Big Brother App from Apple and Others Data Privacy Concerns
1984 will not be like 1984 (see video below), but what if 2014 is like 1984? :)
Apple has patented a piece of technology which would allow government and police to block transmission of information, including video and photographs, from any public gathering or venue they deem sensitive, and protected from externalities.
In other words, these powers will have control over what can and cannot be documented on wireless devices during any public event.
And while the company says the affected sites are to be mostly cinemas, theaters, concert grounds and similar locations, Apple Inc. also says covert police or government operations may require complete blackout conditions.
Additionally, Apple says, the wireless transmission of sensitive information to a remote source is one example of a threat to security. This sensitive information could be anything from classified government information to questions or answers to an examination administered in an academic setting.
Even more oddly, the above news was reported in Russia TV one year back, but did not get picked up by US mainstream media.
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Apple’s 1984 ad
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Another Reason to Backup Your Data
Details here.
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How Safe is Bioinformatics Data in US-based Cloud Systems?
At the least, spying revelations expose data analysis companies holding personal medical data to huge liabilities, given that the concerns are legitimate.
NSA spying is costing big business big money
But, to the NSA, putting the material on the cloud is a bit like shoving all the personal information in one place where it can be easily collected. While that makes life easier for the spooks, it makes companies less likely to go with cloud stuff.
Big business is unhappy with the idea of being spied on as much as your Average Joe.
At the moment it is US companies that dominate the international cloud computing market. Normally that would mean that piles of foreign cash would be rolling into the US from foreign parts.
However, Daniel Castro of ITIF, is now warning that foreign companies are not trusting American cloud computer companies and he thinks that US cloud companies will lose anywhere from 10 percent to 20 percent of the market to international rivals.
This will represent a loss of $22 billion to $35 billion.
Already 10 percent of international companies surveyed have already cancelled a project that used a cloud computing service based in the US and 56 percent of companies surveyed are “less likely” to use a US based cloud computing service.
It also seems that 36 percent of US companies surveyed said they have found it “more difficult” to do business outside of the country because of NSA spying.
The other issue is industrial espionage (assisted by US government) from competitors.
Germany fears NSA stole industrial secrets
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How Safe is Bioinformatics Data in Your Own Laptop Then?
Maybe not much, if you are running Windows 8.
Germany Warns Windows 8 is Dangerous Is Microsoft a Giant Short?
I reported that Windows 8 was dangerous. Some wrote to argue I was wrong. I wrote why NASA announced it was dumping Windows 8 and that even Skype should not be used. Microsoft has been criticized for the Prism affair. Now appears that Windows 8 is especially dangerous. The German government warns against Microsoft program because it has the ability to control the hardware and software of the computer. The NSA can enter you computer remotely. Has Microsoft created economic suicide?
<http://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/2013/08/21/nsa-ueberwachung- bundesregierung-warnt-vor-massivem-sicherheitsrisiko-bei-windows-8/>
Many laptops are now pre-installed with Windows 8 sold or delivered. The new program from Microsoft is not very successful, but is heavily promoted. Even companies that German authorities and the federal government, for example, will gradually work with this operating system. But here there are significant security vulnerabilities.
To warn IT experts before the federal program and refer to it as dangerous. There was a gap in Windows 8, which is a high security risk, reports the time with reference to documents of the Federation. This refers to the so-called Trusted Computing. A technology with about Microsoft may access the hardware and software of the computer operated with Windows 8. And thus the NSA, finally there is a very close cooperation between them ( here ).
In the document in which the IT experts of the Federal warn of the vulnerabilities of Windows 8, it says in part: Due to the loss of full sovereignty over information technology would be the security objectives confidentiality and integrity no longer would ensure t . use the Trusted Computing technique in this form () For this reason was not acceptable to the federal government and the operators of critical infrastructure.
In any laptop, any computer is using Windows 8 a Aufpasserchip called, trusted computing modules (TPM) can be integrated, warns the cryptographer and security researcher Rdiger.
