to spy.
I’ve been too busy to write much lately, but wanted to take a minute to direct readers to an interesting blog that I found today called Function Creep. Check it out.
Are you worried that electronic voting machines are undermining American democracy? You should be.
Cheryl Kagan, a former Maryland Democratic legislator, was shocked when she opened her mail Wednesday morning.
Inside, she discovered three computer discs. With them was an anonymous letter saying the discs contained the secret source code for vote-counting that could be used to alter the votes cast through Maryland’s new electronic voting machines.
“My understanding is that with these disks a malicious person could skew the outcome of an election,” Kagan said.
Diebold, the company that makes the voting machines, told ABC News, “These discs do not alter the security of the Diebold touch-screen system in any way,” because election workers can set their own passwords.
But ABC News has obtained an independent report commissioned by the state of Maryland and conducted by Science Applications International Corporation revealing that the original Diebold factory passwords are still being used on many voting machines.
[…]
Computer experts and government officials have voiced serious concerns that if these machines malfunction, no paper record will exist for a recount. Even worse is the fear that an election could be hacked.
Princeton University researchers using an Accuvote TS — a touch screen version of the Diebold machine — showed how easy it would be to deploy a virus that would, in seconds, flip the vote of any election.
Read the full story on ABC news: Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections.
