By Gerri Peev
16th July 2011

Thousands on secret council blacklists: Personal details kept of residents who dare to complain

Thousands of people involved in disagreements with council staff have had their personal details stored on secret blacklists.

Bureaucrats have listed the details of members of the public who have been involved in rows with teachers or dustmen over seemingly trivial matters.

Scores of…

Can Google+ Really Lead to Greater Online Identity?
By Melanie Pinola, PCWorld
Jul 9, 2011

Google+’s creepy integration everwhere may extend your online identity when you surf, and its social Circles can be very useful and flexible.

But it remains to be seen how Google’s foray into social networking will lead to a stable version of identity online like what Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt…

Liverpool council’s anti-fraud teams undercover on Facebook and Twitter
By Marc Waddington, Liverpool Echo
Jul 8 2011

LIVERPOOL council snoops are to go undercover on Facebook and Twitter to try to snare benefit fraudsters and rogue traders.

They say the social networking sites can provide “priceless” information which could lead to convictions and that because such sites are still in their infancy they are…

Spies in blue: San Fran Cops May Be Working As FBI Spies
May 2, 2011
Sarah Phelan

San Francisco cops assigned to the FBI’s terrorism task force can ignore local police orders and California privacy laws to spy on people without any evidence of a crime.

That’s what a recently released memo appears to say — and it has sent shockwaves through the civil…

Why You Should Care About the iPhone Location-Tracking Issue
By Brian X. Chen and Mike Isaac Email Author
April 22, 2011

You should care about Apple’s collection of geodata on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices, because the method is flawed.

To be clear, “care” doesn’t mean you should smash your iPhone with a hammer, rip out the GPS chip and gulp it down…

Army surveillance bot approved for use by police, firemen
April 20, 2011
By Matthew Lasar

You can send it into buildings where hostages are being held, then move it from room to room as it transmits video via its miniature camera. Sleek and unobtrusive, the gadget can slip under furniture and roll down stairs. Only eight inches long and 1.2 pounds, it can be…

A new Clockwork Orange? The marketing gadget that tracks brainwaves as you watch TV
By Daily Mail Reporter
18th April 2011

Would you feel comfortable if market researchers could know your every thought?

A headband designed by San Francisco firm EmSense can sense your brainwaves as you have reactions to watching something and then record the data for researchers.

The process of measuring your…