protection

Security Software, Taxes and Wi-Fi for iPads

Walt Mossberg in Mossberg’s Mailbox on February 2, 2011 at 3:00 pm PT

Walt answers readers’ questions on security software, a computer for preparing taxes and Wi-Fi for iPads.

Microsoft's Browser Boss Dean Hachamovitch Touts Privacy Features at D@CES

Peter Kafka in Media on January 7, 2011 at 3:28 pm PT

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is still the world’s most popular, but its dominance is being steadily eroded by competition from Mozilla, Google and Apple. Can a new, aggressive approach to privacy change that?

YouTube CEO Chad Hurley: Here’s My Viacom Victory Dance

Peter Kafka in Media on June 23, 2010 at 6:05 pm PT

How do you celebrate a big legal victory? If you’re a YouTube co-founder, there’s really only one option.

Facebook and Twitter Coming to Kindle–In Glorious Black and White

John Paczkowski in Social on May 24, 2010 at 3:28 pm PT

Amazon pledged to deliver its Kindle 2.5 firmware update in late May, and now that the month is nearing its end, the company is rolling it out as promised.

Germany Questions Google’s Data “Mistake”

John Paczkowski in News on May 18, 2010 at 3:59 am PT

With its admission last week that its Street View cars unwittingly captured data sent over unsecured wireless Wi-Fi networks, Google appears to have run afoul of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Sources familiar with the matter say the Federal Trade Commission is considering an inquiry into the matter, and the panel of European privacy regulators that advises the European Commission is calling for a full investigation to determine exactly what information was collected and whether the manner of collection was a violation of privacy law.

Your Web Browser Just Told Everyone You Visited a Porn Site

Peter Kafka in Media on May 17, 2010 at 11:47 am PT

Your identity as a dog may still be safe on the Internet. Everything else about you, though, is looking increasingly like an open book. Latest data point: No matter what you do to stay anonymous, there’s a good chance your Web browser is betraying your identity, by leaving a unique fingerprint every time you visit a site.

Buzz Kill: FTC Urged to Investigate Google Privacy Flap

John Paczkowski in Social on March 30, 2010 at 4:39 am PT

This is obviously not to the sort of buzz Google was hoping for when it launched its new social networking service. A group of eleven U.S. lawmakers from the House Energy and Commerce Committee is calling upon the FTC to investigate Buzz for breaches in consumer privacy.

A Web Video Divorce: “Lonelygirl” Creators Eqal Break Up With Spark Capital

Peter Kafka in Media on March 29, 2010 at 12:35 pm PT

Eqal, the Web video start-up best known for the “lonelygirl15″ series, has handed back the money it raised from its primary investor, Spark Capital. This sounds alarming, but you can think of it as an amicable divorce: Spark gets back all of its bubble-era investment and Eqal gets to keep going, with fresh money from new and existing investors.

Shield-Law Amendment Excludes Unpaid Bloggers

Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 23, 2009 at 4:19 pm PT

A recent amendment to the federal shield bill being considered in the Senate will exclude non-“salaried” journalists and bloggers from the proposed law’s protections. The law, called the Free Flow of Information Act, is intended to prevent journalists from being forced to divulge confidential sources, except in cases such as witnessing crimes or acts of terrorism.