Privacy in the digital world covers how personal data is collected, stored, and used. Posts in this category discuss ways to protect your information online, privacy tools, and related concerns. As more of life moves online, understanding privacy becomes more important.
November 2013 saw the Snowden revelations widen from American programmes to the surveillance of allies, while a run of password breaches and a wave of corporate encryption pledges reshaped the privacy landscape.
October 2013 was dominated by fresh Snowden documents that exposed mass NSA surveillance across allied nations, alongside major data breaches at Adobe and Experian and a wave of legislative pushback.
The Snowden disclosures reached their peak as the NSA was shown to undermine encryption itself, while leaders abroad and watchdogs at home pushed back.
August 2013 belonged to the Snowden fallout, as fresh leaks, an audit of thousands of NSA violations and the shutdown of encrypted email services laid bare the cost of mass surveillance.
The Snowden disclosures reached full flood in July 2013, as fresh leaks exposed XKeyscore and corporate complicity while courts, lawmakers and breached websites scrambled to respond.
June 2013 was the month the Snowden documents broke, exposing NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance and triggering a wave of lawsuits, corporate denials and diplomatic fury.
May 2013 brought government surveillance of journalists, corporate snooping, and a wave of breaches that exposed how loosely personal data was held.
April 2013 was dominated by the fight over CISPA, a run of retail and social breaches, and fresh signs that encryption and surveillance were on a collision course.
March 2013 mixed fresh breaches and denial of service floods with a wave of corporate transparency, as regulators, courts and campaigners pushed back against everyday surveillance.
February 2013 brought a wave of state-linked intrusions, fresh regulatory pressure on mobile apps, and hacktivists exposing corporate and government surveillance.
January 2013 paired sweeping cyber espionage and breach disclosures with a wave of enforcement, transparency reports and the death of Aaron Swartz, which turned computer crime law into a privacy fault line.