FACEBOOK SUSPENDS OUTSPOKEN FLORIDA GUN SHOPS AFTER ORLANDO ATTACK

Speaking to CBS12’s Kathleen Walter, “Florida Gun Supply” owner Andy Hallinan says Facebook removed his page Tuesday for allegedly engaging in “unauthorized sales of firearms.”

“I woke up this morning to my phone just lighting up. People couldn’t access my Facebook page,” Hallinan told CBS12. “I got phone calls from other gun shops.”

Steve Champion, owner of American “Gun and Pawn,” also had his account suspended over alleged violations regarding “unauthorized” firearm sales.

“I pulled (Facebook) up, and it says, ‘We unpublished your page,’” Champion similarly told CBS12.

According to Hallinan, who once called his gun shop a “Muslim-free” zone, the move by Facebook seems to be in response to both shops’ political speech – not to false claims about their business.

http://www.infowars.com/facebook-suspends-outspoken-florida-gun-shops-after-orlando-attack/

FBI: Attacker’s phone possibly accessible without Apple help

In a stunning reversal on Monday, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a much-anticipated hearing on their efforts to force Apple to unlock the phone. The FBI may have found another way, and Apple’s cooperation may no longer be needed, according to court papers filed late Monday, less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s hearing.

“An outside party” came forward over the weekend and showed the FBI a possible method to access the data on Syed Rizwan Farook’s encrypted phone, according to the filing.

“Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook’s iPhone,” the filing said. “If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/technology/ct-apple-fbi-encryption-debate-20160321-story.html

President Obama Wants a Back Door on Your Phone. But Not on His.

In yesterday’s South by Southwest keynote address, President Obama took a firm stand against strong encryption. Standing before an audience of over two thousand technology enthusiasts, Obama explained why the government needs back door access to all personal communication devices.

If it was technologically possible to make an impenetrable device where there’s no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we disrupt a terrorist plot? How do we even do a simple thing like tax enforcement? If government can’t get in, then everyone’s walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket. There has to be some concession to get into that information somewhere.

Obama didn’t specifically discuss Apple’s case with the FBI, though the inference is clear. The president is not content with unlocking the individual phones of suspected criminals. He’s asking for specific security protections to be permanently removed from all electronic devices. Because terrorists, child pornographers, and tax dodgers exist, no private citizen should have the right to secure communications.

http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/12/obama-iphone-encryption-apple

US CAN’T ACCESS NSA PHONE RECORDS IN CALIFORNIA TERROR CASE

Historical calling records at the NSA are now off-limits to agents running the FBI terrorism investigation even with a warrant

US Can’t Access NSA Phone Records in California Terror Case

NSA Pushing Its Deadline for Ending Bulk Collection of U.S. Phone Call Metadata

The National Security Agency is literally counting down the hours until its deadline to stop the bulk collection of information on American phone calls. The agency’s civil liberties and privacy officer, Rebecca Richards, said Wednesday morning that there are about 930 hours left. And yes, she said, “there is a big clock.”

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. on November 29. Richards said the NSA has not yet begun testing is alternate system. She spoke at the Second Annual Cato Surveillance Conference.

The collection of massive amounts of American metadata — who calls who, and how long they talk — is known as the 215 program on account of the section of the Patriot Act the government claimed gave it legal standing.

https://theintercept.com/2015/10/21/nsa-pushing-its-deadline-for-ending-bulk-collection-of-u-s-phone-call-metadata/

NSA PUSHING ITS DEADLINE FOR ENDING BULK COLLECTION OF U.S. PHONE CALL METADATA

 The deadline is 11:59 p.m. on November 29. Richards said the NSA has not yet begun testing is alternate system. She spoke at the Second Annual Cato Surveillance Conference.

The collection of massive amounts of American metadata — who calls who, and how long they talk — is known as the 215 program on account of the section of the Patriot Act the government claimed gave it legal standing.

http://www.infowars.com/nsa-pushing-its-deadline-for-ending-bulk-collection-of-u-s-phone-call-metadata-2/

Is Your Phone’s GPS Protected by the Fourth Amendment?

 Should you be suspected of a crime, the state Court of Appeals – in an opinion released Tuesday – ruled law enforcement can discover where you are through your mobile phone location without needing to obtain a search warrant.

Indeed, according to the court, obtaining such information isn’t construed as a search.

A Raleigh police detective submitted a request to AT&T in December 2012 for information relating to the phone of a cooperating suspect in order to gather evidence on a perceived heroin trafficker who was heading from Charlotte to Raleigh.

http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Is-Your-Phones-GPS-Protected-by-the-Fourth-Amendment-.html

Telco Giant Vodafone Looked At Journalist’s Phone Records To See Who Was Leaking Info To Her

Down in Australia, it appears that phone giant Vodafone is facing a bit of a scandal as it’s come out that the company went digging into a journalist’s phone records after she wrote some stories about security flaws in a Vodafone system. Remember, a decade ago, when there was a big scandal at HP, when it spied on board members to try to stop leaks? That was bad. This is worse. This is directly violating a customers’ privacy, just because you’re upset about some leaks.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150911/16475732225/telco-giant-vodafone-looked-journalists-phone-records-to-see-who-was-leaking-info-to-her.shtml

TELCO GIANT VODAFONE LOOKED AT JOURNALIST’S PHONE RECORDS TO SEE WHO WAS LEAKING INFO TO HER

 In a 2012 email from then ­Vodafone Hutchison Australia head of fraud Colin Yates to then Vodafone global corporate secu­rity director Richard Knowlton, Mr Yates warns of the “huge risk” to the company if a string of allegations — which he “has no reason to believe” are not factual — “gets into the public domain”.

Of particular concern to Mr Yates was the hacking of the “call charge records and text messages” from the mobile of Fairfax investigative reporter Natalie O’Brien, then a Vodafone customer.

On January 10, 2011, the day after O’Brien broke a story about major security flaws with Vodafone’s Siebel data system — ­including that private call records could be illegally accessed — ­Vodafone investigators had discussions about searching her phone records to find the Vodafone sources for the story.

http://www.infowars.com/telco-giant-vodafone-looked-at-journalists-phone-records-to-see-who-was-leaking-info-to-her/

Huawei takes aim at Apple, Samsung with Mate S phone

 China’s Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] unveiled a new smartphone on Wednesday, taking aim at the high end of the market, which is dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics.

The Mate S, launched on the sidelines of Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, IFA, in Berlin, has a 5.5-inch display, a 13 mega pixel rear camera and fingerprint security. Huawei says it is one of the first smartphones to include a Force Touch display, which can distinguish between a light tap and deep press, enabling access to more functions just by pressing harder.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/02/us-huawei-launch-idUSKCN0R21DY20150902

Related: TECH, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW