A specialized unit inside mobile firm BlackBerry has for years enthusiastically helped intercept user data — including BBM messages — to help in hundreds of police investigations in dozens of countries, a CBC News investigation reveals.

BlackBerry gladly handed over subscriber and device information, communications, and even decrypted communications for law enforcement agencies in “dozens” of countries, according to a CBC report published Thursday that spoke to anonymous former employees in the company’s Public Safety Operations team, which works with law enforcement.

The company even offers global law enforcement a stock cover letter with checkboxes that indicate whether they wish to receive device and subscriber information, message logs, or “other,” which CBC reports as meaning decrypting messages secured with BlackBerry’s technology, which the company has touted for years.

Charity analysis of the 50 biggest US businesses claims Apple have $181bn held offshore, while General Electric has $119bn and Microsoft $108bn

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Technology giant Apple, the world’s second biggest company, topped Oxfam’s league table, with some $181bn held offshore in three subsidiaries.

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Computing firm Microsoft was third with $108bn, in a top 10 that also included pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Exxon Mobil, the largest oil company not owned by an oil-producing state.

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“For every $1 spent on lobbying, these 50 companies collectively received $130 in tax breaks and more than $4,000 in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts,” said Oxfam.

Changes in default profile settings over time

Google recently announced that it would start including individual users' names and photos in some ads. This means that if you rate some product positively, your friends may see ads for that product with your name and photo attached -- without your knowledge or consent. Meanwhile, Facebook is eliminating a feature that allowed people to retain some portions of their anonymity on its website.

These changes come on the heels of Google's move to explore replacing tracking cookies with something that users have even less control over. Microsoft is doing something similar by developing its own tracking technology.

Since Donald Trump's election, many in the tech industry have been concerned about the way their skills—and the data collected by their employers—might be used. On a number of occasions, Trump has expressed the desire to perform mass deportations and end any and all Muslim immigration. He has also said that it would be "good management" to create a database of Muslims, and that there should be "a lot of systems" to track Muslims within the US.

La transaction doit toutefois encore être validée par les autorités américaines. En effet, Viadeo avait transféré la plupart de ses actifs (base de données, technologie...) à sa filiale américaine, APVO.

Site de ressources documentaires et d'analyse critique animé par un réseau de chercheurs en sciences sociales

Avant le 14 juillet, le terroriste avait fait 11 repérages sous l'oeil des caméras. "La vidéosurveillance est un échec par rapport à l’illusion de protection qu'elle entretient", nous explique le sociologue Laurent Mucchielli.

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"Oui, les caméras aident à résoudre les enquêtes", admet Laurent Mucchielli. Mais, "à Nice comme à Marseille, le système a été détourné pour vidéo-verbaliser les gens", selon lui. "Tous ces agents seraient plus utiles sur le terrain..."

Elle prévoit le versement de 1,5 million d'euros en l'échange de la base d'abonnés, des technologies et d'une partie des salariés du réseau social. 98 des 126 postes de l'entreprise seraient ainsi préservés.

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La transaction est encore soumise à une validation par les autorités outre-Atlantique, Viadeo ayant transféré la plupart de ses actifs à sa filiale américaine APVO.

Impossible de stocker les infos sur les communications de toute une population : c’est trop grave pour notre droit à la vie privée. C’est la justice européenne qui le dit et c’est à nous, désormais, de forcer la France à obéir.