• FBI director defends phone surveillance program

  A telephone records surveillance program run by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency raises serious privacy concerns and should be reined in, some U.S. senators said Wednesday.

• Google asks to make surveillance orders public, citing First Amendment

  Google has asked the court overseeing terrorism-related surveillance programs at the U.S. National Security Agency to allow the company to publish information on the number of surveillance requests it receives.

• Expanded '2-person rule' could help plug NSA leaks

  The National Security Agency is creating new processes aimed at making it harder for systems administrators to misuse privileged access to agency systems, NSA officials told the U.S. House Intelligence Committee Tuesday.

• US officials: Surveillance programs helped stop 50 terrorist plots

  U.S. law enforcement agencies have disrupted more than 50 terrorist plots in the U.S. and other countries with the help of controversial surveillance efforts at the U.S. National Security Agency, government officials said Tuesday.

• Google Glass privacy concerns raised by international data protection authorities

  The Australian privacy commissioner and 36 other data protection authorities on Tuesday raised privacy concerns about Google Glass in an open letter to CEO Larry Page.

• How to check if your password was exposed in Gawker hack

  A security researcher today provided a way for users to see whether their e-mail addresses and passwords were among the 1.3 million compromised in a hack of Gawker Media's sites.

• Keep your personal data off the market

  In 2003, author and security pioneer Simson Garfinkel conducted a study of data he found on second-hand hard drives. On eBay, Garfinkel bought the hard drive from an old ATM machine; it held 827 bank account PINs. Another drive he purchased on eBay had previously been owned by a medical center and contained information on 31,000 credit card numbers.

• NSA whistleblower likely had easy access to classified data

  A defiant Edward Snowden resurfaced in Hong Kong today vowing to fight any U.S. efforts to extradite him on charges that he leaked classified documents describing two secret government data collection programs.

• State social media privacy laws a mixed bag for businesses

  New social media privacy laws that have been enacted in several states around the country, or are in the works, present something of a mixed bag for businesses.

• Fear of Facebook: 7 free apps that guard your privacy

  Facebook users are constantly being told that their privacy is under siege. Here are seven apps that can help secure your personal data.

• What you Like on Facebook could reveal more than you think

  Before you "like" a friend's or company's post on Facebook, think twice. A new study shows that your Facebook "likes" may be far more revealing than you ever thought.

• Opinion: I want a military smartphone

  The U.S. military wants to put smartphones in the hands of all deployed troops. Their phones are going to be better than regular smartphones, says Mike Elgan, and that's why he wants one.

Whitepapers about privacy

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  2013 Global Information Security Survey: Initial findings

  The results of PwC’s annual Global Information Security Survey indicate that companies are confident in their efforts to secure systems, information, and privacy. Strategies and personnel are in place, they say, and processes and technology are humming along. The number of incidents reported seems manageable. Read more.