Category «Civil Liberties»

New GAO Reports – DOD, InfoTech Acquisitions, National Nuclear Security, TSA Performance, VA Health Care

Civil Support: DOD Is Taking Action to Strengthen Support of Civil Authorities, GAO-15-686T: Published: Jun 10, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 10, 2015. Information Technology: Additional Actions and Oversight Urgently Needed to Reduce Waste and Improve Performance in Acquisitions and Operations, GAO-15-675T: Published: Jun 10, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 10, 2015. National Nuclear Security Administration: Actions …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

Tech company diversity reports show little shift in leadership

WSJ – “LinkedIn released its latest “diversity report” this week, following several other tech companies that have released 2015 numbers. The company made a big stride in its percentage of women in leadership roles, with 30% of its director-level and above positions filled by females, up from 25% last year. Women now make up 18% of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Commerce, Internet

Fake mobile phone towers in UK track phone conversations

Privacy issues remain in the global new – via ars technica: Fake mobile phone towers discovered in London: Stingrays come to the UK – When will the Metropolitan Police stop pretending it doesn’t use them? “Fake mobile phone masts that can be used to eavesdrop on telephone conversations without users being aware have been discovered in …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Privacy, Wireless Web

DHS IG – TSA Can Improve Aviation Worker Vetting

TSA Can Improve Aviation Worker Vetting (Redacted), DHS OIG-15-98, June 4, 2015 “TSA’s multi-layered process to vet aviation workers for potential links to terrorism was generally effective. In addition to initially vetting every application for new credentials, TSA recurrently vetted aviation workers with access to secured areas of commercial airports every time the Consolidated Terrorist …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

How do libraries manage the ethical and privacy issues of RFID implementation?

How do libraries manage the ethical and privacy issues of RFID implementation? A qualitative investigation into the decision-making processes of ten libraries, Stuart Ferguson, University of Canberra, Australia; Clare Thornley, University College Dublin, Ireland; Forbes Gibb, University of Strathclyde, UK. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science June 2015 vol. 47 no. 2 117-130. “This paper …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Knowledge Management, Libraries, Privacy

New GAO Reports – Aviation Security, Missouri River Basin

Aviation Security: TSA Has Taken Steps to Improve Oversight of Key Programs, but Additional Actions Are Needed, GAO-15-678T: Published: Jun 9, 2015. Publicly Released: Jun 9, 2015: “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has taken steps to improve oversight of Secure Flight—a passenger prescreening program that matches passenger information against watch lists and assigns each passenger …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Transportation

USA FREEDOM Act Reinstates Expired USA PATRIOT Act Provisions

CRS Legal Sidebar USA FREEDOM Act Reinstates Expired USA PATRIOT Act Provisions but Limits Bulk Collection 6/4/2015: “Following a contentious debate and passagein the Senate, the USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 2048) was signed into law onJune 2, 2015. The new law contains eight titles, spanning a range of national security topics from reauthorizing expired investigative …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

DOJ Seeks to Expand Ability to Hack Computers of Suspects

arstechnica – Feds want an expanded ability to hack criminal suspects’ computers – Proposed rules to let one judge authorize “remote access” essentially anywhere. “The United States Department of Justice wants to broaden its ability to hack criminal suspects’ computers, according to a new legal proposal that was first published by The Wall Street Journal on …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

New Study – Americans Losing Battle on Privacy Rights

The Tradeoff Fallacy – How Marketers Are Misrepresenting American Consumers and Opening Them Up to Exploitation – Joseph Turow, Ph.D.; Michael Hennessy, Ph.D; Nora Draper, Ph.D. June 2015. A Report from the Anneberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. “New Annenberg survey results indicate that marketers are misrepresenting a large majority of Americans by claiming that …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, ID Theft, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy

US Legal System on Data Protection in the Field of Law Enforcement

The US Legal System on Data Protection in the Field of Law Enforcement. Safeguards, Rights and Remedies for EU Citizens 15-05-2015: “Upon request by the LIBE Committee, this study surveys the US legal system of data protection in the field of federal law enforcement. It reviews two principal sources of US data protection law, the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Government, EU Data Protection, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

NSA surveillance: how librarians have been on the front line to protect privacy

Dan Roberts – The Guardian UK – “In the hours before US senators voted to take on the might of the National Security Agency this week, their inboxes were deluged with more than 2,200 supportive emails from a most unlikely group of revolutionaries: America’s librarians. Their contribution to the passage of the USA Freedom Act …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

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