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Snowden—Facts, Fictions, and  Fears
From ACM Opinion

Snowden—Facts, Fictions, and Fears

"Any analyst at any time can target anyone. Any selector, anywhere ... I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your...

The Public-Private Surveillance Partnership
From ACM Opinion

The Public-Private Surveillance Partnership

Imagine the government passed a law requiring all citizens to carry a tracking device. Such a law would immediately be found unconstitutional. Yet we all carry...

The Machine Zone: This Is Where You Go When You Just Can't Stop Looking at Pictures on Facebook
From ACM Opinion

The Machine Zone: This Is Where You Go When You Just Can't Stop Looking at Pictures on Facebook

"People love Facebook. They really love it," Biz Stone wrote earlier this month. "My mother-in-law looks hypnotized when she decides to put in some Facebook time...

They Know Much More Than You Think
From ACM Opinion

They Know Much More Than You Think

In mid-May, Edward Snowden, an American in his late twenties, walked through the onyx entrance of the Mira Hotel on Nathan Road in Hong Kong and checked in.

A Day in the Life of My Iphone
From ACM Opinion

A Day in the Life of My Iphone

Each morning at 7 a.m., I am awakened by the sound of a spaceship next to my bed.

Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts
From ACM Opinion

Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts

When my father was growing up, his father offered him 25 cents to memorize the complete list of U.S. presidents. "Number one, George Washington. Number two, John...

Bradley Manning 'aiding the Enemy' Charge Is a Threat to Journalism
From ACM Opinion

Bradley Manning 'aiding the Enemy' Charge Is a Threat to Journalism

Thursday, Colonel Denise Lind, the judge in the Bradley Manning court martial, refused to dismiss the "aiding the enemy" charge.

Edward Snowden's Nightmare Comes True
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden's Nightmare Comes True

Snowden's worst fear, by his own account, was that "nothing will change."

A Eulogy For Altavista, the Google of Its Time
From ACM Opinion

A Eulogy For Altavista, the Google of Its Time

Goodbye AltaVista. You deserved better than this.

The Taming of the Spook
From ACM Opinion

The Taming of the Spook

On March 24, 2009, the National Security Agency’s inspector general issued a 51-page draft report on the President’s Surveillance Program, the warrantless authority...

A Eulogy For Altavista, the Google of Its Time
From ACM Opinion

A Eulogy For Altavista, the Google of Its Time

Goodbye AltaVista. You deserved better than this. Better than the one-sentence send-off Yahoo gave you today, when announcing your July 8 closure date.

From ACM Opinion

Snowden, Through the Eyes of a Spy Novelist

For a spy novelist like me, the Edward J. Snowden story has everything. A man driven by ego and idealism—can anyone ever distinguish the two?—leaves his job and...

Connecting the Dots, Missing the Story
From ACM Opinion

Connecting the Dots, Missing the Story

Could Big Data have prevented 9/11? Perhaps—Dick Cheney, for one, seems to think so.

Ways to Make Your Online Tracks Harder to Follow
From ACM Opinion

Ways to Make Your Online Tracks Harder to Follow


Sorry, It's Not 1984
From ACM Opinion

Sorry, It's Not 1984

After leaker Edward Snowden revealed the existence of massive domestic-surveillance programs operated by the NSA, the airwaves were clotted with pundits and politicians...

Phew, Nsa Is Just Collecting Metadata. (you Should Still Worry)
From ACM Opinion

Phew, Nsa Is Just Collecting Metadata. (you Should Still Worry)

We now know that every day, U.S. phone companies quietly send the government a list of who called whom and when—"telephony metadata"—for every call made on their...

The German Prism: Berlin Wants to Spy Too
From ACM Opinion

The German Prism: Berlin Wants to Spy Too

Just a few days ago, the man whom many Germans now see as one of the greatest villains in the world visited Berlin.

The Prism
From ACM Opinion

The Prism

An extraordinary fuss about eavesdropping started in the spring of 1844, when Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian exile in London, became convinced that the British government...

Connecting the Dots on Prism, Phone Surveillance, and the Nsa's Massive Spy Center
From ACM Opinion

Connecting the Dots on Prism, Phone Surveillance, and the Nsa's Massive Spy Center

Physically, the NSA has always been well protected by miles of high fences and electrified wire, thousands of cameras, and gun-toting guards.

It's Time to Rewrite the Internet to Give US Better Privacy, and Security
From ACM Opinion

It's Time to Rewrite the Internet to Give US Better Privacy, and Security

Almost 15 years ago, as I was just finishing a book about the relationship between the Net (we called it "cyberspace" then) and civil liberties, a few ideas seemed...
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