spying
(Photo: frankieleon)
(Photo: jepoirrier)
—>Police say that the owner of the Poloros Restaurant in Mineola, NY had a hidden surveillance camera installed in the ceiling tiles of the women's bathroom. The device, which was used by the owner to watch customers and female employees alike, was spotted by a customer, who notified police. More »
—>Last week, Google introduced its new "interest based" ads, which is based on tracking your browsing activity and targeting ads based on that behavior. Fortunately, there are several ways to opt out. More »
—>Update: Voted! Passed 293-129.
Today the House votes on a new compromise FISA Bill that will make the NSA's formerly questionable activities—like spying on Americans—legal, and will grant conditional immunity upon the telephone companies that aided the NSA in spying on their customers. It's "conditional" because there will still be a court review, but nobody seems to be taking the court review seriously: Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI, calls it a "capitulation" in the ongoing fight over holding the telcos responsible, and Rep. Roy Blunt, R-MO, says the review will be a "formality." Looks like you're about to get off free, Verizon and AT&T! More »
—>If you'd like to help Comcast eavesdrop on its own subscribers, you're in luck: Comcast has posted a job listing for an "intercept engineer" on a headhunter site, according to Wired. Want ad for position of The Man, inside. More »
Talking About AT&T's Internet Filtering on AT&T's The Hugh Thompson Show [Boing Boing Gadgets] More »
Wired is assembling a list of where each senator stands on the issue of granting immunity to phone companies who participated in wiretapping—which could be decided as early as today. The list includes phone numbers so you can call if you don't see a response for your senator. [Wired] More »
—> Yesterday, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee "reached a tentative agreement... with the Bush administration that would give telephone carriers legal immunity for any role they played in the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program." The senators who have been reviewing classified documents related to the phone companies' participation in the program are now saying that they believe the companies "acted in good faith" and "that they should not be punished through civil litigation for their roles." More »
—>AT&T has announced a plan to keep pirated content off their network by peeking at everyone's data to see if it contains copyrighted material. The plan, which the telecom somehow claims will "not violate user privacy," will only target repeat offenders. More »
—>Watch out, kids. Don't try to be funny on the internet or you'll be fired by Walmart. More »
—>You know, the cynic in us says that the answer to the question "Which ISPs Are Spying On You?" is "all of them," but Wired actually bothered to ask the 8 largest ISPs about their data retention policies. The sad part? Only 4 responded. More »
—>Wired has an informative, deeply terrifying, interview with Mark Klein the whistleblower who outed AT&T for spying for the NSA.
WN: How many people worked in or on that room? More »
"In fact, Verizon basically argues that the entire lawsuit is a giant SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit, and that the case is an attempt to deter the company from exercising its First Amendment right to turn over customer calling information to government security services. More »
—>A group of Benedictine nuns in Texas are shocked that Walmart considers them a threat and ordered a "threat assessment" from their crack security team. The nuns had filed a shareholder resolution that was critical to Walmart. "The Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas have written a letter to Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's chief executive, to say they were "deeply disappointed, appalled and shocked." More »
—>The director of the Arkansas State Police, Colonel Steve Dozier, has resigned from his position, (with provides a salary of $98,400 a year), to join Walmart's security force. According to WMC TV, Walmart spokesperson Sarah Clark says that Dozier will "oversee several elements of the company's security program" and will report to Ken Senser, Wal-Mart's senior vice president for global security, aviation and travel." More »
—>Former CIA or FBI intelligence expert? Want to train your eye on more... "innocent" suspects than you did during your days in law enforcement? Look no further than Walmart's Global Security division, which is headed by former senior CIA and FBI senior officer Kenneth Senser and Army Special Operations veteran David Harrison. More »
In letters to both agencies, Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., citing a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, said he was "particularly troubled by reports that Wal-Mart engaged in chilling and truly outrageous surveillance activities." More »
