NEWSWORTHY
U.S. government seeks Facebook help to wiretap Messenger, sources say
The U.S. government is trying to force Facebook Inc. to break the encryption in its popular Messenger app so law enforcement may listen to a suspect's voice conversations in a criminal probe, three people briefed on the case said, resurrecting the issue of whether ...
Google bars uses of its artificial intelligence tech in weapons, unreasonable surveillance
Google will not allow its artificial intelligence software to be used in weapons or unreasonable surveillance efforts, according to its latest ethical principles released Thursday. The new restrictions could help management at Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., defuse months of protests by thousands of ...
Whistleblower or traitor, leaker or public hero? National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the lid off U.S. government surveillance methods five years ago, but intelligence chiefs complain that revelations from the trove of classified documents he disclosed are still trickling out. That includes recent reporting ...
At Beijing security fair, an arms race for surveillance tech
It can crack your smartphone password in seconds, rip personal data from call and messaging apps, and peruse your contact book. The Chinese-made XDH-CF-5600 scanner — or "mobile phone sleuth," as sales staff described it when touting its claimed features — was one of hundreds ...
Spy agency NSA triples collection of U.S. phone records, official report shows
The U.S. National Security Agency collected 534 million records of phone calls and text messages of Americans last year, more than triple gathered in 2016, a U.S. intelligence agency report released on Friday said. The sharp increase from 151 million occurred during the second full ...
Guilt by association: Kin of Chinese activists face house arrest, harassment from 'smiling tigers'
When a team of Chinese state security agents picked up Li Wenzu and then prevented her from leaving her own home last week, she was scared but not surprised. She was detained on the seventh day of a protest march she organized in an attempt ...
U.S. spending bill includes bid to solve international email privacy impasse
A federal spending bill released late on Wednesday included bipartisan legislation that would amend a decades-old privacy law to clarify that a U.S. warrant seeking data stored overseas is valid in certain circumstances. The provision, known as the Cloud Act, seeks to resolve a long-running ...
Chinese rights activists fearful as former police official takes charge of legal affairs
Chinese rights lawyers and activists say the Monday promotion of former police official Fu Zhenghua to head China's justice ministry signals an even deeper freeze on attempts to use the country's legal system to defend against rights abuses. Lawmakers at China's annual meeting of parliament ...
A vice minister of public security and close confidant of President Xi Jinping is tipped to take over as China's spy master, five sources said, as the country looks to clean up its security apparatus and plug intelligence gaps. China has poured billions of yuan ...
Apple moves to store iCloud keys in China, raising rights concerns
When Apple Inc. begins hosting Chinese users' iCloud accounts in a new Chinese data center at the end of this month to comply with new laws there, Chinese authorities will have far easier access to text messages, email and other data stored in the ...
The newest use of facial recognition technology has drawn concerns among human rights groups, with some Chinese police sporting high-tech sunglasses that can spot suspects in a crowded train station. In a scene reminiscent of the dystopian sci-fi TV show "Black Mirror," officers in the ...
German telecom agency bans children's transmitting smartwatches over spying concerns
Germany's telecommunications regulator said on Friday it was banning the sale of smartwatches that can be used by parents to check on their children, saying the devices violate Germany's strict surveillance laws. The Federal Network Agency said it had already taken action against several firms ...
