14 posts and columns on law enforcement

With Burn Note, Self-Destructing Emails Vanish After They’ve Been Read

in News on January 31 at 10:03 am PT

A new email service promises to expunge any trace of email exchanges after a note has been read. But, in the age of digital data, is anything ever really erased?
BurnNoteGone

Voices

Software Finds Place in Posse

in Voices on November 4, 2011 at 5:30 am PT

Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are increasingly relying on information from the Web and electronic records to help solve crimes and evaluate threats, producing a stream of new business for companies that can help them crunch the data.

News Byte

Yahoo Reverses Course on Data Retention

in News on April 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm PT

Privacy advocates have long pressed search companies and ISPs to minimize the time they keep user data, and in late 2008, Yahoo won plaudits for cutting its retention time for most customer information down to 90 days. Today, however, the company did a 180, announcing that by mid-July it will start retaining raw search log files for 18 months and will re-evaluate the retention time for other data. The intent, Yahoo said, is to balance privacy with the personalization features of a more social Internet. Unmentioned, but also part of the broader debate: The desires of law enforcement here and in Europe.

Judge Says Feds Can Access WikiLeaks-Related Twitter Accounts

in Enterprise on March 11, 2011 at 4:09 pm PT

Federal prosecutors can go after data on the Twitter accounts belonging to certain people tied to the WikiLeaks affair, a U.S. judge has ruled. Expect an appeal to a higher court.

Voices

Oil Firms Hit by Hackers From China, Report Says

in News on February 10, 2011 at 5:30 am PT

Hackers who appear to be based in China have conducted a “coordinated, covert and targeted” campaign of cyber espionage against major Western energy firms, according to a report expected to be issued today by cybersecurity firm McAfee Inc.

Voices

Coke Tries Facial-Recognition on Facebook

in News on December 3, 2009 at 7:59 am PT

Coca-Cola wants you to know that Coke Zero is a lot like Coca-Cola Classic. It believes this so strongly that it’s willing to do something unusual to drive the point home, like introducing you to your own doppelganger. Enter the Facial Profiler. The Profiler is a new Facebook application that lets members upload photos of themselves and match them with a similar-looking Facial Profiler user. The idea is that you can find your mirror image, just the way Coke has found its reflection in Coke Zero.

FCC Chair Proposes Net Neutrality Rules

in News on September 21, 2009 at 8:04 am PT

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski this morning proposed broad new rules prohibiting Internet providers–both wireless and wireline–from selectively blocking or slowing Internet traffic. “It is vital that we safeguard the free and open Internet,” Genachowski said during at event at the Brookings Institute. After the jump, Genachowski’s speech in full.
netneutrailyt

That's Declaratory Relief Against Idiocy, Right?

in News on May 20, 2009 at 1:41 pm PT

Oh, it’s on now. Craigslist this morning turned the tables on South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, suing him for threatening to file criminal charges over its adult classifieds. The suit seeks declaratory relief and a restraining order against McMaster, who alleges that those classifieds often display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material.
duncejpg

That’s Declaratory Relief Against Idiocy, Right?

in News on May 20, 2009 at 1:41 pm PT

Oh, it’s on now. Craigslist this morning turned the tables on South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, suing him for threatening to file criminal charges over its adult classifieds. The suit seeks declaratory relief and a restraining order against McMaster, who alleges that those classifieds often display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material.
duncejpg

Cuomo: Just Say No to Usenet

in News on June 10, 2008 at 11:39 am PT

John Gilmore once famously claimed that “the Internet interprets censorship as failure and routes around it.” If he’s right, there’s no reason to worry that an agreement by three of the nation’s largest Internet-service providers to block access to newsgroups and Web sites that traffic in child pornography might have other frightening consequences. If not, well …