It's time all of us made a commitment to this basic data security. With full disk encryption all data is protected by default and prying officials at least have to jump through legal hoops before they can start casually thumbing through all your private data.

On Saturday October 1st, eight countries (the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Tokyo, Japan.

That same data would also be available to civil litigants in private lawsuits--whether it's the RIAA trying to identify downloaders, a company trying to uncover and retaliate against an anonymous critic, or a divorce lawyer looking for dirty laundry

In the age of cloud computing, technology companies decide which programs users can load on to their smart phones, while Facebook sells personal data to other companies to use. Internet users need to swim against the stream if they want to protect their privacy.

The newly formed FreedomBox Foundation is seeking pledges. The idea of the Freedom Box is to decentralize servers to regain privacy and to make the network more resistant in order to secure political freedom. The page also contains links to the inspiring Eben Moglen speeches behind the concept.

Put our dislike button and other anti-Facebook messages on your own site.
Our button, of course, is not linked to any surveillance database or tracking system.

"This vote is a terrible blow to EU citizens. It shows that the conservatives and some of their allies can get the Parliament to vote in favor of ACTA."

With Felten on board, the FTC is uniquely positioned to deal with the myriad issues from the Roundtables in ways that protect consumer privacy without hampering innovation.