My Way News - White House task force urges limit on NSA snooping
My Way News reports: "A presidential advisory panel has recommended sweeping changes to government surveillance programs, including limiting the bulk collection of Americans' phone records by stripping the National Security Agency of its ability to store that data in its own facilities. Court orders would be required before the information could be searched. [...] There's also no guarantee that the most stringent recommendations will be adopted by President Barack Obama, who authorized the panel but is not obligated to implement its findings."

My Way News - Judge: NSA program is likely unconstitutional
My Way News reports: "In a ruling with potentially far-reaching consequences, a federal judge declared Monday that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of millions of Americans' telephone records likely violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on unreasonable search. The ruling, filled with blistering criticism of the Obama administration's arguments, is the first of its kind on the controversial program."

CNN - Embracing big brother: How facial recognition could help fight crime
CNN reports: "From fighting terrorism to processing payments in the blink of an eye, facial recognition is set to change our ideas on privacy. [...] A Finnish company, meanwhile, aims to streamline sales by using facial recognition technology for payments. Helsinki-based Uniqul has patented a system allowing payments to be made without wallets or smartphones."

My Way News - NSA defends global cellphone tracking as legal
My Way News reports: "The National Security Agency on Friday said its tracking of cellphones overseas is legally authorized under a sweeping U.S. presidential order. [...] Documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed that the NSA gathers as many as 5 billion records every day about the location data for hundreds of millions of cellphones worldwide by tapping into cables that carry international cellphone traffic. The Washington Post said the collection inadvertently scoops up an unknown amount of American data as well."

My Way News - China claims victory in scrubbing Internet clean
My Way News reports: "Beijing launched the campaign this summer, arresting dozens of people for spreading rumors, creating new penalties for people who post libelous information and calling in the country's top bloggers for talks urging them to guard the national interest and uphold social order. At the same time, government agencies at all levels have boosted their online presence to control the message in cyberspace. [...] Observers say the crackdown has noticeably curtailed speech by suppressing voices and triggering self-censorship, with more liberal online voices being more ginger in their criticism and posting significantly less."

My Way News - Techies vs. NSA: Encryption arms race escalates
My Way News reports: "Encrypted email, secure instant messaging and other privacy services are booming in the wake of the National Security Agency's recently revealed surveillance programs. But the flood of new computer security services is of variable quality, and much of it, experts say, can bog down computers and isn't likely to keep out spies."

Comment: Two reports from two different countries that reflect the ease with which governments have succeeded at controlling and monitoring communication on the internet.