Parents Use Gadgets to Spy on Teens

Staff / Truthdig Jul 10, 2006 Invasion of privacy is not just for the NSA anymore! Parents have always snooped, but as the SF Chronicle reveals, new tech toys are taking what was once standard parental prying to a whole new level of unacceptable surveillance and spying. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned conversation? (Via boingboing.net) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Powell – Knocking Privacy

Dwayne Powell / Truthdig Jun 19, 2006 Dig deeper

Victory For Wen Ho Lee

Staff / Truthdig Jun 3, 2006 The five media heavies who shamelessly promoted the government's lies about the Los Alamos scientist chose to settle today rather than reveal their government sources. Lee was savaged by a media fueled by government rumors that he was spying for China, an accusation he was never officially charged with. Lee was imprisoned in solitary confinement for nine months in 1999-2000 and ultimately received an apology from the judge who heard his case. Truthdig says: The media was not defending freedom of the press but their own right to operate as a megaphone for government agents with an agenda to slander an American citizen. The media went to bat for government agents who broke the law. When will those agents be held accountable?Read Robert Scheer's extensive coverage of the Wen Ho Lee case. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Robert Scheer: Hayden–the Spook in Your Phone

Robert Scheer / Truthdig May 10, 2006 UPDATE: Michael V. Hayden, nominated by President Bush to head the CIA, is the man responsible for the most extensive attack ever on the privacy of U.S. citizens. While head of the NSA, he oversaw the program that recorded the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. Want to take action? Check out StopHayden.org (includes video proof that Hayden is smugly incorrect about the privacy foundation of the Fourth Amendment). Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Google’s Wi-Fi Plan Stirs Big Brother Concerns

Staff / Truthdig Apr 12, 2006 The company's free wireless service in San Francisco would allow Google to monitor all its users' whereabouts--ostensibly to serve up location-specific advertising. The feeling you just got? That would be the hairs on the back on your neck rising. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Justice Dept. Rejects Google’s Stand on Privacy

Staff / Truthdig Feb 27, 2006 The U.S. government pushes back at the search giant, insisting that a request to examine millions of Internet users' search queries would not violate privacy rights. This could lead to the most fevered technology trial since the Microsoft antitrust case. Check out an excellent Truthdig essay on the issue here. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Total Information Awareness’ Lives On

Staff / Truthdig Feb 27, 2006 Remember that Orwellian-sounding data-mining program that was supposed to have been shut down two years ago? Turns out it's alive and functioning--just under a different name. The National Journal has the blockbuster scoop. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

In Their Own Words

Blair Golson / Truthdig Feb 16, 2006 Newly released photos and videos of inhumane conditions at Abu Ghraib have again shone a spotlight on America's treatment of its prisoners Read the sworn statements by prisoners at Abu Ghraib, obtained and translated by the Washington Post in 2004 at the height of the prison abuse scandal Excerpt: "As soon as we arrived, they put sandbags over our heads and they kept beating us And every single night this military guy comes over and beat us and handcuffed us until the end of his shift". Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Forget What You Searched For? Google Didn’t

Staff / Truthdig Jan 22, 2006 A Google beta tester says that we're barely conscious of the level of privacy we're ceding to the search company. columnAlso, Maureen Dowd doesn't want Cheney ogling her Googling. column Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blogger Obtains Gen. Wesley Clark’s Phone Records For $89.95

Staff / Truthdig Jan 13, 2006 AMERICAblog's John Aravosis says that his ability to do so is "outrageous." | entryCBS and NBC both chime in with reports on the issue. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Opens Private Mail in Terrorism Fight

Staff / Truthdig Jan 11, 2006 Customs officials can open and read any mail sent from abroad, and do so whenever they deem it necessary to protect the country. | story Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

All Your Phone Call Records are for Sale, Cheap

Staff / Truthdig Jan 9, 2006 Anyone can buy a list of your incoming and outgoing calls, cellphone or hard-line, for $110. Congress knows, shrugs | more Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )