A mobile data-logging software maker apologized Wednesday to an Android developer who the company had insisted that he publicly apologize for his critical research. Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until the 25-year-old Trevor Eckhart of Connecticut analyzed its workings, recently revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience, from ...

A mobile data-logging software maker apologized Wednesday to an Android developer who the company had insisted that he publicly apologize for his critical research. Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until the 25-year-old Trevor Eckhart of Connecticut analyzed its workings, recently revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience, from ...

President Ronald Reagan signed sweeping privacy legislation in 1986 that has morphed into a government backdoor to acquire Americans' online communications Twenty-five years ago Friday, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that for the first time provided Americans with sweeping digital-privacy protections. The law came at a time when e-mail was used mostly ...

President Ronald Reagan signed sweeping privacy legislation in 1986 that has morphed into a government backdoor to acquire Americans' online communications Twenty-five years ago Friday, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that for the first time provided Americans with sweeping digital-privacy protections. The law came at a time when e-mail was used mostly ...

The nation’s major mobile-phone providers are keeping a treasure trove of sensitive data on their customers, according to newly-released Justice Department internal memo that for the first time reveals the data retention policies of America’s largest telecoms. The single-page Department of Justice document, “Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers,” (.pdf) ...

An Obama administration policy allowing U.S. border officials to seize and search laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices for any reason was challenged as unconstitutional in federal court Tuesday. Citing the government’s own figures, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers claim about 6,500 persons ...

A creepy caricature of Google CEO Eric Schmidt drives an ice cream truck in this video produced by a consumer group targeting the search giant for its data collection practices. The video is part of a lobbying effort by Consumer Watchdog to get the government to create a so-called “Do Not Track Me” ...

A phone-hacking scheme involving British royals and reporters working for one of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers went far beyond what was previously disclosed and prosecuted, according toThe New York Times. Andy Coulson, currently media advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, is accused of having encouraged the hacking during his tenure ...

A top British codebreaker found mysteriously dead last week in his flat had worked with the NSA and British intelligence to intercept e-mail messages that helped convict would-be bombers in the U.K., according to a news report. Gareth Williams, 31, made repeated visits to the U.S. to meet with the National ...

Using an iPhone to secretly record a conversation is not a violation of the Wiretap Act if done for legitmate purposes, a federal appeals court has ruled. “The defendant must have the intent to use the illicit recording to commit a tort of crime beyond the act of recording itself,” (.pdf) the ...