Category Archives: Privacy

Getting Data Past Borders

Bruce Schneier uses reports that Sudan is searching all laptops being brought into the country to sound a warning: “Your privacy rights when trying to enter a country are minimal, and this kind of thing could happen anywhere… If you’re bringing a laptop across an international border, you should clean off all unnecessary files and… Read More »

Drive Safely

This is probably the way to go with USB drives — security features that the user has to follow, or else the device won’t work.  Verbatim’s new Store ‘n’ Go Corporate Secure USB Drives’ mandatory security features safeguard all device contents with a complex password. Hack resistant feature locks down device after 10 failed logon… Read More »

Sneaky Software: AOL’s Bad

AOL 9.0 (free version) Status: Open Inquiry In our preliminary findings, we
find that AOL 9.0 (free version) is currently badware because it installs
additional software without telling the user, it forces the user to take
certain actions, it adds various components to Internet Explorer and the
taskbar without disclosure, it may automatically update without the
user’s consent, and it fails to uninstall completely. We currently
recommend that users do not install the version of AOL software that we
tested, unless the user is comfortable with the level of risk we identify or
until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in
this report. OVERALL RATING Badware Behavior Installs

An End to the Anonymity of Trash?

Britain is quietly introducing RFID (Radio Frequency Identity) tags to rubbish bins (trash cans) in a bid to measure the individual waste of each household and charge them accordingly. Some Britons are up in arms about this, saying that households have not been informed and calling it an abuse of privacy. Is it? The UK’s… Read More »