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The Internet

Submission + - Belfast Plots 1Gbps Ultrafast Broadband Network (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
twoheadedboy
twoheadedboy writes: "Belfast is going to get ultrafast broadband, as plans for a 1Gbps network get going. Belfast’s City Council has been guaranteed £6m of the UK government's £100m Urban Broadband Fund, but could receive up to £13.7m if the Government approves its plans. The city plans to get the network up and running in three years, which will make it one of the best-connected cities in the world."
Privacy

Submission + - Chris Soghoian: Free Market is Failing Consumers on Privacy (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: Chris Soghoian, an independent security and privacy researcher, thinks that we're again in a period of extreme, technology-fueled dislocation. The rapid growth of online social networking Web sites and the proliferation of Internet connected, location-aware mobile devices have empowered for-profit firms like Google, Microsoft and Facebook to collect reams of private information and then hand it to advertisers — often just different divisions within the same company. Consumers, Soghoian argues, are stuck with a cornucopia of free applications, but ones that readily collect and then "spew" their personal information, or provide meager privacy features that are spotty and difficult to use.

In 2010, he filed a complaint with the FTC demanding that the commission force Google to amend its privacy policy to reflect shortcomings in the data protection features that Google offers. He similarly exposed weaknesses in the security of cloud storage firm DropBox, and inaccuracies in its promises to customers about how it protected their data.

Even if privacy isn't a top concern for many users of Facebook and Twitter (and recent studies suggest it isn't), the free market is failing to provide secure options for those who are concerned about it, Soghoian argues.

"There is no way to buy a version of Chrome that doesn't violate your privacy," Soghoian said.

In a frank and open interview, Soghoian tells Threatpost that Google and many other major vendors have no concern for users' privacy and are in fact in the business of selling their data.
Television

Submission + - Have TV Manufacturers Given Up on 3D? (electronichouse.com)

Submitted by
ElectronicHouseGrant
ElectronicHouseGrant writes: "At the 2011 CES, you couldn’t take a step without tripping over a 3D display. Sure there were competing glasses technologies, the prospect of glasses-free and the decaying economy, but no one really expected the public to treat 3D as if it had a bad case of halitosis. Yet here we are, in the middle of the 2012 new TV shipping season and every manufacturer I meet with only wants to talk to me about streaming services, apps or some wacky new control features (for the record, I like streaming services, apps and wacky control features)."

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