NSA ‘touches only 1.6% of web traffic’

In a rare public disclosure, the US agency behind the recent PRISM web-spying scandal has released documents that show it only has access of 1.6% of global internet traffic. The National Security Agency made the claims in a rare, publicly-released document defending...

Pirate Bay dodges ISP blocks with ‘PirateBrowser’

File-sharing website The Pirate Bay has launched a browser designed to avoid blocks from internet service providers (ISPs) on its site and other similar webpages. The browser, called PirateBrowser, was launched as a ‘gift’ from The Pirate Bay to its users...

Will UK porn filter block other content too?

The UK Government’s controversial plans to impose an opt-out filter on internet porn could be extended to other content, according to reports. The news has fuelled speculation that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei will oversee the UK porn filter. Last week, Prime...

Tumblr sparks controversy with porn tag bans

Tumblr has attracted criticism for banning certain tags on certain porn-related search terms. In its defence, Yahoo-owned Tumblr said the move was introduced “to adhere to the requirements of particular app environments”. The blogging site started blocking...

Google’s new Gmail ads spark controversy

Google has sparked controversy with its redesigned Gmail tabs, with users noticing they are getting ads from companies they did not sign up to receive. Watch the Google promo touting Gmail’s new features below: The news follows Google’s redesign of Gmail back in...

France axes ‘3 strikes’ online piracy law

France’s ‘three strikes’ anti-piracy measure, introduced in 2009 under Nicolas Sarkozy, has been replaced with a system of automatic fines. The law. commonly referred to as the ‘Hadopi law’, disconnected those suspected of copyright infringement. Users...

Google given 35 days to delete Street View wi-fi data

Google has been given 35 days to delete any remaining data it collected ‘mistakely’ from its Street View mapping service. The ultimatum, issued by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, means Google has just over a month to delete the data from its databases...