DEA kept records of US phone calls for nearly 15 years

“The NSA isn’t the only American government agency keeping track of phone call metadata… or rather, it wasn’t.”

January 21, 2015

Virgin Mobile teams up with Walmart to offer contract-less prepaid LTE data sharing plans

“Virgin Mobile USA has partnered with Walmart to offer new prepaid multi-line data-sharing plans. The new Data Done Right plans will be exclusively available from Walmart, and will be available beginning tomorrow, January 17. The multiple line plan will include a free Mobile Hotspot feature.”

January 21, 2015

The Digital Arms Race: NSA Preps America for Future Battle

“The NSA’s mass surveillance is just the beginning. Documents from Edward Snowden show that the intelligence agency is arming America for future digital wars — a struggle for control of the Internet that is already well underway.”

January 20, 2015

NSA brags about turning the tables on cyberwarfare hackers

“How confident is the National Security Agency about its ability to wage cyberwarfare? Enough so that it’s bragging about it.”

January 19, 2015

NSA-Led Panel Says There’s No Alternative To NSA Data Collection

“Surprise! An academic advisory panel, chaired by director of national intelligence James Clapper — yup, the same guy who lied to Congress — has concluded that there’s no alternative to bulk data collection. Sorry, citizens.”

January 19, 2015

Report: Google may purchase Softcard to boost its mobile payment efforts

“It’s safe to say that competition in the mobile payment space is heating up, and it appears as though Google is looking to bolster its offerings. TechCrunch reports that the Mountain View-based company is reportedly considering buying mobile payments firm Softcard.”

January 19, 2015

Facebook Messenger tests Google Voice-style transcriptions for sound clips

“Voicemail is one of the least efficient ways of communicating, and yet a form of it survives in many messaging apps. Facebook added voice clips to Facebook Messenger in 2013, letting you share lengthy monologues using the app should you ever want to.”