http://www.freepress.net/blog/2015/12/18/good-bad-and-ugly-government-budget-bill

Congress just passed an enormous omnibus-spending bill to keep the government running — but what’s in this bill besides funding for various agencies?

OPERATION: Fax Big Brother

Congress is rushing toward a vote on CISA, the worst spying bill yet. CISA would grant sweeping legal immunity to giant companies like Facebook and Google, allowing them to do almost anything they want with your data. In exchange, they’ll share even more of your personal information with the government, all in the name of “cybersecurity.” CISA won’t stop hackers — Congress is stuck in 1984 and doesn’t understand modern technology. So this week we’re sending them thousands of faxes — technology that is hopefully old enough for them to understand.

Stop CISA. Send a fax now!

‘Friends’ can share your Facebook profile with the government, court rules

Google to Pay $22.5M to Settle Privacy Complaint.

[nationaljournal]

• Federal Trade Commission announced that Google will pay $22.5 million to settle privacy dispute.
• The case involved allegations that Google bypassed privacy settings of users of Apple’s Safari Internet browser.
• This is not the first time Google has run into trouble over its privacy practices.
• The company agreed to a settlement last year over allegations that it violated its privacy policies for Gmail users.