privacy

Senators to IRS: Don't snoop on taxpayers' private messages

A dozen U.S. senators warned the IRS today against warrantless snooping on taxpayers' confidential e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter messages.

In a stiffly worded letter (PDF) to the tax collection agency, they asked the "IRS to confirm that it will immediately establish a warrant requirement when it wants to obtain e-mail and other electronic personal correspondence" from American companies.

The letter also asked the IRS to "provide a timeline" for updating its internal procedures to guarantee that the contents of electronic files would be accessed only after agents follow the privacy-protective traditional procedure of obtaining a … Read more

ACLU to FTC: Mobile carriers fail to provide good Android security

The America Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission today asking the agency to investigate the four major mobile carriers' security practices in regards to smartphones.

The civil liberties group claims that AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are not doing enough to protect users' private and personal data -- specifically on Android devices. The gist of the complaint (PDF) is that these carriers aren't providing users with timely security updates, which the ACLU says is akin to "deceptive and unfair business practice."

"The major wireless carriers have sold millions of … Read more

IRS chief: We'll rewrite our e-mail search policy

The head of the Internal Revenue Service said today the agency would abandon its controversial policy that claimed the right to read taxpayers' e-mail without first obtaining a search warrant.

Steven Miller, the IRS' acting commissioner, said at a U.S. Senate hearing that the no-warrant-required policy would be ditched within 30 days for e-mail, but he did not make the same commitment for other private electronic communications.

"We intend to do that" for e-mail, Miller said, in response to prodding from Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has become a frequent champion of civil liberties in … Read more

Google acquires Android mobile-data firm Behavio

Google has snapped up Behavio, the fledgling company behind Funf, the Android "open sensing" framework that aimed to provide better access to, and use of information from, smartphones using Google's mobile OS.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Behavio's most notable achievement is the Funf framework, which gathers vast amounts of data about people and their location by way of their phone. By using information about people in combination with other data about their surrounding area, Behavio can better predict their future actions -- for example, places they're most likely to visit next … Read more

Google's Schmidt says civilian drones pose privacy threat

Google's executive chairman is no stranger to privacy concerns. But here he is speaking out against the use of drones by us regular Joes, saying they could infringe on our privacy and that we should regulate them.

In a subscriber-only interview with the Guardian, quoted by the BBC, Schmidt posed the scenario: "You're having a dispute with your neighbor. How would you feel if your neighbor went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their backyard? It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?"

Drones … Read more

IRS remains mum on taxpayers' e-mail privacy rights

The Internal Revenue Service has declined to answer questions about whether it obtains a search warrant before perusing Americans' e-mail messages and other electronic correspondence.

CNET contacted the IRS last Wednesday morning to ask whether the agency's internal procedures require warrants signed by a judge. That was in response to newly disclosed internal IRS memos saying Americans enjoy "generally no privacy" in their e-mail, Facebook chats, Twitter direct messages, and similar online communications.

Despite repeated queries, the IRS has not responded to last week's questions. Instead, an agency spokesman provided a statement saying:

Respecting taxpayer rights … Read more

Facebook, attorneys general kick off online safety campaign

Facebook and the National Association of Attorneys General for the U.S. have signed a deal that will see the world's largest social network educate both kids and parents on Internet safety.

Facebook has been the subject of much debate among attorneys general around the U.S. who have been concerned about children's safety on the social network. Facebook has said for years that it has worked on ensuring the protection of children, and has aided attorneys general from time to time with cases or issues they're working on.

This agreement, the latest between the parties, is … Read more

How to set up Google's Inactive Account Manager

What happens to your Gmail account, Google Drive documents, Picasa photos, and the other data you have stored with Google when you head to that big cloud drive in the sky? Google introduced a feature today called Inactive Account Manager that lets you tell Google what to do with your data after you're gone, whether you want to share it with family and friends or delete it altogether.

The new Inactive Account Manager can be accessed from the Accounts page. You'll find a link to it under the Account Management section.

After reading the brief introduction to the … Read more

Prepare a digital will for your Google accounts

Google doesn't want you worry about what happens to your online self when you leave finally this world -- or just the virtual world.

The company introduced a tool today called the Inactive Account Manager that lets you tell Google what you want done with your data hosted on its network after you die, or stop using your account for a long period of time. Think of it as an automated will for your digital assets.

"Not many of us like thinking about death -- especially our own," Product Manager Andreas Tuerk wrote in a blog post. &… Read more