private data news stories on Newser

Hard-up MySpace Turns to Selling User Data

Jane Yager — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:12 CDT

In a scenario privacy advocates have warned about, MySpace has started selling user data to third parties—and you may be surprised to hear what a low price your private data goes for. A whopping 24 hours of MySpace's data stream is sold for a mere $30 by one firm,...

Brits Say Errant Flash Drive Jeopardized Data of 12M

Wesley Oliver — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:34:00 CST

UK ministers shut down a government computer system after a memory stick containing sensitive personal data was found in a parking garage, reports the Daily Mail . The government insists the system hasn’t been breached, but an expert says the blunder jeopardizes the security of 12 million people. “The government cannot...

Google Agrees to Give Viacom Encrypted Data

Matt Cantor — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:45:06 CDT

In a deal reached last night, Google has agreed to hand over YouTube user data Viacom had demanded in its copyright lawsuit, but only after replacing user names and IP addresses with unique substitutes to protect users’ privacy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move will allow Viacom and other...

Patients' Info Swiped Along With Laptop

Kevin Spak — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:57:07 CDT

A government laptop loaded with personal medical info on thousands of patients just “fell through the cracks,” a top exec with an NIH subsidiary says. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute machine was stolen Feb. 23, apparently at random, from an employee’s car trunk. None of the 2,500...

Web Inventor: Don't Track Me, Bro

Kevin Spak — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:35:42 CDT

He may have created a web that's worldwide, but Internet founder Tim Berners-Lee is very proprietary when it comes to tracking programs, such as Phorm, that allow ISPs to monitor their customers. Berners-Lee says he’d drop any company caught mining his data. “It’s mine—you can’t have it,” he said....