>Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Androids Send Cellphone Location

>

Apple Inc.’s iPhones and Google Inc.’s Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal—intensifying concerns over privacy and the widening trade in personal data.

Google and Apple are gathering location information as part of their race to build massive databases capable of pinpointing people’s locations via their cellphones. These databases could help them tap the $2.9 billion market for location-based services—expected to rise to $8.3 billion in 2014, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

In the case of Google, according to new research by security analyst Samy Kamkar, an HTC Android phone collected its location every few seconds and transmitted the data to Google at least several times an hour. It also transmitted the name, location and signal strength of any nearby Wi-Fi networks, as well as a unique phone identifier.

Google declined to comment on the findings.

Until last year, Google was collecting similar Wi-Fi data with its fleet of StreetView cars that map and photograph streets world-wide. The company shut down its StreetView Wi-Fi collection last year after it inadvertently collected e-mail addresses, passwords and other personal information from Wi-Fi networks. The data that Mr. Kamkar observed being transmitted on Android phones didn’t include such personal information.

Apple, meanwhile, says it “intermittently” collects location data, including GPS coordinates, of many iPhone users and nearby Wi-Fi networks and transmits that data to itself every 12 hours, according to a letter the company sent to U.S. Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) last year. Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Google and Apple developments follow the Journal’s findings last year that some of the most popular smartphone apps use location data and other personal information even more aggressively than this—in some cases sharing it with third-party companies without the user’s consent or knowledge.

Apple this week separately has come under fire after researchers found that iPhones store unencrypted databases containing location information sometimes stretching back several months. …

Unlike many cell-phone-enabled violations of your privacy, whose purpose is mainly to enrich the app maker, the storage of location data on iPhones and the gathering of location data by Android phones at least provide benefits to users and are under user control.

The database works behind the scenes mainly to improve wireless data service, traffic maps and other basic functions of a smartphone.

Location data isn’t even gathered if location services are turned off.

Yes, the storage of unencrypted location data on your phone is a potential privacy breach waiting to happen. But there’s a whole list of privacy violations taking place through your phone every day.

The hard reality is that there’s only one way to guarantee privacy with a cell phone: Remove the battery.

via Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Androids Send Cellphone Location – WSJ.com.

>Web creator’s net neutrality fear

>

The inventor of the web has said that governments must act to preserve the principle of net neutrality.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told the BBC that legislation may be needed if self-regulation failed.

He been asked by the UK government to negotiate an agreement on an open internet between service providers and content firms like the BBC and Skype.

Sir Tim would prefer self-regulation by the internet industry, but progress has been slow.

“If it fails the government has to be absolutely ready to legislate,” he said.

“It may be that the openness of the internet, we should just put into law.”

Net neutrality, the idea that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally, has been a controversial issue in the United States and is now moving up the political agenda in the UK.

Two tier

Internet Service Providers have claimed that they need to be able to control the growing traffic online, and content creators fear that the result could be a two-speed internet.

Sir Tim said that he understands the need for traffic management but any move to discriminate between different content businesses would be a step too far.

“What you lose when you do that is you lose the open market,” he said.

“What the companies gain is that they get complete control of you.”

But Professor William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute warned that enshrining net neutrality in law had its dangers.

“Once you allow the state in, you open the door to all sorts of regulation of the internet controls on content creation,” he said.

Sir Tim, who was speaking at the opening of the World Wide Web Consortium’s UK offices in Oxford, said that internet access was now becoming a human right.

At the same time it was also a very powerful tool for either a government or a large company to get to control of.

He warned that this could lead to users being blocked from visiting sites that were not politically correct, or religiously correct, or commercially correct. …

via BBC News – Web creator’s net neutrality fear.

>Classroom ‘slave sale’ prompts parent protests

>

Trying to bring a history lesson on the American Civil War to life, teacher Jessica Boyle turned her fourth grade Norfolk, Virginia, classroom into a slave auction: she ordered black and mixed-race students to one side of the classroom; then the white students took turns buying them.

Parent complaints began rolling in shortly after the April 1st lesson, and the principal at Sewells Point Elementary School, Mary Wrushen, told parents in a letter last week that Ms Boyle had gone too far.

“The lesson could have been thought through more carefully, as to not offend her students or put them in an uncomfortable situation,” Ms Wrushen wrote.

Lessons on the civil war have long been among the most sensitive topics in Virginia classrooms, many located near the grounds of the Confederacy’s bloodiest battles. And the role that slavery played in the conflict’s origins has been particularly controversial.

Ms Boyle’s attempt to drive home the connection between slavery and war took place in an elementary school named for one of Virginia’s earliest civil war skirmishes, the Battle of Sewells Point, which was fought within sight of the school grounds, near the mouth of Hampton Roads. Ms Boyle taught her lesson less than two weeks before the 150th anniversary of the conflict.

“She had not conducted a mock slave auction in class before,” Norfolk public schools spokeswoman Elizabeth Thiel Mather wrote in a statement.

She added that “appropriate personnel action is being taken” but would not discuss the details.

Ms Boyle has been teaching in Norfolk for six years.

Sewells Point’s fourth grade class is about 40 per cent black and 40 per cent white. …

via Classroom ‘slave sale’ prompts parent protests – The Irish Times – Wed, Apr 13, 2011.

Simulations are all the rage. I’m hearing that one school in my area is having some children “killed” in drunk driving accidents. The “drunk driver” in the simulation is really arrested and really spends time in jail. The “dead kids” are taken and hidden away during the exercise and their parents must really go to the coroners office to ID the bodies.  A school assembly is held and the obituaries of the kids killed are read.  I think this could save some lives because the risks of kids drinking and driving are real. I’m not so sure, however, that kids are at risk of becoming slave owners in Norfolk, Virginia. I’ve never been there, so I can’t say for sure…

>Obama restarts Guantanamo trials

>What we have done and are doing at Guantanamo disgusts and angers me. You can’t hold people in prison without a trial. That, by itself, is a crime against humanity, an inexcusable human rights violation.  Thanks to what we learned about Abu Graib, it is not difficult to imagine all sorts of horrors still going on in these places.  Some released from Gitmo say they were tortured.  It makes me believe we have not just a president who goes back on campaign promises, but that we have a fake government.

YouTube – Obama restarts Guantanamo trials.

>Kucinich compares Bradley Manning detention to Abu Ghraib

>

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) charged today that the miilitary’s treatment of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking confidential materials to Wikileaks, is comparable to the abuse carried out at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Manning was forced Wednesday night to sleep naked in his cell at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., the Marines confirmed Friday. First Lt. Brian Villiard called it a “situationally driven” event, but would not elaborate on what led to the stripping of Manning, the Associated Press reports. The actions were described as “not punitive.”

“Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?” Kucinich said in a statement today. “Officials have confirmed the ‘non-punitive’ stripping of an American soldier who has not been found guilty of any crime. This ‘non-punitive’ action would be considered a violation of the Army Field Manual if used in an interrogation overseas. The justification for and purpose of this action certainly raises questions of ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ and could constitute a potential violation of international law.”

The congressman cited the Army Field Manuel, which states: “If used in conjunction with intelligence interrogations, prohibited actions include, but are not limited to- Forcing the detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts or pose in a sexual manner.”

Kucinich said he has repeatedly requested to visit Manning, in order to observe the conditions of his detainment. Manning has been held in restrictive conditions at Quantico since July 2010, and some have questioned why the legal proceedings against him have taken so long. …

via Kucinich compares Bradley Manning detention to Abu Ghraib – Political Hotsheet – CBS News.

>Kucinich compares Bradley Manning detention to Abu Ghraib

>

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) charged today that the miilitary’s treatment of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking confidential materials to Wikileaks, is comparable to the abuse carried out at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Manning was forced Wednesday night to sleep naked in his cell at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., the Marines confirmed Friday. First Lt. Brian Villiard called it a “situationally driven” event, but would not elaborate on what led to the stripping of Manning, the Associated Press reports. The actions were described as “not punitive.”

“Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?” Kucinich said in a statement today. “Officials have confirmed the ‘non-punitive’ stripping of an American soldier who has not been found guilty of any crime. This ‘non-punitive’ action would be considered a violation of the Army Field Manual if used in an interrogation overseas. The justification for and purpose of this action certainly raises questions of ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ and could constitute a potential violation of international law.”

The congressman cited the Army Field Manuel, which states: “If used in conjunction with intelligence interrogations, prohibited actions include, but are not limited to- Forcing the detainee to be naked, perform sexual acts or pose in a sexual manner.”

Kucinich said he has repeatedly requested to visit Manning, in order to observe the conditions of his detainment. Manning has been held in restrictive conditions at Quantico since July 2010, and some have questioned why the legal proceedings against him have taken so long. …

via Kucinich compares Bradley Manning detention to Abu Ghraib – Political Hotsheet – CBS News.

>Unborn child to ‘testify’ on Ohio abortion bill

>

A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected.

Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at 9 weeks old.

Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the intent is to show lawmakers who will be affected by the bill, which abortion rights groups oppose. Ohio Right to Life has not endorsed the measure.

An aide to committee Chairman Lynn Wachtmann said a pregnant woman will be brought before the committee and an ultrasound image of her uterus will be projected onto a screen. The heartbeat of the fetus will be visible in color.

via Unborn child to ‘testify’ on Ohio abortion bill.

It that doesn’t work, Janet has convinced her husband to donate a committee of composed of  60 million of his best sperm, every one of which is sacred, to testify as a corroborating witnesses.

>Unborn child to ‘testify’ on Ohio abortion bill

>

A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected.

Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at 9 weeks old.

Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the intent is to show lawmakers who will be affected by the bill, which abortion rights groups oppose. Ohio Right to Life has not endorsed the measure.

An aide to committee Chairman Lynn Wachtmann said a pregnant woman will be brought before the committee and an ultrasound image of her uterus will be projected onto a screen. The heartbeat of the fetus will be visible in color.

via Unborn child to ‘testify’ on Ohio abortion bill.

It that doesn’t work, Janet has convinced her husband to donate a committee of composed of  60 million of his best sperm, every one of which is sacred, to testify as a corroborating witnesses.

>Libya: Who is propping up Gaddafi?

>

Unlike in Egypt or Tunisia, it is not the conventional military that holds the balance of power in Libya.

Instead, it is a murky network of paramilitary brigades, “revolutionary committees” of trusted followers, tribal leaders and imported foreign mercenaries.

The actual Libyan Army is almost symbolic, a weakened and emaciated force of little more than 40,000, poorly armed and poorly trained. It is part of Col Muammar Gaddafi’s long-term strategy to eliminate the risk of a military coup, which is how he himself came to power in 1969.

So the defection this month of some elements of the army to the protesters in Benghazi is unlikely to trouble Col Gaddafi. Not only can he do without them, his security apparatus has not hesitated to call in air strikes on their barracks in the rebellious east of the country.

So, who is propping up his regime and allowing it to stay in power while two of its neighbouring leaders have fled amid a massive momentum for regime change throughout the Middle East? …

There are persistent reports that Col Gaddafi’s regime has been making extensive use of hired African mercenaries, mostly from the Sahel countries of Chad and Niger, to carry out atrocities against unarmed civilian protesters.

Libyan witnesses say they have been firing from rooftops into crowds of demonstrators, in essence carrying out the orders that many Libyan soldiers have refused to obey.

Col Gaddafi has long fostered close relations with African countries, having turned his back on the Arab world some time ago, and there are an estimated 500,000 African expatriates in Libya out of a total population of six million.

The number of those serving as pro-Gaddafi mercenaries is thought to be quite small but their loyalty to his regime is said to be unquestioned and there are reports of extra flights being laid on to bring in more in recent days.  …

via BBC News – Libya: Who is propping up Gaddafi?.

>Libya: Who is propping up Gaddafi?

>

Unlike in Egypt or Tunisia, it is not the conventional military that holds the balance of power in Libya.

Instead, it is a murky network of paramilitary brigades, “revolutionary committees” of trusted followers, tribal leaders and imported foreign mercenaries.

The actual Libyan Army is almost symbolic, a weakened and emaciated force of little more than 40,000, poorly armed and poorly trained. It is part of Col Muammar Gaddafi’s long-term strategy to eliminate the risk of a military coup, which is how he himself came to power in 1969.

So the defection this month of some elements of the army to the protesters in Benghazi is unlikely to trouble Col Gaddafi. Not only can he do without them, his security apparatus has not hesitated to call in air strikes on their barracks in the rebellious east of the country.

So, who is propping up his regime and allowing it to stay in power while two of its neighbouring leaders have fled amid a massive momentum for regime change throughout the Middle East? …

There are persistent reports that Col Gaddafi’s regime has been making extensive use of hired African mercenaries, mostly from the Sahel countries of Chad and Niger, to carry out atrocities against unarmed civilian protesters.

Libyan witnesses say they have been firing from rooftops into crowds of demonstrators, in essence carrying out the orders that many Libyan soldiers have refused to obey.

Col Gaddafi has long fostered close relations with African countries, having turned his back on the Arab world some time ago, and there are an estimated 500,000 African expatriates in Libya out of a total population of six million.

The number of those serving as pro-Gaddafi mercenaries is thought to be quite small but their loyalty to his regime is said to be unquestioned and there are reports of extra flights being laid on to bring in more in recent days.  …

via BBC News – Libya: Who is propping up Gaddafi?.