A group from Stanford showed that the MEMS gyroscopes found on modern smart phones are sufficiently sensitive to measure acoustic signals in the vicinity of the phone, making it possible to identify speaker information and even parse speech.
https://crypto.stanford.edu/gyrophone/
NBC attempted to glean Netflix’s viewership ratings with the help of tech firm Symphony, which measures TV viewing using audio content recognition technology—software loaded on to user’s phones that tracks viewership by capturing the soundtrack of the program.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/13/10764818/netflix-ratings
The U.S. Senate is currently considering passing the Judicial Redress Act, which would allow citizens of European nations and other designated allies the ability to request corrections of inaccuracies in data held by a number of U.S. agencies, verify their data has not been improperly disclosed, and seek civil judicial recourse in certain circumstances.
On December 15th, the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union reached an informal agreement in trialogues with the European Parliament on the ‘Data Protection’ Package which will set out new European rules on privacy in the digital age.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6321_en.htm
Asylum Seekers in Germany will receive an identification card that stores biometric information, medical history, and job skills, among other data.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-cabinet-approves-id-card-plan-for-migrants-1449663398
Ideas for Presentations:
- Year in Review of U.S. Security Bills
- Discussion of the Net Neutrality Decision