MCCRORY HANDLES HB2 BACKLASH WITH BALANCED APPROACH - EXPANDS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION

  HB2 UPDATE:

MCCRORY HANDLES HB2 BACKLASH WITH BALANCED APPROACH - EXPANDS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION:

...

MAINTAINS COMMON SENSE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR SCHOOL BATHROOMS & LOCKER ROOMS.

I STAND WITH MCCRORY FOR HIS COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP CHARACTER.

 Sources:  Charlotte Observer,  CBS, YouTube

**** Gov. McCrory, Facing HB2 Criticism, Expands Anti-Discrimination Protections 

~ Executive order expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity 

~ Order affirms rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees

~ Order maintains ‘gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities’ in government buildings and schools

Gov. Pat McCrory on Tuesday responded to growing criticism of HB2 with an executive order that expands state employment policy to cover sexual orientation and gender identity and affirming the rights of local governments and businesses to establish their own anti-discrimination policies for employees. 

McCrory also promised to seek legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination, a right eliminated by House Bill 2.

At the same time, the governor said he would maintain “common sense gender-specific restroom and locker room facilities” in government buildings and schools.

“Simply put I have listened to the people of North Carolina and the people of North Carolina are entitled to both privacy and equality,” the governor said in a video message.

FED JUDGE BLOCKS OBAMA ADMIN FROM JAILBREAKING ALL IPHONES (1st-5th AMENDMENTS)

FED JUDGE BLOCKS OBAMA ADMIN FROM JAILBREAKING ALL IPHONES (1st-5th AMENDMENTS):

APPLE WILL ASSIST GOVT TO KEEP AMERICA SAFE WITHOUT VIOLATING PRIVACY.

Sources:  ABC News, Youtube

**** NY Judge: US Cannot Make Apple Provide iPhone Data

The U.S. Justice Department cannot force Apple to provide the FBI with access to locked iPhonedata in a routine Brooklyn drug case, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein's written decision gives support to the company's position in its fight against a California judge's order that it create specialized software to help the FBI hack into an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino terrorism investigation. Apple on Thursday formally objected to the order in a brief filed with the court.

The San Bernardino County-owned iPhone 5C was used by Syed Farook, who was a health inspector. He and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people during a Dec. 2 attack that was at least partly inspired by the Islamic State group.

Apple's opposition to the government's tactics has evoked a national debate over digital privacy rights and national security.

Orenstein concluded that Apple is not obligated to assist government investigators against its will and noted that Congress has not adopted legislation that would achieve the result sought by the government.

Orenstein said he was offering no opinion on whether in the instance of this case or others, "the government's legitimate interest in ensuring that no door is too strong to resist lawful entry should prevail against the equally legitimate societal interests arrayed against it here."

He said the interests at stake go beyond expectations of privacy and include the commercial interest in conducting business free of potentially harmful government intrusion and the "far more fundamental and universal interest ... in shielding sensitive electronically stored data from the myriad harms, great and small, that unauthorized access and misuse can cause."

"How best to balance those interests is a matter of critical importance to our society, and the need for an answer becomes more pressing daily, as the tide of technological advance flows ever farther past the boundaries of what seemed possible even a few decades ago," Orenstein wrote. "But that debate must happen today, and it must take place among legislators who are equipped to consider the technological and cultural realities of a world their predecessors could not begin to conceive."

The Justice Department said in a statement that it's disappointed in the ruling and plans to appeal in coming days. It said Apple had previously agreed many times prior to assist the government and "only changed course when the government's application for assistance was made public by the court."

Apple and their attorneys said they were reading the opinion and will comment later.

In October, Orenstein invited Apple to challenge the government's use of a 227-year-old law to compel Apple to help it recover iPhone data in criminal cases, noting that another law on the books already covered the issue.

The Cupertino, California-based computer maker did, saying in court papers that extracting information from an iPhone "could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand."

It followed up by declining to cooperate in a dozen more instances in four states involving government requests to aid criminal probes by retrieving data from individual iPhones.

In ruling, Orenstein wrote: "I believe Apple has the better argument" because the other law covering wiretaps for telecom companies "explicitly absolves a company like Apple of any responsibility to provide the assistance the government seeks here."

Federal prosecutors say Apple has stopped short of challenging court orders judicially, except in the cases before Orenstein and the California jurist who ruled about the San Bernardino shooter's phone.

"Ultimately, the question to be answered in this matter, and in others like it across the country, is not whether the government should be able to force Apple to help it unlock a specific device; it is instead whether the All Writs Act resolves that issue and many others like it yet to come," Orenstein wrote. "For the reasons set forth above, I conclude that it does not."

APPLE INC v OBAMA ADMIN: APPLE IS RIGHT (PRIVACY)

APPLE INC v OBAMA ADMIN: APPLE IS RIGHT 

PRIVACY (1st - 5th AMENDMENTS)

Sources:  AP, The Wrap, YouTube

Relative to recent controversy between the Federal gov't (Obama admin) and Apple CEO Tim Cook via Cook's refusal to turn over Intellectual Property information on the iPhone's encryption design, Apple is right.

Why?

It's because Pres Obama's administration has proven to be so Politically-motivated, it can't be trusted to use such sensitive Technology information ONLY for America's National Security.

Perhaps Tim Cook thinks Obama's admin will use Apple's iPhone encryption design for its advantage during the 2016 election.

Perhaps yes, perhaps no.

But it's a sad day when the American people can NO longer trust it's own gov't.

It's also a sad day when the Federal gov't no longer supports our highest form of law, the U.S. Constitution (PRIVACY: 1st - 5th Amendments).

**** Apple v. the FBI: Where Obama, Trump, Sanders, Clinton, Twitter and Snowden Stand on Unlocking the iPhone

The world is choosing sides in Apple’s fight with the FBI on whether the company should unlock a murderer’s iPhone.

On Apple’s side are Twitter, Google, and Edward Snowden. Supporting the FBI are the strangest of bedfellows: President Obama and Donald Trump. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and Republican Marco Rubio are somewhere in-between.

Here’s how the two sides are shaking out:

Here’s what’s at issue: A federal court ordered Apple to help the government unlock an iPhone used by one of the shooters in December’s deadly attack in San Bernardino. But CEO Tim Cook said the request would force the company to create a key that could be used to open anyone’s iPhone.

Here’s how the two sides are shaking out:

Google

As the operator of the Android software that powers the majority of the world’s smartphones, Google is the world’s other main encrypter of phone data alongside Apple. And like Apple, it amped up measures in its software two years ago to automatically scramble information on its smartphones.

In a series of tweets, CEO Sundar Pichai called Cook’s letter about Apple’s refusal an “important post.” He noted that the court order against Apple is significantly different from the kind of access Google has previously provided for law enforcement, based on valid legal orders.

Pichai also struck a diplomatic tone, saying he was “looking forward to a thoughtful and open discussion on this important issue.”

Donald Trump

The Republican presidential candidate sided with law enforcement, calling for vigilance on security and “common sense.”

“I agree 100 percent with the courts,” Trump said on a segment with Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” Wednesday. “Who do they think they are? No, we have to open it up.”

He rejected Apple’s argument that creating the tool to unlock the shooter’s phone could jeopardize private citizens’ rights. “Apple, this is one case, this is a case that certainly we should be able to get into the phone,” he said. “And we should find out what happened, why it happened, and maybe there’s other people involved and we have to do that.”

Sen. Marco Rubio

Trump’s Republican presidential rival took a more nuanced position. He called on Apple to voluntarily abide by the court order in the interest of being “a good corporate citizen,” but he noted the complications of the standoff during an appearance on CNN.

“I don’t have a magic solution for it today. It’s a complicated new issue,” he said.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders

Both Democratic presidential candidates deferred from choosing sides during a Town Hall televised Thursday on MSNBC.

Sanders said Cook has seized on an important — but complicated — civil rights issue. Sanders said he’s “very fearful in America about Big Brother” and worried that granting the FBI access to private information could open the door to wider overreach, though he understood the national security concerns as well.

Clinton similarly weighed law enforcement’s desire to protect public safety with Apple’s worries. “Law enforcement has every reason to want to get information off of a killer’s cell phone,” she said, but added that it could lead to demands not just from “the United States government but the Chinese, Russian, Iranian governments.”

Facebook

The world’s biggest social network vowed to “fight aggressively” against government efforts that would weaken the security of technology products, while also acknowledging that law enforcement’s public safety mandate is “essential work,” according to a statement. It also emphasized its own stance that “those who seek to praise, promote, or plan terrorist acts have no place” on Facebook’s services, which include its massive social network, photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack

Wozniak stood behind the stance of his company during an appearance on CNBC, saying Apple’s brand recognition, value and profits are based on trust. He added that Steve Jobs, the late Apple CEO, would likely have fallen on the side of protecting customers’ privacy.

John McAfee

In an op-ed for Business Insider, the anti-virus software businessman — who is known for colorful proclamations and his own tangles with law enforcement — offered to help the FBI hack the iPhone to eliminate the need for Apple to create another way in.

“With all due respect to Tim Cook and Apple, I work with a team of the best hackers on the planet,” he wrote. “I would eat my shoe… if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone.”

The task would take his team three weeks, he said. “If you accept my offer, then you will not need to ask Apple to place a back door in its product, which will be the beginning of the end of America.”

EDWARD SNOWDEN vs MIKE ROGERS: I Trust SNOWDEN! He Deserves Some Level Of Clemency!

#EdwardSnowdenMikeRogersNSA

The whole world now wants America to Pardon/ Forgive NSA Whistleblower EDWARD SNOWDEN for alerting American Citizens that Our Civil Liberties & PRIVACY were being severely Violated by our Elected Officials (Pres OBAMA & CONGRESS).

I too believe Mr SNOWDEN deserves some level of Clemency for his Courageous act.

Initially I judged Mr SNOWDEN as a TRAITOR.

However as I researched the FACTS of his case, I learned this Young Man is indeed more of a PATRIOT than a TRAITOR.

Why??

Here are four reasons:

**1) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT Hire himself as a NSA employee, the Federal Gov't did.

**2) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT conduct his Background Check, the Federal Gov't did.

**3) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT grant himself a Security Clearance, the Federal Gov't did.

**4) Mr SNOWDEN did NOT Violate our Civil Liberties & PRIVACY, the Federal Gov't did.

Thus how can EDWARD SNOWDEN be a Criminal??

Mr SNOWDEN knew he was being Hired to be a HACKER for the Federal Gov't but he thought he was just being Hired to HACK into the Personal Info of Real Suspected TERRORISTS.

Not SPY on Innocent American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE!

Not SPY on Innocent American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE for POLITICAL Reasons, or just to keep entire Communities of Human Beings in BONDAGE!

The Federal Gov't Hired Mr SNOWDEN.....offered him a Great Salary....and in exchange for keeping that Great Salary, they expected him to Betray the American People by HACKING into their Personal Lives WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE!

Please understand I am Not Opposed to the U.S. Federal Gov't using Broad Surveillance Powers Legally for authentic NATIONAL SECURITY purposes because I too want to be SAFE from TERRORISM.

I am Only Opposed to the U.S. Federal Gov't ABUSING its Broad Surveillance Powers to Violate the same U.S. Constitution its ELECTED Officials have vowed to uphold, for POLITICS & other Personal reasons!

So in essence the Federal Gov't is using the NSA NOT to track down Real Suspected TERRORISTS as Congressman MIKE ROGERS proclaims.

And why is the Federal Gov't COLLECTING DATA & INFO on Each American Citizen??

It's being stored at a huge Compound in UTAH but Why??

Federal Gov't Officials are using the NSA to SPY on ALL American Citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE just because they Can, NOT because they need to!

i.e., "Big Brother" Is Here!

This is beyond WRONG & ILLEGAL!

Another example of Federal Gov't ABUSE is the IRS targeting Innocent American Citizens for their RELIGIOUS Beliefs & POLITICAL Affiliations.

Or......

Using the IRS to RETALIATE against Innocent American Citizens.

Both actions are also WRONG & ILLEGAL!!

So do I strongly believe EDWARD SNOWDEN is a necessary, Courageous Young Whistleblower who deserves some level of Clemency??

YES!!

FYI:

I WILL NEVER TRUST CONGRESSMAN MIKE ROGERS (R-MI) AGAIN.

Why??

One word.....DETROIT!








"Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower"


Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency’s reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their phone calls, their email messages, their friends and contacts, how they spend their days and where they spend their nights.

The public learned in great detail how the agency has exceeded its mandate and abused its authority, prompting outrage at kitchen tables and at the desks of Congress, which may finally begin to limit these practices.

The revelations have already prompted two federal judges to accuse the N.S.A. of violating the Constitution (although a third, unfortunately, found the dragnet surveillance to be legal).

A panel appointed by President Obama issued a powerful indictment of the agency’s invasions of privacy and called for a major overhaul of its operations.

All of this is entirely because of information provided to journalists by Edward Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who stole a trove of highly classified documents after he became disillusioned with the agency’s voraciousness. Mr. Snowden is now living in Russia, on the run from American charges of espionage and theft, and he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.

Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community.

Mr. Snowden is currently charged in a criminal complaint with two violations of the Espionage Act involving unauthorized communication of classified information, and a charge of theft of government property. Those three charges carry prison sentences of 10 years each, and when the case is presented to a grand jury for indictment, the government is virtually certain to add more charges, probably adding up to a life sentence that Mr. Snowden is understandably trying to avoid.

The president said in August that Mr. Snowden should come home to face those charges in court and suggested that if Mr. Snowden had wanted to avoid criminal charges he could have simply told his superiors about the abuses, acting, in other words, as a whistle-blower.

“If the concern was that somehow this was the only way to get this information out to the public, I signed an executive order well before Mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistle-blower protection to the intelligence community for the first time,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference. “So there were other avenues available for somebody whose conscience was stirred and thought that they needed to question government actions.”

In fact, that executive order did not apply to contractors, only to intelligence employees, rendering its protections useless to Mr. Snowden. More important, Mr. Snowden told The Washington Post earlier this month that he did report his misgivings to two superiors at the agency, showing them the volume of data collected by the N.S.A., and that they took no action. (The N.S.A. says there is no evidence of this.) That’s almost certainly because the agency and its leaders don’t consider these collection programs to be an abuse and would never have acted on Mr. Snowden’s concerns.

In retrospect, Mr. Snowden was clearly justified in believing that the only way to blow the whistle on this kind of intelligence-gathering was to expose it to the public and let the resulting furor do the work his superiors would not. Beyond the mass collection of phone and Internet data, consider just a few of the violations he revealed or the legal actions he provoked:

■ The N.S.A. broke federal privacy laws, or exceeded its authority, thousands of times per year, according to the agency’s own internal auditor.

■ The agency broke into the communications links of major data centers around the world, allowing it to spy on hundreds of millions of user accounts and infuriating the Internet companies that own the centers. Many of those companies are now scrambling to install systems that the N.S.A. cannot yet penetrate.

■ The N.S.A. systematically undermined the basic encryption systems of the Internet, making it impossible to know if sensitive banking or medical data is truly private, damaging businesses that depended on this trust.

■ His leaks revealed that James Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, lied to Congress when testifying in March that the N.S.A. was not collecting data on millions of Americans. (There has been no discussion of punishment for that lie.)

■ The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rebuked the N.S.A. for repeatedly providing misleading information about its surveillance practices, according to a ruling made public because of the Snowden documents. One of the practices violated the Constitution, according to the chief judge of the court.

■ A federal district judge ruled earlier this month that the phone-records-collection program probably violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. He called the program “almost Orwellian” and said there was no evidence that it stopped any imminent act of terror.

The shrill brigade of his critics say Mr. Snowden has done profound damage to intelligence operations of the United States, but none has presented the slightest proof that his disclosures really hurt the nation’s security. Many of the mass-collection programs Mr. Snowden exposed would work just as well if they were reduced in scope and brought under strict outside oversight, as the presidential panel recommended.

When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law, that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government. That’s why Rick Ledgett, who leads the N.S.A.’s task force on the Snowden leaks, recently told CBS News that he would consider amnesty if Mr. Snowden would stop any additional leaks.

And it’s why President Obama should tell his aides to begin finding a way to end Mr. Snowden’s vilification and give him an incentive to return home.


Sources: AP, CBS News, CNN, NY Times, Russia Today, The Guardian, Youtube

Facebook Apps Privacy Breach: Jealous Conspiracy Or Marketing Tool?

Facebook In Privacy Breach

Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook's strictest privacy settings. The practice breaks Facebook's rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users' activities secure.

The problem has ties to the growing field of companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online—a practice the Journal has been examining in its What They Know series.

It's unclear how long the breach was in place. On Sunday, a Facebook spokesman said it is taking steps to "dramatically limit" the exposure of users' personal information.

"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook," he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

"Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information," the Facebook official said.

"Apps" are pieces of software that let Facebook's 500 million users play games or share common interests with one another. The Journal found that all of the 10 most popular apps on Facebook were transmitting users' IDs to outside companies.

The apps, ranked by research company Inside Network Inc. (based on monthly users), include Zynga Game Network Inc.'s FarmVille, with 59 million users, and Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille. Three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user's friends to outside companies.

Most apps aren't made by Facebook, but by independent software developers. Several apps became unavailable to Facebook users after the Journal informed Facebook that the apps were transmitting personal information; the specific reason for their unavailability remains unclear.

The information being transmitted is one of Facebook's basic building blocks: the unique "Facebook ID" number assigned to every user on the site. Since a Facebook user ID is a public part of any Facebook profile, anyone can use an ID number to look up a person's name, using a standard Web browser, even if that person has set all of his or her Facebook information to be private. For other users, the Facebook ID reveals information they have set to share with "everyone," including age, residence, occupation and photos.

The apps reviewed by the Journal were sending Facebook ID numbers to at least 25 advertising and data firms, several of which build profiles of Internet users by tracking their online activities.

Defenders of online tracking argue that this kind of surveillance is benign because it is conducted anonymously. In this case, however, the Journal found that one data-gathering firm, RapLeaf Inc., had linked Facebook user ID information obtained from apps to its own database of Internet users, which it sells. RapLeaf also transmitted the Facebook IDs it obtained to a dozen other firms, the Journal found.

RapLeaf said that transmission was unintentional. "We didn't do it on purpose," said Joel Jewitt, vice president of business development for RapLeaf.

Facebook said it previously has "taken steps ... to significantly limit Rapleaf's ability to use any Facebook-related data."



Facebook prohibits app makers from transferring data about users to outside advertising and data companies, even if a user agrees. The Journal's findings shed light on the challenge of policing those rules for the 550,000 apps on its site.

The Journal's findings are the latest challenge for Facebook, which has been criticized in recent years for modifying its privacy rules to expose more of a user's information. This past spring, the Journal found that Facebook was transmitting the ID numbers to advertising companies, under some circumstances, when a user clicked on an ad. Facebook subsequently discontinued the practice.

"This is an even more complicated technical challenge than a similar issue we successfully addressed last spring on Facebook.com," a Facebook spokesman said, "but one that we are committed to addressing."

The privacy issue follows Facebook's effort just this month to give its users more control over its apps, which privacy activists had cited as a potential hole in users' ability to control who sees their information. On Oct. 6, Facebook created a control panel that lets users see which apps are accessing which categories of information about them. It indicates, for example, when an application accesses a user's "basic information" (including a user ID and name). However, it doesn't detail what information friends' applications have accessed about a user.

Facebook apps transform Facebook into a hub for all kinds of activity, from playing games to setting up a family tree. Apps are considered an important way for Facebook to extend the usefulness of its network. The company says 70% of users use apps each month.

Applications are also a growing source of revenue beyond advertising for Facebook itself, which sells its own virtual currency that can be used to pay for games.

Following an investigation by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner, Facebook in June limited applications to accessing only the public parts of a user's profile, unless the user grants additional permission. (Canadian officials later expressed satisfaction with Facebook's steps.) Previously, applications could tap any data the user had access to, including detailed profiles and information about a user's friends.

It's not clear if developers of many of the apps transmitting Facebook ID numbers even knew that their apps were doing so. The apps were using a common Web standard, known as a "referer," which passes on the address of the last page viewed when a user clicks on a link. On Facebook and other social-networking sites, referers can expose a user's identity.

The company says it has disabled thousands of applications at times for violating its policies. It's unclear how many, if any, of those cases involved passing user information to marketing companies.

Facebook also appeared to have shut down some applications the Journal found to be transmitting user IDs, including several created by LOLapps Media Inc., a San Francisco company backed with $4 million in venture capital. LOLapp's applications include Gift Creator, with 3.5 million monthly active users, Quiz Creator, with 1.4 million monthly active users, Colorful Butterflies and Best Friends Gifts.

Since Friday, users attempting to access those applications received either an error message or were reverted to Facebook's home screen.

"We have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate our terms," a Facebook spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for LOLapps Media declined to comment.

The applications transmitting Facebook IDs may have breached their own privacy policies, as well as industry standards, which say sites shouldn't share and advertisers shouldn't collect personally identifiable information without users' permission. Zynga, for example, says in its privacy policy that it "does not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to third-party advertising companies."

A Zynga spokeswoman said, "Zynga has a strict policy of not passing personally identifiable information to any third parties. We look forward to working with Facebook to refine how web technologies work to keep people in control of their information."

The most expansive use of Facebook user information uncovered by the Journal involved RapLeaf. The San Francisco company compiles and sells profiles of individuals based in part on their online activities.

The Journal found that some LOLapps applications, as well as the Family Tree application, were transmitting users' Facebook ID numbers to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then linked those ID numbers to dossiers it had previously assembled on those individuals, according to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then embedded that information in an Internet-tracking file known as a "cookie."

RapLeaf says it strips out the user's name when it embeds the information in the cookie and shares that information for ad targeting. However, The Wall Street Journal found that RapLeaf transmitted Facebook user IDs to a dozen other advertising and data firms, including Google Inc.'s Invite Media.

All 12 companies said that they didn't collect, store or use the information.

Ilya Nikolayev, chief executive of Familybuilder, maker of the Family Tree application, said in an email, "It is Familybuilder's corporate policy to keep any actual, potential, current or prior business partnerships, relationships, customer details, and any similar information confidential. As this story relates to a company other than Familybuilder, we have nothing further to contribute."



Sources: Wall Street Journal, CNN, Facebook, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Tiger Woods' Press Conference, His Contrite Apology (Video)

Tiger Woods' Apology: "I Am So Sorry"


In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods apologized Friday for his "irresponsible and selfish" behavior.

"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," said the golfer, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a blazer. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry. ...

"I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."

It was his first public appearance since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida -- the beginning of what would become an torrent of bad news for the golfer.

The 11 a.m. ET event, at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, was carefully managed, with a small hand-picked crowd as an audience.

Although some members of the media were invited to listen to Woods' remarks, they were not allowed to ask questions. The large majority of reporters and media were housed at least a half a mile away, where they watched the event on television.

Woods' mother attended, although his wife, Elin Nordegren, did not.

The golfer's statement came amid the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Accenture is among the companies that ended its relationship with the 34-year-old superstar.

Accenture spokesman Fred Hawrysh said Thursday that the company did not think Woods' statement would be a distraction to the tournament, which began Wednesday in Dove Mountain, Arizona. Friday's session will begin well after Woods' remarks.

Woods -- who has won the event three times, according to GolfWeek Magazine -- has taken an indefinite break from his professional golfing career.

"I have tremendous confidence in the golf media covering the tournament," Hawrysh said, explaining why he thought the statement wouldn't take away from the golfing event.

Some golfers didn't agree, however. "It's selfish," Ernie Els told GolfWeek. "You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

The highly managed conditions of the statement also prompted the Golf Writers Association of America -- which was invited to have three members present and then later negotiated to have six -- to boycott the event.

The association's president, Vartan Kupelian, said the group was still covering the event, but was simply not present in the room.

"As long as we're not going to have the ability to ask questions, as long as we're just going to be standing there like props, there's no point of us being in the room," he told CNN.

Former sportscaster Pat O'Brien criticized the way Woods seemed to be controlling the news conference.

"He might as well have done this on YouTube," O'Brien said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "But I do think that he's got to subject himself to some sort of question-and-answer at some point, otherwise people are just going to -- it's already a disaster."

"If you listened to sports talk radio today, he's just getting ripped to shreds," O'Brien added.

Tiger's agent said the golfer feels many of the issues he is dealing with are private but he still owes his fans an explanation.

"While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between him and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him. He also let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends, and that's what he's going to discuss," Steinberg said.


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Sources: CNN, McClatchy Newspapers, Google Maps

Google Buzz Violates Wire Tap Laws? EPIC Says Yes

EPIC: Google May Have Broken Wiretap Law


If Google wanted to create a quick buzz around its new social networking service, it's certainly accomplished that. Last week, when the Web giant automatically signed up millions of Gmail users for its new Buzz social network, much of the Internet was sent into a privacy tizzy.

Google announced serious modifications to the service later in the week, but that wasn’t enough for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). On Tuesday, it filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the regulator to order more changes. EPIC also accused Google of violating Federal Consumer Protection Law and suggested the firm may have broken wiretap laws, too.

While the details of the Buzz privacy dispute can seem esoteric, the main thrust of EPIC's complaint is simple: Google should never have pushed all 37 million U.S. Gmail users into a social networking service without asking, said EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.

"E-mail is one area on the Internet where we have a well-understood expectation of privacy," Rotenberg said. "E-mail is for private messages. You sign up for social networking to communicate publicly with people, Google tried to turn e-mail into social networking, and that's where they ran into trouble."

The complaint lays out a series of alleged Google missteps that EPIC says constitute unfair or deceptive trade practices that violate the Federal Trade Commission Act. For starters, it says, all users who checked their Gmail account last week were suddenly signed up for Buzz. While Google offered users a chance to "check out" the service, it didn't give them the option to avoid it.

"Regardless of whether a user clicked the button labeled 'Sweet! Check out Buzz' or “Nah, go to my inbox,’ Google Buzz was activated," the complaint says.

Gmail account holders who then began using Buzz found their first public posting was essentially a list of their most frequent e-mail contacts. Buzz decided for itself who users e-mailed most often, then put those users on a list as "followers" and made that list public. Quickly, nightmare hypothetical scenarios were published -- workers who had recently e-mailed about job interviews had their job hunt exposed, for example. Cheating lovers or spouses were outed.

"Gmail contact lists routinely include deeply personal information, including the names and email addresses of estranged spouses, current lovers, attorneys and doctors," the EPIC complaint said. "Users were not explicitly warned that their lists would be automatically visible to the public. ... Anyone looking at a newly activated Buzz user’s following list would know that the list indicated which people that user communicated with most often."

In addition to causing potential embarrassment -- or worse – Google may have broken the law by disclosing e-mail contacts, EPIC said.

"Improper disclosure of even a limited amount of subscriber information by an e-mail service provider can be a violation of both state and federal law," it said. "An attempt by an e-mail service provider to attempt to convert the personal information of all of its customers into a separate service raises far-reaching concerns."

Google has already gone through two rounds of revisions with its service, and Buzz now tells new users that frequent e-mail partners will be “followers” unless the user prevents that. New users now see a list of potential followers -- checked by default -- when they sign up for the service.

But on Tuesday, Rotenberg said that Google still hadn't gone far enough to address privacy concerns. Buzz still ropes in Gmail users and their e-mail contacts by default, which can lead to unintended disclosure of personal information, he says.

Rotenberg said Buzz users should have to actively opt in before Buzz is activated, rather than opt out.

"It's always about the defaults," he said.

EPIC has called on the FTC to force Google to:

*make Buzz a fully opt-in service.
* force Google to cease using Gmail users’ private address book contacts to compile social networking lists.
*give Buzz users more control over their information.

For a company that has already dealt with plenty of privacy related issues, Google's misreading of public reaction to Buzz is a surprise, said Larry Ponemon, a privacy researcher who runs The Ponemon Institute.

"It is astonishing to me that a decision was made to release a product that the average person would see as a potential privacy snafu," he said. "Things like this seem to happen because people making decisions just aren't thinking about privacy. … Sometimes companies don't when they are about to release something they think is really cool."

Ponemon did say that he was impressed with Google's quick response to the controversy, taking only a few days to make changes to the service.

"They did take it seriously, you could tell they had all hands on deck," he said.

Rotenberg said Google was more worried about stiff competition in the social media world than privacy.

“Google tried to take advantage of its market position" by dragging all Gmail users into Buzz overnight, he said, thereby giving the service a running start in the uphill battle to catch Facebook and Twitter in the social networking space.

That's why he wants the FTC to be more proactively involved in privacy policy.

"The FTC has had a hands-off policy, leading to some bad business practices," he said.

Google said in an e-mail statement to msnbc.com that it was working hard to make adjustments to its service based on user feedback, and will keep "user transparency and control top of mind.

“We also welcome dialogue with EPIC and appreciate hearing directly from them about their concerns," the statement continued. "Our door is always open to organizations with suggestions about our products and services.”


Sources: MSNBC, First Read, Red Tape Chronicles, FTC

Michael Chertoff: ACLU Partially To Blame For Lax Airport Security

Is the ACLU partially to blame for America's current lax Airport Security crisis? Former Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff seems to think so.

Chertoff says the ACLU's issue was over Body Scanning machines and Violation of Privacy.

I have to admit that I agree with Chertoff's perspective on this one.

What's more important or the lesser of two evils?

Someone seeing my underwear or being blown to bits by a radical Al-Qaida Terrorist?

Come on ACLU man up!

Your organization is most certainly necessary in Western Society but please use some common sense and work with our Gov't.

I'm not sure about anyone else but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

After all you can't really sue anyone for "Violation of Privacy" if your dead right?

Check out Mr. Chertoff's discussion on the video below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Sources: MSNBC, ACLU, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Where Did Tiger Woods Spend Christmas? Yacht Still Docked

Tiger Woods' Christmas Plans: Where Is The Scandal-Plagued Golfer?


Four days after speculation ramped up that Tiger Woods was headed toward the Bahamas, it appears that a RadarOnline.com article may still be true. UsMagazine.com reports that Woods' yacht is still docked in Palm Beach, Fla.

It is unknown if the golfer is spending Christmas on the yacht or elsewhere. Earlier this week rumors emerged that Woods and alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel were still having sex -- speculation that Uchitel's power lawyer, Gloria Allred, refused to completely deny -- but the allegations far from universally believed.

Woods is laying low for good reason. Since his post-Thanksgiving car accident, a flurry of rumors have surrounded the AP Athlete of the Decade. Pictures of Uchitel were taken in New York, and even more were snapped up once she arrived in Los Angeles. Woods allegedly emailed Uchitel about his erotic dream of her simultaneously having sex with Derek Jeter and Bones star David Boreanaz. He also is reported to have written an email saying that "I finally found someone I connect with."

Jaimee Grubbs was the second woman to be linked to Woods. Pictures and a video of the cocktail waitress soon hit the web, as did a voicemail and steamy text messages that Woods allegedly sent her. Even more texts were later released. More revealing pictures of Grubbs were soon unveiled to the public, and Grubbs eventually apologized to Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren.

Kalika Moquin was the next woman to be named, accompanied by a picture and video. Moquin has largely remained silent since the scandal was reported, unlike some of the other women connected to the golfer, including the fourth alleged mistress, Jamie Jungers.

Pictures of Jamie Jungers were not difficult to find, and the Las Vegas model may have worked as a stripper until just two weeks before she was named as someone Woods slept with. Jungers has not hesitated to pitch vodka or an auction web site. More notable were the racy allegations she floated about her relationship with Woods.

She says she and Tiger had sex the night his father died, and described the "wild" and "crazy" sex the two had together. She appeared on both the Today show and later on Dateline to spill additional details about her relationship.

Jungers' aunt says that her niece bragged about taking naked pictures of Woods while he was "passed out drunk," but Jungers denies the claim, even though three family members agree with her aunt.

Cori Rist was also linked to Woods. The New York mother allegedly received wire transfers from Tiger, according to her ex-husband. Rist later cried on the Today show and said that Woods is not "an honest man."

Mindy Lawton, a 34-year-old Florida waitress, says she had a year-long affair with Woods. She says the golfer is "very well endowed" and "knows his way around the bedroom."

Holly Sampson was the first porn star to be linked to Woods. NSFW pictures of the adult actress soon appeared, as did a video of the porn star describing sex with Woods, which she calls "amazing." Sampson bears a striking resemblance to a Los Angeles escort with the same name, and she went on to call her time with Woods a "sensual, beautiful experience."

Sampson is not the only porn star rumored to have slept with Woods. Joslyn James has also been named in connection with Tiger, and video of her dancing while barely clothed is available online. James is also on a most-wanted list in Washington state for failing to make child support payments.

Playboy model Loredane Jolie is another alleged mistress, as is former Floridian and current Texan Julie Postle, a striking blonde who was recently pictured in a bikini.

The most recent woman linked to Woods is also the oldest. 48-year-old "cougar" Theresa Rogers allegedly "taught Woods everything he needed to know to be a great lover" and reportedly had an affair that occurred both before and after he married Elin Nordegren.

Tiger allegedly told Rogers that he only married Nordegren to boost his image, and the older lover reportedly tried to have Tiger's baby without his knowledge. Rogers is rumored to be securing a secret payment to ensure her silence.





Tiger Woods Flees To Bahamas On Luxury Yacht - Without His Wife Elin


Shamed golf star Tiger Woods is reported to have fled to the Bahamas on his luxury £14million yacht.

He was joined in the 155ft vessel called Privacy by a group of golfing pals - and not his wife Elin Nordegren.

A limo with blacked out windows was seen arriving at Old Port Cover in North Palm Beach, Florida, where the yacht has been moored for over a week.

The boat slipped its mooring over the weekend with staff at the marina speculating that it was headed to the Bahamas.

Extra provisions were seen being loaded on the yacht before it departed.

Woods, 33, has not been seen in public since being linked with more than 12 women and admitted he had cheated on his wife.

Elin, 29, is said to be planning to spend Christmas in her native Sweden with her family before filing for divorce.

According to People magazine an unnamed friend said Woods planned to cruise around the Bahamas over the Christmas break.

'Tiger's boat Privacy has been docked at Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach for more than a week,' the source told the magazine.

On Saturday morning, after stocking up on provisions from Costco the boat left town.'

Tight security has been in force at the marina after Wood's yacht arrived.

Its crew had attempted to conceal the yacht's name by draping a sheet over the bow of the vessel.

The luxury yacht has all the comforts of home, including a gym, Jacuzzi and sky lounge bar.

It also has a 12,000 gallon fuel tank that gives it a range of 4,000 miles.



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Sources: Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Tiger Woods.com, NY Daily News, Radar Online, US Weekly Mag., LA Times, AP, Google Maps

Tiger Woods In Bahamas, Refuses To Attend Sex Rehab Sessions

Tiger Woods Flees To Bahamas On Luxury Yacht - Without His Wife Elin


Shamed golf star Tiger Woods is reported to have fled to the Bahamas on his luxury £14million yacht.

He was joined in the 155ft vessel called Privacy by a group of golfing pals - and not his wife Elin Nordegren.

A limo with blacked out windows was seen arriving at Old Port Cover in North Palm Beach, Florida, where the yacht has been moored for over a week.

The boat slipped its mooring over the weekend with staff at the marina speculating that it was headed to the Bahamas.

Extra provisions were seen being loaded on the yacht before it departed.

Woods, 33, has not been seen in public since being linked with more than 12 women and admitted he had cheated on his wife.

Elin, 29, is said to be planning to spend Christmas in her native Sweden with her family before filing for divorce.

According to People magazine an unnamed friend said Woods planned to cruise around the Bahamas over the Christmas break.

'Tiger's boat Privacy has been docked at Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach for more than a week,' the source told the magazine.

On Saturday morning, after stocking up on provisions from Costco the boat left town.'

Tight security has been in force at the marina after Wood's yacht arrived.

Its crew had attempted to conceal the yacht's name by draping a sheet over the bow of the vessel.

The luxury yacht has all the comforts of home, including a gym, Jacuzzi and sky lounge bar.

It also has a 12,000 gallon fuel tank that gives it a range of 4,000 miles.





Tiger Woods' Mother Is Angry And Disappointed Over Son's Infidelity



Tiger Woods' mother has hit out at her son, saying she is 'angry and disappointed' with him, according to a family friend.

However, Kultida Woods has vowed to stand by her 33-year-old son, despite being 'furious' over his infidelity.

'[She] is hurt, angry and disappointed in Tiger,' the friend told People magazine.

'She wants to know how he could do this to his family.'

But, despite reportedly dealing with infidelity in her own marriage, 65-year-old Kultida is trying to forgive her son, according to the source.

'She loves him and will support him through anything, but she needs some time to work through this.'

'It was devastating to her. She likes Elin, and adores her grandchildren.

'She's worried about them. She doesn't want to see them hurt,' said the family friend.

Woods' father, Earl Woods, who died from prostate cancer a couple of years ago, was allegedly unfaithful to Thai-born Kultida several years ago.

The golfer was said to have been 'devastated' when he learned of his father's infidelity.

Kultida's anger comes as Elin Woods prepares for divorce and a custody battle over her and Woods' two young children, Sam, two, and Charlie, ten months.

Woods is thought to have cheated on Elin with up to 14 mistresses.

It is reported the ex-model had been prepared to discuss joint custody arrangements with Woods, but his refusal to see a doctor for his reported sex addiction has prompted Elin, 29, to limit his involvement in the children's lives.

One of Elin's close friends told the Sunday Mirror: 'She can't believe Tiger's behaviour. He says he wants to save the marriage, but he's not doing anything about it.

'He's hiding out like a child and refusing to go to rehab to get the treatment he needs. She's so mad at him, she's flipping out.

Everyone wants Tiger to get treatment and going down that road was his only real chance of delaying the divorce, but he wouldn't even sit through therapy.

'Elin has had enough now,' the friend told the newspaper. 'She's made up her mind that she's going for custody.'

It is reported that Elin will instruct her lawyer, legendary Hollywood divorce specialist Sorrell Trope, to fight for half of Woods' £340million fortune along with full custody of the children.

But legal experts told the Sunday Mirror Elin is unlikely to win full custody as Woods' home state of Florida is 'dad-friendly' and his serial cheating would not count unless Elin can prove his behaviour made him 'a detriment' to his children.



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Sources: Daily Mail, EPA, NY Daily News, Google Maps