Reuters Opinion - Why Web Giants would benefit from a ‘do not track’ policys
Reuters op-ed: "The Federal Trade Commission has issued a report recommending that browsers include a “Do Not Track” mechanism that would allow people to surf the web without sites collecting and sharing data about their activities. In the same way that the “Do Not Call” list hampered that ability of some (but alas, not all) telemarketers to interrupt our dinners with unwanted calls, the idea sounds like bad news for web sites that target ads based on such data. But in the end, such a move could be just what web giants like Google and Facebook need to get their users to opt in to sharing data, rather than opting out."

My Way News - WikiLeaks website blocked behind Chinese firewall
My Way News reports: "Links to the WikiLeaks website were blocked within China on Wednesday amid potentially embarrassing claims made in leaked U.S. diplomatic cables posted to the site. Attempts to access wikileaks.org and cablegate.wikileaks.org were met with a notice saying the connection had been reset. That's the standard response when a website is being blocked by Chinese authorities who exert rigid controls over Internet content."

Comment: I'm normally opposed to Chinese censorship of the internet, but in this case, I think it's entirely appropriate.

My Way News - Leading cell phone carriers in mobile payments bid
My Way News reports: "Three of the country's leading cell phone carriers have formed a joint venture aimed at allowing people to make purchases with their mobile phones. And they say the technology they plan to introduce could eventually do away with any need for cash, credit cards or even metro passes - it will all be done with a wave of a cellphone."

My Way News - Saudi Arabia blocks Facebook over moral concerns
My Way News reports: "An official with Saudi Arabia's communications authority says it has blocked Facebook because the popular social networking website doesn't conform with the kingdom's conservative values. The official says Saudi's Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked the site Saturday and an error message shows up when Internet users try to access it."

Reuters - World Bank chief surprises with gold standard idea
Reuters reports: "Leading economies should consider adopting a modified global gold standard to guide currency rates, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said on Monday in a surprise proposal before a potentially acrimonious G20 summit."

Reuters - TIMELINE - Gold's history as a currency standard
Reuters reports: "Leading economies should consider readopting a modified global gold standard to guide currency movements, said World Bank president Robert Zoellick."

CNN.com - Mobile-phone cash register Square open for business
CNN reports: "Square, an application that turns a smartphone into a mobile cash register, is open for business. Created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square uses a free download and plastic card reader to let users accept credit card payments."

Reuters - G20 statement to pledge commitment to market FX rates
Reuters reports: "Group of 20 finance leaders will pledge on Saturday to commit themselves to pursue market-determined exchange rates and refrain from 'competitive devaluation' of their currencies, a G20 source said."

Comment: I expect this meeting to be very contentious and would not be surprised to see some surprises from China on behalf of emerging economies.

My Way News - Facebook says apps transmitted user information
My Way News reports: "The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that several popular Facebook applications have been transmitting users' personal identifying information to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies. Facebook said it is working to fix the problem, and was quick to point out that the leaks were not intentional, but a consequence of basic Web mechanisms."

BBC News - Bruce Schneier warns 'profits killing personal privacy'
BBC News reports: "Personal privacy is in danger of being killed off by the profit-making motives of firms which hold our data, security expert Bruce Schneier has warned [...] While the death of personal privacy had been predicted for a long time, rapid technological changes posed a mortal danger to it, he said."

My Way News - Homeland Security and spy agency to work together
My Way News reports: "Computer experts at the secretive National Security Agency are teaming up with the Homeland Security Department in an effort to strengthen the nation's defenses against cyber attacks [...] U.S. government and private networks are increasingly under attack by hackers and other cyber criminals. The officials said the plan will include increased oversight by legal and privacy professionals to insure that individuals rights are protected."

VOA - India's New Identification Efforts Aimed at the Poor
Voice of America reports: "India has formally launched an ambitious program to provide identification numbers to its population. Authorities say they plan to put ID cards in the hands of 100 million of India's poorest citizens within months, making it easier for them to access basic services."

My Way News - UAE, BlackBerry resolve dispute, averting ban
My Way News reports: "The United Arab Emirates on Friday backed off a threat to cut key BlackBerry services, just days before a planned ban that could have harmed the country's business-friendly reputation [...] The Emirates telecommunications regulator confirmed that a deal had been reached with device maker Research in Motion Ltd. that brought the devices into compliance with local laws."

BBC News - India to compile 'world's biggest' ID database
BBC News reports: "India has launched a huge national identity scheme aimed at cutting fraud and improving access to state benefits. Using biometric methods, including an iris scan, the system will log details of India's population of more than one billion people on a central database [...] The government expects to give a UID number to every Indian citizen within four years."

Comment: How long will it take to give a numbered ID to a billion people? This will be an interesting test-case to watch.

Reuters - India rejects RIM corporate email solution: report
Reuters reports: "India's telecommunications ministry has rejected a solution offered by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry corporate email services, and it has not been able to access chats on the messenger service either, the Economic Times reported on Friday."

Comment: Hang tough, RIM, hang tough.

NYTimes.com - Critics Say India’s Surveillance Hurts Goal of Drawing Businesses
The New York Times reports: "Critics, though, say India’s campaign to monitor data transmission within its borders will hurt other important national goals: attracting global businesses and becoming a hub for technology innovation."

Comment: I really hope that RIM, Google and Skype just withdraw from India rather than trust them with the keys to their digital kingdom. Then again, the way things are going, they would have to withdraw from the U.S. market as well. Dark days indeed.

My Way News - Report: US would make Internet wiretaps easier
My Way News reports: "The Obama administration is pushing to make it easier for the government to tap into internet and e-mail communications. But the plan has already drawn condemnation from privacy groups and communications firms may be wary of its costs and scope."

NYTimes.com - U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet
The New York Times reports: "Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet [...] officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct 'peer to peer' messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages."

Comment: So sad. What kind of example is this for the U.S. to set for the rest of the world? Is the U.S. to become the land of the formerly free? After all, many countries in the world will take the broken hardware and software that results from this and turn it again their own citizens. Sad that the U.S. action will result in more power for corrupt, oppressive, and totalitarian governments that violate human rights and persecute Christians. Don't believe me? Last I checked, RIM is still operating in Saudi Arabia.

Wired.com - Court OKs Warrantless Cell-Site Tracking
Wired reports: "A federal appeals court said Tuesday the government may obtain cell-site information that mobile phone carriers retain on their customers without a probable-cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment."

My Way News - NY lawsuit seeks to halt suspicionless searches
My Way News reports: "A New York lawsuit seeks to stop the government from snooping in the laptops, cell phones and cameras of international travelers when there is no probable cause [...] The lawsuit said more than 6,500 people have had their electronic devices searched as they crossed U.S. borders since October 2008. Nearly half of those searched were U.S. citizens."

WaPo - Contractors bullish on federal ID technology market
The Washington Post reports: "Timothy J. Quillin, an analyst with Little Rock-based investment bank Stephens, is bullish on the sector. He said identity solutions could be 'one of the areas where you might see increased spending,' even in an era of constrained spending. He cited the military and homeland security interest in biometrics and identification databases as the key driver."

My Way News - Dubai police chief calls BlackBerry a spy tool
My Way News reports: "Worries about spying by the U.S. and Israel spurred plans to sharply limit BlackBerry services in the United Arab Emirates [...] Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, said that fears of espionage and information sharing by foe Israel - as well as UAE allies United States and Britain - helped prompt the possible limits on the popular BlackBerry. Tamim told a conference on information technology that the proposed BlackBerry curbs are also 'meant to control false rumors and defamation of public figures due to the absence of surveillance,' according to a story posted Friday on the website of the UAE newspaper Al-Khaleej."

Comment: They blame the U.S. and Israel for their desire to spy on their own citizens? I'm losing all respect for RIM for caving in to all these repressive governments. And they have caved, we will never know the secret deals they have already made to stay in business.

CNET News - 3M to buy biometrics firm Cogent for $943 million
CNET News reports: "The decision of 3M--a massive conglomerate--to acquire Cogent is based on its view that the biometrics market is booming. Cogent is a player in the $4 billion market, which 3M asserts will grow more than 20 percent over the next year. 3M said it is especially interested in using Cogent's services to reach law enforcement agencies."

Gizmodo - Our Worst Nightmares About the Government Tracking Us Just Came True
Gizmodo reports: "That decision says it's okay for the government to track our movements, everywhere we go, without so much as a scratched slip of paper, eliding all of the protections that are supposedly in place to prevent that kind of thing from happening."

My Way News - Threats of int'l BlackBerry bans echo US debate
My Way News reports: "Threats by the governments of India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to shut down BlackBerry's corporate e-mail services reflect unease about a technology that the U.S. government also took a while to accept. The foreign governments are essentially a decade behind in coming to terms with encryption, a technology that's fundamental to the Internet as a medium of commerce."

NYTimes.com - Judges Divided Over Growing GPS Surveillance
The New York Times reports: "The GPS tracking dispute coincides with a burst of other technological tools that expand police monitoring abilities — including automated license-plate readers in squad cars, speed cameras mounted on streetlight poles, and even the widely discussed prospect of linking face-recognition computer programs to the proliferating number of surveillance cameras."

Comment: Those who are the defenders of a free society must be very careful now in establishing the rules and precedents that will be followed for years to come. Technology is either now at the point or very near the point of giving governments and corporations the ability to monitor people in real-time in both public and private spaces. What are the rules, what protections from abuse (the checks and balances) will be built into this system, and what recourse do citizens have?

My Way News - India eyes Google and Skype in security crackdown
My Way News reports: "India may ask Google and Skype for greater access to encrypted information once it resolves security concerns with BlackBerrys, which are now under threat of a ban, according to a government document and two people familiar with the discussions."

My Way News - Questions and answers about BlackBerry objections
My Way News provides,"questions and answers about foreign countries planning to ban the use of BlackBerry's messaging and Web services."

My Way News - PayPal hopes to make micropayments easier online
My Way News reports: "PayPal wants to make it easier to buy low-cost digital goods online, whether it's a single article on a news website or virtual items in a video game. Scott Thompson, the online payment service's president, said Thursday that PayPal plans to roll out a payment product by the end of the year that helps businesses collect 'micropayments' on the Web."

NYTimes.com - Obama Signs Border Bill to Increase Surveillance
The New York Times reports: "President Obama signed into law a $600 million bill on Friday to pay for 1,500 new border agents, additional unmanned surveillance drones and new Border Patrol stations along the southwest border."

My Way News - India sets Aug. 31 deadline for BlackBerry info
My Way News reports: "India's Home Ministry threatened Thursday to block BlackBerry corporate e-mail and messaging services unless the device's manufacturer makes them accessible to its security agencies by Aug. 31 [...] India has asked for encrypted BlackBerry communications to be made easily available to its intelligence and law enforcement agencies, saying that the services could be used by militant groups."

USATODAY.com - Saudi Arabia to continue BlackBerry service
USA Today reports: "Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator on Tuesday said it would allow BlackBerry messaging services to continue in the kingdom, citing 'positive developments' with the device's Canadian manufacturer."

Comment: Well, I guess that can only mean one thing, RIM caved.

HuffPo - Eric Schmidt On Privacy (VIDEO): Google CEO Says Anonymity Online Is 'Dangerous'
The Huffington Post reports: "Google knows what you watch, what you search, and even with whom you're friends. The availability of all this information raises an important question: Where does Google CEO Eric Schmidt stand on the issue of online privacy? [...] Speaking on a panel at the event, Schmidt argued that anonymity on the Internet is dangerous. 'In a world of asynchronous threats, it is too dangerous for there not to be some way to identify you,' he said."

My Way News - Info freedom at center of Gulf's BlackBerry debate
My Way News reports: "It's a tug-of-war over data and security that finds echoes in China's censorship fight with Google Inc., and highlights the way rapid technological change is sowing unease in countries where the unfettered flow of digital information is seen as a threat. Like China and Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia actively police the Internet, blocking access to pornography and material deemed politically or morally objectionable. Neither Gulf state allows organized political opposition or direct elections of national representatives. Freedom of expression is limited."

Comment: This recent effort to spy on cell phone networks is coming from repressive countries with terrible human rights records. Should we be concerned? You bet! Not every government has a legitimate interest to spy on their citizens - because not every government is legitimate.

My Way News - Indonesia joins countries mulling BlackBerry ban
My Way News reports: "Indonesia said Wednesday it is considering following the lead of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in banning BlackBerry services, adding to pressure on device maker Research in Motion Ltd. to give governments greater access to data [...] BlackBerry phones are known to be popular both among businesspeople and youth in the kingdom who see the phones' relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities."

My Way News - Saudi Arabia orders Blackberry ban starting Friday
My Way News reports: "Saudi Arabia is ordering its mobile operators to halt BlackBerry services throughout the kingdom this week, heightening tensions between device maker Research in Motion Ltd. and governments demanding greater access to data sent on the phones [...] Earlier on Tuesday, RIM denied that it had agreed to heightened surveillance of its corporate clients by the Indian government [...] India and the UAE aren't alone in wanting more control over BlackBerry messaging. Bahrain has threatened to crack down on spreading news using the devices. And industry experts say they believe RIM offered China some concessions before the BlackBerry was introduced there."

My Way News - UAE: BlackBerry crackdown will affect visitors too
My Way News reports: "Emirati authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry data are automatically shipped to company computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse. Critics of the crackdown say it is also a way for the country's conservative government to further control content it deems politically or morally objectionable [...] automatic encryption makes BlackBerry data far more difficult, if not impossible, for authorities to monitor."

My Way News - Questions and answers about UAE's BlackBerry ban: "Q: Why is the United Arab Emirates banning BlackBerry e-mails?

A: In short, the corporate version of the BlackBerry system is too hard to eavesdrop on. The e-mails and messages are encrypted while in transit, and even Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry, doesn't have the keys to decrypt them. The system is designed to keep corporate and government secrets safe, but the UAE is concerned that it could provide cover for illegal activity."

WSJ.com - U.A.E. to Suspend BlackBerry Services
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The U.A.E. ban is the latest in a string of skirmishes world-wide for RIM as governments try to monitor and control communications. Kuwait, India and China are among countries that reportedly have asked RIM for easier data access as a condition for operating within their borders."

Comment: A country is throwing a temper tantrum because they can't spy on a cell phone network. Really. Here's hoping that BlackBerry owner RIM will stand firm and not cave in. Why should a service provider collude with a foreign government to allow them to spy on their subscribers? Well, for the money, of course.

My Way News - FBI access to e-mail, Web data raises privacy fear
My Way News reports: "Federal law requires communications providers to produce records in counterintelligence investigations to the FBI, which doesn't need a judge's approval and court order to get them [...] there is no need even for a suspicion of wrongdoing, merely that the records would be relevant in a counterintelligence or counterterrorism investigation. The person whose records the government wants doesn't even need to be a suspect."

WSJ - What They Know -- Top Websites Feed Personal Details to New Tracking Industry
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The largest U.S. websites are installing new and intrusive consumer-tracking technologies on the computers of people visiting their sites—in some cases, more than 100 tracking tools at a time—a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. The tracking files represent the leading edge of a lightly regulated, emerging industry of data-gatherers who are in effect establishing a new business model for the Internet: one based on intensive surveillance of people to sell data about, and predictions of, their interests and activities, in real time."

msnbc.com - 100 million Facebook users' details published online
MSNBC reports: "The personal details of 100 million Facebook users have been collected and published online in a downloadable file, meaning they will now be unable to make their publicly available information private. However, Facebook downplayed the issue, saying that no private data had been compromised."

MSNBC - Another ugly reminder to check your Facebook settings — NOW!
MSNBC reports: "It's not like Facebook provides worst-case scenarios. Though, it's hardly surprising that a bunch of huge corporations may be downloading all that info posted on Pirate Bay, as Gizmodo reported today [...] including Disney, Church of Scientology, Halliburton, Lucasfilm, Procter & Gamble, Sega, the United Nations and a whole heck of a lot more."

Comment: The first news article talks about what was done and why Facebook is once again in the headlines and the second report explains why Facebook will always be in trouble over the privacy issue...and what you should do about it. If you want to leave digital footprints for corporations and governments to follow, then these new social services should not worry you. However, if you value your privacy, you should think twice about giving control of your data to others whose sole motivation is to sell it. Oh, and by the way, you won't even get a share of the profits when they sell your data.

My Way News - Wal-Mart to roll out smart tags on men's basics
My Way News reports: "Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is putting electronic identification tags on men's clothing like jeans starting Aug. 1 as the world's largest retailer tries to gain more control of its inventory. But the move is raising eyebrows among privacy experts."

ReadWriteWeb - Google Offers Mobile Payment with Chrome Checkout Extension
ReadWriteWeb reports: "Google released last week an extension for its Chrome browser that makes on-the-go payment for Android smartphone users possible [...] While Google's solution is also platform and browser dependent, it shows how mobile payment can really work for both the merchant and the consumer while keeping security risks to a minimum. It seems that the space is ripe for a company like Google or PayPal to jump in and offer a similar solution that could work across multiple browsers and phone operating systems."

My Way News - Digital movie locker `UltraViolet' nears launch
My Way News reports: "A group of media and electronics companies will soon start testing a system that will let you watch the movies and TV shows that you buy wherever you are, regardless of formats and other technical hurdles. Like ATMs, your account would follow you, no matter what brand of machine you use."

Comment: Perhaps someone will turn this around and realize that if they can make a virtual locker for movies they can do this for money. If we can get secure virtual wallets then mobile commerce will really take off.

Imagine if when you present your payment to a vendor you are using a virtual number, not your credit card number, not your debit card number, and not your social security number, but rather a digital "wallet locker" tied to your real account. Your payment would be an encrypted number to your digital wallet, which you manage online. After all, a merchant only wants to get paid and the virtual wallet ensures that, and then you later manage your wallet and decide if you want your purchase billed to your credit card or cash account, easily switching between all of your accounts at will. So when you present your virtual payment, it's not really your account or even money at that point, more like a validated, "I'm good for it, IOU" that later (and securely) taps into your account, but allowing mobile and online transactions to process quickly, without the hassle of waiting for banks to authorize transactions. This could then be seen as a precursor to the MOTB as it's starts the transition to a number based format rather than cash or conventional credit cards.

Such a system would also promote consumer spending by shifting perceptions. Imagine if when you login to your virtual wallet and see all of your accounts you also see a grand total of your available virtual cash, which represents a total of your cash account, your savings account and brokerage accounts, as well as the credit available on your credit cards. That total is bound to be much more than what you are used to thinking of as spending cash. You will feel much richer than you really are and you will therefore spend more. Of course, for most consumers, this is also a recipe for more debt, but that's what drives the economy both now and in the foreseeable future.

My Way News - Rights group says 'no freedom, no rights' in Syria
My Way News reports: "Human Rights Watch, in a 35-page report called 'A Wasted Decade,' said Syria's secret police detain people without arrest warrants and torture 'with complete impunity.' The report also cited widespread censorship and banning of websites such as Facebook."

My Way News - Dozens of outspoken, popular blogs shut in China
My Way News reports: "Dozens of blogs by some of China's most outspoken users have been abruptly shut down while popular Twitter-like services appear to be the newest target in government efforts to control social networking."

CNN - Biometric ATM gives cash via 'finger vein' scan
CNN reports: "Poland's cooperative BPS bank says it's the first in Europe to install a biometric ATM -- allowing customers to withdraw cash simply with the touch of a fingertip [...] The company says that an infrared light is passed through the finger to detect a unique pattern of micro-veins beneath the surface - which is then matched with a pre-registered profile to verify an individual's identity [...] Although it is a first for Europe, biometric cash points have been embraced in other parts of the world for some years."

My Way News - China seeks to reduce Internet users' anonymity
My Way News reports: "A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China's portion of cyberspace, calling for new rules to require people to use their real names when buying a mobile phone or going online, according to a human rights group [...] The Internet is China's most open and lively forum for discussion, despite already pervasive censorship, but stricter controls could constrain users."

Boy Genius Report - India asks Google, Skype, and RIM for access to email and other data
BGR reports: "According to the Economic Times, India’s government has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) to send a notice to RIM, Skype, and Google requesting that each service open its email and other communication data to the Indian government. The data must be presented in a format that is readable by security and intelligence agencies and has given each company 15 days to comply with this request."

My Way News - China installs 40,000 security cameras in Urumqi
My Way News reports: "China has installed about 40,000 high-definition surveillance cameras in the western region of Xinjiang days before the one-year anniversary of the country's worst ethnic violence in decades."

BBC News - 'Too few ethnic officers' and 'discrimination' at GCHQ
BBC News reports: "GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GCHQ said it had tried to improve diversity and equality Britain's secret eavesdropping centre, GCHQ, has been criticised for failing to recruit enough ethnic minority staff to help fight terrorism."

Comment: In our brave new world, even surveillance must be politically correct. You may not know you are being spied on, but apparently you should be encouraged to learn that those watching you will have the appropriate minority sensibility. What an odd world we live in where the fact that the scope of surveillance has increased dramatically is not the issue, the ethnicity of those conducting the surveillance is.

My Way News - China group says US uses Facebook to sow unrest
My Way News reports: "A Chinese government-backed think tank has accused the U.S. and other Western governments of using social-networking sites such as Facebook to spur political unrest and called for stepped-up scrutiny of the wildly popular sites."

My Way News - Google wins permission to keep website in China
My Way News reports: "Google won permission Friday to maintain its website in China and keep its toehold in the world's most populous nation after bowing to pressure to eliminate a virtual detour around the country's online censorship requirements."

My Way News - Australia delays Internet filter to review content
My Way News reports: "If a mandatory filter is passed into law, it would make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among the world's democracies. Some critics have said the proposed filter would put the nation in the same censorship league as China."

Defense Systems - NSA Perfect Citizen program sparks Big Brother fears
Defense Systems reports: "The National Security Agency's new program to shield the networks of privately owned utilities and other critical infrastructure companies has caused some people to fear it's a step toward a surveillance state or a government power grab."

WSJ - U.S. Program to Detect Cyber Attacks on Infrastructure
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed 'Perfect Citizen' to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program."

Reuters - Scrap dollar as sole reserve currency: U.N. report
Reuters reports: "A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value [...] The report supports replacing the dollar with the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset that is used as a unit of payment on IMF loans and is made up of a basket of currencies."

My Way News - Google says China partially blocks search service
My Way News reports: "A Google search feature was blocked in China on Thursday, the company said as it awaited Beijing's decision on whether to renew its operating license amid tensions over censorship."

My Way News - Google scrambles to save Internet license in China
My Way News reports: "China is threatening to revoke Google's business license over the company's decision to redirect Chinese traffic to computers in Hong Kong that are not governed by the communist government's censorship practices. The latest skirmish between Beijing and the Internet search leader threatens to cripple the company in one of the Web's biggest markets."

My Way News - Pakistan scans Google, other sites for blasphemy
My Way News reports: "Pakistan will monitor seven major websites, including Google and Yahoo, to block anti-Islamic links and content, an official said Friday. Seventeen lesser-known sites are being blocked outright for alleged blasphemous material."

My Way News - Turkey tightens Internet control in YouTube feud
My Way News reports: "Furious over Internet insults of the country's beloved founder, Turkey has gone on the offensive against Google, tightening a ban on YouTube and cutting public access to a host of Google-owned sites."

Farm and Dairy - Biometric ID cards could help resolve migrant worker issues
Farm and Dairy reports: "The creation of a comprehensive bill will give everyone in the U.S. a biometric employment verification, or personal ID, card. The card will have a magnetic code with personal information, according to Charles Garrison, president of the Garrison Group, LLC, Washington. Garrison spoke to more than three dozen farmers and agri-industry representatives May 13 during the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce-sponsored monthly Ag Issues Forum at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center in Lancaster, Pa."

My Way News - High court: Go ahead, search cop's sexy texting
My Way News reports: "The Supreme Court had a common-sense message Thursday for workers with cell phones and other gadgets provided by their employers: Use your own cell phone if you've got something to text that you don't want your boss to read."

My Way News - Owner of anti-Chavez TV channel flees Venezuela
My Way News reports: "The majority owner of Venezuela's only opposition-aligned TV station has left the country to avoid an arrest warrant as multiple cases brought by authorities leave Globovision facing an uncertain future."

Crave at CNET UK - Beat Big Brother: Dodge CCTV, phone taps and spies
CNET reports: "Big Brother is watching you -- and we're not talking about the mind-numbing reality show. The UK has become a real-life Orwellian nightmare. There's reportedly a CCTV camera for every 14 people. Police helicopters circle our skies. Phones are tapped on a routine basis and your information is harvested by nefarious forces intent on stealing your identity."

My Way News - TV channel owner ordered arrested in Venezuela
My Way News reports: "Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday for the owner of a television channel that takes a critical line against President Hugo Chavez."

My Way News - Bar codes get around town and get more useful
My Way News reports: "What has changed now, though, is that consumers are increasingly engaging with their mobile devices for more than making phone calls, texts and checking e-mails. And smart phones can easily download scanning applications that make it possible for product codes to leap from store shelves to the wider world."

My Way News - Lawmakers seek prepaid cell crackdown, cite terror
My Way News reports: "Alarmed by the use of hard-to-track prepaid cell phones by terror suspects, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Texas Sen. John Cornyn have introduced legislation requiring consumers to produce identification before buying such phones [...] Prepaid phones can be a lifeline for people with limited incomes or poor credit, allowing them to purchase a device and a limited amount of calling time without committing to a costly contract."

My Way News - China says it will keep blocking online content
My Way News reports: "China vowed Tuesday to keep a tight grip on the Internet, saying it would continue to block anything considered subversive or threatening to 'national unity.' [...] China, which routinely blocks websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, gave no sign there would be an easing of the 'Great Firewall' - the nickname for the network of filters that keep mainland Web surfers from accessing material the government deems sensitive."

ID cards go in 'liberty' shake-up - mirror.co.uk
The Mirror reports: "The Deputy Premier said the Government would scrap ID cards, biometric passports and the children's database. The bonfire of 'antiliberty' laws will also see a reduction of the DNA database, scaling back of CCTV cameras and scrapping of centrally held internet records."

My Way News - Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban removed
My Way News reports: "A Facebook page that was considered offensive to Islam and led to a Pakistani ban on the site has been removed, possibly by its creator."

Comment: It didn't take them long to cave, hope Zuckerberg's not afraid of being beheaded. Don't want to offend those nice followers of Islam, just keep smiling, don't make any sudden movements and back away slowly.

My Way News - Muslim concerns trigger Pakistani Web bans
My Way News reports: "Pakistan blocked YouTube and many other Internet sites Thursday in a widening crackdown on online content deemed offensive to Islam, reflecting the secular government's sensitivities to an issue that has ignited protests in the Muslim country."

My Way News - China says Internet fully restored in Xinjiang
My Way News reports: "China blamed the rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for broader rights for Xinjiang's traditional majority Uighur ethnic group and cut Internet service in the region, saying the Web had been used to foment unrest."

My Way News - Airport security speedup program to relaunch
My Way News reports: "The Clear program, which allowed members to breeze through airport security before it abruptly shut down last year, is expected to be up and running again by the fall [...] To join, passengers must be fingerprinted and have their irises scanned for positive identification, plus turn over information including Social Security numbers that the company shares with the TSA. In return, they get access to shorter security lines at about 20 airports across the country."

NYT - Cellphone Payments Offer Alternative to Cash
The New York Times reports: "A number of big and small companies — including eBay’s PayPal unit, Intuit, VeriFone and Square — are creating innovative ways for individuals to avoid cash and checks and settle all debts, public and private, using their cellphones."

My Way News - Russia considers new powers for KGB successor
My Way News reports: "Russia's parliament is considering a government-drafted bill that would increase the power of the security services and restore practices once associated with their Soviet predecessor, the KGB."

My Way News - China wants telecom companies to inform on clients
My Way News reports: "China is poised to strengthen a law to require telecommunications and Internet companies to inform on customers who discuss state secrets, potentially forcing businesses to collaborate with the country's vast security apparatus that stifles political dissent."s

CNN - Facebook makes it easier for users to share interests across web
CNN reports: "Facebook on Wednesday announced plans to turn the web into one big cocktail party [...] 'We're building toward a web where the default is social. Every application and product will be redesigned from the ground up to use a person's real identity and friends.'"

Comment: I find two things interesting about this. First, that it's all keyed to your identity. In other words, this is not anonymous aggregate data, it's very specifically tied to your likes, dislikes, favorite sites, and social network. It's all about you and the people you know. It's an advertisers dream, and a totalitarian governments holy grail. As Facebook expands into less than free countries we will have to watch how they manage government requests for this data. As Google demonstrated this week, there is a rising tide of government attempts to access user data, and we can only assume this trend will increase over time.

Second, this is a good example of a new trend online that allows you to interact with sites using your social network identity. In other words, you are already authenticated as a trusted user by virtue of your social network membership. Is it at all unreasonable to imagine a future in which the market uses similar authentication for consumers? If social networks like FB add a payment platform this will be something with profound implications. It would probably start out with mobile commerce, using your cell phone to make purchases billed to your social network account, but augmented reality apps and bluetooth connectivity could easily allow mobile assisted checkout at standard brick-and-mortar stores in much the same way a supermarket scanner can now scan a coupon directly off your cell phone.

It's not the app platform that matters, it's the concept that your identity and secure payment info are encoded in an object (with you, in you or on you) that can be easily scanned and authenticated.

My Way News - Hitler `Downfall' parodies removed from YouTube
My Way News reports: "'Downfall,' a German film released in 2004 about Hitler's last days, has been adopted for wildly popular YouTube parodies that have spanned mock rants about topics as varied as playing Xbox video games to Kanye West to Apple's new iPad."

Comment: In the U.S. a copyrighted work may be used for the purposes of parody, education or news commentary...until a large corporation complains.

Google Shares Info On Who They Share Info With:
My Way News - Google discloses demands for censorship, user data
My Way News reports: "Google Inc. has set up a new tool to show where it's facing the most government pressure to censor material and turn over personal information about its users."

The Christian Science Monitor - US, Brazil lead Google's Top 10 censorship list; China off the chart
The Christian Science Monitor: "After government's criticized Google for disclosing too much private information, the company released country-by-country data on the number of government requests for user information and data removal."

Business Week - Google Details Governments' Data Demands
Business Week reports: "China isn't the only country where Google has tussled with authorities over its freedom to operate unfettered. Nearly a month after the country stopped censoring search results there, Google (GOOG) on Apr. 21 released data that detail requests from worldwide governments to take down content from its Web sites, or to turn over information about users of Google products including its search engine, YouTube, and its Blogger software."

Wired News - VeriChip’s Merger With Credit Monitoring Firm Worries Privacy Activists
Wired News reports: "With a human-implantable microchip maker now running a credit-scoring and identity-theft-protection website, privacy activists are worried again."

Comment: So, mark tech is meeting up with commerce tech, interesting development, as is the name change.

ABC News - Iran Jamming Satellite Signals Carrying Foreign Media
ABC News reports: "Tehran has targeted the satellite in an effort to prevent critical foreign media coverage from reaching domestic viewers. Even though the United Nations has condemned it as an act of sabotage, the international community can do little to stop it."

NYT - China’s Censorship Machine Takes On the Internet
The New York Times reports: "Today, China censors everything from the traditional print press to domestic and foreign Internet sites; from cellphone text messages to social networking services; from online chat rooms to blogs, films and e-mail. It even censors online games. That’s not all. Not content merely to block dissonant views, the government increasingly employs agents to peddle its views online, in the guise of impartial bloggers and chat-room denizens."

Comment: The internet can no longer be assumed to be a tool for liberating the oppressed and exposing the oppressors. It can be that, as we saw in Iran, but it can also be a tool of oppression and repression. Our only real hope is that dissidents, human rights activists, missionaries, resistors and others interested him human liberty can use technology to stay one step ahead...of technology.

BBC News - Yahoo targeted in China cyber attacks
BBC News reports: "The Yahoo e-mail accounts of foreign journalists based in China and Taiwan have been hacked, according to a Beijing-based press association [...] The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) has confirmed eight cases of Yahoo e-mail hacks in recent weeks. Yahoo said it condemned such cyber-attacks."

BBC News - Google says Vietnam mine opponents under cyber attack
BBC News reports: "Internet giant Google says malicious software has been used to spy on tens of thousands of Vietnamese web users. The company said the cyber attacks appeared to target opponents of bauxite mining in Vietnam."

BBC News - India launches 'biometric' census
BBC News reports: "India is launching a census in which every person over the age of 15 will be photographed and fingerprinted to create a biometric national database [...] The first 16-digit identity numbers are due to be issued starting in November."

My Way News - UK police asks Internet cafes to monitor customers
My Way News reports: "Scotland Yard is advising administrators of public Web spaces to periodically poke through their customers' files and keep an eye out for suspicious activity [...] Posters and computer desktop images emblazoned with Scotland Yard's logo are also being distributed."

My Way News - China thwarts Google's detour around censorship
My Way News reports: "Google's attempted detour around China's Internet censorship rules was met with countermeasures Tuesday by the communist government, which blocked people on the mainland from seeing search results dealing with such forbidden topics as the pro-democracy movement."

BBC News - Google stops censoring search results in China
BBC News reports: "Google has stopped censoring its search results in China, ignoring warnings by the country's authorities. The US company said its Chinese users would be redirected to the uncensored pages of its Hong Kong website."

My Way News - Net produces new generation of China activists
My Way News reports: "China blocks online materials it deems to be harmful or pornographic, which frequently includes information that contradicts the views of the ruling Communist Party. Such restrictions prompted Internet giant Google to announce in January that it may close China-based Google.cn because it no longer wanted to cooperate with Beijing's Internet censorship. But there is a vibrant community of tech-savvy users who can easily hop over the 'Great Firewall' that blocks access to sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. They are a minority of the 384 million people online in China but among the most vocal: young, educated, liberal-minded and unafraid of questioning the Communist government."

MSNBC - Google appears to drop censorship in China
MSNBC reports: "Web sites dealing with subjects such as the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, Tibet and regional independence movements could all be accessed through Google's Chinese search engine Tuesday, after the company said it would no longer abide by Beijing's censorship rules."

My Way News - Report finds online censorship more sophisticated
My Way News reports: "Repressive regimes have stepped up efforts to censor the Internet and jail dissidents, Reporters Without Borders said in a study out Thursday. China, Iran and Tunisia, which are on the group's 'Enemies of the Internet' list, got more sophisticated at censorship and overcoming dissidents' attempts to communicate online [...] Meanwhile, Turkey and Russia found themselves on the group's 'Under Surveillance' list of nations in danger of making the main enemies list."

My Way News - Waste watchers? UK group fears trash bin spies
My Way News reports: "It's the new front in the nanny state: Microchips placed in garbage bins to monitor how much people throw away. [...] The advocacy group Big Brother Watch found through a series of Freedom of Information requests that many local governments, called councils in Britain, are installing the microchips in trash cans distributed to households, but in most cases have not yet activated them - in part because officials know the move would be unpopular. [...] The government's ambitious information-gathering plans go still further. Security officials working on counterterrorism plans are lobbying for the power to monitor every e-mail, text, and phone call made in the U.K. The country already maintains an extensive DNA database that is, per capita, the largest in the world."

My Way News - German court overturns law on phone, e-mail data
My Way News reports: "Germany's highest court on Tuesday overturned a law that let anti-terror authorities retain data on telephone calls and e-mails, saying it posed a 'grave intrusion' to personal privacy rights and must be revised. [...] Germans are sensitive to privacy issues, based on their experiences under the Nazis as well as in the former East Germany's Communist dictatorships."

BBC News - Google users in Iran report problems, as rallies loom
My Way News reports: "Google says its e-mail traffic in Iran has dropped sharply, amid reports access is being restricted for the Islamic Revolution's anniversary."

My Way News - Berlusconi moves to impose Internet regulation
My Way News reports: "Going beyond other European countries, the premier's government has drafted a decree that would mandate the vetting of videos for pornographic or violent content uploaded by users onto such sites as YouTube, owned by Google, and the France-based Dailymotion, as well as blogs and online newsmedia."

Comment: This is extraordinary, coming only days after U.S. Secretary of State Clinton encouraged China to become more open and lessen internet censorship, one of the core countries of Western Europe is going in the other direction. Rule by decree? Have the fascists returned to Rome?

My Way News - China slams US criticism of Internet controls
My Way News reports: "Beijing issued a stinging response Friday to Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its 'information imperialism' on China. [...] In her speech in Washington, Clinton cited China as among a number of countries where there has been "a spike in threats to the free flow of information" over the past year. She also named Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam."

My Way News - China tells Web companies to obey controls
My Way News reports: "In China's first official response to Google's threat to leave the country, the government Thursday said foreign Internet companies are welcome but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over Web censorship."

Google reports China-based attack, says pullout possible - CNN.com
CNN reports: "Google said Tuesday the company and at least 20 others were victims of a 'highly sophisticated and targeted attack' originating in China in mid-December, evidently to gain access to the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. [...] as a result of the attacks, Google has decided it is no longer willing to consider censorship of its Google site in China and may have to shut down its site and its offices in that nation."

Skilled foreigners must get UK identity cards - BusinessWeek
Business Week reports: "New regulations that took effect Wednesday require skilled foreign workers who extend their stay in Britain to obtain identity cards containing biometric data, including finger prints and photographs."

My Way News - UK privacy concerns likely to impede body scanners
My Way News reports: "Britain's government wants to quickly deploy full body scanners at U.K. airports to fight an expanded terrorist threat, but privacy concerns - and fears that children may be exploited - seem likely to slow the plan."