Julia Angwin

Google Expands Tracking on Sites

Julia Angwin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 24 at 4:04 pm PT

In a controversial move, Google Inc. said it will track users’ activities across nearly all of its services, and that in many cases, users can’t opt out of the tracking.

The Surveillance Catalog

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Jeremy Singer-Vine, Zachary M. Seward, Julia Angwin, Courtney Banks, Scott Thurm and Ashkan Soltani, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 19, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

Documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal open a rare window into a new global market for the off-the-shelf surveillance technology that has arisen in the decade since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Facebook, FTC Near Privacy Settlement

Julia Angwin and Shayndi Raice, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Social on November 10, 2011 at 1:15 pm PT

Facebook Inc. is finalizing a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it engaged in deceptive behavior when changing its privacy settings, according to people familiar with the situation.

Judges Weigh Phone Tracking

Julia Angwin and Scott Thurm, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in Voices on November 9, 2011 at 4:45 am PT

State and federal authorities follow the movements of thousands of Americans each year by secretly monitoring the location of their cellphones, often with little judicial oversight, in a practice facing legal challenges.

Privacy Study: Top U.S. Web Sites Share Visitor Personal Data

Julia Angwin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 11, 2011 at 3:41 pm PT

A study released Tuesday shows that 45 percent of the top 185 U.S. Web sites transmit identifying details about their visitors to at least four outside Web sites.

Secret Orders Target Email

Julia Angwin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 10, 2011 at 3:45 am PT

The U.S. government has obtained a controversial type of secret court order to force Google Inc. and small Internet provider Sonic.net Inc. to turn over information from the email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Little ISP That Stood Up to the Government

Julia Angwin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 10, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

When Twitter fought a court order for information from the accounts of several WikiLeaks supporters, it was lauded by Wired.com as having “beta-tested a spine.” The latest entry into the list of companies with a “spine” is tiny Sonic.net Inc., a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Internet provider with about 36,000 customers.

Heading Off Privacy Problems — Before They Arise

Julia Angwin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 26, 2011 at 1:14 pm PT

With “privacy-impact assessments,” companies understand how regulators and consumers will react to new products and services.

Device Raises Fear of Facial Profiling

Emily Steel and Julia Angwin, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 13, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Dozens of law-enforcement agencies from Massachusetts to Arizona are preparing to outfit their forces with controversial hand-held facial-recognition devices as soon as September, raising significant questions about privacy and civil liberties.