John Lister

A privacy protection group based in Germany is threatening court action against Facebook. The group says the social networking site's new "App Center" feature doesn't give users enough information about how their personal data will be shared with ... software developers. The complaint comes from the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV), which translates as the Federation of German Consumer Organizations. The VZBV is made up of consumer groups based throughout Germany. The VZBV is most concerned with Facebook's App Center, which launched in July, and which covers the various smartphone-style ... (view more)

The latest edition of Mozilla's popular web browser, Firefox 15, is getting solid early reviews. In addition to fixing a notorious memory problem, the new version offers better support for games and music, and eases the update process. For many web ... users, Firefox is the world's best browser. It built that reputation by offering usability features not seen in other browsers. It has also suffered fewer security problems than rival browsers like Internet Explorer, from Microsoft. Over time, however, Firefox has lost a lot of market share to a newer entry in the market: Google's Chrome. One of ... (view more)

A team of international researchers is currently exploring the possibility that someone could "hack" a person's brain. For now, such a process would require technology that is difficult to obtain. The study is related to Electroencephalography (EEG) ... technology, which is a way of measuring brain activity. EEG was originally developed to diagnose neurological problems. For many years, EEG technology has been extremely expensive and therefore limited to professional medical use. However, today the cost has come down to the point where it can be used in other ways, for other purposes. This ... (view more)

South Korea has abandoned a law requiring Internet users to use their real name, declaring it a restriction of free speech. However, the Chinese government continues to employ a similar rule. The South Korean law took effect in 2007, following ... extensive abuse and malicious false stories written about public figures by anonymous individuals. Under the law, any South Korean website with more than 100,000 visitors a day had to verify the identity of those posting comments, including checking their resident registration numbers (roughly equivalent to U.S. Social Security numbers). (Source: bbc.co ... (view more)

Google is looking for elite engineers capable of protecting the privacy of the company's users. The nature of the recruitment ads suggests the engineers will be defending users against all threats, even those posed by Google. The ad is for a "data ... privacy engineer." It says that the successful recruits will join a team of "back-end ninjas: protecting your privacy, ensuring your security and leaving no trace behind." Successful applicants will be required to "identify, research, and help resolve potential privacy risks across all of our products, services, and business processes in place ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Dish Network for breaching rules on telemarketing calls. The government agency claims the satellite TV firm made millions of unsolicited telephone calls aimed at making sales. Some of the people covered by ... the new complaint were on the "National Do Not Call Registry," a central resource set up in 2004 to prevent unsolicited telemarketing phone calls to consumers who want their privacy. Most for-profit companies are banned from calling telephone numbers on the Do No Call list. The FTC had already complained that Dish Network called people ... (view more)

Freedom of speech online is once again the topic of heated debate, this time in India. That country's government has now urged major sites like Facebook to remove threatening material that may have provoked a mass exodus from some regions. The issue ... stems from religious disputes in Assam, a region in the northeast of India where long-time residents have clashed with immigrants from nearby Bangladesh, leading to dozens of deaths. In the past week, angry residents of Assam have used the Internet to threaten the immigrants with violence. The threats have reportedly caused "tens of thousands" of ... (view more)

A "user experience specialist" says Windows 8 suffers from not being designed specifically for desktop and laptop computers. That expert goes so far as to say that performance enhancements associated with the new operating system (OS) might be ... meaningless for most people. Raluca Budiu says the things that are easier to do in Windows 8 aren't the tasks most people will want to do. Budiu, of the user experience consulting firm Nielsen Norman Group, works with clients to measure the ease of using specific websites and operating systems. She made her comments on Windows 8 in an ... (view more)

Apple has warned iPhone users to take care when replying to SMS (Short Message Service) text messages, after a hacker released details about a fundamental security flaw in the iPhone operating system. The flaw could allow pranksters to send bogus ... messages that appear to come from someone else. It could also trick users into following dangerous links or handing personal information to criminals. The revelations come from a "white hat" hacker -- someone who looks for security flaws to pressure companies to improve, rather than to exploit them for personal gain -- who goes by the name " ... (view more)

The man behind the controversial Megaupload site has been given permission to remain in his native New Zealand for the moment. A local court has ruled that American officials must divulge full details of the evidence against site owner Kim Dotcom ... before he can be extradited. The Megaupload site came under fire because it allowed users to upload files and share them with others. As with many such sites, a high proportion of these files appeared to be copyright-protected material shared without permission. Difficult for Prosecutors to Convict In similar cases, it has been difficult to convict ... (view more)