There s plenty of news about tech and privacy/surveillance, in the United States and beyond, and some of it might make you shudder:
FBI Director James Comey said Thursday he s concerned about Apple and Google s moves to encrypt the data on their smartphones by default, therefore making it much harder for authorities to access that information.
As we wrote last week, Apple started a privacy campaign touting the feature in its new iOS, and Google immediately afterward announced that it, too, would turn on encryption by default.
The moves are part of tech companies privacy push in the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks, as they try to minimize the damage done by revelations that the NSA and other government agencies have accessed Internet users personal information under the guise of fighting terrorism.
Comey said officials are talking to Apple and Google about the matter. He said the companies are marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law, and that the companies new policies could hinder cases involving kidnapping or terrorism. His concern echo those of former FBI officials .
Meanwhile, Facebook, Google and Twitter are reportedly being pushed to place servers inside Russia. That way, under Russian law, the country will have the ability to access Russian users online information. If the companies don t comply by the end of the year, the deputy chief of the country s media watchdog said they would be hit with administrative sanctions that could eventually include being blocked in Russia.
In Australia, the Senate voted on a tough anti-terrorism bill that would give the domestic spy agency ASIO the ability to broadly monitor the Internet with just one warrant. The Sydney Morning Herald said the bill, which also would crack down on whistleblowers and journalists for disclosing classified information, is expected to pass the House next. In addition, according to the newspaper: ASIO will also be able to copy, delete, or modify the data held on any of the computers it has a warrant to monitor.
Photo of FBI Director James Comey by Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT
