Twitter releases letters that reveal extent of US Government’s demands for user data

  28 Jan 2017 , 12:20

Twitter on Saturday became the latest tech giant after Yahoo, Cloudflare and Google to release national security letters (NSLs) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that forced them to reveal user data to the government.

The tech companies have been speaking up since the last eight months about the NSLs “that came with gag orders that prevented Twitter from telling the public or the targeted users about the government’s demands in two letters it received in 2015 and 2016”, Tech Crunch reported.

The FBI recently lifted these gag orders, allowing Twitter to acknowledge the NSLs for the first time.

In the newly published NSLs, the FBI asked Twitter to turn over “the name, address, length of service, and electronic communications transactional records” of two users.

The micro-blogging site said it gave a “very limited set of data” in response to the requests and demanded more freedom in keeping their point.

“Twitter remains unsatisfied with restrictions on our right to speak more freely about national security requests we may receive, Twitter associate general counsel Elizabeth Banker wrote in a blog post.

“We would like a meaningful opportunity to challenge government restrictions when ‘classification’ prevents speech on issues of public importance,” Banker added.

Twitter has already disclosed these two letters and informed the targeted users and is suing the Department of Justice in an effort to speak more publicly about secret requests for user data.

IANS

Budget Android smartphones in US found stealthily sending user data to China

The Blu R1 HD, one of the phones that passed on user data to China

By Aditya Madanapalle /  16 Nov 2016 , 17:45

Low budget Android phones in the US have found to be sending user data to China, without the permission of the user. The data being transmitted included the apps installed on the device, what order the apps were used, diagnostic data, lists of files, the call logs, the numbers of the people the user had messaged, and the content of the text messages sent by the user. In some instances, the location information of the user was also transmitted. The data was being sent to Shanghai Adups Technology Limited.

Anti Virus software was not detecting the secret transmissions, because they normally assume that the firmware installed on the device by the manufacturers are safe. An expert user would have been able to detect the transmissions, but not a regular user. The compromised firmware was able to remotely reprogram the devices, bypass existing Android permissions, and allow for remote control of the device. The firmware essentially acted as a backdoor to devices.

The secret transmissions were discovered by Kryptowire, a company started by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Google, Amazon, Adups and Blu were all informed of the transmissions. Permission from the user was not taken for transmitting the data, and the data was itself packed in multiple layers of encryption.

Blue representatives confirmed to the New York Times that the firmware was not meant for devices used in the US, and that it had acted swiftly to resolve the issue. Blu smartphones in the market are no longer affected, and are not beaming back data to China any more. Additionally, Blu representatives re-assured users that all data collected so far has been destroyed. Adups, Google, Blu or Kryptowire have not revealed a complete list of affected models.

In response to the disclosure by Kryptowire, Adups released a statement in response, claiming that the technology used in the firmware was for identifying and flagging junk text messages. The firmware was inadvertently shipped with the Blu devices. Adups has been cooperating with Blu and Google to make sure the data is not collected again. The data was collected for only a short period of time, and was not shared with anyone else.

WhatsApp temporarily pauses user data sharing with Facebook in Europe

Representational image: Reuters

  16 Nov 2016 , 10:31

WhatsApp has temporarily suspended giving parent company Facebook information about users in Europe for ad targeting, responding to concerns there over privacy, a source close to the matter said Tuesday. Conversations with officials in Europe over the past few months resulted in the social network deciding to only tapping into WhatsApp user data there for purposes such as fighting spam, according to the source.

The break was described as an effort to give regulators time to share privacy concerns and for Facebook to consider ways to address them. German data protection authorities in September cited privacy concerns when they blocked Facebook from collecting subscriber data from WhatsApp there.

“It has to be (the users’) decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook,” Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar said at the time. “Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance.”

WhatsApp announced in August that it would begin sharing data with Facebook, in a bid to allow better targeted advertising and to combat spam on the platform. Users of the instant messenger were given the ability to opt out of sending information to Facebook through settings in WhatsApp’s applications on smartphones.

European data protection group G29 formally expressed its concerns at the end of October. The G29 sent letters asking Facebook and WhatsApp to stop sharing data until appropriate legal safeguards were in place. The sharing of WhatsApp user information with Facebook went beyond what subscribers consented to in the original terms of service, the G29 reasoned.

Facebook bought WhatsApp about two years ago in a deal valued about $19 billion. In mid-September, the European Commission recommended tighter privacy and security requirements for services including WhatsApp and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype, saying they should be regulated more like traditional telecoms.

Under the proposal, the commission would require companies like WhatsApp or Skype to offer emergency-calling services when customers dial traditional phone numbers as well as obey stricter privacy rules.

AFP