nytimes.com
analysis
Google Says It Has Uncovered Iranian Spy Campaign - 13 June 2013
Google said Wednesday that it had uncovered a vast Iranian spy campaign that had been targeting tens of thousands of Iranian citizens over the past three weeks.
“These campaigns, which originate from within Iran, represent a significant jump in the overall volume of phishing activity in the region,” the company (...)
analysis
How the U.S. Uses Technology to Mine More Data More Quickly - 9 June 2013
When American analysts hunting terrorists sought new ways to comb through the troves of phone records, e-mails and other data piling up as digital communications exploded over the past decade, they turned to Silicon Valley computer experts who had developed complex equations to thwart Russian mobsters intent on (...)
analysis
Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program - 8 June 2013
When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world’s largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled. In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit.
Twitter declined to make it easier for the government. But (...)
success story
Ad Formats at Facebook to Be Fewer - 7 June 2013
When it comes to advertising, Facebook has decided it needs a new friend: simplicity.
A prospective advertiser is confronted with 27 types of ads from which to choose, like online coupons and a bewildering assortment of sponsored posts that can be sent to the news feeds of Facebook users.
On Thursday, the social (...)
analysis
Europe Continues Wrestling With Online Privacy Rules - 7 June 2013
More than a year ago, the European Union’s top justice official proposed a tough set of measures for protecting the privacy of personal data online.
But because of intense lobbying by Silicon Valley companies and other powerful groups in Brussels, several proposals have been softened, no agreement is in sight and (...)
analysis
Verizon Case Offers Glimpse of Vast N.S.A. Surveillance - 6 June 2013
The United States government has been compiling a huge database of calling logs of Americans’ domestic communications under a hotly debated section of the Patriot Act for at least seven years, the top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Thursday.
But before any particular caller can be (...)
analysis
3 Foxconn Employees Are Said to Have Committed Suicide - 20 May 2013
Shanghai — Three Chinese employees at Foxconn, one of the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturers, died in what were believed to be suicides in recent weeks, which a group that monitors labor conditions in China says is the latest indication that the company continues to be plagued by labor problems. (...)
analysis
Concerns Arise on U.S. Effort to Allow Internet ‘Wiretaps’ - 19 May 2013
Surveillance can be a tricky affair in the Internet age.
A federal law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act allows law enforcement officials to tap a traditional phone, as long as they get approval from a judge. But if communication is through voice over Internet Protocol technology — (...)
complaint
Lawmakers Show Concerns About Google’s New Glasses - 19 May 2013
Eight members of Congress on Thursday formally demanded that Google address a range of privacy concerns about its new wearable technology device, Google Glass.
The letter, addressed to Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, outlined eight questions for Google and asked for a response by June 14.
“We are curious (...)
analysis
Facebook Said to Be in Talks With Mobile Map Service - 10 May 2013
Facebook is in serious discussions to buy a leading mobile navigation service, Waze, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
If the sale is concluded, it would give Facebook the ability to better deliver locally tailored ads and content to its 1.1 billion users.
The potential purchase price, (...)
complaint
Germany Fines Google Over Data Collection - 23 April 2013
A German privacy regulator fined Google €145,000 on Monday for the systematic, illegal collection of personal data while it was creating the Street View mapping service, and it called on European lawmakers to significantly raise fines for violations of data protection laws.
Johannes Caspar, the data protection (...)
analysis
Teacher Knows if You’ve Done the E-Reading - 11 April 2013
Several Texas A&M professors know something that generations of teachers could only hope to guess: whether students are reading their textbooks.
They know when students are skipping pages, failing to highlight significant passages, not bothering to take notes — or simply not opening the book at all.
“It’s Big (...)
complaint
In Europe, New Protest Over Google - 9 April 2013
European antitrust regulators have received a formal complaint about Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices, even as they move to the final stages of their inquiry into the company’s search practices.
The complaint was filed by Fairsearch Europe, a group of Google’s competitors, including the mobile (...)
success story
Facebook Is Expected to Introduce Its Phone - 4 April 2013
Facebook does not have to build a phone, as its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has long maintained.
But it needs to find a way to play a bigger role in delivering what consumers want from their phones: ways to communicate, find answers to questions, shop and be entertained. The company would especially like to (...)
analysis
Retailers Track Employee Thefts in Vast Databases - 3 April 2013
Facing a wave of employee theft, retailers across the country have helped amass vast databases of workers accused of stealing and are using that information to keep employees from working again in the industry.
The repositories of information, like First Advantage Corporation’s Esteem database, often contain scant (...)
success story
Amazon to Buy Social Site Dedicated to Sharing Books - 29 March 2013
Amazon, the dominant online bookseller, said late Thursday that it would buy Goodreads, the most visited social media site built around sharing books. The companies did not disclose a purchase price or other conditions of the sale, which will close in the next quarter.
With bookstores closing, Internet sites (...)
analysis
Researchers Find 25 Countries Using Surveillance Software - 16 March 2013
Last May, two security researchers volunteered to look at a few suspicious e-mails sent to some Bahraini activists. Almost one year later, the two have uncovered evidence that some 25 governments, many with questionable records on human rights, may be using off-the-shelf surveillance software to spy on their own (...)
analysis
Imagining a Swap Meet for E-Books and Music - 12 March 2013
The paperback of “Fifty Shades of Grey” is exactly like the digital version except for this: If you hate the paperback, you can give it away or resell it. If you hate the e-book, you’re stuck with it.
The retailer’s button might say “buy now,” but you are in effect only renting an e-book — or an iTunes song — and your (...)
analysis
Algorithms Get a Human Hand in Steering Web - 11 March 2013
Trading stocks, targeting ads, steering political campaigns, arranging dates, besting people on “Jeopardy” and even choosing bra sizes: computer algorithms are doing all this work and more.
But increasingly, behind the curtain there is a decidedly retro helper — a human being.
Although algorithms are growing ever (...)
analysis
Where Apps Meet Work, Secret Data Is at Risk - 4 March 2013
As is the case with many busy people, Delyn Simons’s life has become an open phone app of commingled corporate and personal information.
“I’ve got Dropbox, Box, YouSendIt, Teambox, Google Drive,” says Ms. Simons, a 42-year-old executive, naming just five of the many services on her iPhone to store memos, (...)
