EFF News
26 Jun 2011 Comments Off on EFF News
in IRL
WSJ and Al-Jazeera Lure Whistleblowers With False Promises of Anonymity
The success of Wikileaks in obtaining and releasing information has inspired mainstream media outlets to develop copycat sites, including ones run by the Wall Street Journal and Al-Jazeera. EFF’s review of the Terms of Services of these sites reveals that they aren’t adequately protecting the security and privacy of sources. For example, the Terms of Service for Al-Jazeera’s site give the administrators flexibility to “share personally identifiable information in response to a law enforcement agency’s request, or where we believe it is necessary.”
How to Disable Facebook’s Facial Recognition Feature
Facebook debuted a tag suggestion feature in December, which works by using facial recognition technology to examine photos in which you’ve already been tagged and then creates a “facial fingerprint.” Facebook then uses this fingerprint to suggest your name to your friends when they upload a photo of you. Like most new Facebook features, this one is turned on by default. If this makes you uncomfortable, you will need to opt out manually. Check out EFF’s video showing three ways to delete your facial fingerprint data from Facebook.
Supreme Court Affirms High Standard of Proving Patents Invalid
In a disappointing decision, the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Circuit’s rule that, in litigation, a patent may be proved invalid by clear and convincing evidence. EFF filed an amicus brief to support our view that a lower standard of proof should be necessary to invalidate bad patents that stifle innovation.
ACLU Sues State Department to Declassify Diplomatic Cables Already Revealed by WikiLeaks
The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request for 23 embassy cables that were widely disseminated by news organizations in November 2010. The government has refused to respond to the request, prompting a lawsuit by the ACLU.
Richard Dreyfuss reads the iTunes EULA
CNET recruited Academy Award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss to provide a dramatic (and hilarious) reading of Apple’s End User License Agreement for iTunes.
Cybersecurity Theory and Myths
Law professor Derek Bambauer debunks four myths about cybersecurity – including “No one cares more about civil liberties than Cyber Command and the National Security Agency.”