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Maryland transportation chief halts audio surveillance plans
Maryland Transportation Administration considered using listening devices on its buses and trains for recording conversations of passengers and employees; acting director of the agency suspends plan
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Red tape frustrates U.K. government's eavesdroppers
A new report says that bureaucracy and red tape hampers the ability of the U.K. government to cope with an increased demand for intelligence and security testing
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Western companies help Iranian government to monitor citizens
Nokia Siemens provides the Iranian government with technology to monitor, control, and read local telephone calls; the product allows authorities to monitor any communications across a network, including voice calls, text messaging, instant messages, and Web traffic
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U.K. government to give up on massive Internet snoop scheme
The Home Office admits that its IMP (Interception Modernization Program) — the cost of which was to be £2 billion over ten years — cannot be realized because the technology does not yet exist
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U.K. to emulate some of China's Olympic security practices
The British police wants to implement during the 2012 London Olympic Games some of the security practices employed by the Chinese during the 2008 Beijing Games — some, but not all: A Scotland Yard report says that a “balance must be maintained between the use of technology to support security requirements and individual rights to privacy” (the Chinese were less concerned with that balance)
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U.K. information commissioner: data collection trend will be reversed
Richard Thomas, the outgoing U.K. information commissioner: “If you are looking for a needle in a haystack, it does not make sense to make the haystack bigger”
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Al-Qaeda plea deal details communication methods
Last week Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri entered a plea deal in Illinois in which he admitted to entering the United States on 10 September 2001 in order to form a sleeper cell for future terrorist activities; plea details Al-Qaeda’s communication methods
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U.K. moves forward with comprehensive eavesdropping scheme
The U.K. government announced last week that it was abandoning the plan to create a centralized super-database in which the personal information of Britons will be kept — but a £1 billion intelligence gathering project is moving forward; the scheme will monitor all all e-mails, Web site visits, and social networking sessions in Britain
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U.K. government drops central database scheme
Burden of storing communication logs will now fall to ISPs
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U.K. Tories charge government's legal dodge over Comms database debate
The U.K. government last year revealed plans for creating a massive central database of e-mail, Web browsing, telephone, and social networking data; U.K. law mandates that such a database be approved by parliament; Tories charge that the government is using the European rules obliging data retention by ISPs — rules which come into effect today — to begin assembling this centralized system, or its prototype
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U.K. government plans to monitor online social networks
For the last three years, intelligence services in the United States and the United Kingdom have been examining the idea of keeping a close tab on communications made among members of social networks; the U.K. Home Office denies having plans for such monitoring, but critics are not convinced
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Critics: Commercially driven deep packet inspection (DPI) is akin to wiretapping
New technology now allows third parties to engage in deep packet inspection (DPI), a technique that makes it possible to peer inside packets of data transmitted across the Internet; data collected is then sold to other companies to allow them more targeted advertising
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Spyware big seller in China
The Chinese government no longer has a monopoly over domestic spying; sales of James Bond-like hidden surveillance tools such as cameras disguised as pens or buttons to companies and individuals soar
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NSA gains support for cyber security role
New Director of national Intelligence tells Congress DHS not up to task
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EU may investigate VoIP eavesdropping
Italian anti-crime authorities have asked the EU to look into regulating VoIP communication encryption; the Italian authorities presented evidence that crime rings and prostitution networks use Skype for the specific purpose of frustrating police investigators
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