John Ribeiro
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Pompeo sworn in as CIA chief amid opposition from surveillance critics
Mike Pompeo was sworn in late Monday by U.S. Vice President Michael Pence as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, amid protests from surveillance critics who worry about his conflicting views on a number of key issues.The oath of office was administered to him after the Senate voted in favor of his confirmation in a 66-32 vote.Critics of Pompeo, a Republican representative from Kansas, are concerned that he may weigh in with the government on a rollback of many privacy reforms, including restrictions on the collection of bulk telephone metadata from Americans by the National Security Agency under the USA Freedom Act. There are also concerns that the new director may try to introduce curbs on the use of encryption and bring in measures to monitor the social media accounts of people.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Pompeo sworn in as CIA chief amid opposition from surveillance critics
Mike Pompeo was sworn in late Monday by U.S. Vice President Michael Pence as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, amid protests from surveillance critics who worry about his conflicting views on a number of key issues.The oath of office was administered to him after the Senate voted in favor of his confirmation in a 66-32 vote.Critics of Pompeo, a Republican representative from Kansas, are concerned that he may weigh in with the government on a rollback of many privacy reforms, including restrictions on the collection of bulk telephone metadata from Americans by the National Security Agency under the USA Freedom Act. There are also concerns that the new director may try to introduce curbs on the use of encryption and bring in measures to monitor the social media accounts of people.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Samsung blames batteries from two makers for Note7 explosions
Samsung Electronics on Monday blamed batteries supplied by two manufacturers for the overheating and even explosions of some Galaxy Note7 phones, as it tried to provide a long due explanation for the issues surrounding the smartphone.The announcement by the company, a day ahead of it reporting its fourth quarter results, had experts from TUV Rheinland, Exponent and UL stating that internal manufacturing and design defects of the batteries, including missing insulating tape in some cases, and not the design of the phones were responsible for the battery issues.The negative electrode windings in the battery of an unnamed “manufacturer A,” who first supplied the batteries for the Note7 phones, were found in some cases to be damaged and bent over because the cell pouch did not provide enough volume to accommodate the battery assembly, said Kevin White, Exponent’s principal scientist, at a press conference that was webcast.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Samsung blames batteries from two makers for Note7 smartphone explosions
Samsung Electronics on Monday blamed batteries supplied by two manufacturers for the overheating and even explosions of some Galaxy Note7 phones, as it tried to provide a long due explanation for the issues surrounding the smartphone.The announcement by the company, a day ahead of it reporting its fourth quarter results, had experts from TUV Rheinland, Exponent and UL stating that internal manufacturing and design defects of the batteries, including missing insulating tape in some cases, and not the design of the phones were responsible for the battery issues.MORE: Our Interactive Samsung Note7 Phenomenal Phablet Flame-Out TimelineTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft’s standing to sue over secret US data requests in question
Microsoft’s lawsuit objecting to the indiscriminate use by U.S. law enforcement of orders that demand user data without the opportunity to inform the customer may run into questions about the software giant's standing to raise the issue on behalf of its customers.A government motion to dismiss Microsoft’s complaint comes up for oral arguments Monday and significantly the judge said on Thursday that the issue of whether Fourth Amendment rights are personal or can be “vicariously” asserted by third-parties on behalf of their customers would have to be addressed by both sides. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizure of property.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft’s standing to sue over secret US data requests in question
Microsoft’s lawsuit objecting to the indiscriminate use by U.S. law enforcement of orders that demand user data without the opportunity to inform the customer may run into questions about the software giant's standing to raise the issue on behalf of its customers.A government motion to dismiss Microsoft’s complaint comes up for oral arguments Monday and significantly the judge said on Thursday that the issue of whether Fourth Amendment rights are personal or can be “vicariously” asserted by third-parties on behalf of their customers would have to be addressed by both sides. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizure of property.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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CIA updates rules for collecting and retaining info on US people
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday updated rules relating to the collection, retention and dissemination of information of U.S. persons, including putting a limit of five years on holding certain sensitive data and introducing restrictions for querying the data.The announcement by the spy agency comes a couple of days before a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump takes charge, and could address to an extent concerns expressed by civil rights groups about the collection and handling of information of U.S. persons in the course of overseas surveillance. Such information is collected by the CIA under Executive Order 12333.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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CIA updates rules for collecting and retaining info on US people
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday updated rules relating to the collection, retention and dissemination of information of U.S. persons, including putting a limit of five years on holding certain sensitive data and introducing restrictions for querying the data.The announcement by the spy agency comes a couple of days before a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump takes charge, and could address to an extent concerns expressed by civil rights groups about the collection and handling of information of U.S. persons in the course of overseas surveillance. Such information is collected by the CIA under Executive Order 12333.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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WikiLeaks’ Assange confident of winning ‘any fair trial’ in the US
WikiLeaks said that its founder Julian Assange is confident of winning 'any fair trial' in the U.S. and indicated that the founder of the whistleblowing website would stand by all the promises he had made in return for clemency to Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. soldier who disclosed classified data relating to the Iraq War to the site.On Tuesday, Manning’s prison sentence was commuted by U.S. President Barack Obama raising questions whether Assange would keep his part of a deal he proposed online, and agree to extradition to the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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WikiLeaks’ Assange confident of winning ‘any fair trial’ in the US
WikiLeaks said that its founder Julian Assange is confident of winning 'any fair trial' in the U.S. and indicated that the founder of the whistleblowing website would stand by all the promises he had made in return for clemency to Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. soldier who disclosed classified data relating to the Iraq War to the site.On Tuesday, Manning’s prison sentence was commuted by U.S. President Barack Obama raising questions whether Assange would keep his part of a deal he proposed online, and agree to extradition to the U.S.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Indian privacy case against WhatsApp gains momentum
A privacy lawsuit against WhatsApp in India over its new data sharing policy has got momentum with the country’s top court seeking responses from Facebook, WhatsApp and the federal government.The privacy policy of WhatsApp at launch in 2010 did not allow sharing of user data with any other party, and after Facebook announced its acquisition of the messaging app in 2014, it was “publicly announced and acknowledged” by WhatsApp that the privacy policy would not change, according to the petition filed by Indian users of WhatsApp.WhatsApp sparked off a furore last year when it said it would be sharing some account information of users with Facebook and its companies, including the mobile phone numbers they verified when they registered with WhatsApp. The sharing of information will enable users to see better friend suggestions and more relevant ads on Facebook, it added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Indian privacy case against WhatsApp gains momentum
A privacy lawsuit against WhatsApp in India over its new data sharing policy has got momentum with the country’s top court seeking responses from Facebook, WhatsApp and the federal government.The privacy policy of WhatsApp at launch in 2010 did not allow sharing of user data with any other party, and after Facebook announced its acquisition of the messaging app in 2014, it was “publicly announced and acknowledged” by WhatsApp that the privacy policy would not change, according to the petition filed by Indian users of WhatsApp.WhatsApp sparked off a furore last year when it said it would be sharing some account information of users with Facebook and its companies, including the mobile phone numbers they verified when they registered with WhatsApp. The sharing of information will enable users to see better friend suggestions and more relevant ads on Facebook, it added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Apple must face claims of monopoly in iPhone app market
An appeals court has ruled that Apple must face antitrust charges in a lawsuit that alleges that the company monopolized the market for iPhone apps.The U.S. Court for Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Thursday a decision by a lower court and ruled that the app buyers filing the lawsuit are direct purchasers of iPhone apps from Apple, rather than from app developers, and hence have standing to sue. Apple was a distributor of iPhone apps, selling them directly to buyers through its App Store, according to the court.The proposed class-action lawsuit started in 2011 with the complaint changing several times.NEWSLETTERS: Get the latest tech news sent directly to your in-box The purchasers object to the 30 percent "surcharge" that they pay to Apple. The company collects 30 percent of the revenue of third-party apps on its store, with the balance going to the developer, in a closed system in which Apple controls which apps can run on an iPhone, according to court records.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump allegedly backed compromise of DNC emails, say leaked docs
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and senior members of his campaign team allegedly knew and supported the leak of emails of the Democratic National Committee, according to unsubstantiated documents leaked by a news outlet on Tuesday.The dossier of memos, published by BuzzFeed, quotes an unnamed "Source E," described as an ethnic Russian and close associate of Trump, as acknowledging that the Russian regime had been behind the leak of e-mail messages originating from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to the WikiLeaks whistleblowing site. The Trump team in return agreed to "sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue,” and raise certain issues that would deflect attention from Ukraine.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump allegedly backed compromise of DNC emails, say leaked docs
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and senior members of his campaign team allegedly knew and supported the leak of emails of the Democratic National Committee, according to unsubstantiated documents leaked by a news outlet on Tuesday.The dossier of memos, published by BuzzFeed, quotes an unnamed "Source E," described as an ethnic Russian and close associate of Trump, as acknowledging that the Russian regime had been behind the leak of e-mail messages originating from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to the WikiLeaks whistleblowing site. The Trump team in return agreed to "sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue,” and raise certain issues that would deflect attention from Ukraine.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Privacy legislation reintroduced for mail older than 180 days
A bill has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require that law enforcement agencies get a warrant before they poke around users’ emails and other communications in the cloud that are older than 180 days.The Email Privacy Act, reintroduced on Monday, aims to fix a loophole in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that allowed the government to search without warrant email and other electronic communications older than 180 days, stored on servers of third-party service providers such as Google and Yahoo.“Thanks to the wording in a more than 30-year-old law, the papers in your desk are better protected than the emails in your inbox,” digital rights organization, Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post Monday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Privacy legislation reintroduced for mail older than 180 days
A bill has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require that law enforcement agencies get a warrant before they poke around users’ emails and other communications in the cloud that are older than 180 days. The Email Privacy Act, reintroduced on Monday, aims to fix a loophole in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that allows the government to search without warrant email and other electronic communications older than 180 days, stored on servers of third-party service providers such as Google and Yahoo. “Thanks to the wording in a more than 30-year-old law, the papers in your desk are better protected than the emails in your inbox,” digital rights organization, Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post Monday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Samsung expects big profit despite Note7 crisis
The financial impact of the Note7 recall seems to be largely behind Samsung Electronics, which on Friday forecast that its profit has grown year-on-year by close to 50 percent in the fourth quarter.A major proportion of the profit of the largest smartphone company is expected to come from components such as memory chips and display panels, rather than from smartphones, according to analysts, a shift that was noticed in the third quarter as well."They were fortunate that their memory and displays businesses could offset the doom and gloom resulting from the Note 7 debacle last quarter," said Bryan Ma, vice president for devices research at IDC.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Google Assistant coming to TVs, smartwatches and cars
Google Assistant will be available soon on Android TVs, with plans to offer the voice-activated personal assistant on car infotainment systems and smartwatches as well.The technology will feature in the coming months, starting with the Nvidia Shield, on Android TVs in the U.S. running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Android 7.0 Nougat. Some of the devices expected to ship with Google Assistant are the AirTV Player, Sharp Aquos, Sony Bravia and Xiaomi Mi Box, Sascha Prueter, director of Android TV at Google and Gummi Hafsteinsson, product lead for Google Assistant, wrote in a post on Thursday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Car makers team on platform for smartphone-vehicle interaction
Car makers Ford and Toyota have announced the SmartDeviceLink Consortium, a nonprofit to manage open source software for the interface of Android and iOS smartphone apps with their vehicle infotainment systems.Mazda Motor, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki Motor are the first automaker members of the consortium.Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo have joined as the first supplier members, while Harman, Panasonic, Pioneer and QNX have signed letters of intent to join, according to an announcement Wednesday by Ford and Toyota.BlackBerry subsidiary QNX Software Systems already powers Ford’s Sync 3 infotainment system, as the Canadian company moves its focus to software, including for automotive applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here