I have had a teensy, torn bit of paper taped over the camera of my MacBook Air for years now because even before I knew the FBI could activate that thing without the indicator light , it always bugged me out that someone might be secretly snooping.

Germany hasn't been best pleased by the NSA's attention over the last few years. Now, though, it's revealed that it's taking drastic action, and ditching computers in favor of something more secure: typewriters.

Phone companies are against an NSA advisory panel recommendation that would have them -- instead of the NSA -- store phone metadata for an extended time, reports The Washington Post. [Read more]
    

I’ll admit it: I’m very conflicted on the topic of privacy.
On the one hand, I’m offended by companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and other web companies that rely on our data to turn a profit and constantly push the bounds of our trust.

A crowd of about 5,000 people, chanting "stop spying, stop lying" and "hey, ho, mass surveillance has got to go," marched through Washington, D.C., Saturday to protest the U.S.

Shutterstock
Nov. 12 - 13, 2013
San Francisco, CA
Tickets On Sale Now
In a head-to-head match-up of which countries handle privacy the best, you may be surprised to learn who is respecting your data the most.

Image Credit: IsaacMao / FlickrAn MIT researcher claims he’s quantified some of the troubling self-censorship civil liberties advocates worried would result from public knowledge of mass spying.

On the side of a spy satellite from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) that launched on Thursday night, you’ll find the logo for NROL-39: an Earth-encompassing octopus along with the tagline “Nothing is beyond our reach.

Some current and former U.S. intelligence officials say that the administration was not only aware of but OK'd the snooping, according to the Los Angeles Times. [Read more]
    

Beginning in May 2010, the NSA gained access to the Mexican Presidencia domain on the Mexican Presidential network and began monitoring then-president Felipe Calderon's email account, according to a document leaked to Der Spiegel by Edward Snowden.

Former foreign secretary says newspaper not in a position to judge whether its stories will damage national interest The Guardian has shown "extraordinary naivety and arrogance" over the publication of articles based on NSA documents leaked by the...