World-News

Papaligouras says suicide may be linked to snooping, Voulgarakis disagrees

The two ministers at the center of the government's handling of the phone-tapping affair briefed a parliamentary committee yesterday but disagreed over how significant the alleged suicide of a Vodafone technician was to the case.

Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis told the group of MPs that the death of 39-year-old Costas Tsalikidis, who was a top software engineer at the mobile telephony company where the spy software was installed, was not relevant to the overall investigation.

A prosecutor has just begun examining Tsalikidis's death after it was revealed that the technician was found dead on March 9 - two days after the spy software was discovered at Vodafone. Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras offered an opposing view.

«I cannot prejudge the independent judicial investigation,» Papaligouras told MPs. «I have complete trust that the justice system will investigate all the angles, not just the software but the suicide of Tsalikidis, about which there are many questions.»

Papaligouras also said he instructed Supreme Court prosecutor Dimitris Linos to examine the suicide as part of the investigation into the snooping after they were first informed of the matter last March.

Voulgarakis denied that by identifying the mobile phone masts used by the eavesdroppers he had suggested the US Embassy was involved in the operation. The minister said journalists jumped to that conclusion and that the signals from the mast actually covered most of the municipality of Athens.

The minister also justified the length of the 11-month preliminary investigation into the tapping by saying the police had to investigate thousands of calls made by more than 500 people around Greece. He also named 10 more people on the list of those being monitored. They were all high-ranking police officers.

Meanwhile, the former fiancee of Tsalikidis was questioned by prosecutor Yiannis Diotis yesterday. Sources told Kathimerini that she told him life had been going on as usual before the suicide and she did not have any indication that her fiance was so seriously troubled that he would kill himself. Tsalikidis's brother is expected to testify tomorrow.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100004_08/02/2006_66148



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=phone-tap

Berlin - Zehn deutsche Verbraucher-, Journalisten- und Computerverbände wehren sich in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung sich gegen EU-Pläne zur massenhaften Speicherung von Telefon- und Internetdaten.

Die auch von der Bundesregierung befürwortete Vorratsspeicherung von Telekommunikationsdaten sehe vor, dass künftig jede Benutzung von Telefon, Handy und Internet protokolliert werden soll, berichteten die Verbände am Dienstag in Berlin. Der Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, der Deutsche Journalisten-Verband, der Chaos Computer Club und andere Verbände kritisierten die geplante Datenspeicherung als "inakzeptabel".

"Sie bewirkt keinen verbesserten Schutz vor Kriminalität, kostet Millionen von Euro, gefährdet die Privatsphäre und die Sicherheit Unschuldiger, beeinträchtigt vertrauliche Kommunikation und ebnet den Weg in eine immer weiter reichende Massenüberwachung der Bevölkerung", heißt es in der Erklärung. Strafverfolgungsbehörden sollten auf die Informationen zugreifen können. Nachdem das Europäische Parlament im Dezember grünes Licht gab, steht den Angaben zufolge die Entscheidung der EU-Justizminister noch aus. Wenn die EU-Richtlinie nicht zu verhindern sei, müsse bei der Umsetzung in deutsches Recht der verbleibende Spielraum zu Gunsten von Bürgern und Wirtschaft sowie die Umsetzungsfrist voll ausgeschöpft werden.

dpa

07.02.2006 - aktualisiert: 07.02.2006, 14:04 Uhr

http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/stn/page/detail.php/1089566


Nachricht von der BI Bad Dürkheim

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"Massenüberwachung": Bündnis protestiert gegen geplante Vollprotokollierung der Telekommunikation (07.02.06)

Datenschützer, Verbraucherschützer und Journalisten haben sich am Dienstag gegen die von der Bundesregierung befürwortete Vorratsspeicherung von Telekommunikationsdaten ausgesprochen. EU-Pläne sehen vor, dass künftig jede Benutzung von Telefon, Handy und Internet protokolliert werden soll, damit Strafverfolgungsbehörden auf diese Informationen zugreifen können. Nachdem das Europäische Parlament im Dezember grünes Licht gab, steht die Entscheidung der EU-Justizminister noch aus. Zehn Verbände, darunter der Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv), der Deutsche Journalisten-Verband (DJV) und der Chaos Computer Club (CCC), bezeichneten die geplante Datenspeicherung in ihrer gemeinsamen Erklärung als inakzeptabel. Sie bewirke keinen verbesserten Schutz vor Kriminalität, koste Millionen von Euro, gefährde die Privatsphäre und die Sicherheit Unschuldiger, beeinträchtige vertrauliche Kommunikation und ebne den Weg in eine immer weiter reichende Massenüberwachung der Bevölkerung.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet: http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12870

IT News [Australia]

02/06/06

Advances in mobile phone tracking technology are turning British firms into cyber sleuths as they keep a virtual eye on their staff, vehicles and stock. In the past few years, companies that offer tracking services have seen an explosion in interest from businesses keen to take advantage of technological developments in the name of operational efficiency. The gains, say the converted, are many, ranging from knowing whether workers have been 'held up' in the pub rather than in a traffic jam, to being able to quickly locate staff and reroute them if necessary. Not everybody is happy about being monitored, however, and civil rights group Liberty says the growth of tracking raises data privacy concerns...

http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=30101&src=site-marq


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Der Super Bowl in Detroit ist auch wieder Anlass zur Demonstration von Sicherheitstechnologien, beispielsweise werden aus Bildern von Überwachungskameras Hologramme erzeugt.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21938/1.html

CNet

02/02/06

Electronic passports have driven technological improvements in biometrics and will pave the way for greater commercial use of it in 2006, IT services company Unisys predicted. 'Traveler security is driving the adoption of biometrics much faster than commercial pressures would have,' Terry Hartmann, director of secure identification and biometrics at Unisys, said in a statement. 'Now that the concept has been proven in a public context, this will pave the way for the adoption of biometrics by the commercial sector,' Hartmann added. 'Other government departments that need to verify identity, such as drivers' licenses and welfare, will also consider the technology initially, after which the private sector will be prompted to investigate how it can solve existing problems, such as building access control, via the use of biometrics.' According to Unisys, Australia last October was one of the first nations in the world to introduce biometric e-passports, which are in accordance to standards laid out by the International Civil Aviation.

http://tinyurl.com/7z6og


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp