Hasta La Gadget!

On the heels of yesterday’s revelation that the NSA is bulk collecting call logs from Verizon Business customers, the Washington Post is reporting tonight on another initiative, code named PRISM. According to the report, it gives the FBI and NSA access to “audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs” from the central servers of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL (parent company of Engadget), Skype, YouTube and Apple. Another program called BLARNEY sniffs up metadata as it streams past “choke points” on the internet, continuing the theme of bulk scooping of data most would think is private. The Post’s knowledge of these programs comes from PowerPoint slides (like the one shown above) provided by a “career intelligence officer” driven to expose how deep it goes.

So what can the project allegedly see? Analysts based at Fort Meade use search terms to determine at least 51 percent confidence in a subject’s “foreignness” before pulling data, which can include that of people found in a suspect’s inbox. On Facebook, they can utilize the service’s built in search and surveillance capabilities, monitor audio, video, chat and file transfers or access activity on Google’s mail, storage, photo and search services. So… are you still logged in?

Update 4: Now we’ve come full circle, as the original Washington Post article has been expanded to include the various company’s responses and denials (listed after the break). Another element that has changed is the mention of another classified report that suggests these companies may not be knowingly participating, and the NSA’s access may not be as direct as originally claimed. Claiming the difference may be the result of “imprecision” by the NSA author, the arrangement is now described as “collection managers [to send] content tasking instructions directly to equipment installed at company-controlled locations.”

Filed under: Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook

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Source: Washington Post, Office of the Director of National Intelligence

According to The Guardian, the National Security Agency is presently mining millions of records from Verizon, which it slapped with a court order back in April. The order was sent in its entirety to the media company by an unspecified source, and details that such records are being handed over to the government without consumer

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The smartphone-connected home security options keep coming, with the Goji smart lock latest to entice us to upgrade our door furniture and hook it up to the cloud. The Goji looks, at first glance, like the August smart lock announced last week, but Goji manages to squeeze in a digital camera to snap photos of

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The innovators behind the OnGARD Security Door Brace and SMART Dummy
Camera are looking to you to invent the next big advancement in home
security devices, and are willing to pay big bucks for your best idea.

Keys have evolved over the last few years, quite significantly. There are cars which no longer require keys at all, starting at the touch of a button when the key fob is nearby. These days, people like controlling all of their stuff via smartphones, and I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to control door locks with them. Or not.

The August Smart Lock is a system that allows anyone to enter your home, if they’ve been granted a virtual key.

It was designed by Yves Béhar. It’s supposed to provide a seamless way of entering one’s home. The lock works with existing deadbolts, and a companion app. You’ll still be able to unlock your door the old fashioned way. The virtual keys are naturally encrypted, and cannot be copied. If you lose your phone, you can kill your key remotely through the website.

The feature I like is the auto-unlock, which automatically unlocks the door when you come to your house, and then locks it up again once you’re inside. You can also create invite codes to your front door for parties, allowing friends a temporary way of getting in.

The August Smart Lock is supposed to sell for $199(USD) once it’s launched later this year.

[via designboom]