data

A student group has charged several U.S. technology companies with violations of European law for allegedly cooperating with the NSA to collect data on private citizens.

Known as Europe-v-Facebook (EVF), the group of Austrian students announced Wednesday that it filed formal complaints with the EU against Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Skype, and Yahoo. The group contends that since the five companies do business in Europe through subsidiaries, they fall under European privacy laws.

Such laws allow the export of data only if the company's European subsidiary can guarantee an "adequate level or protection" in the home country. … Read more

Looking for a smartphone with no data caps? Sprint has a couple of new candidates lined up.

The HTC 8XT and Samsung Ativ S Neo, both Windows Phone 8 handsets, will be available sometime this summer through Sprint's self-dubbed Truly Unlimited plan. Offered in select markets, the plan promises unlimited 4G LTE data use with no overage charges. The cost rings in at $79.99 per month for an individual user and 179.98 per month for a three-line family plan.

Sporting a 4.3-inch WVGA display, the HTC 8XT is powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon … Read more

The U.K.'s top privacy watchdog has decided that Google won't be hit with any fines over its collection of Street View data.

The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) announced on Friday that it has placed a "legal requirement" on Google, forcing the company to delete any data it still has on hand related to its Street View snooping. The company had offered to delete data back in 2010. But Google kept some data on hand, leading the ICO to reopen its investigation in April 2012.

"Google has...confirmed that it still has in its possession … Read more

Google has three months to clean up its privacy act in France or else.

On Thursday, French regulator CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes) charged that Google's policies for collecting user data continue to violate French law. If the company doesn't modify those policies within the next three months, it would be fined 150,000 euros (almost $198,000). A second fine of 300,000 euros (almost $396,000) would follow if Google still fails to comply, Reuters reported.

Specifically, Google has been ordered to implement the following changes, as outlined by the CNIL:

Google's music-streaming service All Access launched last month during I/O. The service, similar to that of Spotify or Slacker, allows Android users to create radio stations or stream entire albums directly on an Android device.

Streaming isn't a new feature in the Google Music app, as you have been able to stream music library stored in the cloud service for a while now. But All Access has increased the amount of streaming, and thus increased data usage.

Google on Thursday updated the Android Music app, which now allows you to choose the audio quality streamed through the … Read more

Verizon and T-Mobile USA have been a tad bit of a headache for the National Security Agency when it wants to collect data, according to a new report.

Because both Verizon and T-Mobile USA have owners that are based outside of the U.S., the U.S. government is not allowed to collect data directly from the carriers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the collection.

But before you get too excited, be aware that this doesn't really mean much. According to the sources, while the NSA is not able … Read more

In a twist on recent revelations about classified U.S. intelligence gathering, thousands of companies are reportedly supplying national security agencies with sensitive information in exchange for classified intelligence.

U.S. Internet and telecommunications companies are providing government agencies with information such as vulnerabilities and equipment specifications rather than customers' private communications, sources tell Bloomberg.

Software makers, Internet security providers, and telecommunications providers, among others, have agreements with the National Security Agency, as well as the CIA, FBI, and U.S. military to provide information that could be used not only to defend the nation's infrastructure but to infiltrate … Read more

Data Converter converts numbers and hexadecimal values such as Word, Dword, and QWord to other formats such as date and time. This program will save some time and calculations for programmers, but it's not easy to figure out. If you're already used to the measurements it converts, you probably won't have a problem making it work after a couple tries. However, if you're new to coding, don't expect this program to nudge you in the right direction.

There is no need to install Data Converter as it comes as an executable file, ready to use. … Read more

Editor's note: See update at the bottom of this post.

A developer who provides iPhone hacks claims to have discovered code in iOS that suggests Apple is helping the top three U.S. wireless carriers throttle data speeds for all iPhone and iPad customers.

Joseph Brown, operator of the Web site iTweakiOS, claimed -- in a post that has since been taken down -- to have discovered code on iPhones and iPads operating on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint that effectively caps the data speeds that can be achieved on the carriers' networks. Brown took snapshots of the … Read more