Author archives

Essay Proposes FISA Is Not Adequate to Combat Technology Associated With Terrorism

Follow-up to yesterday’s posting, Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA Act Introduced Today, see Whispering Wires and Warrantless Wiretaps, by Kim Taipale, N.Y.U. REV. L. & SECURITY, No. VII Supl., “Bulletin: The NSA and the War on Terror,” (Spring 2006). “This essay examines certain implications of employing [automated data analysis …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Government, Privacy

Health-EU Portal Debuts

“The Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General is pleased to present the Health-EU Portal (the official public health portal of the European Union) and the wide range of information and data on health-related issues and activities at both European and international level. The main objective of this thematic Portal is to provide European citizens with easy …

Subjects: E-Government

FTC Testifies on Social Security Numbers in Commerce

FTC press release: “The Federal Trade Commission today told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee that in the effort to reconcile the beneficial uses of Social Security Numbers with the threats to consumer privacy, “The challenge is to find the proper balance between the …

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, Government Documents, ID Theft, Legislation, Privacy

Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA Act Introduced Today

Press release: “Reps. Jane Harman (D-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI) today introduced the “Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA Act” (The LISTEN Act). The Act makes clear that any attempt to listen in on Americans or collect telephone or e-mail records must be conducted in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Legislation, Privacy

Domestic Call Records Mined for Expansive Pentagon Database Program

USA Today reported that the nation’s three major telecommunications carriers have provided the Pentagon with call records for “tens of millions of Americans.” The paper also published this related editorial: NSA has your phone records; ‘trust us’ isn’t good enough. Related government documents and news: President Bush Discusses NSA Surveillance Program, May 11, 2006: “We’re …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Privacy

Ten Principles for Preserving Courts’ Role in American Democracy

Press release: “An ideologically diverse committee of experts, led by former FBI Director and federal judge William S. Sessions and former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK), today released Ten Principles for Preserving Courts’ Role in American Democracy. These principles, articulated by the Steering Committee of the Constitution Project’s Courts Initiative, recommend that legislative and executive branch …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts

Executive Order Creates National Identity Theft Task Force

Fact Sheet: The President’s Identity Theft Task Force: “This task force will marshal the resources of the Federal government to crack down on the criminals who traffic in stolen identities and protect American families from this devastating crime.” Executive Order: Strengthening Federal Efforts to Protect Against Identity Theft, May 10, 2006.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Government Documents, ID Theft, Privacy

Report and response to the 7 July 2005 London attacks

“The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has released its official investigations into the 7 July 2005 terrorist attacks. The Government has also released their response to the ISC report.” Intelligence and Security Committee Report into the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005 [PDF, 52 pages] Government Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee Report …

Subjects: Government Documents

Google Trends

“With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most…Google Trends …

Subjects: Search Engines