Category «Privacy»

UK Parliament to launch in-depth inquiry into US surveillance programmes

News release: “Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee will conduct an “in-depth inquiry” into the US surveillance programmes, including the bugging of EU premises and other spying allegations, and present its results by the end of this year, says a resolution passed by the full House on Thursday. Parliament’s President and political group leaders formally confirmed the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

European Parliament has adopted new EU legislation to fight cyber-crime

“The Directive on attacks against information systems builds on rules that have been in force since 2005 (Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA). While retaining a number of current provisions, it introduces new offences, such as the use of tools to commit large-scale attacks, new aggravating circumstances and higher criminal sanctions that are necessary to fight more …

Subjects: Cybercrime, EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

Commentary – Creative destruction, government snooping: Is the Internet worth it?

Salon – We can’t “repeal the Internet.” But it has unleashed scary forces — and reasons for a Silicon Valley backlash, By Andrew Leonard “There is new evidence, every day, of the mixed blessings delivered by the Internet. Just to pick one example from current headlines: The vast advances in government surveillance capability that we’ve …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Patriot Act, Privacy

UK ICO update on Google Privacy Policy

A UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) spokesperson said on July 4, 2013: “We have today written to Google to confirm our findings relating to the update of the company’s privacy policy. In our letter we confirm that its updated privacy policy raises serious questions about its compliance with the UK Data Protection Act. “In particular, …

Subjects: E-Commerce, EU Data Protection, Privacy, Search Engines

NYT- Postal Service Is Watching, Too: Outside of All Mail Is Recorded

Postal Service Is Watching, Too: Outside of All Mail Is Recorded,” by Ron Nixon: “Under “the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program…Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States – about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the government …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

Curious about surveillance? FOIA has answers.

Sunshine in Government Initiative – June 27, 2013 “Many Americans are curious about electronic surveillance by the federal government. Conveniently, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has already helped provide some answers. Although much of the interest and attention arises from journalism in recent days (here, here, here, and here, and related stories), America has …

Subjects: Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

Commentary – Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance

Technology, Not Law, Limits Mass Surveillance, by Ashkan Soltani – MIT Technology Review July 2013 “Recent revelations about the extent of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency come as no surprise to those with a technical background in the workings of digital communications. The leaked documents show how the NSA has taken advantage of the increased …

Subjects: Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule Goes Into Effect Today

News release: “The Federal Trade Commission’s revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule took effect today, giving parents greater control over the online collection of their children’s personal information. The revised COPPA rule culminates more than two years of review by the agency to modernize the rule. The revised COPPA rule addresses changes in the …

Subjects: Internet, Legislation, Privacy

Spiegel Online – “NSA Snoops on 500 Million German Data Connections”

By Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark: “America’s National Security Agency (NSA) is apparently spying on Germany more than previously believed. Secret documents from the US intelligence service, which have been viewed by SPIEGEL journalists, reveal that the NSA systematically monitors and stores a large share of the country’s telephone and Internet connection data. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, EU Data Protection, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Patriot Act, Privacy

Wiretap Report 2012 – Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

“Each Wiretap Report uses tables, text, and charts to report information provided by federal and state officials on orders authorizing or approving interceptions of wire, oral, or electronic communications for the calendar year ending December 31…This report covers intercepts concluded between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012, and provides supplementary information on arrests and …

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

EPIC – EU Officials Recommend Do Not Track by Default

Via EPIC: “The International Working Group on Data Protection released a white paper on online behavioral advertising. The group of leading privacy experts from around the world noted that web tracking allows companies to “monitor every single aspect of the behavior of an identified user across websites.” The Working Group also observed that the current …

Subjects: Government Documents, Internet, Privacy