PUBLIC MARKS from sbrothier with tags security & privacy

In November 2015, a video was released to the public showing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald— a black kid who went to school in Chicago’s South Side—being shot 16 times in less than 15 seconds by Jason Van Dyke, a white officer with the Chicago Police Department. Protests erupted around the country, and to this day, protests continue in Chicago. Not only was this an example of an officer brazenly ignoring protocol and killing another human being with wanton disregard for the law, it was also evidence of an apparent cover-up: McDonald was killed in October 2014, and it took at least one lawsuit and 13 months for the city to hand over the video—seemingly an inherently public record—to journalists and lawyers working the case.

We’re now using the Internet for a wide range of everyday activities, including online banking, stock trading, online shopping, bill paying, socializing, gaming, entertainment and online research. In the last few years there’s been a massive growth in the number of social networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Craigslist, Instagram, Tumblr. We share all kinds of personal details on these sites as well as music, pictures and videos, most of which we would certainly prefer to protect, safeguard and keep private. Unfortunately, all of these sites have been “cracked” by hackers who exposed passwords and other personal information from thousands of users. If you haven’t had your password hijacked, it’s really just a matter of time.

Over the last year, through the revelations of Ed Snowden and independent reporting by others, we've learned more and more about the National Security Agency's spying programs. Indeed, there have now been so many revelations that it can be hard to keep them straight. So here's a handy guide to the most significant ways the NSA spies on people in the United States and around the world.

My book, Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance is now available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. Here’s the description and some review

Ever wanted to be a hacker? Hack your way into the heart of a mysterious organization to uncover their secrets..