Consumer Groups Urge FTC to Halt Facebook Data Collection Program

A collection of privacy and consumer groups from the United States and Europe has asked the Federal Trade Commission to force Facebook to suspend a recently installed program that mines information on sites that users’ visit around the Web in order to serve them interest-based ads. The groups say...

FTC Discusses Regulating User-Generated Health Information

The proliferation of wearable devices coupled with smartphone apps that monitor heart rates and other health metrics raises an important question: How exactly should the information generated by these devices be regulated? If there’s a fist fight in a bar can a person’s Fitbit accelerator be...

With a Warning FTC Approves WhatsApp, Facebook Union

Facebook’s acquisition of messaging application WhatsApp was approved by the Federal Trade Commission late last week, but not without a stern notice from the agency, which warned that it would be keeping a watchful eye on the two companies going forward. In a letter addressed to officials at...

Android Vulnerability: Install App Without User Explicit Consent

This vulnerability allows an app to install any number of apps with any type of permissions without user's explicit consent. It is based on two things: 1. You can install an app from Google Play using just the browser, even from PC. 2. An app can embed a browser and automatically login into your...

JVN#05951929: sp mode mail issue where emails in the process of creation may be accessed

sp mode mail provided by NTT DOCOMO contains an application link interface so that mail data can be exchanged with external application during email creation. When the application to be linked is selected, the email contents and attachment are saved to the SD card, therefore other Android...

JVN#81739241: sp mode mail issue when accessing attachments in incoming mail

sp mode mail provided by NTT DOCOMO contains a function that allows other Android applications to access attachments for incoming emails. This function contains an issue in the restriction of access permissions. Impact If a malicious Android application is installed on the device, attachments for...

Snowden: Surveillance Has Damaged Internet, U.S. Economy

The mass surveillance programs that he revealed through media leaks in the last year have not only compromised the privacy and security of Americans, but have damaged the country’s economy, Edward Snowden said in an interview Monday. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who sto...

Information disclosure vulnerability in Sleipnir Mobile for Android

Overview Sleipnir Mobile for Android contains an issue in handling Geolocation API, which may result in the disclosure of a user's location. Sleipnir Mobile for Android is a web browser for Android devices. Sleipnir Mobile for Android contains an issue in handling Geolocation API, which may resul...

KLA10329 OSI vulnerability in Sleipnir

Provision of geodata without consent was found in the Sleipnir. By exploiting this vulnerability malicious users can obtain sensitive information. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely via a specially designed web-site. Original advisories - Related products Sleipnir-Mobile-for-Android CVE...

Flashlight App Settles with FTC

The makers of a popular Android flashlight application have settled with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that they covertly tracked the locations of the “Brightest Flashlight Free” users and sold that information to advertising firms. The FTC’s charges stem primarily from the fact...

Java based cross platform malware found in wild

Other than Windows, Now other platforms are becoming more popular every day and attracting bad guys who are starting to create malicious code for other systems. Java applications can run on multiple platforms with ease, thus no surprise that malicious code written in Java that is designed to targ...

BlackBerry Refutes Claim Private Email Passwords Sent to RIM

BlackBerry is refuting a claim made by a German researcher that private email credentials are sent by the new BlackBerry 10 mobile devices to the company without consent, possibly in the clear, and that they’re also stored without permission. Frank Rieger said that when users enter their POP/IMAP...

Mozilla Delays Third-Party Cookie Patch in Firefox

Mozilla has tapped the brakes on its plans to block third-party cookies by default in the Firefox browser. Test versions of Firefox 22, scheduled for a June release, were supposed to include a patch that blocked third-party cookie drops by default. However, Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich said yesterday...

Google Play privacy issue, sends app buyers personal details to developers

Google is again under attack for its apparent mishandling of its users' personal information. An Australian software developer 'Dan Nolan' revealed that the search giant was sending him the full names, email and post codes of everyone who purchased his app on Google's Play. In a blog post, Nolan...

Google Play privacy issue, sends app buyers personal details to developers

Google is again under attack for its apparent mishandling of its users’ personal information. An Australian software developer 'Dan Nolan' revealed that the search giant was sending him the full names, email and post codes of everyone who purchased his app on Google's Play. In a blog post, Nolan...

Instagram Privacy Changes Start Clock Ticking for Users Who Want to Opt-Out

Instagram users have some soul searching to do between now and Jan. 16 when new terms of service kick in that give the photo-sharing social network the right to sell personal photos without the user’s permission or compensating them. The most startling change reads: “To help us deliver interestin...

Malicious Browser Add-On Guides Victims to Phishing Sites

Phishers are using a typosquatted domain name designed to mimic the URL of a popular e-commerce destination in order to lure their victims to a malicious Website that prompts its visitors to download a malicious add-on that will guide users to phishing sites, even when they type legitimate URLs...

EU Officials, Privacy Agencies Attempt to Clarify Cookie Rules

Officials in Europe this week are hoping to set clearer rules for online advertisers with new guidelines that are supported by the continent’s leading digital privacy agencies. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, agencies from the European Union’s EU member countries met last week...

Report: Google Negotiating with FTC over Apple Safari Privacy Breach

Search giant Google is in negotiations with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission FTC over the size of a fine it will pay. This, after the company was found in breach of privacy controls in Apple’s Safari browser earlier this year. According to an article from the Bloomberg news service, an unnamed...

Path Reverses Course After Revelation That App Uploads User Contacts

After a researcher discovered that any person who decides to download the Path app onto their mobile device is unknowingly sending their address book to a server belonging to the social network and photo-sharing service without prior notification, the company has released a new version of the app...