data

A recent report concerning Google's unauthorized collection of data from wireless networks has raised new questions about the company's behavior. Curiously, though, Google itself has released the report. Google had been accused of foul play after ... inadvertently collecting personal data from people's home WiFi networks. The problem stems from the company's vehicles which, busy taking photographs for its Street View maps system, also scanned for local networks. The networks were to be part of a database intended to aid Google's navigational offerings to consumers. A year-long investigation by ... (view more)

Note from Dennis: The newest version of the most popular CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc burning or writing software is now available! At the end of the review, we're offering an amazing 40-80% discount for Infopackets readers (offer expires Aug 20 @ ... 11:59PM EST). If you already own an older version of Burning Studio and want to purchase version 11 at a discount, you can click here to go straight to the offer . Otherwise, continue reading below. -- Are you confused by the complexities of creating a CD, DVD or Blu-ray on your computer or laptop? Do you wish you just could tell the computer what you ... (view more)

A man who wants to launch an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that puts privacy first has raised more than $40,000 in a single day. However, he says it will take at least $1 million before the company can get off the ground. The project, known as the ... Calyx Institute, was stimulated by a 2004 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) request for an ISP to provide information about its customers, accompanied by an order not to reveal that such a demand had been made. Nicholas Merrill was running that ISP, and he was stunned by the request. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ... (view more)

Imagine you could walk into any bar, cafe or club and immediately identify which women were single, learn their names, and instantly send them a message via smartphone. For many of us, that might seem a dream come true. But a surprising number of ... people find the idea at least a little creepy. No Hacking Required To Uncover Personal Data Perhaps the most surprising thing about the new "Girls Around You" tool is that it doesn't involve any hacking, snooping, or other illegal behavior. The software works entirely by mining information that women have made publicly available, although ... (view more)

Update 2013/06/17: Save up to 75% off on Ashampoo Office 2012! This is the best price we've ever posted to-date, and is limited time (deal expires July 1st, 2013). Proceeds support our website and staff of writers. Thanks for your support! You can ... click here to go straight to the discount offer ; otherwise, please enjoy our review, below. Question: what's better than Microsoft Office, but costs only a fraction of price? Answer: Ashampoo Office 2012. -- Next to web browsing, office suites and word processing are arguably the most widely used software tools for every computer user. In fact, it' ... (view more)

It appears that Microsoft and its users may be experiencing a security problem potentially as dangerous and devastating as the 2010 debacle that hit Playstation owners. Back then, innocent purchasers of PlayStations were hit by one of the most ... stunning security invasions in recent memory. Millions saw their supposedly-secure account information leaked, including credit card data. The problem ran so deep that Sony felt compelled to offer substantial compensation packages. The current problem may prove just as significant, unless Microsoft changes how it stores sensitive customer information. ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it wants consumers to know exactly what private details about them a company is collecting, storing, using, and sharing. The new regulations would be part of a plan to encourage businesses to be more ... transparent, open and honest about how they treat their customers' personal information. The FTC already has sufficient powers to establish mandatory regulations about how businesses treat their customers. In this matter, however, the agency has sought approval from Congress, suggesting that the contemplated changes would be substantial enough to go beyond ... (view more)

Members of the international hacking group LulzSec ("Lulz Security") have discovered their worst nightmare may have come true. It appears that one of the group's leading figures was working as an undercover FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) ... informer for the past nine months. The news emerged this week with the arrest of five suspects in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. All those arrested are said to be members of the LulzSec group, which emerged last summer and quickly made a name for itself as a leading organization of highly proficient hackers ... (view more)

Google has unveiled a major overhaul of its online user tracking system, claiming to make its services more useful. However, critics fear the changes, set for March 1, 2012, will allow for more effective snooping of user data and online activities. ... The changes center around the way the company keeps track of activity data, and the way it's then used. Google Pools Online Tracking to 'Improve' Advertising, Search Under the old system, someone who receives a lot of emails about football will see advertisements for football. Someone who watches a lot of comedy clips on YouTube will see lots of ... (view more)

The Swedish government has formally recognized a church based on the belief that people have the right to copy digital data. The Church of Kopimism claims that information is holy, with an inherent value, and the act of copying information, known as ... "kopyacting" is a religious activity that increases the value of information by passing it to more people. The group even claims keystrokes CTRL + C and CTRL + V as religious symbols, the common key combination used for copying and pasting data using a computer keyboard. Cynical observers, however, suggest the Church of Kopimism exists not to ... (view more)