A law enforced by the British government since the previous Labour administration, known as the Data Retention Act of 2009, has forced companies to breach citizens’ fundamental right to privacy and is now facing a high court challenge from the EU which would force it to be removed from law.

It was first enacted in response to the 2006 EU data retention directive, which required member states to store citizens’ telecoms data for a minimum of six months and a maximum of 24 months. The current...

Cybercrime is an increasingly serious issue, especially with the rise of vital services and devices being connected to networks. Look no further than Ubisoft's recently-released console title, Watch_Dogs, to see a portrayal of the devastation which can be caused when such systems are taken advantage of. The UK is taking the issue seriously, with a recent Queen's speech focusing on implementing life sentences for serious cybercriminals whose actions "result in loss of life, serious...

We now know that no matter what technology we use, if it's connected, then it's probably able to be tapped by the government. NSA leaker and now fugitive/hero, Edward Snowden, revealed a torrential amount of details about the abilities of the United States spying program on international citizens.  

Few companies have come forward about their own involvement and the scale in which their networks and services have been compromised, we can only guess this is for fear of getting on the...

After the outcry regarding the majority of America’s tech giants’ involvement in the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program – many companies pledged to push for more “transparency” when it comes to the data government’s are requesting.

Microsoft in particular pledged it would do all it can to legally protect its customers from government data requests. In a

An investigation has revealed the UK’s telecoms infrastructure is playing a key role in supporting the US military network through provision of the core communications backbone used by controversial drone operations overseas.

Human rights experts say the UK’s involvement is the digital equivalent of permitting the US government to launch air strikes from airforce bases in the UK – something which the UK has in the past been criticised for permitting.

The international connection is provided...

Government agencies request user data from telecoms companies at “jaw-dropping” rates according to Canada’s privacy watchdog. In 2011 alone, nearly 1.2 million requests were made to gain access to the data but the companies involved refuse to say how many were granted.

Privacy experts say the sheer number of requests is “staggering” in scale. David Fraser, a privacy lawyer with McInnes Cooper, said: “I would have been surprised at 100,000”.

The information was...

NSA leaker Edward Snowden is living under asylum in Russia escaping charges for government revelations which could be seen as treason. Since he is now dwelling in the land of the controversial Russian government – it makes sense he wanted to know about the country’s own surveillance.

During a live, state-run television broadcast he was able to go straight to the top.

Snowden quizzed Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and attempted to get clarification on whether Russia’s online spying...

A ruling known as the ‘Data Retention Directive’ was introduced after the terrorist bombings in London and Madrid in 2006. Now, the ruling has been overturned by the European Union’s top court after deeming it “exceeded the limits”...

In the latest set of revelations, Edward Snowden has released documents stating the National Security Agency has been keeping a close eye on the activities of VTech users for “any suspicious activity” since 1976 – when the electronic learning product manufacturer was originally founded.

VTech is yet to comment – but users of the company’s devices have been surprisingly vocal in their thoughts…

Helen, 3, from the UK says: “Just when you think...

If you followed the news over the past week; you will likely have heard about the crowd-funding site Kickstarter and their breach of user details.

But how does such a high-profile breach occur? TelecomsTech reached out to an internet security expert contact for further details…

Our expert today is Nick Hatter; who has a background of exposing potential threats.

Hatter advises TelecomsTech that whilst Kickstarter uses a hash-based system to encrypt user passwords; these systems in general aren’t...