Microsoft Sued Over Phone Tracking
September 2nd, 2011Via: Information Week:
Microsoft on Wednesday was sued in a district court in Seattle for allegedly tracking Windows Phone users without consent.
Plaintiff Rebecca Cousineau claims in the complaint that Microsoft is racing to develop a targeted location-based advertising system and has to map the locations of cell towers, wireless routers, mobile phones, and computers to do so effectively. The complaint alleges that Microsoft chose to collect this information from Windows Phone users rather than go through the expensive and laborious process of collecting the information itself.
“Microsoft’s scheme is executed through its camera application, which comes standard with a mobile device running the Windows Phone OS,” the complaint states.
The crux of the complaint is that Microsoft asks the user for permission to use his or her location the first time the camera application is opened and then ignores the user’s choice, collecting location data whether or not the user has consented.
“Microsoft brazenly continues to collect users’ location information, regardless of whether or not the individual chooses ‘cancel’ so as to not allow such information to be tracked,” the complaint states. “Thus, Microsoft surreptitiously forces even unwilling users into its non-stop geo-tracking program in the interest of developing its digital marketing grid.”
Microsoft declined to comment.
Related:
iPhone Keeps Secret Record of Everywhere You Go
Google Faces $50 Million Lawsuit Over Android Location Tracking
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions and Sign Up for Hosting with Blue Host
September 2nd, 2011Pookie sent $75, CB sent $50 and GB sent $50. Thank you.
Thanks also go out to the owner of tedpump.com for signing up for hosting with BlueHost. Cryptogon received $90 as a result.
August Earnings
September 2nd, 2011Earnings in August came to a total of $1233.46. The five people who sent funds in August were all repeat contributors who have given too much already. I am, as always, grateful for your generous support.
Affiliate commissions were great. There had been a bit of a drought of BlueHost signups lately, but there were three in August, which was very nice. And $611 in commissions through U.S. Amazon… That’s over 60% of the minimum monthly goal just from U.S. Amazon sales. Thanks very much for using the affiliate links to support Cryptogon. It all adds up.
U.S. BACKED FORCES ROUND UP BLACK AFRICANS IN LIBYA
September 2nd, 2011*wink* *blink* *nod* at the part in bold below.
Via: AP:
Rebel forces and armed civilians are rounding up thousands of black Libyans and migrants from sub-Sahara Africa, accusing them of fighting for ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi and holding them in makeshift jails across the capital.
Virtually all of the detainees say they are innocent migrant workers, and in most cases there is no evidence that they are lying. But that is not stopping the rebels from placing the men in facilities like the Gate of the Sea sports club, where about 200 detainees — all black — clustered on a soccer field this week, bunching against a high wall to avoid the scorching sun.
Handling the prisoners is one of the first major tests for the rebel leaders, who are scrambling to set up a government that they promise will respect human rights and international norms, unlike the dictatorship they overthrew.
The rebels’ National Transitional Council has called on fighters not to abuse prisoners and says those accused of crimes will receive fair trials.There has been little credible evidence of rebels killing or systematically abusing captives during the six-month conflict. Still, the African Union and Amnesty International have protested the treatment of blacks inside Libya, saying there is a potential for serious abuse.
Aladdin Mabrouk, a spokesman for Tripoli’s military council, said no one knows how many people have been detained in the city, but he guessed more than 5,000. While no central registry exists, he said neighborhood councils he knows have between 200 and 300 prisoners each. The city of 1.8 million has dozens of such groups.
Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told reporters this week that he’d visited several detention centers and found conditions “up to international standards.”
“We are building a Libya of tolerance and freedom, not of revenge,” he said.
Mossad Cut Deal with New Zealand Government to Secure Early Release of Operatives
September 1st, 2011Via: New Zealand Herald:
Israeli spies convicted of trying to obtain false passports got off lightly in exchange for the return of several more illegally obtained New Zealand passports, Nicky Hagar’s book claims.
Other People’s Wars, was released yesterday and investigates New Zealand’s role in the “war on terror”.
The book claims that after the September 11 attacks, the Security Intelligence Service aligned its focus with US interests, concentrating on people like Ahmed Zaoui while oblivious to the Mossad operation.
Elisha Cara and Uriel Kelman were trying to obtain false passports, which Mossad agents have used to enter other countries and carry out missions, including assassinations.
Mr Hager’s book says the Mossad mission was exactly what the SIS should have been investigating, but it was uncovered by an immigration official in 2004.
The Government at the time won a secret settlement, according to Mr Hager’s sources.
“The most important part of the settlement was that the Israeli Government had returned several illegally obtained passports that had been obtained by Cara and his colleagues,” the book says.
Cara and Kelman were convicted of passport fraud and served half of their six-month sentences.
Nothing to See Here: Israeli Killed in Christchurch Earthquake Was Carrying Five Passports
Documents Reveal New Details About DHS Development of Mobile Body Scanners; Not Certified “People Scanners”
September 1st, 2011Too much radiation. No consent.
Via: EPIC:
EPIC has obtained more than one hundred fifty pages of documents detailing the Department of Homeland Security’s development of mobile body scanners and other crowd surveillance technology. The documents were obtained as a result of a Freedom Information Act lawsuit brought by EPIC against the federal agency. According to the documents obtained by EPIC, vehicles equipped with mobile body scanners are designed to scan crowds and pedestrians on the street and can see through bags, clothing, and even other vehicles. The documents also reveal that the mobile backscatter machines cannot be American National Standards Institute “certified people scanners” because of the high level of radiation output and because subjects would not know they have been scanned.
FEMA and Your ‘Federal Family’
September 1st, 2011Via: Palm Beach Post:
Don’t think of it as the federal government but as your “federal family.”
In a Category 4 torrent of official communications during the approach and aftermath of Hurricane Irene, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has repeatedly used the phrase “federal family” when describing the Obama administration’s response to the storm.
The Obama administration didn’t invent the phrase but has taken it to new heights.
“Under the direction of President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano, the entire federal family is leaning forward to support our state, tribal and territorial partners along the East Coast,” a FEMA news release declared Friday as Irene churned toward landfall.
The G-word — “government” — has been nearly banished, with FEMA instead referring to federal, state and local “partners” as well as “offices” and “personnel.”
“’Government’ is such a dirty word right now,” says Florida State University communication professor Davis Houck. “Part of what the federal government does and any elected official does is change the terms of the language game into terms that are favorable to them.”
“Family” can evoke favorable thoughts of motherhood and security. But it can also conjure images of Big Brother and organized crime.
The phrase “federal family” has been used in connection with FEMA at least as far back as 1999.
Nicky Hager: Other People’s Wars
September 1st, 2011“This is…by far the largest leak of military and intelligence documents in the history of New Zealand.”
—Nicky Hager (Audio from press conference linked below)
Via: Scoop:
Nicky Hager’s new book Other People’s Wars: New Zealand in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror was released today at 9am by Craig Potton Publishing. A press conference was held at noon at Victoria University’s Rutherford House. The book details the activities of the New Zealand military and intelligence agencies in the Middle East since 9/11. In usual Hager style, it takes much evidence from with leaked classified military and intelligence documents, supplemented by interviews with soldiers and senior military officials.
According to the book, military decisions are often made without reference to the wishes of the elected government. “People assume that politicians make decisions, but often they’re busy, ill-informed or actively excluded.…The worst decisions were made by senior officials and military officers, often without [the ministers’] knowledge.”—senior NZ government official.
Listen to the press conference below…
More: New Zealand Herald
Pakistan Bans Use of VPNs
September 1st, 2011Maniac fascism.
Via: Guardian:
Millions of internet users in Pakistan will be unable to send emails and messages without fear of government snooping after authorities banned the use of encryption software.
A legal notice sent to all internet providers (ISPs) by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, seen by the Guardian, orders the ISPs to inform authorities if any of their customers are using virtual private networks (VPNs) to browse the web.
Virtual private networks allow internet users to connect to the web undetected, meaning that they can access banned websites and send emails without fear of government interception.
Pakistan’s 20 million internet users have previously been banned from popular social networks, such as Facebook, because of blasphemous material about the prophet Muhammad. All internet traffic in the country travels through the Pakistan Internet Exchange, which can be intercepted by the military and civil intelligence agencies. The move echoes a crackdown against encrypted communications across the border in India and in China.
We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom
September 1st, 2011Come on kids, let’s go for a ride on the triceratops and then we’ll go buy us some frozen pizzas at CostCo. Later on, if yer’ real good, you’ll get to hear the one about how the Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden again.
Gee, thanks, Dad!
Via: Guardian:
A colouring book about the events of 9/11, complete with pictures of the burning twin towers and the execution of a cowering Osama bin Laden for children to fill in, has provoked outrage among American Muslims.
We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom has just been released by the Missouri-based publisher Really Big Coloring Books, which says it is “designed to be a tool that parents can use to help teach children about the facts surrounding 9/11”. Showing scenes from 9/11 for children to colour in and telling the story of the attacks and the subsequent hunt for Osama bin Laden, “the book was created with honesty, integrity, reverence, respect and does not shy away from the truth”, according to its publisher, which says that it has sold out of its first print run of 10,000 copies.
One page of the $6.99 book, which has been given a PG rating, shows Bin Laden hiding behind a hijab-wearing woman as he is shot by a Navy SEAL. “Being the elusive character that he was, and after hiding out with his terrorist buddies in Pakistan and Afghanistan, American soldiers finally locate the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden,” runs the text accompanying the picture. “Children, the truth is, these terrorist acts were done by freedom-hating radical Islamic Muslim extremists. These crazy people hate the American way of life because we are FREE and our society is FREE.”


