bank

by Michael Blim

by Michael Blim

Germany's highest court on Tuesday overturned a law that let anti-terror authorities retain data on telephone calls and e-mails, saying it posed a "grave intrusion" to personal privacy rights and must be revised.

The court ruling was the latest to sharply criticize a major initiative by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and one of the strongest steps yet defending citizen rights from post-Sept. 11 terror-fighting measures.

In the near future, you might not even have to visit a bank or an ATM to deposit a check. You'll simply snap a couple of photos of it with your cell phone.

Applications to do just that are already available for Apple's iPhone and other gadgets from USAA, a company that provides insurance and banking mainly for military veterans. Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are among the banks planning to release similar applications this year.

No, the Internet was not created so you could order cookies online.

It came about as academics, government folks and scientists began to link various computer networks together. It's a patchwork creation that is both magnificent and highly flawed when it comes to security.

It's magnificent because it lets you do so much from your home computer -- banking, shopping and even playing games -- for free.

by Jeff Strabone

by Jeff Strabone

by Evert Cilliers