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News release: “Terms of Service” policies on websites define how Internet businesses interact with you and use your personal information. But most web users don’t read these policies — or understand that the terms are constantly changing. To track these ever-evolving documents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is launching “TOSBack”: a “terms of service” tracker …
Defense Management: Observations on DOD’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request for Corrosion Prevention and Control, GAO-09-732R, June 01, 2009 Privacy and Security: Food and Drug Administration Faces Challenges in Establishing Protections for Its Postmarket Risk Analysis System, GAO-09-355, June 01, 2009 Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Enrollee Cost Sharing for Selected Specialty Prescription Drugs, GAO-09-517R, …
Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB), Toward A 21st Century Framework for Federal Government Privacy Policy, May 2009 “[this]…report analyzes issues and makes recommendations around updating privacy law and policy in light of technological change. The Privacy Act of 1974 is the basis for much of the legal and policy framework by which the …
Government Technology: “University researchers have discovered vulnerabilities in NXP’s MIFARE Classic card, which belongs to a family of smart cards with more than 1 billion units distributed worldwide. These smart cards are used to access buildings and public transportation systems. One example is the Oyster card, which Londoners use for citywide travel. Researchers from Radboud …
“EPIC announced a national campaign today to suspend the use of “Whole Body Imaging” — devices that photograph American air travellers stripped naked in US airports. The campaign responds to a policy reversal by the TSA which would now make the the “virtual strip search” mandatory, instead of voluntary as originally announced. EPIC and others …
New York Times Magazine: “Today companies are focusing on those customers most likely to honor their debts. And they are looking for ways to convince existing cardholders that if they only have enough money to pay one bill, its wiser to pay off their credit card than, say, the phone. Put another way, credit-card companies …
Follow up to May 14, 2009 posting, FTC Files Suit to Stop Illegal Robocalls Pushing Vehicle Warranty Extensions” – “Today Judge John F. Grady of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a temporary restraining order stopping telemarketing company Voice Touch, Inc., its principals James and Maureen Dunne, its business …
Depot Maintenance: Actions Needed to Identify and Establish Core Capability at Military Depots, GAO-09-83, May 14, 2009: “DOD, through its biennial core process, has not comprehensively and accurately assessed whether it has the required core capability to support fielded systems in military depots. Although DOD internally reported that its maintenance workload of 92.7 million hours …
News release: “The Federal Trade Commission is asking a federal court to shut down a telemarketing campaign that has been bombarding U.S. consumers with hundreds of millions of allegedly deceptive robocalls in an effort to sell them vehicle service contracts under the guise that they are extensions of original vehicle warranties. In two related complaints …
Review of the European Data Protection Directive, by Neil Robinson, Hans Graux, Maarten Botterman, Lorenzo Valeri “The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) asked a multidisciplinary international research team led by RAND Europe with time-lex and GNKS-Consult to review the strengths and weaknesses of the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and propose avenues for improvement. The Directive …
Review of Web Applications Security and Intrusion Detection in Air Traffic Control Systems, May 04, 2009 “On May 4, 2009, we issued our report on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) web applications security and intrusion detection in air traffic control (ATC) systems, requested by the Ranking Minority Members of the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee …
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Watchlist Nomination Practices, Audit Report 09-25, May 2009 “The federal governments consolidated terrorist watchlist was created in March 2004 by merging previously separate watchlists that were once maintained by different agencies throughout the federal government. The watchlist is managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), through its supervision …
