You have to wonder why Cameron tried to force through the Communications Data Bill (you may remember, that was the one called the ‘Snoopers’ Charter’) when the Snowden files revealed that GCHQ was already doing pretty much everything the new law would allow them – that is, snooping on everyone in the UK (that’s you […]

  Recently, a developer I know reasonably well contacted me to show me a new JavaScript library he had written which exposes information on all network adapters and connections on a PC. This code was able to detect -all- network adapters along with the IP addresses assigned to them including virtual adapters. This means that […]

CESG, the infosec arm of GCHQ, has released updates to its advice on the secure use of Blackberry, Android and Chrome, to cover the latest versions. The advice is aimed at public sector use of BYOD at OFFICIAL level – but it should be required reading for all businesses. It tries to square the circle […]

A lot of guff has been written about last month’s ECJ ruling that search engines must abide by European data protection laws. Much of this centres around the world’s media claiming that a right to be forgotten now prevails in Europe. Here are just three examples from the last few days: Google sets up ‘right […]

As an advocate I have spent a great deal of my time over the past six years taking part in roundtables, consultations, forums and conferences and during that time I have witnessed first hand the relentless push by “Big Data” corporations to dilute the fundamental right of privacy in order for those same corporations to […]

Wherever you live, now is the time to take advantage of Apple’s 2FA for Apple ID credentials.

One of the nastiest little tricks of nasty little governments is to hide new laws that they don’t want us to know about in popular laws that we all welcome. All governments do it — and the latest example is being done to us in Canada. The Bill is C-13. It is called the Protecting […]

Fresh from its success against HMRC, Privacy International (PI) is now taking on GCHQ. It announced Tuesday that it has “filed a legal complaint demanding an end to the unlawful hacking being carried out by GCHQ which, in partnership with the NSA, is infecting potentially millions of computer and mobile devices around the world with […]

This is going to upset the apple cart – the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has decided in favour of Mario Costeja González in his dispute with Google. Way back in 1998, a Spanish newspaper published reports on certain pecuniary difficulties in which González found himself. By 2010 those difficulties were long past – but […]

Privacy International has been attempting to get blood from a stone; otherwise known as getting information out of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It has wanted to know if Gamma International is being investigated for potential breach of UK export controls. Gamma International, you may recall, is the company behind the FinFisher surveillance malware. FinFisher […]