Information Age

How Much Is My Private Data Worth? (Google Just Offered Me Money)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on How Much Is My Private Data Worth? (Google Just Offered Me Money)

The first thing I noticed after I’d removed the glossy brochure from the envelope was the crisp $5 bill. I’m a sucker for free money. After peeling it off the letter, I started reading. It was from Google and involved a lot more money – in return for just about all my private data.

Seems The NSA Spied On Me When I Lived In Belgium

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Seems The NSA Spied On Me When I Lived In Belgium

Another Edward Snowden revelation indicates that I, a humble, incoherent, harmless, and (mostly) law-abiding American, may have gotten tangled up in the NSA’s vast spying dragnet for inexplicable reasons of national security. It’s getting personal.

Use Bitcoin As A Currency, Get Wiped Out (The Government Likes It That Way)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Use Bitcoin As A Currency, Get Wiped Out (The Government Likes It That Way)

Four years after its creation, folks are still arguing over what bitcoin is: “investment opportunity of the millennium,” “part of a societal revolution,” a security, a currency, a casino token? Whatever. But US regulators now have a strategy for killing it as a currency.

NSA Spying Crushes US Tech Companies in Emerging Markets (“An Industry Phenomenon,” Says Cisco’s Chambers)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on NSA Spying Crushes US Tech Companies in Emerging Markets (“An Industry Phenomenon,” Says Cisco’s Chambers)

Cisco CEO John Chambers had a euphemism for it during the earnings call: “challenging political dynamics” in China, without ever naming the NSA. Then there was India and others, including Russia where Snowden is holed up, and where sales outright collapsed.

Nobel Peace Prize, Asylum for Snowden: Germans Turn Up Heat

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Nobel Peace Prize, Asylum for Snowden: Germans Turn Up Heat

While the US government wants to get its hands on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and crucify him properly, the German government remains red-faced and tangled up in its own underwear. Yet among Germans, and their politicians, support for him is surging.

NSA’s “MUSCULAR” Secretly Breaks Into The Cloud Of US Tech Companies, Siphons Off Data, Fouls Up Revenues Overseas

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on NSA’s “MUSCULAR” Secretly Breaks Into The Cloud Of US Tech Companies, Siphons Off Data, Fouls Up Revenues Overseas

The seamless, borderless surveillance society has a new dimension: MUSCULAR. Under it, the NSA and British GCHQ secretly break into the “clouds” of US companies to syphon off user data on a large scale. Illegal in the US. But the cloud is a worldwide phenomenon.

Politicians Are All Jabbering About Creating Jobs (Doing What?)

by James Murray •  • Comments Off on Politicians Are All Jabbering About Creating Jobs (Doing What?)

By James Murray: Computer power has reached the point where almost anything can be automated, and computer pricing has reached the point where it is profitable to do so. The world is undergoing a mega shift, and governments have no clue how to handle the problem.

OMG, Those “Who Truly Rule The World”

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on OMG, Those “Who Truly Rule The World”

Most powerful person in the world? Putin! Sez Forbes. At least, it wasn’t Merkel, who has been throwing her weight around when she found out that her Handy had been bugged by the NSA, just like our cellphones. We have to take it; she gets to make a big stink and gripe to Obama on the (bugged) phone.

Twitter IPO A Dud? Yes, Says Survey of Financial Advisors (But You’ll Own It “Whether You Want It Or Not”)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Twitter IPO A Dud? Yes, Says Survey of Financial Advisors (But You’ll Own It “Whether You Want It Or Not”)

Brokers, financial advisors, and wealth managers are a recalcitrant bunch, suddenly, after having gotten their manicured fingers burned on a few super-hyped IPOs, and now they just refuse to get exuberant about the Twitter IPO. At least that’s what they indicated in a survey. But individual investors, well, that’s another story.

NSA Revelations Kill IBM Hardware Sales in China

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on NSA Revelations Kill IBM Hardware Sales in China

The first shot was fired on Monday. Teradata, which sells analytics tools for Big Data, warned that revenues plunged 21% in Asia. Wednesday, it was IBM’s turn to confess: hardware sales in China had collapsed. Every word was colored by Snowden’s revelations about NSA’s collaboration with American tech companies, from startups to mastodons like IBM.