Camera and Microphone for Xbox One: Always-on and works-in-the-dark

By Sebastian Anthony

The Xbox One will feature, by default, an always-on, works-in-the-dark, microphone and camera that’s constantly connected to the internet and 300,000 servers. And inside the kinect box you will find 4 microphones, 2 cameras, an infrared motion sensor, and a license to freely record and upload your activity…. What could possibly go wrong? Read More

The biggest thing to come out of Texas may turn out to be a blow to Internet freedoms: legislators there are considering a bill that would compromise privacy on the Web for all residents of the Lone Star State.

Lawmakers in the State Senate are expected to vote Monday on a bill that, if passed, would compel Internet Service Providers (ISPs) anywhere in the world to fork over private Web records if that information could aid in a criminal investigation. Read More

The FBI is pushing for expanded power to eavesdrop on private Internet communications. The law enforcement agency wants to force online service providers to build wiretapping capabilities into their products. But a group of prominent computer security experts argues that mandating “back doors” in online communications products is likely to compromise the security of Americans’ computers and could even pose a threat to national security. Read More

by Dan Goodin

If you think the private messages you send over Skype are protected by end-to-end encryption, think again. The Microsoft-owned service regularly scans message contents for signs of fraud, and company managers may log the results indefinitely, Ars has confirmed. And this can only happen if Microsoft can convert the messages into human-readable form at will. Read More

A federal judge recently ruled that if someone has their cell phone turned on, their location data does not deserve protection under the Fourth Amendment, meaning law enforcement can track individuals without a search warrant.

New York magistrate judge Gary Brown decided in favor of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who were seeking his approval over a warrant on a doctor who they suspected was being paid for issuing thousands of prescriptions. Read More

Is Microsoft reading your Skype instant messages?

That’s the inflammatory allegation that a UK-based security blog made in a post earlier today:

Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H’s associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Read More

Washington’s Blog

We noted in March that all U.S. intelligence agencies – including the CIA and NSA – are going to spy on Americans’ finances.

The IRS is joining the fun. Read More

Nicholas West
Activist Post

GPS tracking and positioning technology was brought to us by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), commonly known as the “mad science” element of military development. Apparently, DARPA has done such a good job thoroughly embedding GPS into military applications, as well as permitting it to trickle down to “civilian devices,” that it has become a potential threat to national security. Read More

The UK’s National Grid has proposed all white goods for the British consumers to be fitted with special sensor chips, which would automatically and without owner’s consent turn the device off in the event of abnormal nationwide electricity demand. Read More

By Stephen Dean

A hidden camera investigation from the Call 6 Investigators found a growing threat from illegal business flights of drones nationwide, prompting concerns from Indianapolis pilots and calls for action in Congress. Read More

China sent high-definition earth observation satellite “Gaofen 1″ into space shortly after noon on Friday, marking the start of a program that will substantially improve its capabilities in disaster relief, resources and environment survey.

The satellite unfolded its solar panel in orbit at 12:39 p.m. after its carrier — a Long March-2D rocket — was launched from northwest China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:13 p.m. Read More

by Declan McCullagh

Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.

The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors’ Internet links. Read More

An attempt to ban US bosses from asking employees to hand over their Facebook login details has been blocked by Congress. Read More

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com

The IRS argues it has the right to violate the Fourth Amendment under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986.

The Internal Revenue Service believes it is not beholden to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and can read your email without a warrant, according to documents released to the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act request. Read More

A privacy watchdog group is suing the FBI over the agency’s failure to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests for documents involving a secretive and expansive database that could be used to track down anyone, anywhere and at any time.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed the complaint [PDF] in United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to comply with a pair of FOIA request placed more than six months ago. Read More