Payments processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. on Wednesday said it will pay $5 million to Discover Financial Services Co. to resolve issues between the companies related to a 2008 data breach.
Filed under: Privacy issues
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Sep. 1, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Cell phones, China, International, Privacy issues China demands IDs for mobile phone numbers
China wants people who buy new cell phone numbers to register their personal details, joining many European and Asian countries in curbing the anonymous use of mobile technology.
Most countries that have such rules say they prevent the use of unregistered phones in terror attacks or drug crimes. In China, authorities say they have their sights on rampant junk messages — but some believe the move gives the government a new tool for monitoring its citizens. Get the full story »
Aug. 24, 2010 at 1:31 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Cell phones, Privacy issues, Telecommunications, Wireless Smartphone payment safeguards sought
Paying for a shopping spree by waving a smart phone may be more exciting than swiping a credit card, but according to Consumers Union, it might not be as safe.
The nonprofit testing and information organization, which publishes Consumer Reports, called on regulators Tuesday to implement protective standards on mobile payments.
India sees solution on BlackBerry e-mails
BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion may provide some solution next week to help Indian security agencies access corporate email by obtaining encrypted data in readable format, a government source said on Friday. Get the full story »
Aug. 9, 2010 at 5:12 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: International, Policy, Politics, Privacy issues, Technology Saudi-BlackBerry fix deadline passes
A deadline Saudi Arabia has fixed for BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion Ltd and local mobile phone operators to address security concerns has lapsed, but the handset’s services continue to operate normally.
The Communications and Information Telecommunications Commission (CITC) on Saturday gave the kingdom’s three mobile firms until Monday before it proceeds with a threat to cut the BlackBerry’s Messenger function for some 700,000 users in the kingdom, a threat which it had already delayed last week. Get the full story »
Aug. 5, 2010 at 10:33 a.m.
Filed under: Cell phones, Consumer electronics, International, Privacy issues, Technology Clinton: U.S. to talk to UAE about BlackBerry ban
The United States will hold technical talks with the United Arab Emirates and other countries on the pending ban on the BlackBerry Messenger, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Aug. 3, 2010 at 3:19 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: International, Policy, Privacy issues, Technology, Telecommunications Saudi BlackBerry Messenger ban begins Friday
The Saudi telecom watchdog said on Tuesday that telecom companies in the kingdom must block the messenger function on Blackberry handsets as of Friday.
The ban would last until the kingdom’s three mobile phone operators “fulfill the regulatory requirements it has requested,” the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement to media. Get the full story »
BlackBerry may make concessions in govt. talks
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion may be considering concessions to governments who have voiced concerns about the tight security that makes its devices so popular, newspapers said on Tuesday.
India’s Economic Times newspaper reported that RIM had agreed to allow security authorities in the country to monitor BlackBerry services after pressure from governments worried about national security.
Separately Kuwaiti daily al-Jarida, quoting a source it did not identify by name, said RIM had given “initial approval” to block 3,000 porn sites at the request of Kuwait’s communications ministry. It said security was also a concern. Get the full story »
Aug. 2, 2010 at 3:39 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Consumer electronics, International, Investing, Privacy issues, Technology, Telecommunications, Updated, Wireless RIM looks to reassure users after UAE spat
Research In Motion pledged to satisfy the security needs of customers and governments, a day after the United Arab Emirates threatened to cut off some BlackBerry services because authorities could not access encrypted messaging data.
In the latest of several disputes over BlackBerry security, the UAE said over the weekend that it would suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and Web browser services from Oct. 11 until it could access encrypted messages. Get the full story »
Twitter to bolster user privacy in settlement
Microblogging service Twitter has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over charges it put its customers’ privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal information.
The settlement announced by the FTC Thursday stems from a series of attacks last year on Twitter, the three-year old phenomenon that lets people send short text messages to groups of followers. Under the agreement, Twitter is creating an independently audited security program, among other measures. Get the full story »
June 16, 2010 at 5:56 p.m.
Filed under: Investigations, Policy, Politics, Privacy issues, Technology Illinois attorney general is investigating Google
By Wailin Wong | Illinois has joined a list of governments in the U.S. and worldwide that are probing Google’s data collection for the search giant’s Street View service.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Wednesday her office is investigating whether the California-based company gathered personal information from state residents. Street View is used in Google Maps and Google Earth to show photos at the street level, displaying pictures taken by special camera equipment mounted on cars and other vehicles.
The controversy over Street View arose last month, when Google admitted to inadvertently capturing and storing bits of private information sent over unencrypted WiFi networks. This “payload data,” as the information is called, can include e-mails, passwords and browsing activity.
AT&T apologizes to iPad 3G users for breach
A customer uses an Apple iPad at an Apple store in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
From Bloomberg | AT&T Inc. apologized to Apple Inc. iPad 3G tablet computer users whose e-mail addresses were exposed during a security breach disclosed last week.
“No other information was exposed,” Dorothy Attwood, AT&T’s chief privacy officer, said in an e-mail sent Sunday to iPad accounts that may have been affected. “We apologize for the incident and any inconvenience it may have caused.”
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
May 26, 2010 at 5:32 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Computers, Internet, Policy, Politics, Privacy issues Businesses could use U.S. cyber monitoring system
Associated Press | A top Pentagon official says a government computer security system that can thwart cyber attacks should be extended to private businesses.
Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III says discussions are in the very early stages to allow the government to extend technology from the Einstein 2 and Einstein 3 computer defense programs to private firms.
The idea raises a myriad of legal, policy and privacy questions, including how it would work and what information would be shared between the government and businesses.
Facebook CEO: Privacy controls ‘missed the mark’
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivering a keynote address at a conference in San Francisco in April 2010. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Reuters
| Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the Internet social network will roll out new privacy settings for its more than 400 million users, amid growing concerns that the company is pushing users to make more of their personal data public.
“Many of you thought our controls were too complex,” said Zuckerberg in an opinion piece published on Monday in The Washington Post.
“Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark,” said the 26-year-old Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004.
