Topic: GOOGLE - on June 4, 2010 at 12:33:00 PM CEST
Google is 'close' to handing over German wi-fi data
Pressure is mounting over Google's wi-fi data capture
Search giant Google has said it is "close" to resolving issues that have prevented it from passing a hard disk of data to German authorities.
The disk contains wi-fi data Google Street View cars gathered by mistake.
Google is attempting to patent the very same wardriving technology the search giant says it used by mistake to snoop on Wi-Fi users in more than 30 countries, attorneys said Wednesday.
A patent application published in January describes a method devised by Google for gathering and analyzing data sent via wireless access points. The application says the device "may be placed in a vehicle and data may be obtained continuously or at predetermined time increments" and that the speed of the vehicle "may be factored into the analysis," according to lawyers suing Google on behalf of people whose traffic may have been collected by the technology.
Google looks set to gain a surprising ally in its battle against the European Commission to retain its search logs - the European Parliament.
The dominant search firm has been under pressure from Brussels to erase personally identifiable information from its logs after six months. So far Google has agreed to some anonymisation after nine months.
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Topic: Terror - on June 4, 2010 at 12:32:00 PM CEST
EU and U.S. eye human rights in terrorism prevention
The transatlantic allies also pledged to bolster cooperation in diplomacy, law enforcement, judicial assistance, exchange of information and efforts to control suspect cash flows.
The policy was outlined days after U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new national security doctrine that distanced the United States from the Bush-era emphasis on going it alone and underscored his efforts to rebuild ties with Europe.
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Topic: BP - on June 4, 2010 at 12:29:00 PM CEST
Caught in the oil - Big Picture
A short entry - AP Photographer Charlie Riedel just filed the following images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana's East Grand Terre Island. As BP engineers continue their efforts to cap the underwater flow of oil, landfall is becoming more frequent, and the effects more evident.
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