Sweden bans Google Apps for government employees over privacy concerns | GlobalPost

Kristin Deasy June 17, 2013 17:27

Sweden cautious on Google after PRISM affair.

Sweden’s data privacy watchdog has banned the use of Google applications, including Gmail, for government workers in the city of Salem due to “inadequacies” in the company’s privacy standards, according to Computer World.

The statement from Sweden’s Datainspektionen is available (in Swedish) here. According to the Silicon Angle, the Swedish objections are as follows:

“Firstly, the Datainspektionen notes that Google is particularly vague over how the data might be mined and processed, and it also cites a lack of uncertainty over which subcontractors might be involved in this process. It also said that Google was vague as to whether or not any data collected would be deleted at the end of the contract.”

Simon Davies of the Privacy Surgeon blog called it a ” landmark ruling,” but Computer World said this was the second time the Swedish Data Inspection Board has limited Google use for government employees.

In an email to ComputerWorld, Google responded: “We believe that Google Apps complies with Swedish law and we’ll continue to work with all involved parties.”

It was recently revealedthat Google cooperated with a secret US requests for user data as part of a government program code-named PRISM, but the extent which the company shared information is not yet clear.

It did not appear that the Swedish ruling was directly related to the PRISM controversy, but it could be the start of backlash among Google users in Europe, according to Silicon Angle, noting that European data regulators are already investigating the company.

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PRISM: Apple, Facebook, Microsoft … Who released which data? | GlobalPost

Kristin Deasy June 17, 2013 17:49

If you’re feeling dizzy in the wake of the PRISM affair, you’re not alone. Here’s a summary of the companies involved and what they did with your data.

The number of technology companies who complied with the United States government’s secret requests for user data — as revealed by The Washington Post — is growing longer by the day.

The government’s requests were made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), but civil rights advocates have since accused the agencies involved in the PRISM program of spying.

Here’s where things stand as of Monday.

Company: Apple

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: 4,000 to 5,000 between Dec. 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013.

Privacy policy:

 ”It may be necessary − by law, legal process, litigation, and/or requests from public and governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence − for Apple to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate.”

Company: Facebook

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: 10,000 over the last six months of 2012.

Privacy policy:

“We may access, preserve and share your information in response to a legal request (like a search warrant, court order or subpoena) if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so. This may include responding to legal requests from jurisdictions outside of the United States where we have a good faith belief that the response is required by law in that jurisdiction, affects users in that jurisdiction, and is consistent with internationally recognized standards.”

Company: Microsoft (includes Skype)

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: 6,000 to 7,000 over six months ending Dec. 31, 2012.

Privacy policy:

“You consent and agree that Microsoft may access, disclose, or preserve information associated with your use of the services, including (without limitation) your personal information and content, or information that Microsoft acquires about you through your use of the services (such as IP address or other third-party information) when Microsoft forms a good faith belief that doing so is necessary (a) to comply with applicable law or to respond to legal process from competent authorities; (b) to enforce this agreement or protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers; or (c) to help prevent a loss of life or serious physical injury to anyone.”

Company: Google (includes YouTube)

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: Unknown. Google has plead ignorance of the program, but that doesn’t necessarily mean PRISM did not obtain its data.

Privacy policy:

“We will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:  meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request; enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations; detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, our users or the public as required or permitted by law.”

Company: AOL

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: Unclear. Like Google, AOL denies knowledge of the program, saying in a company statement: “We do not have any knowledge of the Prism program. We do not disclose user information to government agencies without a court order, subpoena or formal legal process, nor do we provide any government agency with access to our servers.”

Privacy policy:

“The contents of your online communications, as well as other information about you as an AOL user, may be accessed and disclosed under the following circumstances: in response to lawful governmental requests or legal process (for example, a court order, search warrant or subpoena), in other circumstances in which AOL has a good faith belief that a crime has been or is being committed by an AOL user, that an emergency exists that poses a threat to the safety of you or another person, when necessary either to protect the rights or property of AOL, or for us to render the service you have requested.”

Company: Yahoo

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: Also unclear, given that the company did so unwillingly. Yahoo took the US government to court over PRISM several years ago but lost the case. Twitter, meanwhile, refused to cooperate.

Here Yahoo’s statement about PRISM, which includes their provacy policy for user data:

“We want to set the record straight about stories that Yahoo! has joined a program called PRISM through which we purportedly volunteer information about our users to the US government and give federal agencies access to our user databases. These claims are false. Yahoo! has not joined any program in which we volunteer to share user data with the US government. We do not voluntarily disclose user information. The only disclosures that occur are in response to specific demands. And, when the government does request user data from Yahoo!, we protect our users. … We carefully scrutinize each request, respond only when required to do so, and provide the least amount of data possible consistent with the law.”

Company: Paltalk

What, you don’t know about Paltalk? OK, actually, not that many people do. The Washington Post identified it as a small company providing voice, video and text services. Its voice-over-internet protocol is believed to have been used to circumvent Middle East authorities during the 2011 Arab Spring unrest, which may explain its importance to the US.

Number of data requests supplied to PRISM: Unknown. The company told The Washington Post they too were unaware of the program:

 ”We have not heard of PRISM. Paltalk exercises extreme care to protect and secure users’ data, only responding to court orders as required to by law. Paltalk does not provide any government agency with direct access to its servers.”

Privacy policy:

“Paltalk will fully cooperate with law enforcement in investigating or requesting information with respect to suspected criminal or other activity and, notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, may release your name and other information to the appropriate authorities for that purpose, with or without a subpoena.”

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Louisiana chemical plant explodes, injuring 77 | GlobalPost

Amy Silverstein June 14, 2013 14:13

The Williams Chemical Plant in the town of Geismar exploded, killing one worker and injuring many others.

Another deadly blast has broken out at a United States chemical plant. On Thursday, a bomb-like explosion ignited a fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana.  At least 77 people were injured, with three people remaining in intensive care for hours after the explosion, The Advocate reported. And one person was killed.

The deceased man is identified as Zachary  C. Green. He was 29 and had been working there for only a few months. “He will be missed by everyone and this is just a very sad day for me and a lot of other people,”  his friend Corey Pea told The Advocate.

As the fire raged, more than 300 people had to be evacuated, while ten workers stayed behind to shut off valves, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities promise a full investigation. In a news conference, Governor Bobby Jindal also promised to hold the chemical company accountable if an investigation finds that it is to blame.

The plant produces 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of propylene a year. The eruption occurred as chemicals were being burned off. The fire was fueled by the petrochemical propylene, NBC reported. Local officials claim that they haven’t detected any “dangerous levels” of emissions in the town.

The explosion comes after a fertilizer plant in West, Texas exploded in April. That explosion was fueled by ammonium nitrate, an explosive chemical that Reuters later found is stored heavily across the United States, affecting a total of 800,000 people.

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‘Gay lobby’ is at work in the Vatican, Pope claims in private speech leaked to media | GlobalPost

Amy Silverstein June 12, 2013 12:20

Pope Francis admitted that there is “corruption” in the Vatican and also mentioned a “gay lobby.” What exactly did he mean?

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In a speech that the general public wasn’t supposed to hear, Pope Francis described a “corrupt gay lobby” working in the Vatican.

“There is a current of corruption. There is talk of a ‘gay lobby’ and it’s true, it exists. We have to see what can be done,” the Pope reportedly remarked in a private speech to the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women. 

Was the Pope just trying to bash gay-rights activists by adding the scary word “lobby” to their name? News outlets don’t think so. In fact, the Associated Press and other agencies think the Pope’s speech confirms earlier rumors that there is, in fact, a gay lobby of sorts in the Vatican. 

Rumors of a gay lobby started in the days leading up to Pope Benedict XVI’s Feb. 28 resignation. According to reports in Italian media, gay Vatican clergymen were both victims of blackmail and corruption, but were also taking part in it. Documents also claimed there was favoritism in the Vatican based on gay relationships, Agence France-Presse reported.

The news media got that information from a top secret report prepared for Pope Benedict that somehow got leaked.

It’s not clear who leaked the documents, but as Reuters reported, the pope’s butler was convicted last year of stealing papal documents. He was later pardoned. 

These latest, remarks, meanwhile, were leaked when the the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women innocently described the speech on its website, apparently by accident.

“The HPLC presidency deeply regrets what has happened and confusion that this may have created,” the organization said in a statement. 

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Police check of veiled woman sparks clashes in Paris suburb | GlobalPost

Alexander Besant June 12, 2013 19:50

The uproar started when police stopped a 25-year-old woman wearing a full facial veil, which is banned in France.

A police check of a veiled woman on Wednesday descended into a confrontation between police officers and residents of a Paris suburb.

The uproar started when police stopped a 25-year-old woman wearing a full facial veil, which is banned in France.

The woman complied with police, but another man approached saying that their actions were abusive. The outraged man drew a crowd of dozens of people from the Argenteuil neighborhood, home to a large Muslim population.

Members of the crowd confronted the police officers, insulting them and attacking them, according to police sources.

Forty officers arrived on the scene, dispersing the angry crowd with tear gas and flash bombs. Two men were arrested at the scene, one of whom is thought to be the woman’s cousin.

The deputy mayor of Argenteuil, Phillipe Doucet, called the confrontations “worrying events.”

France passed a law in October 2010 that made it illegal to cover one’s face in public. Violations of the law carry a fine of around $190 or mandatory citizenship training.

It is believed about 300 women were fined during the first year the law was in place.

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Snowden will fight extradition | GlobalPost

Faine Greenwood June 12, 2013 12:54

Currently hiding in Hong Kong, the NSA leaker says ‘I am not here to hide from justice.’

NSA leaker Edward Snowden has vowed to fight back against any extradition attempts against him by the US government.

As the 29-year-old leaker told the South China Morning Post: “I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality.”

Snowden hasn’t been charged with any crimes by the US government yet, and no extradition requests have been levied against him, although his release of classified information indicates that some sort of legal action against him is in the works.

Snowden expressed considerable faith in his safety in Hong Kong, claiming to the SCMP that he has “been given no reason to doubt” the legal system there.

“I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong’s rule of law,” said Snowden. “My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate,” he added. 

Snowden is currently in Hong Kong in an undisclosed location — prompting fears from former US Representative Ron Paul that the US government “might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile,” according to a CBS interview. 

Hong Kong’s laws differ from those of China, but Chinese courts retain the ability to overrule any rulings made in the city-state. Neither the Hong Kong or Chinese government have commented on the case, says Reuters, nor has the Hong Kong Security Bureau. 

Here are some Twitter reactions:

Snowden says it’s up to “the people of Hong Kong” to decide his fate. It’s strange, frankly: HK people don’t even get to decide their gov.

— Benjamin Carlson (@bfcarlson) June 12, 2013

Hmmm. Maybe Snowden went to Hong Kong not to avoid extradition but to speak freely and reveal docs while it plays out goo.gl/0dVA4

— Jay Rosen(@jayrosen_nyu) June 12, 2013

RT @davidfrum: This map shows Snowden’s asylum problem: Most places w/o an extradition treaty lack 1st-class hotels. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm…

— Touré (@Toure) June 9, 2013

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Nelson Mandela still in ‘serious but stable’ condition | GlobalPost

Jennifer Mattson June 11, 2013 11:58

94-year-old anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela spent his fourth day in a Pretoria hospital battling a lung infection.

The South African government said former President Nelson Mandela remains in “serious but stable” condition.

The news comes as the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader spent his fourth day in a Pretoria hospital battling a lung infection.

A statement from the president’s office said Jacob Zuma was monitoring Mandela’s progress and “doing their best to make Madiba better,” referring to his clan name.

His ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and other relatives have been visiting the ailing leader who remains in intensive care.

This is Mandela’s fourth time back in the hospital since December and was most recently released in April when he was treated for pneumonia.

Back in December, he spent 18 days in the hospital for both a lung infection and gallstones.

On Tuesday, a group of South African children sang outside his home in Johannesburg to wish him well.

The Rainbow Hill Christian School students sang, “we love you Mandela … get well, get well,” an example of the nation’s deep love for this anti-apartheid icon and national hero.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison and was later elected the country’s first black president in 1994. His work helped end the system of apartheid in South Africa.

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Russia may grant NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum | GlobalPost

Dan Peleschuk June 11, 2013 12:18

The offer to Snowden follows a pattern of Kremlin overtures to Western critics.

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MOSCOW, Russia – Russia indicated on Tuesday that it may offer US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum, adding to a growing pattern of Russian overtures to critics of the US.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the influential Kommersant daily that Moscow would consider a request “if such an appeal is made.”

“We will act according to facts,” he said.

Snowden, a former contractor at the National Security Agency, is reportedly hiding in Hong Kong after revealing that he had leaked details of a US government domestic surveillance program.

Previous critics of the West who have won Moscow’s praise include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who helped expose more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables.

Moscow offered Assange a program on the state-owned, English-language Russia Today television network, which positions itself as an alternative to mainstream Western news outlets and has attracted criticism for serving as the Kremlin’s international mouthpiece.

Assange, who has been fighting extradition to Sweden from the Ecuadorian embassy in London since last year, himself praised Snowden on Monday for his revelation of the telephone and Internet surveillance program.

Some senior Russian officials, meanwhile, publicly sided on Tuesday with Snowden, pitching his escape from the US as one from politically motivated persecution.

“By promising asylum to Snowden, Moscow has taken upon itself the defense of the politically persecuted,” Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian parliament’s international affairs committee, wrote on Twitter. “There will be hysterics in the US.”

Less political, though just as public, was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal offer earlier this year of Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu after the famous Frenchman fled his native country in a high-profile huff over a proposed 75 percent income tax rate for high earners.

Depardieu, who has widely praised both Putin and Russia, is currently in Chechnya filming a movie.

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Why Edward Snowden’s flight to Hong Kong might be brilliant | GlobalPost

Benjamin Carlson June 10, 2013 05:09

The NSA whistleblower could exploit a loophole in the Chinese territory’s asylum system to buy himself some valuable time.

HONG KONG — There are many reasons why NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s decision to come to Hong Kong could be foolish. 

Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the US; its government is weak; its foreign policy is dictated by Beijing — no friend of free speech or internet freedom.

But there is at least one reason it could be incredibly shrewd: Hong Kong’s asylum system is currently stuck in a state of limbo that could allow Snowden to exploit a loophole and buy some valuable time.

Simon Young, director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, told GlobalPost that a decision delivered by Hong Kong’s High Court in March of this year required the government to create a new procedure for reviewing asylum applications.

Until the government does this, he said, asylum seekers are allowed to stay in Hong Kong indefinitely.

“We’re still waiting to hear from government how they are going to implement this decision,” said Young. “Until that’s the case, you can’t return anyone until the law’s in place.”

In other words, should Snowden apply for asylum, then even if the US made a valid extradition request and Hong Kong was willing to comply he could not be deported until the government figured out a new way to review asylum cases — a potentially lengthy process.

Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch says that any Snowden extradition must be “a long way off” because of this gap in the law. 

“If it comes to the point where the US does issue a warrant on Snowden, and then passes it over to the Hong Kong authorities, and he decides to fight it, at this point it would be a court case,” he told GlobalPost. ”And it can be a long court case, going up to the court of final appeals.”

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Hong Kong said that it could not disclose whether or not Snowden had begun the process of seeking asylum. In his conversations with the media, Snowden has indicated that he ultimately hopes to find sanctuary in Iceland.

Apart from this temporary asylum loophole, however, Snowden’s case faces many hurdles.

David Zweig, professor of Chinese politics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, points out that if Snowden was hoping to throw himself on the sympathy of mainland China — which has sovereignty over Hong Kong — then his timing is poor.

“For a foreign policy perspective, it’s a bad choice,” says Zweig, noting that Xi Jinping and Barack Obama just finished a two-day summit in California.

“If relations were [bad], China might have said, ‘Let’s make the Americans a little anxious.’ But we just had this effort to build goodwill, and this would undermine this goodwill so fast. That’s why I think they’ll let him go.” 

On discussion boards, some Hong Kong residents debated whether Snowden might have cut a deal with mainland authorities. The website Bad Canto translated one writer who speculated in Cantonese that Snowden had “become a spy for China when he was in the US, or he may have fallen to a honey trap. What was reported was probably less than 20 percent of what had happened.”

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Sweden’s Princess Madeleine marries New York banker in lavish Stockholm wedding | GlobalPost

Alexander Besant June 8, 2013 17:17

Madeleine, 30, fourth in line to the throne, met O’Neill, 38 in New York City in 2010, after breaking off on engagement to a Swedish lawyer.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden married US-British banker Christopher O’Neill on Saturday in a lavish wedding ceremony in Stockholm.

Madeleine, 30, fourth in line to the throne, met O’Neill, 38 in New York City in 2010, after breaking off on engagement to a Swedish lawyer.

The wedding was attended by royals and socialites from around the world, with 600 guests packing the chapel of the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The event was said to be less lavish than Sweden’s royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and her personal trainer Daniel Westling in 2010.

The Associated Press reported that Madeleine was wearing a “stunning” silk organza dress with a lace top and 13-foot trail, designed by Valentino Garavani.

The emotional ceremony saw the new prince tear up as his bride was walked down the aisle by her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

A 21-gun salute saw the princess and her husband off in a ride through the city center by horse-drawn carriage to attend a private party after the ceremony.

Madeleine has few public duties but was recently caught in a scandal after it was alleged she tried to dodge a traffic ticket using her royal status, said Reuters.

Sweden’s royal family traces their roots back to the House of Bernadotte and has reigned since 1818.

They enjoy a modest popularity among the Swedish public, particularly since the birth of the Crown Princess’s daughter, Princess Estelle.

Madeleine and her husband will remain in New York where the princess works for the World Childhood Foundation, a charity created by the Swedish queen.

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