The United States Senate has already passed a bill that would require data-recording “black boxes” to be equipped on every vehicle for the 2015 model year, and the House is also expected to approve the bill. The primary function of the black boxes, which are known as Electronic Data Recorders (EDRs), would be to “capture and store data related to motor vehicle safety,” and access to the EDR’s information is only through an “interoperable data access port.” Interestingly enough, EDRs are already found in almost 80% of all vehicles, including models from GM, Ford, Kia, Hyundai, and many others.

Black boxes can record the date and time, along with engine speed, steering angle, throttle position, braking status, force of impact, seatbelt status and air bag deployment, and are meant to help automakers make vehicles safer. It is unclear who actually owns the data, though.

“The owner of the vehicle should be in control of the data,” Paul Stephens, director or policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearing House said to Wired. “And [law enforcement] would need a subpoena, just as you can’t go into someone’s house and grab evidence. But everything is subject to judicial procedure and it’s always possible to get a subpoena to get that information.”

The bill does allow first responders such as police, paramedics and firefighters to access the data without a court order, however, if it aids them in an emergency situation. According to Jim Harris, owner of Harris Technical Services, a firm that accesses and analyzes EDR data, the information can quickly change hands in certain situations. “If a car is in a crash and deemed a total loss by an insurance company, the insurer now owns the vehicle,” he said. “And the insurance company can access the data on the EDR can and possibly use it in legal proceedings against the former owner.”

Harris also warned that data from a car’s EDR can sometimes be wrong or misleading. “EDR data doesn’t stand alone,” he said. “We’ve found data records that did not match the physical evidence in a crash – not even close.” Other mitigating factors have to be taken into account along with EDR data, he said.

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A new study from Parks Associates found that two-thirds of U.S. consumers are unwilling to spend more than $50 per month on mobile data plans, while almost half of smartphone users were unsure how much data they consumed each month.  The report highlights the risks carriers face as they try to shift consumers from unlimited data plans to usage-based ones. “Moving mobile users to usage-based plans will be difficult and painful, but changes are necessary for operators to maintain revenues,” said Harry Wang, Director of Mobile Research at Parks Associates. “Operators would benefit by recasting mobile data services as experience-driven in order to reduce price sensitivity, fend off competition, and keep their mobile data revenue engine humming.” The firm believes that in order for carriers to maximize their revenues, they should tie in their offerings to popular apps and services, including TV, music, books, newspapers, games, location-based services, and social activities, rather than charging consumers per megabyte. Read on for Parks Associates’s press release.

Parks Associates: Two-thirds of U.S. Mobile Consumers Won’t Pay more than $50/Month for Mobile Data

DALLAS, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Parks Associates research finds two-thirds of U.S. consumers planning to purchase a smartphone are unwilling to pay more than $50 per month for mobile data plans while almost 50% of smartphone users do not know how much mobile data they use each month. The firm’s analysts say these findings, from the report Mobile Data and Applications: Market Update, highlight the risks to mobile operators as they try to shift from unlimited to usage-based mobile data plans.

“Operators need to create new value propositions for their data services,” said Harry Wang, Director, Mobile Research, Parks Associates. “U.S. consumers are accustomed to unlimited data use for one fixed price. They are reluctantly embracing the capped data plan tiers, but they have high price sensitivity and will rebel against byte-tracking. Operators need to shift consumers’ perception away from raw data to the experience created by their data services.”

Parks Associates finds over 90% of U.S. smartphone owners have downloaded apps since product purchase, at an average of two apps per month. Worldwide, consumers will spend over $14 billion on smartphone app downloads in 2012. To maximize their revenues, operators need to tie their offerings to popular apps and services, including TV, music, books, newspapers, games, location-based services, and social activities, rather than charging consumers per megabyte.

“Moving mobile users to usage-based plans will be difficult and painful, but changes are necessary for operators to maintain revenues,” Wang said. “Operators would benefit by recasting mobile data services as experience-driven in order to reduce price sensitivity, fend off competition, and keep their mobile data revenue engine humming.”

Parks Associates will discuss operator strategies to monetize mobile data and redefine consumers’ 4G experience at CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase, June 5-7, co-located with TIA 2012 in Dallas, Texas.

The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which is supported by more than 100 members of the House of Representatives, is scheduled to be discussed in Congress on Friday, where it will be the first bill to go to a vote since the collapse of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in January. The bill looks to give businesses and the federal government legal protection to share cyber threats with one another in an effort to prevent online attacks. Internet privacy and neutrality advocates, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, feel the bill does not contain enough limits on how and when the government may monitor private information, however, and they fear that such power may be used to locate and punish file sharers and those who infringe on copyrights rather than hackers.

An online petition opposing the bill from Azazz.org has reached nearly 800,000 signatures thus far, while a second petition calling for Facebook and Microsoft to end their support for the bill has gathered more than 600,000 signatures. It isn’t just the Internet that opposes CISPA, though.

Congressman and Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul warned in a statement earlier this week that the bill is the new SOPA, and it represents the “latest assault on Internet freedom.” Paul warned that “CISPA encourages some of our most successful internet companies to act as government spies, sowing distrust of social media and chilling communication in one segment of the world economy where America still leads.” The representative said proponents of the bill may be well-intentioned, but he believes it will unquestionably lead us towards a national security state rather than a free constitutional republic.

The White House on Wednesday also issued a veto threat against the current version of CISPA, Politico reported. The Obama administration in a statement claimed, as written now, the bill would allow “broad sharing of information with governmental entities without establishing requirements for both industry and the government to minimize and protect personally identifiable information.”

The president went on to say that “such sharing should be accomplished in a way that permits appropriate sharing within the government without undue restrictions imposed by private sector companies that share information.” The administration warns that CISPA lacks “sufficient limitations” in regards to the sharing of personal information between entities, and there are not enough checks in place to protect the data.

Verizon Wireless on Wednesday announced new “easy-to-understand” Global Data Plans that will become available starting April 23rd. The nation’s largest carrier will offer U.S.-based customers 100MB of data for $25 per month, allowing users to access email, browse the Web and update social networks while traveling abroad. Verizon’s coverage includes 120 countries and destinations, including all of Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. Customers who require more data can purchase an additional 100MB for $25 or choose a pay-per-use plan with rates of $0.02 per kilobyte. Read on for Verizon’s press release.

New Verizon Wireless Global Data Plan Takes The Guesswork Out Of International Travel

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Summer travel season is just around the corner, and Verizon Wireless is setting sail with a new, easy-to-understand Global Data Plan. Starting April 23, the new Verizon Wireless Global Data Plan offers U.S.-based customers 100 MB of data for $25 a month. For one low cost, customers can access email, browse the Web and update social networks while traveling outside the United States in 120 countries and destinations, including all of Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada.

Pricing and Availability

With the new Verizon Wireless Global Data Plan, customers can purchase 100 MB of data for $25 a month. Prior to traveling outside the United States, customers should visit www.verizonwireless.com/global to determine their coverage needs.

To purchase a Global Data plan, customers are required to have a domestic data package and international eligibility, which requires minimum payment history.

Customers who require more than 100 MB of data while traveling will receive a notification via text message when an additional 100 MB of data for $25 has been automatically made available to them once they exceed their initial allotment.

Customers traveling to countries not covered under the Global Data Plan, but within Verizon Wireless global coverage areas, will be charged at Pay Per Use rates of $0.02 per KB.

Whether traveling to London for the big games this summer or Oktoberfest in Munich this fall, Verizon Wireless customers with global calling and data services can make and change hotel reservations on the fly, call for and download directions to local attractions and restaurants, and stay in touch with family and friends back home by sharing pictures via email and social networks.

Additional Resources

Verizon Wireless customers planning international getaways can take advantage of first-class tools and resources to help manage their wireless travel needs, putting their minds and budgets at ease before they go and once they arrive:

Verizon Wireless offers a wide range of global-ready devices, including smartphones, tablets and mobile hotspots. Customers can shop for global-ready devices at www.verizonwireless.com and select “Global Ready” when sorting devices by feature.

Verizon Wireless Trip Planner provides customers information they can use to plan their travels before they leave home, including details about global calling, country-specific coverage and device functionality.

To help travelers get their wireless bearings, Verizon Wireless greets travelers to most overseas destinations with a free welcome text message featuring helpful information for the country they are visiting, including dialing instructions for calling within and to phones outside the country; voice, text and data rates; as well as the ability to reach Verizon Wireless Global Technical Support.

Free Global Data Roaming Usage Alerts help travelers keep an eye on their wireless usage. Verizon Wireless customers automatically receive free alerts via text message or email when Global Data Roaming charges exceed certain thresholds.

Verizon Wireless operates a dedicated, toll-free global support number that will put customers in touch with one of the company’s U.S.-based support centers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers outside the United States can reach the Global Technical Support Team by dialing the appropriate exit code for the country they are in and then 908-559-4899 – a free call from their device. Customers may also reach Global Technical Support free of charge by using the Verizon Wireless Global Calling Card, provided with their global-ready device, if their device is not usable.

As sales of smartphones and tablets reach all time heights, consumers in the United States are streaming more movies, downloading more apps and viewing more websites on their wireless devices. According to a recent report from the CTIA, annual wireless data traffic in the U.S. grew 123% from 388 billion megabytes in 2010 to 866.7 billion megabytes in 2011. The survey also found that the number of active smartphones in the U.S. increased by 43% to 111.5 million units in 2011 compared with 78.2 million in 2010. “As the President, bipartisan members of Congress, FCC Chairman and Commissioners and other policymakers have repeatedly advocated, the U.S. wireless industry must have access to more spectrum so we can continue to improve our nation’s economy and meet our consumers’ demands,” Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA, said in a statement. In order to handle the massive demand for wireless data, U.S. mobile carriers are continuing to invest in their networks through 4G upgrades and increased coverage and capacity with more cell sites. Read on for CTIA’s press release.

CTIA-The Wireless Association® Semi-Annual Survey Shows Significant Demand by Americans for Wireless Broadband

Americans used more than 123 percent more wireless data traffic in 2011 than 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The amount of wireless data transmitted by Americans continues to increase at an impressive rate, as the CTIA-The Wireless Association® semi-annual survey revealed, which was released today. The annual U.S. wireless data traffic grew 123 percent from 2010 (388 billion megabytes) to 2011 (866.7 billion megabytes). According to the survey, there was a 43 percent increase in the number of active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs in 2011 (111.5 million) compared with 2010 (78.2 million). With almost 95 percent of these devices capable of transmitting wireless data, Americans’ voracious appetite for anywhere and anytime mobile access is why the wireless industry needs more spectrum.

To put the wireless data traffic of 2010 compared with 2011 into perspective, if you were walking and listening to five songs per mile and each song lasted for four minutes:

In 2010, you would walk 77,601,961,033 miles, or the equivalent of 3,116,419 times around the world for 2,952,890 years and listen to 97 billion songs.

In 2011, you would walk 173,364,056,929 miles, or the equivalent of 6,962,132 times around the world for 6,596,806 years and listen to 216.7 billion songs.

In order to handle Americans’ demand for wireless data, mobile providers continued to make significant investments in their infrastructure, from upgrading networks from 3G to 4G to increasing the number of cell sites to improve coverage and capacity. In 2011, they reported $25.3 billion in capital expenditures, which was up 2 percent from 2010. Since 2001, wireless providers invested $246 billion in capital expenditures, so they can meet consumers’ demands for wireless access anytime and anywhere. This number does not include the billions that wireless companies paid the U.S. government to license spectrum. Also important to meeting demand was the 2009 FCC shot clock ruling that required local governments to make decisions on tower siting proposals within specific timeframes. 2011 was the largest annual increase of operational cell sites with 283,385 at year-end, which was 30,299 more than 2010.

The 12-month survey results for 2011 are:

Wireless subscriber connections: 331.6 million (104.6 percent penetration); Dec. 2010: 311 million (7 percent increase).

Wireless network data traffic: 866.7 billion megabytes; Dec. 2010: 388 billion megabytes (123 percent increase).

Active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs: 111.5 million; Dec. 2010: 78.2 million (43 percent increase).

Number of active data-capable devices: 295.1 million; Dec. 2010: 270.5 million (9 percent increase).

Wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 20.2 million; Dec. 2010: 13.6 million (49 percent increase).

Minutes of Use (MOU): 2.296 trillion; Dec. 2010: 2.241 trillion (2 percent increase)

SMS sent and received: 2.304 trillion; Dec. 2010: 2.052 trillion (12 percent increase).

MMS sent and received: 52.8 billion; Dec. 2010: 56.6 billion.

Average local monthly wireless bill (includes voice and data service): $47.00; Dec. 2010: $47.21.

“Americans’ love for mobile products and services continue to grow. Our survey shows yet again that we are choosing to have more than one wireless device, including smartphones, tablets and e-readers, which is why the wireless penetration rate is almost 105 percent. Yet as the President, bipartisan members of Congress, FCC Chairman and Commissioners and other policymakers have repeatedly advocated, the U.S. wireless industry must have access to more spectrum so we can continue to improve our nation’s economy and meet our consumers’ demands. While the spectrum identified in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation was a great start, there is much more work to be done,” said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA. “We look forward to working with all of the interested parties to quickly bring more spectrum to auction so our members may purchase it, continue to invest and create jobs and ensure wireless U.S. consumers remain enjoying the world’s best wireless products and services.”

The Federal Communications Commission has fined Google $25,000 for impeding a U.S. investigation into the data collection scandal surrounding its Street View project, in which the Internet giant allegedly accessed unsecured networks and collected personal information without users’ permission. The FCC said the Mountain View-based company did not cooperate with the investigation and refused to reveal the names of its engineers associated with the project. “Google refused to identify any employees or produce any e-mails. The company could not supply compliant declarations without identifying employees it preferred not to identify,” the FCC said. “Misconduct of this nature threatens to compromise the commission’s ability to effectively investigate possible violations of the Communications Act and the commission’s rules.”

In a statement provided to Reuters, Google challenged the agency’s findings and claimed it turned over the proper information. ”As the FCC notes in their report, we provided all the materials the regulators felt they needed to conclude their investigation and we were not found to have violated any laws,” the company said. “We disagree with the FCC’s characterization of our cooperation in their investigation and will be filing a response.”

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Sprint is known for its unlimited data plans and it is currently the only major carrier that doesn’t throttle excessive data use. Following the announcement that Sprint planned to discontinue its WiMAX buildout and switch to the more widely used LTE standard, however, the company never mentioned whether its upcoming LTE network would continue to offer unlimited data plans. To clarify the issue, Sprint on Tuesday confirmed to TechHog that its 4G LTE devices “will be available on Sprint’s network featuring unlimited data.” While the carrier’s initial 4G LTE rollout will be limited, data-hungry users who are not pleased with AT&T and Verizon’s 2GB and 5GB plans may be tempted to switch to Sprint when the carrier’s LTE services begin to go live in the coming weeks and months.

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The world’s two largest credit card processors have notified U.S. banks of a potential security breach that may affect more than 10 million cardholders, Reuters reported on Friday. MasterCard and Visa have said that the issue was the result of a third-party vendor and not their own internal systems. MasterCard said it has taken the proper steps by alerting law enforcement officials and hiring an independent data-security organization to review the possible breach. “MasterCard is concerned whenever there is any possibility that cardholders could be inconvenienced and we continue to both monitor this event and take steps to safeguard account information,” the company said in a statement. “If cardholders have any concerns about their individual accounts, they should contact their issuing financial institution.” Visa made sure to emphasize that its customers are not responsible for any potential fraudulent charges.

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Android users who are looking to sell their old devices should be wary of the possible consequences. McAfee identity theft researcher Robert Siciliano warned that personal data from Android devices is not completely removed after a user activates the built-in wipe option, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday. “What’s really scary is even if you follow protocol, the data is still there,” Siciliano said. If you have a BlackBerry or Apple device, Siciliano said your data can be fully deleted by following the manufacturer’s directions. As for smartphones running the Android operating system and computers running Windows XP, Siciliano recommends that people don’t bother with selling them at all. “Put it in the back of a closet, or put it in a vise and drill holes in the hard drive, or if you live in Texas take it out into a field and shoot it,” he said. “You don’t want to sell your identity for 50 bucks.” To test the security of various platforms, Siciliano purchased 30 smartphones and computers from Craigslist. The researcher was able to access personal data from 15 of the 30 devices through his own hacking efforts and the help of a forensic expert. The data obtained included bank account information, Social Security numbers, child support documents and credit card account log-ins.

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As a standard security measure, Apple’s iPhone can be set to require a four-digit passcode  whenever the phone’s screen is powered on in order to prevent unauthorized access. With passcode security enabled, a user’s information is theoretically kept private if his or her device ever falls into the wrong hands. A recent Forbes report reveals that law enforcement agencies can bypass the iPhone’s passcode requirement in less than two minutes, however, gaining access to all of the private data stored on the devices. Read on for more.

Unlike various bugs that have been found within iOS to bypass the code, law enforcement agencies use a special program from Micro Systemation, a Sweden-based firm that sells tools to give law enforcement and military customers access to devices belonging to suspected criminals.

The software, called XRY, can quickly crack an iOS or Android phone’s passcode, dump its data to a PC, decrypt it, and display information such as the user’s GPS location history, files, call logs, contacts, messages and even a log of keystrokes in some cases. XRY doesn’t use “backdoor vulnerabilities,” but rather “seeks out security flaws in the phone’s software,” similar to jailbreak exploits that can gain unrestricted access to an iPhone.

Users who set longer passcodes can make a device far more difficult to crack according to the report, and in some cases it can take so long for software like XRY to work that officials give up. A video showcasing the software follows below.

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A judge in Southern California last month awarded $850 to an iPhone user who was throttled on AT&T’s network. The plaintiff, Matt Spaccarelli, filed a small claims case against AT&T, arguing that the carrier unfairly slowed speeds on his iPhone 4 despite his unlimited data plan. According to a report from the Associated Press, AT&T is offering Spaccarelli a new settlement, however the company declined to comment on the matter. If Spaccarelli does not want to sit down with the carrier, it will reportedly look into shutting off his service. Earlier this month AT&T amended its data throttling policy for unlimited users, stating that LTE phones will be slowed after a 5GB monthly allowance, while non-LTE devices will be limited to 3GB of full-speed data.

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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh announced that they have discovered a means of wirelessly transmitting data thousands of times faster than current standards, PCMag reported on Wednesday. The team is led by Hrvoje Petek, a physics and chemistry professor at the university, who has theoretically found a way to transmit data between devices in the terahertz frequency. Petek’s discovery of “a physical basis for terahertz bandwidth” could potentially be used to leverage the “portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave light” and transmit data at rates 1,000 times faster than today’s wireless standards, which are limited to the gigahertz frequency. “The ability to modulate light with such a bandwidth could increase the amount of information carried by more than 1,000 times when compared to the volume carried with today’s technologies,” Petek said. “Needless to say, this has been a long-awaited discovery in the field.”

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Samsung on Wednesday confirmed that it has filed another lawsuit against Apple in South Korea, according to a report from Reuters. Since last year, the two companies have been involved in heated legal battles throughout 10 different countries, racking up more than 30 separate complaints that have been filed. The newest lawsuit targets the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, and Samsung claims both devices infringe three of the company’s “utility” patents, which involve methods of displaying data, a device’s user interface and short text messages. Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs vowed to destroy Android, and since then the Cupertino-based company has been involved in numerous patent disputes with Motorola, HTC and Samsung, the top three Android vendors in the world.

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AT&T is preparing a service that will let mobile app developers pay for the mobile data used by their applications, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. AT&T’s network and technology head John Donovan compared the service to toll-free calling for the mobile-broadband world. “A feature that we’re hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage,” said Donovan. Customers are now more concerned than ever when it comes to monthly data allowances, and they might be more likely to purchase an app or a movie if the content provider covered the price of the data associated with using the app or streaming content. “It’d be like freight included,” Donovan noted.

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Last week it was discovered that a number of popular iPhone apps were invading users’ privacy and uploading entire address books to external servers. The data uploaded included full names, phone numbers and email addresses, and the offending apps never asked for permission to transfer this sensitive data. A group of researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the International Security Systems Lab began a study last year to discover how and where iPhone apps were transmitting data, reports Forbes. The team found that one in five free apps in Apple’s App Store was uploading private data to external servers, and apps from Cydia, an app store for jailbroken iPhones, would leak private data less frequently than Apple-approved apps. Read on for more.

The study showed that 21% of apps tested from the App Store uploaded a user’s Unique Device Identifier, 4% uploaded the device’s location and 0.5% uploaded the user’s contact list. Just 4% of apps downloaded through Cydia uploaded a user’s UDID and one app — MobileSpy, which was specifically designed for espionage — out of the 500 tested leaked location and contact data. A table from the study showing how frequently authorized App Store and unauthorized Cydia apps leak private information follows below.

[Via Forbes]

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