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Secrecy News – Steven Aftergood: For the next two years, Congress wants to receive quarterly reports from the Department of Defense on how the Pentagon is responding to leaks of classified information. The reporting requirement was included in the pending National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015 (Sec. 1052). “Compromises of classified information cause indiscriminate and …
Gilens, Naomi, The NSA Has Not Been Here: Warrant Canaries as Tools for Transparency in the Wake of the Snowden Disclosures (April 2014). Available for dowload at at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2498150 “Technology companies are increasingly experimenting with “warrant canaries” as a means of increasing transparency around the national security orders they receive. A warrant canary is …
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Posted September 2014, Revised September 2014: “Technological advances allow us to do many useful things and to simplify our daily tasks. The flip-side of these advances in technology is the unprecedented ability to collect, store, manipulate, and disseminate virtually unlimited amounts of data about people. Numerous companies known as data brokers have entered this …
Ryan Gallagher – The Intercept: “The AURORAGOLD operation is carried out by specialist NSA surveillance units whose existence has not been publicly disclosed: the Wireless Portfolio Management Office, which defines and carries out the NSA’s strategy for exploiting wireless communications, and the Target Technology Trends Center, which monitors the development of new communication technology to ensure …
“The CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust, undertaken by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and conducted by global research company Ipsos, reached 23,376 Internet users in 24 countries, and was carried out between October 7, 2014 and November 12, 2014. The countries included: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, …
“Facebook has again revised its privacy policy. Despite the new graphics, Facebook continues to collect and disclose enormous amounts of user data without meaningful consent. The use of location data has expanded dramatically. “We collect information from or about the computers, phones, or other devices where you install or access our Services,” states Facebook. These …
International Review of Information Ethics, Jeffrey Alan Johnson, July 2014 “Data mining and predictive analytics—collectively referred to as “big data”—are increasingly used in higher education to classify students and predict student behavior. But while the potential benefits of such techniques are significant, realizing them presents a range of ethical and social challenges. The immediate challenge considers the extent to …
Center for Data Innovation – Daniel Castro & Joshua New | December 4, 2014 “The Internet of Things” encapsulates the idea that ordinary objects will be embedded with sensors and connected to the Internet. To date, most discussion of the Internet of Things has highlighted the technology; to the extent it has addressed policy, the focus has been largely negative (i.e. …
USA Today – “With Google processing 40,000 search queries a second — or 1.2 trillion a year — it’s a safe bet that many of those doing the Googling are kids. Little surprise then that beginning next year the tech giant plans to create specific versions of its most popular products for those 12 and younger. …
Children’s Health Insurance: Cost, Coverage, and Access Considerations for Extending Federal Funding, GAO-15-268T: Published: Dec 3, 2014. Publicly Released: Dec 3, 2014. Federal Data Transparency: Effective Implementation of the DATA Act Would Help Address Government-wide Management Challenges and Improve Oversight, GAO-15-241T: Published: Dec 3, 2014. Publicly Released: Dec 3, 2014. VA Health Care: Improvements Needed to Manage …
“After sifting through almost 40GB of leaked internal data, one thing is clear: Sony Pictures appears to have suffered the most embarrassing and all-encompassing hack of internal corporate data ever made public. The data dump, which was reviewed extensively by BuzzFeed News, includes employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, and doctors’ letters explaining the medical rationale …
CRS – Taxation of Internet Sales and Access: Legal Issues. Erika K. Lunder, Legislative Attorney. December 1, 2014. “In recent years, there has been significant congressional interest in the states’ ability to impose sales and use taxes on sales made over the Internet. While these taxes are imposed on the consumer, states generally prefer that retailers collect and remit them, rather …
