Facebook, Google 'must adhere' to strict EU privacy rules

Facebook, Google and other social networks and sites with a presence in Europe must heed to the European strict data privacy rules, said EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Companies outside the 27-strong nation European wall, including the United States, must now begin changing their own privacy practices to continue working from within Europe.

The EU began its overhauling of its privacy laws last November, with new legislation expected to give greater powers to the end consumer, and stricter penalties for those who break the rules.

Though Facebook was not directly mentioned, it was made clear by the speech Reding gave in Brussels today that Facebook was in her sights.

From the Wall Street Journal:

“A U.S.-based social network company that has millions of active users in Europe needs to comply with EU rules. To enforce the EU law, national privacy watchdogs shall be endowed with powers to investigate and engage in legal proceedings against non-EU data controllers whose services target EU consumers.”

Yet from the Guardian, it is clear that Facebook is most definitely a target for the highest data protection officer in Europe. Matthew Newman, spokesperson for Commissioner Reding said:

“A year ago she issued Facebook a warning because the privacy settings changed for the worse and now she’s legislating to put flesh on those bones.”

Following on from her speech last year, Reding wants users to have the right to delete data they see no longer fit for purpose on websites like Google and Facebook. Reding also made clear that companies should make clear why personal data might be collected to justify its purpose.

The European Union has enabled strict data protection rules, far greater than that of the United States, since 1998 when all European countries were told by EU directive to apply new legislation.

For European companies and US wholly owned subsidiary companies in Europe to send data from within the EU to the United States must adhere to the mutually agreed Safe Harbour principles, which dictate data privacy and security regarding to data transfer.

However, the United States has a long way to go before the European Commission deems it a fully compliant nation with its standards in regards to privacy.

Until the US legislates, all the Commission can do is legislate itself and force privately held companies like Google and Facebook to comply, to retain its presence in the region.

Attack the Block

A teen gang looks to protect their housing estate from an alien invasion.

Sucker Punch - "The Trenches"

This animated short, The Trenches, accompanies the movie Sucker Punch.

iTwin USB Adapter Turns Your Own Hard Drive Into Cloud Based Storage

The idea of having all of your files available on any internet connected PC is certainly tantalizing, but paying some cloud-based service to store your hundreds of gigabytes worth of digital crap isn’t. So the iTwin USB device basically turns your own PC, and all of its connected storage devices, into a secure cloud-based storage center, without the need for messing with complicated software or settings.

It looks like a double-ended USB flash drive, but instead of storing any files the iTwin breaks apart in the middle and creates a secure (using AES-256 hardware-enabled encryption) online connection between the two computers each end is connected to. Its one-time price of just $99 is cheaper than paying an annual fee to an online cloud-based solution, though you will have to factor in the cost of keeping your home PC powered up and online whenever you want to access files remotely. But admittedly if it works as easy and effortless as they claim, it could be an ideal solution for less tech-savvy road warriors who like their laptop to stay synced up with their computer back at the office.

Your fingers could be the next generation mouse

When I stop and think about it, between laptop touchpads, touchscreen phones and tablets and my Wacom tablet, I very rarely use a mouse these days. And if a company called Celluon has anything to say about it, the mouse as we know it may soon be extinct. Using similar technology to those projected laser keyboards, the evoMouse sits on your desk just above where you’d normally be pushing a mouse around, and instead tracks the movements of your fingers. Those movements are then translated into cursor movements on screen, allowing you to use just your fingers for everything from scrolling to dragging files to even accessing context menus.

The evoMouse itself is barely larger than an actual mouse, seemingly making it ideal for traveling, and you can connect it to your computer via USB or via Bluetooth if you’d prefer to keep things wireless. It’s even compatible with styluses if you’d like to use it as a portable drawing tablet, or want to take advantage of the evoMouse’s handwriting recognition technology. Pricing and availability are still TBA.

Now Cars Are Vulnerable to Malware?

According to researchers at UCSD and the University of Washington, the rise of complex computer systems in cars means they're now vulnerable to malware and viruses just like our computers. How would one infect a car? MP3s, of course.

But their most interesting attack focused on the car stereo. By adding extra code to a digital music file, they were able to turn a song burned to CD into a Trojan horse. When played on the car's stereo, this song could alter the firmware of the car's stereo system, giving attackers an entry point to change other components on the car. This type of attack could be spread on file-sharing networks without arousing suspicion, they believe. "It's hard to think of something more innocuous than a song," said Stefan Savage, a professor at the University of California.

i'm assuming they're referring to car stereo systems that actually read and process MP3 files (and not burned audio discs or auxilary audio sources), but once they gained control of an unidentified 2009 car using this hack, they had access to GPS data, Vehicle Identification numbers, and control over systems like locks, brakes and the engine altogether.

But as scary as that sounds, there's probably no need to freak out. Those same researchers say its unlikely that car hacking will be common because of how specialized each car's system software is.