Personal Data | featured news

The F.B.I. investigation that toppled the director of the C.I.A. and now threatens to tarnish the reputation of the top American commander in Afghanistan underscores a danger that civil libertarians have long warned about: that in policing the Web for crime, espionage and sabotage, government investigators will unavoidably invade the private lives of Americans.

I have a hard drive with valuable information on it, but I can't seem to access it — the drive is either damaged or erased. Is there any way I can see what's on the drive and get it off?

South Carolina Governer Nikki Haley announced Friday that, “This is not a good day for South Carolina.” The bad news was having to admit a massive security breach in the State’s Department of Revenue that resulted in the theft of 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit/debit card numbers (only 16,000 of which, it is believed, were unencrypted,) This incident affects more than three-quarters of South Carolina’s 4.6 million population.

Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest bookseller, said data thieves hacked into payment devices at 63 of its stores nationwide and may have stolen credit and debit card information from customers.

No baby photos in the status update, no "my kid said the cutest thing" tweets. Some parents are responding to concerns about privacy and safety by keeping their children's photos and stories offline, totally.

The operator of Web sites for Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and others agreed to pay a $1 million civil penalty to settle federal charges that it had illegally collected information about thousands of young children.

The FBI on Tuesday disputed a computer hacker group's claim that it stole personal identification data on millions of Apple device owners from an FBI agent's laptop.

Mitt Romney's success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data-mining project that sifts through Americans' personal information - including their purchasing history and church attendance - to identify new and likely, wealthy donors, The Associated Press has learned....

A coalition of nearly 20 children’s advocacy, health and public interest groups plans to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday, asserting that some online marketing to children by McDonald’s and four other well-known companies violates a federal law protecting children’s privacy.

In the age of identity theft, we are bound to run into conflicting information about what data we should share with providers, government agencies and especially strangers. Recently, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners cautioned drivers about providing too much information following an auto accident.