The newspaper closure comes as companies come under increased scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe for alleged tech-related privacy violations. Starting in 2010, Google faced investigations for Wi-Fi snooping by its Street View cars, and in recent months, privacy groups have raised concerns about how much geo-location data is collected smartphones running Google and Apple operating systems.

Privacy groups have also complained about the amount of personal data that websites and advertising networks are collecting.

The IDG News Service