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“EU-US Privacy Shield must be sent back to negotiators”
A group of leading digital rights organisations on both sides of the Atlantic has called for the Privacy Shield arrangement between the EU and US to be sent back to the negotiators. In a letter to senior EU officials, the group says that without “substantial reforms” to ensure protection for fundamental rights of individuals, the Privacy Shield will “put users at risk, undermine trust in the digital economy, and perpetuate the human rights violations that are already occurring as a result of surveillance programs and other activities.”
ArsTechnica: Privacy Shield deal must be sent back to negotiators, say digital rights warriors »
WhatsApp vs. the FBI
In Saturday’s edition of the New York Times, Matt Apuzzo reports that the Department of Justice is locked in a “prolonged standoff” with WhatsApp. The government is frustrated by its lack of real-time access to messages protected by the company’s end-to-end encryption. The story may represent a disturbing preview of the next front in the FBI’s war against encryption.
Back to the future
Meanwhile, in France…
Amendment 90 to France’s penal reform bill provides for five year prison sentences and €350,000 fines for companies that refuse to accede to law enforcement demands to decrypt devices.
BoingBoing: French Parliament votes to imprison tech execs for refusal to decrypt »
“Federal Judge Takes Apple’s Side vs. Feds in New York”
We have a new wrinkle in the encryption fight between Apple and the FBI. In a drug case, a magistrate judge in New York’s Eastern District has ruled that Apple does not need to assist the feds in unlocking a person’s phone and that the All Writs Act does not extend to such a demand.
Reason.com: Federal Judge Takes Apple’s Side vs. Feds in New York »
San Bernardino case: Gates and the general public sides with the FBI
While most of tech companies seems to side with Apple in the San Bernardino case there also are other opinions…
Bill Gates is siding with the FBI and says Apple should unlock the phone of the San Bernardino shooter. In an interview with FT, the Microsoft founder simply reiterates the Justice Department’s claim that this is a one-off case and the FBI is not asking for a general unlocking tool.
Bill Gates Says Apple Should Unlock The iPhone »
As the standoff between the Department of Justice and Apple Inc. continues over an iPhone used by one of the suspects in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, 51% say Apple should unlock the iPhone to assist the ongoing FBI investigation. Fewer Americans (38%) say Apple should not unlock the phone to ensure the security of its other users’ information; 11% do not offer an opinion on the question.
More Support for Justice Department Than for Apple in Dispute Over Unlocking iPhone »
While it might be understandable that many members of the general public have not realised the implications of such action – it is worrying that the man behind the world’s most widely used operating system have not.
Netflix or privacy?
And the war continues…
The streaming technology freshly embedded into The Pirate Bay is under fire from the Hollywood-backed anti-piracy outfit BREIN. Torrents-Time is an “illegal application” according to BREIN’s lawyer but in a response the group behind the software warns the Hollywood-funded group to back off or face criminal proceedings for extortion.
TorrentFreak: Hollywood Wants to Shut Down Pirate Bay’s Streaming Technology »
It doesn’t matter why data is collected: it only matters that it is
The only concern when data is collected about you should be how that data can be abused in a worst case scenario, for that exact scenario is more likely than not to materialize.
Rick Falkvinge: It doesn’t matter why data is collected: it only matters that it is »