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Aaron Swartz files reveal how FBI tracked internet activist Firedoglake blogger Daniel Wright publishes once-classified FBI documents that show extent of agency's investigation into Swartz

Amanda Holpuch guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 February 2013 22.42 GMT

A blogger has published once-classified FBI files that show how the agency tracked and collected information on internet activist Aaron Swartz. Swartz, who killed himself in January aged 26, had previously requested his files and posted them on his blog, but some new documents and redactions are included in the files published by Firedoglake blogger Daniel Wright.Wright was given 21 of 23 declassified documents, thanks to a rule that declassifies FBI files on the deceased. Wright said that he was told the other two pages of documents were not provided because of freedom of information subsections concerning privacy, "sources and methods," and that can "put someone's life in danger."

bring new features to Windows

// 33inShare Microsoft is currently preparing an update for Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo Plus.

A Wi-Fi connection fix is also planned to let connections always remain on, alongside some audio improvements. Apollo Plus will also test Microsoft's ability to deliver Windows Phone 8 updates over-the-air, a change from the previous OS that required users to plug devices into PCs to get similar updates.

Yahoo is shutting down seven products, including its mobile app for BlackBerry smartphones, as new chief executive Marissa Mayer emulates Google by eliminating unsuccessful products.

Mayer said at an investor conference last month that Yahoo would reduce its current 60 to 75 mobile apps to a more manageable 12 to 15.

The other Yahoo products to be terminated include Yahoo App Search, Yahoo Sports IQ, Yahoo Clues, the Yahoo Message Boards website and the Yahoo Updates API.

Web pages can include embedded links or ’hyperlinks’, so simply clicking the link will take you to that page. Following a trail of links is called ‘web surfing’.

The web is also traversed by ’spiders’ (or software robots) that follow links and collect information that can be used by search engines such as Google. Not all web users are human!

As websites are becoming more sophisticated than static pages, web developers are using many more versatile tools. These include CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), scripting languages such as JavaScript and PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), and Adobe Flash.

Google representatives are to be summoned to appear before European data protection officials over concerns about the way it collects data on web users.

On Thursday, a coalition of 30 data protection officials, including Britain's information commissioner, demanded "significant progress" from Google before the summer

The authorities are concerned about changes Google introduced to its privacy policies in March last year. The changes were made to "unify" how information is collected across approximately 60 products, including YouTube GoogleMail, Google has said.

Google is not only the world's largest search engine, it's one of the top three email providers, a social network, and owner of the Blogger platform and the world's largest video site, YouTube. Facebook has the social contacts, messages, wallposts and photos of more than 750 million people.

The site also lists my most recent sent and received emails (in both cases a "no subject" conversation thread with a colleague).

The big relief comes when I note Google isn't tracking the internet searches I've made on my work account

A Year After the Closing of Megaupload, a File-Sharing Tycoon Opens a New Site

Kim Dotcom opened his new file-storage Web site to the public — one year to the minute after the police raided the mansion he rents in New Zealand.

Megaupload

: A gene that seems to be (very modestly) correlated with internet addiction also plays a role in nicotine addiction.

A gene that seems to be (very modestly) correlated with internet addiction also plays a role in nicotine addiction.

internet addiction is not a figment of our imagination

forced to filter the web

the government should legally compel ISPs to screen out images of child abuse and underage sex.

by blocking such material at source.

Adults must impose the necessary checks and balances to keep children safe online, says the children's commissioner for Wales.

"All children and young people don't seem much of a distinction between their online and offline lives,"

Mr Towler told BBC Radio Wales. "It's all just one thing and they get really excited by the opportunities the internet affords and sometimes parents get a little scared about that and worried about what their children are accessing." 'Crossing the road' Continue reading the main story “Start Quote They're all running around with handheld computers these days, they're not just on phones ” End Quote Keith Towler Children's commissioner Mr Towler said he talks to children in lots of different settings and they "still enjoy playing outside as much as they ever did". He said we need to recognise that the internet provides fantastic opportunities for education and learning and its making sure that children access that safely. He said that was a real challenge for parents and carers. "It's a bit like crossing the road, you try to teach your children the best way of crossing the road well. We need to teach our children the best way of using this fantastic resource. "I think too many parents are very very scared of the internet and because they're so scared they will say 'Oh I don't understand it'". Handheld computers The commissioner also praised Hwb, the virtual learning environment, which he said provides protection for children using the web in schools. Mr Towler said: "We've got to get parents and carers to recognise that children do operate in the digital world. They're all running around with handheld computers these days, they're not just on phones. "They can access whatever they want whenever they want and parents need to engage on that. " "We need to remember that children and young people are much more savvy than sometimes we think they are, and they are much more responsible than sometimes adults think they are so its not all doom and gloom. "What we need to do is put the right checks and balances in place and what children always want from parents and carers is to understand what the boundaries are, and that's our job to do that." Sangeet Bhullar, executive director of Wise Kids, added that the digital landscape was "evolving rapidly" and up-to-date data was needed on how children and young people in Wales related to it. More on This Story .related-links-list li { position: relative; } .related-links-list .gvl3-icon { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; } Related Stories Web safety lessons urged for infants 05 FEBRUARY 2013, EDUCATION &amp; FAMILY Online chat 'should be monitored' 22 JANUARY 2013, TECHNOLOGY Body to promote digital teaching 22 JUNE 2012, WALES $render("page-see-also","ID"); $render("page-newstracker","ID"); Related Internet links Children's Commissioner for Wales The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites $render("page-related-items","ID"); Share this pageShare this pageShareFacebookTwitter Email Print In association with $render("advert","advert-sponsor-module","page-bookmark-links"); $render("advert-post-script-load"); $render("advert-post-script-load"); More Wales stories RSS Army base shuts in defence shake-up An Army base in Pembrokeshire is to close with 600 troops transferred to St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. Soldiers' conman jailed three years Wales recall Warburton and Jones <!--

IF YOU think money can't buy you friends, think again. In the online world, it’s possible to purchase a crowd of fans.

To decide whether a follower is human, Mr Camisani Calzolari used various criteria, including the number of posts from a fan’s Twitter account and the use of correct punctuation in tweets. According to this research, by June 2011 nearly half of Twitter followers of computer maker Dell—about 700,000—were bots.

On close inspection, a significant proportion of Mr Romney’s followers appeared to be fake profiles.

long maintained tight control over the flow of information within its borders

foreigners

unfettered mobile access to the web

Last week, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt urged North Korean leaders to embrace the Internet. Only a small proportion of that country's 24 million people can access the World Wide Web, and the majority of the 1.5 million mobile phones there belong to political and military elites.

Meanwhile, in China, a country that has embraced the Internet to a much greater extent, the big story was about censorship, both online and off.

For Chinese social media users, the irony here was too perfect to go unnoticed

we as individuals are becoming far more efficient and productive by instantly connecting our thoughts to computers, servers, and databases all over the world.

the large complex system includes not only the Internet and the computers, but also us.

Indeed, many now spend so much time on their smartphones and other mobile Internet -- connected devices that oral conversation sometimes almost ceases.

I would like my browsing and Google searches to be private. I don't want targeted advertising and I don't want to feel that anonymous companies are harvesting my clicks to learn all about me.

When the web was young, and a lot less shiny, web pages were fixed (static) and – barring browser quirks – everybody saw much the same thing. Today, much of the web is dynamic, which means that what you see has been adapted or possibly constructed on the fly just for you.

From your point of view, the advantage is that the websites you visit will be personalised to suit your needs and tastes. From the website's point of view, the advantage is that it can also personalise its prices and advertising to try to suit your needs and tastes, and increase your propensity to click and buy.