Category «Privacy»

EFF- Why the Web Needs Perfect Forward Secrecy More Than Ever

“EFF has long advocated for websites to support HTTPS instead of plain HTTP to encrypt and authenticate data transmitted on the Internet. However, we learned yesterday of a catastrophic bug, nicknamed “Heartbleed,” that has critically threatened the security of some HTTPS sites since 2011. By some estimates, Heartbleed affects 2 out of 3 web servers on the Internet. Heartbleed isn’t a …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Internet, PC Security, Privacy

Welcome to the home page of the European Data Protection Supervisor

“The EDPS is an independent supervisory authority devoted to protecting personal data and privacy and promoting good practice in the EU institutions and bodies. He does so by: monitoring the EU administration’s processing of personal data; advising on policies and legislation that affect privacy; and cooperating with similar authorities to ensure consistent data protection.”

Subjects: Civil Liberties, EU Data Protection, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

Secure Communities and ICE Deportation: A Failed Program?

“Secure Communities, a massive government surveillance program launched in 2008 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has failed to increase the removal of its primary announced targets: noncitizens who have committed crimes other than minor violations. According to a new examination of detailed agency records by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, …

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

Data Retention Directive Invalid, says EU’s Highest Court

EFF – “Today the European Court of Justice declared the EU’s Data Retention Directive invalid, declaring that the mass collection of Internet data in Europe entailed a “wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data.” The Directive ordered European states to pass laws that obliged Internet …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy

EPIC Warns White House About Privacy Risks of “Big Data”

“In response to a request from the White House, EPIC has submitted extensive comments on “Big Data and the Future of Privacy.” EPIC warned the White House about the enormous risk to Americans of current “big data” practices but also made clear that problems are not new, citing the Privacy Act of 1974 which responded to the challenges of “data …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Government Documents, Legislation, Privacy

EFF – Websites Must Use HSTS in Order to Be Secure

EFF: “You would think that by now the Internet would have grown up enough that things like online banking, email, or government websites would rely on thoroughly engineered security to make sure your data isn’t intercepted by attackers. Unfortunately when it comes to the vast majority of websites on the Internet, that assumption would be …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Internet, PC Security, Privacy

Student Privacy and Cloud Computing at the District Level: Next Steps and Key Issues

Solow-Niederman, Alicia and Plunkett, Leah and Gasser, Urs, Student Privacy and Cloud Computing at the District Level: Next Steps and Key Issues (January 15, 2014). Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2014-1. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2378568 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2378568 “This report offers recommended next steps and prioritizes open issues in the K-12 edtech space, with a special …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Education, Internet, Privacy

Introducing the ACLU’s NSA Documents Database

By Emily Weinrebe, ACLU National Security Project: “The public debate over our government’s surveillance programs has reached remarkable heights since the first set of NSA disclosures in June 2013 based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden. Since then, additional disclosures by both the press and government have illuminated our government’s vast and invasive surveillance apparatus. These …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts: A Brief Overview

CRS – Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts: A Brief Overview. Jared P. Cole, Legislative Attorney; Andrew Nolan, Legislative Attorney. March 31, 2014. “Recent disclosures of various National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance and data collection programs have prompted increased attention on the government’s collection of foreign intelligence. Pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) …

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

Overview of Constitutional Challenges to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments

CRS – Overview of Constitutional Challenges  to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments. Edward C. Liu , Legislative Attorney; Andrew Nolan, Legislative Attorney; Richard M. Thompson II; Legislative Attorney, April 1, 2014 “Beginning in the summer of 2013, media reports of foreign intelligence activities conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) have been published and are apparently based on unauthorized disclosures of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

Status Update: Encryption at Yahoo

By Alex Stamos, Chief Information Security Officer: “When I joined Yahoo four weeks ago, we were in the middle of a massive project to protect our users and their data through the deployment of encryption technologies as we discussed in our November 2013 Tumblr. So today, we’re updating you on our progress: Traffic moving between Yahoo data …

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Mail, Internet, Patriot Act, Privacy, Search Engines

EPIC- Judge Approves Controversial Settlement Over Objection of Consumer Privacy Organizations

“A federal judge in California has approved a settlement agreement in a lawsuit against Google that will allow the company to continue to sell data about users’ browsing history to advertisers. EPIC and several other consumer privacy organizations objected to the settlement, stating that it requires no change in Google’s business practices and provides no benefit to those …

Subjects: Courts, E-Commerce, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines