American services, European users: a privacy mess [Government IT Week]
ZDNet's worldwide team provides global 24/7 technology news and analysis. In addition to my own coverage analysis here in the ZDNet Government column and on ZDNet's DIY-IT, every week I'll bring you a selection of the best government-related articles posted by our intrepid reporters and analysts. Here are some of the most interesting from the last week.
Top stories this week
How one judge single-handedly killed trust in the US technology industry
Well that's certainly a phrase one US judge can nail on the casket of her career.
Microsoft ordered to hand over overseas email, throwing EU privacy rights in the fire
US law can apply anywhere in the world, so long as a technology company has control over foreign data, a court rules.
Google details troubles it and others face meeting right to be forgotten requests
Google has revealed the pains of complying with Europe's right to be forgotten ruling in a letter to European data watchdogs.
US warns of 'Backoff,' latest entry into POS malware market
US Homeland Security has warned businesses to stay on their guard against a newly detected strain of point-of-sale malware.
Other government coverage around ZDNet
M-gov still incipient in Brazil
Most government agencies don't provide mobile services — and have no immediate plans to do so, says research.
UK spy agency GCHQ confronts cybersecurity skills shortage with certified degrees
The UK surveillance agency GCHQ tackles a shortage of graduates with the necessary information security skills by accrediting degree courses.
China excludes Symantec, Kaspersky Lab from approved anti-virus vendors
According to reports, Chinese officials no longer approve the use of the two anti-virus software vendors.
Government vague, divided on copyright crackdown: Dreyfus
Proposals to crack down on online copyright infringement are vague and Attorney-General George Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull appear divided on the schemes, according to Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
Australia deserves a whack of the data breach notification stick
Australian businesses shouldn't have to clean up after other organisations' infosec oopsies. It’s time to get tough about data breach notification.
Singapore shoppers still anxious about online security
Some 78 percent of Singaporeans shop online at least once a month, but more than half at 57 percent are concerned about their financial details falling into the wrong hands, reveals survey on e-commerce security.
Australian government's offshore cloud policy revealed
The Australian government has quietly asked industry to comment on a proposal that would drop the need for agencies to get approval from two ministers to offshore government data.
Rights owners must sue mum and dad copyright infringers: Turnbull
Copyright holders must be prepared to sue mums and dads and students for copyright infringement in order for any deterrence scheme to be effective, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned.
Twitter laments government roadblocks in fifth transparency report
Intellectual property is actually an overlooked hotspot given Twitter received nearly 10,000 copyright takedown requests for the micro-blogging site and subsidiary Vine.
Russia to Apple, SAP: Give us source code, prove you're not spies
Russian officials have asked the companies to hand over their source code so it can be tested for surveillance capabilities.
Australian government revises cloud computing policy
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has flagged that a revised cloud computing policy for the Australian government will be released in the coming weeks.
Country web domains can't be seized: ICANN
The internet's regulatory authority says country-specific web domains cannot be seized in court proceedings as it sought to quash an effort to recover assets in terrorism-related lawsuits.
Piracy discussion paper focuses on copyright stick not content carrot
Why would content owners want to make their products more easily available when the Australian government appears to be focusing entirely on deterring and punishing users for copyright infringement?