Neowin News Feed for: Snowden

GCHQ open sources 'Gaffer' in possible community relations bid

Paul Hill — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 03:58:01 +0000

GCHQ has released one of its projects on Github in a bid to improve community relations and entice developers into getting involved with the agency and possibly joining it. Read more...

Section 215 of Patriot Act allowed by Senate to expire

Chris Dupres — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 10:30:01 +0000

Business records and telephone metadata bulk collection has legally ended in the US after Section 215 of the Patriot Act expired at Midnight, June 1st 2015; at least temporarily. Read more...

Tech giants urge Obama to reject weakening encryption with government backdoors

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 19 May 2015 08:46:01 +0000

More than 140 tech giants, security experts and government investigators are urging President Obama to stand against government backdoors and weakening encryption in the nation's software. Read more...

US Court of Appeals rules against NSA bulk collection of metadata

Chris Dupres — Thu, 07 May 2015 18:14:01 +0000

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the NSA bulk metadata collection program was not, in fact, authorized by the PATRIOT ACT in a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union Read more...

DEA is tracking millions of cars in real-time across the US

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:54:01 +0000

A new report shows that the US Drug Enforcement Agency is tracking millions of cars and people in real-time as they move across the country. They also have a database with hundreds of millions of more Read more...

Snowden: iPhone has secret software that can be remotely activated to spy on people

Daniel Moxon — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:10:01 +0000

According to Edward Snowden, the iPhone has embedded software hidden from its users that allow government agencies to spy on them without their knowledge. Read more...

Vodafone: secret wires give governments direct access to users' data

Vlad Dudau — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 10:15:20 +0000

Vodafone is releasing a new report in which it publicly confirms that some governments have direct access to users' calls and data. This happens through secret wires into carriers' data centers. Read more...

GCHQ considered using Microsoft's Kinect for surveillance: Snowden leaks

Jett Goldsmith — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 04:10:23 +0000

According to new documents from Edward Snowden, the GCHQ explored the Kinect's potential for spying on its targets. Read more...

UK spy agency GCHQ stored millions of images from Yahoo users' webcams

Andy Weir — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 18:34:10 +0000

Images from millions of Yahoo users' webcam chats were captured and stored by UK intelligence agency GCHQ, in an operation called 'Optic Nerve' - including many images of a pornographic nature. Read more...

Lavabit founder: 'If you knew what I know about email, you might not use it'

Paul Ferson — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:14:46 +0000

Ladar Levison claims to have given up on email despite having previously been responsible for founding the anonymous email service Lavabit. He cites concerns with how email works in general. Read more...

NSA considering automation, reducing admins by 90%

Paul Ferson — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:28:31 +0000

Speaking at a cybersecurity conference in New York City, NSA Director Keith Alexander outlined plans for reducing the number of system admins - plans he claims to pre-date Snowden's classified leaks. Read more...

Lavabit, Silent Circle close over governmental pressures

Paul Ferson — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 08:58:31 +0000

Two supposedly secure email services, Silent Email and Lavabit, closed within a matter of hours of each other, with concerns about government pressure over 'high-profile' users of the services. Read more...