Hasta La Gadget!

Revelations of government surveillance programs, including the headline-grabbing PRISM, have been nothing short of a PR nightmare for the White House. President Obama, who ran in part on a platform that included opposition to certain elements of the Patriot Act and President Bush’s illegal wiretapping program, has faced tough questions about his role in the NSA data collection system. Today, he addressed reporters in the White House press room and, as part of his regular briefing, began to layout a path to increased transparency that he hopes will re-earn the trust of the citizens.

After consulting with members of congress and civil liberties organizations, President Obama has come up with four initial steps to improve transparency and confidence, while working to maintain essential security apparatus. First up, is a direct dialog with congress about reforming section 215 of the Patriot Act, which is the part of the legislation regarding the collection of telephone records. Obama also took the opportunity to reiterate that the government does not have the ability to eavesdrop on phone calls without a warrant. The second step also involved congress and working to improve confidence in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Most notably, he said the government would pursue reforms that would ensure judges would hear opposing views from independent civil liberties proponents, in addition to government representatives.

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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The White House’s main telecom adviser, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has issued a first draft of a mobile apps code of contact, with the goal of giving consumers more control of their privacy. It was created over several years in cooperation with privacy advocates, app developers and gatekeepers like Apple, Google and Blackberry. If adopted, publishers will be required to provide “short form notices” telling consumers whether or not their data is being collected and how it’s being used. Such data would include biometrics, browser history, phone or SMS logs, contact info, financial data, health, medical or therapy info, user files and location data.

The document was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, though it wasn’t crazy about the amount of time the process took, saying that “comprehensive privacy legislation” was also needed. It’s worth noting that major app store operators already agreed recently to put new privacy policy standards in place that conform with California’s Online Privacy Protection Act. There’s also the irony of the US government pushing for more consumer privacy, while perhaps being the largest abuser via PRISM. Dig into the source for the full read.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Via: TNW

Source: NTIA

While we know the government’s spying on our personal data, what’s it doing with all of the public info it gathers? President Obama’s answer to that question was creating Data.gov, a portal that publishes, among other things, public school funding amounts. Four years on, though, and the site looks and navigates like a product of its time. The modern redesign that launched today as a preview is part of this May’s Open Data Executive Order that hopes to graft non-proprietary and machine-readable data formats “into the Federal Government’s DNA.” The homepage combines published research from a range of headings — education, energy, finance, global development, health, research and safety — and the tweets of public servants about said data, into one river of news. It’s cool to see the government taking charge and making all this easier to access, but we’re wondering how much it’ll cost us next April.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: The Verge

Source: Whitehouse, Data.gov

President Obama hasn’t been shy about engaging the public and other nations on digital issues, and that includes the idea of cyber warfare. While his administration has been pretty aggressive in building up our cyber defenses, our offensive capabilities have remained somewhat more mysterious. According to a leaked document obtained by the Guardian, the White House has made moves to seriously step up its digital arsenal. In fact, it appears that a Presidential Policy Directive issued in October (though, never released for public consumption) ordered that a list of over-seas targets be drawn up for potential future offensives. Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (or OCEOs) are cited in the directive as having “unique and unconventional capabilities to advance US national objectives around the world.” It then goes on to say that the government will, “identify potential targets of national importance where OCEO can offer a favorable balance of effectiveness and risk as compared with other instruments of national power.”

The more aggressive approach to battling foreign nations through the internet is likely to raise concerns in certain circles about the weaponization of the web. Of course, such fears about militarization aren’t completely unwarranted. But with countries like China posing serious digital threats, government officials will likely see the moves as necessary. The document also says that any operations must abide by US and international law, though, we doubt any suggestions that our government blatantly ignore such rules would ever be put down on paper. The leak of the document follows hot on the heels of the growing PRISM scandal, which has put the nations digital policies front and center in the public’s mind.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: The Guardian

The White House announced an initiative today to curb the use of patents by patent holders as a tool for “frivolous litigation,” and to protect “Main Street retailers, consumers and other end-users of productions containing patented technology.” The initiative’s inception is composed of legislative recommendations to Congress and a handful of executive actions being carried out directly by the White House — it’s essentially an initiative targeting patent trolls. Administration officials wouldn’t say which congressional representatives might propose bills carrying the White House’s recommendations; they characterized today’s announcement as part of the administration’s ongoing effort to reform patent law.

Though the terms are broad, a senior Obama administration official told Engadget that today’s announcement is “specifically designed to deal with abusive patent legislation” rather than sweeping patent reform, and is, “not designed in any way to pursue legit patent rights holders.”

The executive actions (five in total) range from making sure that patent holders are clearly identified — meant to target patent trolls that intentionally confuse litigation with myriad “shell” companies — to providing more clear information on patent use to consumers who may be targeted by patent trolls. The legislative recommendations list includes many of the same provisions as the executive actions, and adds even more protections for individual consumers (a stay in suits that target consumers when “an infringement suit has also been brought against a vendor, retailer, or manufacturer,” for instance).

Filed under: Science

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Via: The Wall Street Journal