Smartphone tracking data. Two researchers reported last month that Apple has been storing time-stamped location information on users’ iOS devices since June. An unencrypted file with these data is saved onto a user’s computer each time she syncs her device with it, as well. Apple appears to have good reasons for collecting the location information, […]

Rumor — and that’s all it is — is that Google will announce  a $10/month Chrome OS laptop rental.  That such a rumor could be credible, whether or not it actually bears out, is a testament to how much our IT ecosystem has evolved in just the past few years.  I’ve long been concerned about […]

Amazon strong-arms a third-party Kindle service. Amazon shut down Lendle, a popular Kindle service that allows users to lend their books to strangers, last week because it didn’t “serve the principal purpose of driving sales of products and services on the Amazon site.” Two days later, after customers tweeted their displeasure, Amazon informed Lendle of […]

The European Journal of International Law published on an affiliated web site a short book review.  The author of the book reviewed was displeased, and wrote to the editor asking for it to be taken down.  He declined in a very thoughtful letter, part of a correspondence reproduced here. He suggested that he would forward […]

You may have heard of Herdict, the Berkman Center project to crowdsource reports on the moment-to-moment health of the Internet.  (Video introduction here; FAQ here.)  We are seeking a CEO for it! Since last year Herdict has tracked big blockages like those of China’s Great Firewall, and small ones like the temporary block of WordPress […]

[cross-posted at the CDT blog] How the Internet is running out of room, and what we must do about it “CDT Fellows’ Focus” is a series from CDT that presents the views of other notable experts on tech policy issues. This week, CDT Fellow Jonathan Zittrain and Leslie Daigle write about the end of IPv4 address space. […]

On December 20, Apple removed an unofficial Wikileaks app from the App Store. Apple had approved the app, which simply showed the Wikileaks twitter feed and website, three days earlier. Considering Apple’s uptight attitude toward iPhone and iPad apps, it is perhaps more surprising that an app providing access to the controversial site’s content was […]

I just finished recording a podcast with Larry Lessig and the Berkman fellows about Wikileaks.  It should be online within a day or two.  In the meantime, we’ve been trying to simply nail down some of the facts surrounding the situation.  We figured we’d share what we’ve gathered so far as a FAQ, and we’ll […]

A few months ago it looked like there’d be no action on net neutrality in the US by the FCC or Congress.  After some momentum gathered during both the Bush and Obama administrations, a federal court ruling had cast doubt on the FCC’s ability to regulate in the area, and a rancorous election season suggested […]

Yesterday the FTC announced a new project to encourage the formation of a “do-not-track” list, where Internet users could opt out of certain kinds of cookie-based Web tracking in one place and for good.  The NYT room for debate blog asked for reactions — It’s amazing to think that the sophistication and intensity of behavioral […]