Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery With Daily Postings Since 2002
News release: “Last week we wrote about initial news reports that Microsoft had searched and disclosed the contents of a blogger’s Hotmail account as part of an internal investigation into the alleged theft of Microsoft source code and other trade secrets. Since then, EFF has been in touch with Microsoft to discuss our objections to the company’s …
“Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV released a staff report titled, “A ‘Kill Chain’ Analysis of the 2013 Target Data Breach.” The report details how Target possibly failed to take advantage of several opportunities to prevent the massive data breach in 2013 when cyber criminals stole the financial and personal information of as many as …
Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One: “The president and congressional leaders want to end NSA bulk metadata collection, but not the use of metadata, which may even be expanded. From a technical perspective, the question of what your metadata can reveal about you, or potential enemies, remains as important as it was since the Edward Snowden …
CRS – Who’s Overseeing Whom? The CIA, SSCI, and the Speech or Debate Clause “In a Tuesday floor speech, Senator Dianne Feinstein accused the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of monitoring a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) computer network that was used by Committee staff while conducting an investigation into CIA interrogation techniques. Many facts remain in dispute, and indeed, …
“In testimony before Congress today, the Federal Trade Commission renewed its call for data security legislation and provided an update on its efforts to protect consumers’ privacy in the face of growing reports of data breaches. Testifying on behalf of the Commission before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Chairwoman Edith Ramirez told lawmakers that …
“March 28 marks the deadline set by President Obama to end the NSA’s bulk collection of American’s telephone records. Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Justice Department is ready to meet the deadline that the President has set. After extensive meetings with leaders of the Intelligence Community, both the President’s Review Group and the Privacy and Civil Liberties …
Ponemon Institute: “…we are releasing our Fourth Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy and Data Security. We hope you will read the report sponsored by ID Experts that reveals some fascinating trends. Specifically, criminal attacks on healthcare systems have risen a startling 100 percent since we first conducted the study in 2010. This year, we found the …
“The FTC has filed an amicus brief in a case before a federal appeals court concerning Facebook users. If a controversial settlement is approved, Facebook will display the images of users, including young children, in Facebook advertising without consent. Several Facebook users formally objected to the plan, arguing that it would violate state laws. A children’s advocacy organization also objected, stating that …
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board – “Committed to the protection of civil liberties and privacy in the nation’s efforts against terrorism” 19 March Hearing – Agenda, Witness Testimony Now Available See also ComputerWorld: “A U.S. National Security Agency surveillance program focused on overseas telephone and email communications is targeted and narrow, and not the bulk collection …
“In a sworn statement filed with a federal court, Google has admitted to scanning student emails to serve students targeted advertisements. Although Google does not display ads in Apps for Education, Google “does scan [student] email” to “compile keywords for advertising” on Google sites. Google has gained access to student emails pursuant to the Education Department’s recently revised …
Pinterest Blog: “Every company that stores information — from banks to phone companies to email providers — must respond to requests for that information from folks like law enforcement agencies, courts, and others. We think it’s important that you know about these requests. That’s why we’re publishing our first transparency report, covering the six months …
2014 SXSW conference in Austin, Texas via the Guardian: Eric Schmidt to dictators: ‘You don’t turn off the internet: you infiltrate it’: “Google’s executive chairman concerned by manipulative new approach of governments spooked by popular uprisings…Schmidt was pressed on the last year’s revelations of surveillance by agencies including the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US, …
