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Breaking science and technology news. Daily science and technology news from around the World.
Stand up to the enemies of Internet freedom
In 2015, 3-1/2 billion people – half of mankind – will have access to the Internet. There has never been such a revolution in freedom of communication and freedom of expression. But how will
Read More »High-energy X-ray confirms feathered dinosaur
Scientists at Stanford have aimed a high-energy X-ray beam at a fossil specimen of Archaeopteryx, the famed “flying dinosaur,” and identified key chemicals in the creature’s 150-million-year-old bones and wings, and even in its
Read More »PIRACY PLAN ‘IS ILLEGAL’
Brendan Abbott PLANS to suspend the internet accounts of “copyright pirates” who illegally download and swap films and music could breach human rights. Broadband providers and consumer rights groups warned yesterday “persuasion not coercion”
Read More »Government replies to EU legal challenge on Phorm
The government has replied to a legal challenge from the European Commission (EC) over the online advertising technology Phorm. Phorm provides a model that allows advertising to be targeted at users online. In April
Read More »Transferring money – The next cellphone trick
In an unprecedented show of collaboration, Canada’s three main wireless companies will unveil a service Monday that will let people exchange money through their cellphones. The move is the first step in creating electronic
Read More »The Navy’s New 100 KiloWatt Laser Weapons
The Office of Naval Research has awarded Raytheon a year-long contract to develop the preliminary design of a 100 kilowatt experimental Free Electron Laser (FEL) for naval warships. A FEL uses superconducting electron accelerators
Read More »Web Bugs & Your Privacy
Web bugs are small bits of code embedded in Websites that add functionality and share information. They’re almost impossible to ignore, but Jim Rapoza has some advice for keeping your privacy healthy nonetheless. Achooo!
Read More »How To Protect Your Privacy In IE8
There will always be times when you don’t want other people to know which sites you’ve been visiting, whatever you use the Internet for. The problem is that we all leave a trail of
Read More »Street View to reshoot Japan after complaints
By Lester Haines | Google’s Street View has agreed to reshoot all the images captured by its Japan-based spymobiles following mass complaints decrying the altitude of its vehicle’s cameras. According to the Mainichi Daily News,
Read More »Google’s Street View rejected in Greece over privacy
A privacy watchdog has banned Google Inc. from gathering detailed, street-level images in Greece for a planned expansion of its panoramic Street View mapping service until the company provides additional privacy safeguards. In rejecting
Read More »EC takes action against the UK over its handling of personal data protection
The European Commission (EC) last week launched an infringement proceeding against the UK over e-privacy and personal data protection. This came following BT’s launch of the trial behavioural advertising technology known as Phorm. Although
Read More »The innocent do have something to fear
The crashing of Jacqui Smith’s privacy shows that data ‘security’ is garbage. Yet gullible MPs still vote as if it existed Sweet is the spectacle of a home secretary bitten by her own snake.
Read More »Wired editor: Google has us all in its web
Google’s new Street View service – which displays 360-degree photographs of streetscapes in 25 British towns – has made it a challenge getting pages proof-read in the Wired offices this week. First, we spot
Read More »Privacy campaigners pressure web firms to boycott Phorm
Privacy campaigners have written an open letter to leading web companies demanding they resist the introduction of the Phorm web user tracking system by BT, Virgin and TalkTalk.Phorm is a technology that can be
Read More »UK’s DNA database and ID register are illegal
The UK’s controversial DNA database and ID cards register are in breach of European data protection and rights laws, according to a new report by the Rowntree Trust published this week. The report slams
Read More »Google Street View – an invasion of privacy?
By Alice Wyllie | IT HAS already revolutionised the way we search for information, find images or plan routes, but now Google has gone all Big Brother on us, with the launch yesterday of
Read More »New Search Tool for Mining Government Documents
New Search Engine Highlights EFF’s Transparency Efforts During Sunshine Week San Francisco – In celebration of Sunshine Week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched a sophisticated search tool that allows the public to
Read More »Phorm is like a “TV camera in your room”
Sir Tim Berners-Lee has compared BT’s decision to roll out Phorm as like “allowing them to put a television camera in your room”. Sir Tim was speaking at the House of Commons, during a
Read More »Facebook backtracks on TOS; Privacy changes still coming later
By Larry Dignan Facebook has reverted to its old terms of service after a backlash from users. Over the weekend a ruckus ensued after it was discovered that Facebook changed two sentences to its
Read More »Government fails its data security training target
By Siobhan Chapman Government departments are failing to meet IT security training requirements, according to responses to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request. Despite high-profile government data breaches, most departments have yet to
Read More »Military seeks better use of finger, eye scans
By LOLITA C. BALDOR WASHINGTON — On the front lines in Iraq, U.S. troops can scan someone’s eye or finger to try to determine if he is a potential enemy or has been connected
Read More »From Fuel Cell to Jail Cell
Or how we learned to stop encouraging scientific innovators and start prosecuting them. By Phil Leggiere The DCExaminer.com reports Critics who contend federal prosecutors too often go far beyond common sense and the law
Read More »Google Flu Trends tool raises privacy concerns
Privacy groups want Google to ensure that aggregate search data about flu outbreaks cannot be used to re-identify the people who provided the information Google’s new Flu Trends tool, which collects and analyzes search
Read More »A catalogue of NHS data breaches
By Leo King | The NHS has lost confidential medical records and personal details of thousands of patients it has emerged in an investigation into how the health service handles data. Research showed that
Read More »A Privacy And Security Pandora’s Box?
ScienceDaily | A research article published in the current issue of the International Journal of Intellectual Property Management suggests that Big Brother could be opening a privacy and security Pandora’s Box if human rights, particularly
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