Car phone use 'not linked' to crashes

9 August 2013 Last updated at 10:18 ET

Researchers have found no link between the number of US drivers making phone calls while on the road and the number of accidents recorded.

A team at Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics analysed more than eight million incidents of car crashes and all fatalities on roads in eight US states.

They examined data before and after 9pm local time over a three-year period.

However they say their results do not include texting or internet browsing.

The timeslot was chosen because during the period studied (2002 - 2005) many American mobile phone operators offered free calls after 9pm during the week.

Prof Saurabh Bhargava from Carnegie and Dr Vikram Pathania from the LSE found that while there was an increase in callers using multiple phone masts after 9pm, there was no corresponding increase in the number of road accidents.

Dr Pathania told the BBC they were "very surprised" by the results.

"At first we thought the numbers were wrong. We went back and checked everything - but there was nothing going on at all," he said.

"We just know that we saw a big jump in cellphone use and there was no impact on the crash rate."

Further work

Dr Pathania added that the findings, published in the American Economic Journal, came with a number of caveats.

Continue reading the main story

At first we thought the numbers were wrong. We went back and checked everything - but there was nothing going on at all"

End Quote Dr Vikram Pathania

"We were only looking at talking, not texting or internet use. And it may be that the traffic conditions on the road at that time [9pm] are such that moderate use of cellphones does not present a hazard."

Further research should focus on smartphone use, and also overall phone use among different driver demographics, Dr Pathania added.

"It may look different if you focus on young males or new drivers," he said.

"Rash drivers will always find a way to distract themselves."

UK ban

With the exception of calls to the emergency services, using a mobile phone while driving was officially banned in the UK in 2003.

The Highway Code states that while hands-free sets are legal, drivers can still face penalties starting with three licence points and a £60 fine "if the police think you're distracted".

"Using a phone at the wheel increases the risk of a crash by four times," said Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

"Sadly, despite legislation which makes it illegal to do so, many people still use a mobile phone whilst driving."

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Apple victory in Samsung patent case

9 August 2013 Last updated at 18:32 ET

Apple has won a key patent case against rival Samsung at the US International Trade Commission (US ITC).

The US ITC upheld a 2011 decision which found that Samsung had infringed Apple patents in the production of mobile phones, media players and tablets.

The US ITC has ordered that Samsung devices affected by the ruling are banned from the US.

But that ban is on hold while US President Barack Obama reviews the decision.

The President has 60 days to assess the US ITC's findings, although analysts say he is unlikely to overturn the commission's decision.

"We are disappointed that the ITC has issued an exclusion order based on two of Apple's patents," Samsung said in a statement.

Continue reading the main story

The noose is tightening. Apple step by step actually is gaining leverage against Samsung"

End Quote Florian Mueller Foss Patents

"The proper focus for the smartphone industry is not a global war in the courts, but fair competition in the marketplace."

Apple hailed the decision, placing it in the context of the tech giants' global patent battles.

"With today's decision, the ITC has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung's blatant copying of Apple's products," said the company.

Two patents

The ruling applies to two patents.

The first is the so-called "Steve Jobs patent", named after the company's founder, which involves touch-screen technology.

The other patent is related to the audio socket on devices.

"It's another significant victory for Apple," intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller told the BBC, "especially because the famous Steve Jobs patent is a pretty foundational patent."

Four other patent infringements asserted by Apple were turned down by the US ITC.

Ongoing battles

Apple and Samsung have been fighting patent battles for years and across 10 countries.

The fight has escalated after Samsung overtook Apple last year to become the global leader in smartphone sales.

In Washington on Friday, a federal appeals judge heard testimony in a separate patent case between the two companies relating to a decision last year, in which Samsung was found to owe Apple $1bn (£645m) for infringing on patents.

That penalty was later struck to $450m, but Apple appealed against the ruling. A verdict in that case has not yet been issued.

Separately, last weekend President Obama issued the first presidential veto in 26 years relating to a US ITC decision.

That veto overturned a ban on older models of Apple's iPhones and iPads because of its "effect on competitive conditions in the US economy".

Friday's ruling is widely seen as a victory for the company.

"In a way. the noose is tightening. Apple step by step actually is gaining leverage against Samsung," says Mr Mueller.

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One in five children 'cyber-bullied'

11 August 2013 Last updated at 08:46 ET

Almost one in five children who use social networking sites suffered a negative experience last year, research by children's charity the NSPCC shows.

This included bullying, unwanted sexual messages, cyber stalking and feeling pressure to look a certain way.

The NSPCC also said a "large number" of users of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were under the minimum age of 13.

A full report of the survey of 1,024 11 to 16-year-olds from across the UK will be published in November.

The survey also showed that the most common bad experiences among children were bullying and trolling.

This involves insulting or intimidating others, usually under a pseudonym, to provoke a reaction.

Continue reading the main story

This is something that must be tackled before it gets out of hand"

End Quote Claire Lilley NSPCC safer technology expert

'Feeling isolated'

The NSPCC said the survey was commissioned because of increased concern around what children and young people were being exposed to on the internet.

Earlier this month, 14-year-old Hannah Smith, from Leicestershire, was found hanged. Her father said she had been sent abusive messages on social networking site, ask.fm.

Claire Lilley, NSPCC safer technology expert, said: "It's unbearable to think any young person should feel there is no other option but to end their life because of bullying on social networking sites."

She said their research revealed a "worrying landscape" and the charity's forthcoming report would focus on the issues of "trolling" and cyber-bullying and the impact they have on young children, in particular 11 and 12-year-olds.

She said there was "a bit of a blind spot" in the way social networking sites were dealing with underage children.

"This is something that must be tackled before it gets out of hand," she said.

"We must ensure young people have the confidence to speak out against this abuse, so that they don't feel isolated and without anywhere to turn."

Last week, Prime Minister David Cameron called on people to boycott websites that fail to tackle online abuse.

Following the death of Hannah Smith, Latvia-based ask.fm ordered a law firm to carry out a "full and independent audit" of the site and its safety features.

The site had 13.2 million daily visitors worldwide in June.

Members can ask each other questions and then get replies, which include text, photos and videos - via its website or apps.

One of its most controversial features is the ability for members to pose questions to others anonymously.

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CCTV camera code comes into force

12 August 2013 Last updated at 05:16 ET

A code of practice on the use of surveillance cameras by bodies such as local authorities and police forces has come into effect in England and Wales.

The Home Office introduced the code after concerns over the potential for the abuse or misuse of surveillance by the state in public places.

The code says the cameras must be used "in pursuit of a legitimate aim" and when it "meets a pressing need".

Campaign group Big Brother Watch said the code did not go far enough.

The code of practice also restricts access to and retention of data, and encourages private operators to apply the code as well as public bodies.

The code says: "Where used appropriately, these systems are valuable tools which contribute to public safety and security and in protecting both people and property.

"The purpose of the code will be to ensure that individuals and wider communities have confidence that surveillance cameras are deployed to protect and support them, rather than spy on them."

Continue reading the main story

Ultimately the regulator needs real powers to enforce the rules and the code should apply to every CCTV camera, irrespective of who is operating it"

End Quote Nick Pickles Director, Big Brother Watch

The code of practice has been introduced under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which also established the post of surveillance camera commissioner.

The 12 point code of conduct says the use of a surveillance camera system must:

1. always be for a specified purpose which is in pursuit of a legitimate aim and necessary to meet an identified pressing need
2. take into account its effect on individuals and their privacy
3. have as much transparency as possible, including a published contact point for access to information and complaints
4. have clear responsibility and accountability for all surveillance activities including images and information collected, held and used
5. have clear rules, policies and procedures in place and these must be communicated to all who need to comply with them
6. have no more images and information stored than that which is strictly required
7. restrict access to retained images and information with clear rules on who can gain access
8. consider any approved operational, technical and competency standards relevant to a system and its purpose and work to meet and maintain those standards
9. be subject to appropriate security measures to safeguard against unauthorised access and use
10. have effective review and audit mechanisms to ensure legal requirements, policies and standards are complied with
11. be used in the most effective way to support public safety and law enforcement with the aim of processing images and information of evidential value, when used in pursuit of a legitimate aim
12. be accurate and kept up to date when any information is used to support a surveillance camera system which compares against a reference database for matching purposes

The role of the commissioner, Andrew Rennison, is to encourage compliance, review how the code is working and recommend any changes.

The code applies to CCTV and automatic number plate recognition systems.

Minister for Criminal Information Lord Taylor of Holbeach said CCTV and number plate recognition were "vital tools" but it was "crucial they focused on aiding the fight against crime and protecting the public".

The code and the commissioner's work "will better harness these technologies and help put an end to CCTV systems growing without proper oversight," he added.

'Surveillance state'

In 2010, West Midlands Police apologised after 200 so-called spy cameras were set up in largely Muslim areas of Birmingham.

The cameras, some of them hidden, were paid for with £3m of government funding intended for tackling terrorism.

Residents were angry about a lack of consultation and an independent report was highly critical. The police said none of the cameras had been switched on.

That scandal prompted the government to launch a consultation on the introduction of the code of practice and the commissioner.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said the the code was a step in the right direction but more needed to happen.

He said: "With only a small fraction of cameras covered and without any penalties for breaking the code there is much more that could be done to protect people's privacy from unjustified or excessive surveillance.

"Ultimately the regulator needs real powers to enforce the rules and the code should apply to every CCTV camera, irrespective of who is operating it.

Mr Pickles added: "We have already seen cases of cameras in school toilets, neighbours involving the police because of cameras on private property and concerns about new marketing technology tracking number plates, yet the code would not apply in any of these situations.

"As CCTV technology improves and issues like facial recognition analysis come to the fore it is essential that people are able to access meaningful redress where their privacy is infringed.

"The surveillance camera commissioner must be given the powers and the resources to take action, otherwise the public will rightly ask if the surveillance state continues to escape accountability."

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Musk to outline 'Hyperloop' idea

12 August 2013 Last updated at 05:47 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

US entrepreneur Elon Musk is expected to give more details later of his supersonic "Hyperloop" concept to link Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The SpaceX and Tesla founder has teased audiences with titbits of information about the rapid transit idea, which he claims could make the 380-mile (610km) journey in "about half an hour".

It seems to involve sending passengers through a tube in capsules.

Mr Musk says Hyperloop could be built for less than a conventional rail link.

The current proposed 130mph (210km/h) high-speed train connection between LA and San Francisco is unnecessarily expensive and underwhelming in ambition, he has complained.

"I originally started thinking about [Hyperloop] when I read about California's high-speed rail project which was somewhat disappointing," he told a Google Hangout with Richard Branson last week.

"It's actually worse than taking the plane. I get a little sad when things are not getting better in the future.

"Another example would be like the Concorde being retired and the fact there is no supersonic passenger transport. I think that is sad. You want the future to be better than the past, or at least I do."

Mr Musk claims Hyperloop would be a practical solution for city pairs separated by 1,000 miles (1,600km) or less. Beyond this distance, it would be better to take a plane, he explained.

But for the shorter distance, his new concept would beat the plane, he argues, because it would not waste time ascending and descending.

"It does involve a tube but not a vacuum tube… not frictionless but very low friction," is all he will add.

Tube system

The speculation is that Mr Musk is thinking of some kind of "rail gun". This would see passengers sit in cars that were then fired down a tube which had had most of its air removed. A system of magnets would accelerate and brake the capsules, and also keep them from touching the sides of the tube.

"You want a transport system that is roughly twice as fast as the next best alternative, that costs less, that is safer, that is not subject to weather and is more convenient," Mr Musk said.

"If there were such a thing, I think most people would take it. In fact, it would increase the travel between the city pairs because of the increased convenience."

Whatever Mr Musk proposes, people are sure to sit up and take notice.

The entrepreneur made his fortune with the internet payment system PayPal before switching his skills into developing the new Falcon rocket system for Nasa and the Tesla electric car. He is also a big investor in solar energy in California.

"[Hyperloop] is quite an old science fiction idea but Elon Musk is the sort of man who could make it work," commented physicist Martin Archer from Imperial College London, UK

"He's the guy who made electric cars go fast with Tesla, which many people didn't think would be possible; and he's the head of SpaceX which is the only commercial rocket builder that has managed to hook up with the International Space Station."

The pre-announcement hype that surrounds Hyperloop is reminiscent of the speculation that ran ahead of the unveiling of the Segway scooter in 2001.

Back then, the media was full of stories about a project that could "revolutionise personal transportation". The two-wheeled, self-balancing device was certainly innovative and found an eager market, but it has remained a niche product.

Mr Musk says he is so busy with SpaceX and Tesla that he will not immediately try to develop Hyperloop himself. Only if no-one else picks up the challenge will he consider attempting to make it a reality at a later time.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

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Bitcoins at risk of theft on Android

12 August 2013 Last updated at 07:05 ET By Pia Gadkari BBC News

A weakness in the Android mobile operating system has left users of the virtual currency Bitcoin vulnerable to theft, the Bitcoin Foundation has said.

The issue affects some Android "wallet" apps, the organisation said, including Bitcoin Wallet and BitcoinSpinner.

To protect an Android wallet, the developers said users must update their apps once a new version was available.

The news came as a US banking regulator ordered companies to co-operate with a probe into the way Bitcoin is used.

Continue reading the main story

Bitcoin is often referred to as a new kind of currency.

But it may be better to think of its units as being virtual tokens that have value because enough people believe they do and there is a finite number of them.

Each of the 11 million Bitcoins currently in existence is represented by a unique online registration number.

These numbers are created through a process called "mining", which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.

Each time a problem is solved the computer's owner is rewarded with 25 Bitcoins.

To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of about 3,600 new Bitcoins a day.

To receive a Bitcoin, a user must also have a Bitcoin address - a randomly generated string of 27 to 34 letters and numbers - which acts as a kind of virtual postbox to and from which the Bitcoins are sent.

Since there is no registry of these addresses, people can use them to protect their anonymity when making a transaction.

These addresses are in turn stored in Bitcoin wallets, which are used to manage savings. They operate like privately run bank accounts - with the proviso that if the data is lost, so are the Bitcoins contained.

Bitcoin said the wallet problem had to do with Android's ability to generate sequences of secure random numbers needed to keep the wallets safe.

Analysts say Android's SecureRandom Java program sometimes repeats the number sequences, which must be unique in order to keep each Bitcoin secure.

Members of a Bitcoin forum have suggested that the equivalent of thousands of US dollars may have already been stolen.

Number sequences

"Because the problem lies with Android itself, this problem will affect you if you have a wallet generated by any Android app," the Bitcoin statement said on Sunday.

The issue affects only programs where the number sequences - or private keys - are controlled on the user's device.

For wallet apps that were vulnerable, Bitcoin said it would be necessary to change keys.

This involves "generating a new address with a repaired random number generator and then sending all the money in your wallet back to yourself", according to the Bitcoin statement.

Some of the affected apps were in the process of updating their wallet apps to fix the problem, including Bitcoin Wallet, BitcoinSpinner, Mycelium Wallet and blockchain.info, Bitcoin said.

But experts say virtual currencies could face ongoing problems of a similar nature because of the way they have been designed.

Dr Joss Wright, a research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, said that cryptographers relied heavily on a computer's ability to generate random numbers in order to keep information secure. But, he added, that computers did not always do this reliably.

"Choosing good random numbers is the key issue," Dr Wright said. "If the random numbers can be predicted by somebody else, this could lead to all sorts of security problems."

Meanwhile, The New York Department of Financial Services has told about two dozen firms associated with Bitcoin it wants information on anti-money-laundering programmes, consumer protection measures and investment strategies, .

The newspaper said there were concerns that virtual currency companies did not comply with money transfer rules and the state of New York was considering legislation aimed specifically at virtual currencies.

Bitcoin is the most well-known of a handful of virtual currencies. The currencies are developed through a computer process called "mining" and can be traded on exchanges or privately between users.

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E-sports team win $1.4m Dota 2 prize

12 August 2013 Last updated at 08:23 ET

A Swedish e-sports team have won $1.43m (£924,000) after emerging victorious at a Dota 2 tournament.

It is the biggest single-event prize awarded at a video games event.

The final in Seattle was a close-run affair. Alliance only secured victory after destroying the stronghold of runners-up, Ukraine-based Na'Vi, in the final game of a best-of-five challenge.

The news comes months after the US began recognising gamers as pro athletes.

The move means that highly skilled players can now apply for a P-1 work visa on the same basis as other sportsmen and sportswomen.

'Slug fest'

Dota 2 is the sequel to Defense of the Ancients, a fantasy-themed battle game created by hundreds of volunteers who modified the real-time strategy game Warcraft 3.

The follow-up was developed by Valve, which also hosted the tournament - the International - and put up $1.6m of the prize money.

The total pot was $2.9m thanks to money raised by taking a cut of the sales of a $10 interactive pamphlet released to help fans follow the event.

Sixteen five-player teams from 12 countries took part in the five-day event at Benaroya Hall.

The Seattle Times reports that about 1,700 spectators attended, while an online video stream attracted as many as 600,000 simultaneous views at one point.

To win, the teams had to co-ordinate in-game characters called "heroes" to destroy their opponents' bases while defending their own.

The organisers reported that Na'Vi lost the first of the final five games after picking a "bizarre" draft of characters in a high-risk move that backfired.

However, the next three games were closer, leading to a 2-2 score and leaving the final battle as the decider.

"In a tournament filled with great games, it was the greatest game we have ever seen," reported the Dota 2 blog of the final match.

"Not one single action by one team went uncountered by the other. It was a slug fest of team fights."

Alliance ultimately emerged the victor after managing to be the first to destroy their opponents' towers, allowing them to lay waste to a structure known as an "ancient".

The Stockholm-based team were only formed this year, competing in their first Dota 2 competition in April. Since then they have built a reputation for drafting teams including characters that are often neglected by others.

They have now come first in nine different Dota 2 tournaments including the G-1 Champions League in Shanghai.

Gaming visa

Alliance's latest achievement follows news that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted a Canadian pro-gamer a visa.

Danny Le became the first international e-sports player to be given the right to work and live in the US after his application was approved on May 29.

Officials had previously turned him away at the border when he had tried to move to live close to his Riverside squad-mates.

The team compete in tournaments for League of Legends, another battle-themed video game.

The title's developer, Riot, subsequently argued that the competitions qualified as a major sports league because six or more teams competed and they generated combined revenues or more than $10m.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Mr Le now planned to take part in League of Legends contests for at least five more years before returning to complete his university degree in Canada.

It added that other e-sports players, including an Argentinian and an Armenian, had also been granted work visas after Mr Le's breakthrough.

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Halt called to London tracking bins

12 August 2013 Last updated at 08:41 ET By Joe Miller BBC News

The City of London Corporation has asked a company to stop using recycling bins to track the smartphones of passers-by.

Renew London had fitted devices into 12 "pods", which feature LCD advertising screens, to collect footfall data by logging nearby phones.

Chief executive Kaveh Memari said the company had "stopped all trials in the meantime".

The corporation has taken the issue to the Information Commissioner's Office.

The action follows concerns raised by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, after details of the technology used in the bins emerged in the online magazine Quartz.

Mr Memari told the BBC that the devices had only recorded "extremely limited, encrypted, aggregated and anonymised data" and that the current technology was just being used to monitor local footfall, in a similar way as a web page monitors traffic.

He added that more capabilities could be developed in the future, but that the public would be made aware of any changes.

The bins, which are located in the Cheapside area of central London, log the media access control (MAC) address of individual smartphones - a unique identification code carried by all devices that can connect to a network.

A spokesman for the City of London Corporation said: "Irrespective of what's technically possible, anything that happens like this on the streets needs to be done carefully, with the backing of an informed public."

Legal 'grey area'

Mr Memari insisted that the bins were just "glorified people-counters in the street" and that his company held no personal information about the smartphone owners.

While the collection of anonymous data through MAC addresses is legal in the UK, the practice has been described as a "grey area".

The UK and the EU have strict laws about mining personal data using cookies, which involves effectively installing a small monitoring device on people's phones or computers, but the process of tracking MAC codes leaves no trace on individuals' handsets.

Websites or companies wanting to use cookies to tracks users' habits have to ask for permission. By monitoring MAC addresses, which just keeps a log of each time a wi-fi enabled device connects to another device, they can work around this requirement.

Presence Orb, the company that provides the tracking technology to Renew London, calls its service "a cookie for the real world".

'Data and revenue'

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "I am pleased the City of London has called a halt to this scheme, but questions need to be asked about how such a blatant attack on people's privacy was able to occur in the first place.

"Systems like this highlight how technology has made tracking us much easier, and in the rush to generate data and revenue there is not enough of a deterrent for people to stop and ensure that people are asked to give their consent before any data is collected."

Reacting to the City of London Corporation's call, an Information Commissioner's Office spokesperson said: "Any technology that involves the processing of personal information must comply with the Data Protection Act.

"We are aware of the concerns being raised over the use of these bins and will be making inquiries to establish what action, if any, is required."

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Blackberry to explore sale of firm

12 August 2013 Last updated at 10:57 ET

Smartphone maker Blackberry is exploring options for its business, which could see the company sold off.

Timothy Dattels, a Blackberry board member, will head a new committee that will consider different business models, including partnerships.

It wants to increase sales of its Blackberry 10 model, seen as crucial to the future of the company.

"We believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives," said Mr Dattels.

Continue reading the main story

Leo Kelion Technology reporter

---

Blackberry's problem isn't that its new smartphones are no good, but rather that it took so long to get them to market.

When the firm announced it was buying QNX Software Systems back in April 2010, it made clear that the purchase was designed to help it update its operating system.

By that point, Apple's iOS and Google's Android had already started to eat into its market share, but the Canadians still accounted for about one in five smartphones shipped.

However, repeated delays meant it wasn't able to start selling BB10 handsets until the end of January this year. Although reviews praised the OS for its unified messaging hub and virtual keyboard, neither were seen as "killer features", and perhaps more crucially, its app marketplace is less well-stocked.

The result is that Blackberry is able to offer devices that make appealing upgrades to its loyal followers, but consumers and firms who have already switched platforms and other purchasers might see little reason to pick the 'berry.

"During the past year, management and the board have been focused on launching the Blackberry 10 platform and BES 10, establishing a strong financial position and evaluating the best approach to delivering long-term value for customers and shareholders."

Prem Watsa, chairman of Blackberry's largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, resigned from the board as the formation of the committee was announced. Mr Watsa said he wanted to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

"I continue to be a strong supporter of the company, the board and management as they move forward through this process, and Fairfax Financial has no current intention of selling its shares," he said.

Continue reading the main story

The company has struggled in recent years to regain market share lost to Apple and users of Google's Android operating system.

'What's on offer'

"It's quite surprising to see a statement like this made publically," said Francisco Jeronimo from the technology research firm IDC.

"Everyone knows that they've been struggling and looking at their options. It's clear that they haven't been able to find anyone who wants to buy or form a partnership.

"Blackberry has very strong assets and is one of the most recognised portfolios in the industry.

"The question now is how much they're asking and what's on offer."

Shares in the company rose by more than 5% as the news of the committee formation emerged.

The company dropped its Research in Motion name in January 2013 and rebranded as Blackberry, to coincide with the launch of the Blackberry 10 model.

In its most recent quarter, Blackberry lost $84m (£54m) and expects to lose more money in the three months to the end of September.

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US agency 'surveillance leviathan'

12 August 2013 Last updated at 11:41 ET By Pia Gadkari BBC News

Papers that said a US spying programme "touches" 1.6% of internet traffic in fact reveal the vast scale of snooping, a senior security researcher has said.

Officials played down the scale of the operation, comparing US data collection to a small coin on a basketball court.

But Caspar Bowden told the BBC that the National Security Agency (NSA) was a "surveillance leviathan" with no protection for non-US residents.

On Friday, President Barack Obama vowed to be more transparent about US spying.

In the NSA memorandum, the government said that the internet processes 1,826 petabytes of data a day. The NSA comes into contact with about 1.6% of it, but only selects 0.025% of that data for review.

Figures 'utterly meaningless'

The overall effect is that 0.00004% of the world's online activity is reviewed by NSA intelligence analysts, the memorandum said.

Continue reading the main story

It simply disregards the human right to privacy of the rest of the world"

End Quote Caspar Bowden

The paper added: "If a standard basketball court represented the global communications environment, NSA's total collection would be represented by an area smaller than a dime on that basketball court."

But Mr Bowden said the figures were "utterly meaningless" since the memorandum is vague about where the data is taken from.

He adds: "After subtracting video media and spam, which accounts for most data by volume, 1.6% is an admission the NSA has become a surveillance leviathan."

Mr Bowden also said there was "no privacy restraint or restriction" in the way that the NSA can access the communications of foreigners.

"The reassurances of the NSA document are addressed entirely to the American people. It simply disregards the human right to privacy of the rest of the world," Mr Bowden said.

Mr Bowden had warned the European Parliament about the reach of US surveillance before a series of leaks by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden exposed the existence of widespread electronic surveillance.

Improving transparency

On Friday the Obama administration also released a policy document outlining its legal rationale for collecting telephone metadata.

It said that to be able to spot a suspicious pattern of behaviour it must have access to a sufficiently large set of data.

The US government needed to keep those records itself for up to five years because telephone companies normally do not keep their own records that long.

The papers appeared hours after Mr Obama told reporters he would take action to be more transparent about US surveillance plans.

He proposed making changes to the Patriot Act, under which the NSA programme is authorised, and reforming the secret court that approves surveillance requests.

The president added that he would appoint a privacy and civil liberties officer to the NSA and also create a task force that would make further recommendations on improving transparency.

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