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U.S. court rules for government over NSA metadata collection program

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out a judge’s ruling that would have blocked the National Security Agency from collecting phone metadata under a controversial program that has since been amended by Congress. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said there were not sufficient grounds for the preliminary injunction imposed by the lower court. The law in question

Ashley Madison parent company CEO quits after infidelity data hack

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) – Noel Biderman, the chief executive of infidelity website Ashley Madison’s parent company Avid Life, has left the company, weeks after hackers launched a cyber assault that leaked sensitive data about millions of clients. The Canadian company was rocked by the release of Ashley Madison customer data on Aug. 18 by hackers who claimed to be unhappy with its business practices. The data dump contained

To regulate or not to regulate? EU to launch study on Uber

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Brussels will launch a study in September of the taxi-hailing app Uber, in an effort to settle the legal disputes that have pitched the U.S. start-up against conventional taxis across Europe, three people familiar with the matter said. Since opening in Paris in 2011, San Francisco-based Uber has run into vehement opposition from taxi drivers, who complain it competes unfairly by bypassing local laws

Investors still in the dark as cyber threat grows

By Simon Jessop and Ross Kerber LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) – Investors are being poorly served by a haphazard approach from fund managers to the growing threat of cyber crime damaging the companies in which they invest, with a lack of clarity from the businesses themselves compounding the problem. Banks have led the way in developing cyber defenses and some top fund managers have ramped up pressure on companies to do more,

Pentagon teams up with Apple, Boeing to develop wearable tech

By David Alexander NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Reuters) – The Pentagon is teaming up with Apple, Boeing, Harvard and others to develop high-tech sensory gear flexible enough to be worn by people or molded onto the outside of a jet. The rapid development of new technologies is forcing the Pentagon to seek partnerships with the private sector rather than developing its technology itself, defense officials say. “I’ve been pushing the Pentagon

U.S. consumer sentiment falls in August

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in August, a survey released on Friday showed. The University of Michigan’s final August reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 91.9, down from 93.1 in July. It was lower than the survey’s preliminary reading of 92.9.