Category: Governments
  • Sep 19, 2017 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Bitcoin, Governments, News, Privacy,

Me, my data and I: Decode and the future of the personal data economy

It’s no secret that personal data has become the key commodity of the online business world. The Internet giants – Facebook, Google, etc. – all provide their services “free”, but make money from the detailed profiles they create of our activity as we use social networks and move around the Web. Since we don’t have … Continue reading “Me, my data and I: Decode and the future of the personal data economy”

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  • Sep 18, 2017 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • Governments, Networking, News, Privacy, Security,

Reminder: the CIA has been able to hack your WiFi router for years

The CIA has had the tools to take over your router for over a decade, according to government documents leaked by Wikileaks. The software, CherryBlossom, is a custom Linux operating system (OS) that allows the attacker to use the device in a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. The attack vector itself reminds us that our unprotected internet … Continue reading “Reminder: the CIA has been able to hack your WiFi router for years”

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Call to Action: Write to the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on the upcoming copyright vote

On October 10, an important committee in the European Parliament will vote on future copyright law. It hangs in the balance, and ordinary people like you and I contacting Members of the European Parliament can really make a difference, like you’ll remember we did with ACTA five years ago and won. You don’t have to … Continue reading “Call to Action: Write to the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on the upcoming copyright vote”

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  • Sep 15, 2017 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Governments, News, Privacy, Security,

The Chinese IT giant Huawei has big plans for the cloud in Western markets, with important implications for privacy

Some Chinese high-tech companies may be bigger than you think. The e-commerce giant Alibaba has a market capitalization of over $400 billion. The social media and gaming company Tencent is not far behind, and nearly a billion people use its WeChat messaging service. Baidu is the world’s second largest search engine, and is increasingly strong … Continue reading “The Chinese IT giant Huawei has big plans for the cloud in Western markets, with important implications for privacy”

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  • Sep 15, 2017 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • Governments, Networking, News,

President Trump wants to “cut off” the internet in response to terrorism

President Donald Trump has called (in a tweet) to “cut off” the internet following the September 15th London Tube bombing. The cited reason? Because it is a terrorist recruitment tool. The call to cut off internet access showcases President Trump’s utter lack of a handle on how the internet works – which is deeply troubling. … Continue reading “President Trump wants to “cut off” the internet in response to terrorism”

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  • Sep 15, 2017 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • Governments, News, Privacy,

California’s Senate votes today (maybe) on A.B. 375: California Broadband Internet Privacy Act

California’s State Senate will vote today on A.B. 375 – the California Broadband Internet Privacy Act. The bill forces ISPs to get a customer’s express opt-in permission before collecting sensitive information on their internet use. Additionally, the bill forbids broadband internet service providers (ISPs) from offering “pay for privacy” plans where customers that oftentimes don’t … Continue reading “California’s Senate votes today (maybe) on A.B. 375: California Broadband Internet Privacy Act”

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  • Sep 13, 2017 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Governments, Privacy,

Another threat to your privacy: the way you write

The ‘creator’ of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has been identified. That, at least, is the claim in a recent article by Alexander Muse on Medium. But don’t get too excited. The article not only fails to name him/her/them, Muse admits he doesn’t know, either. All he will say is that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) … Continue reading “Another threat to your privacy: the way you write”

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Malaysia blocked Steam because of a single game, those trying to play it will need a VPN

Malaysia temporarily blocked Valve’s popular gaming engine, Steam, across the entire country on September 8th, 2017 over a 2D brawler called Fight of the Gods. The Malaysian government had given Valve a 24 hour ultimatum to remove the game or face “further action.” The American company apparently didn’t respond quickly enough and was banned for … Continue reading “Malaysia blocked Steam because of a single game, those trying to play it will need a VPN”

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There’s currently a politically motivated internet shutdown in the small African country of Togo

Togo’s netizens are currently in the midst of an internet shutdown. Internet and mobile SMS service in the small African country of Togo has been shut down as of September 7th. Connection issues started on September 5th, when some users started having trouble connecting to social media sites without the help of a VPN. The … Continue reading “There’s currently a politically motivated internet shutdown in the small African country of Togo”

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  • Sep 3, 2017 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • Governments, News, Security,

US leads UK in VPN use and some security awareness, according to survey

A recent security study shows VPN use on the rise in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Wombat Security surveyed roughly 1,000 adults in the United States and 1,000 adults in the United Kingdom on their internet security habits – showing a clear leader in common VPN use. The author of the study, … Continue reading “US leads UK in VPN use and some security awareness, according to survey”

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