Category «Privacy»

FTC Testifies on Data Security, Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

News release: “The Federal Trade Commission today testified on the Commission’s efforts to promote better security for sensitive consumer information and to prevent the inadvertent sharing of consumers’ personal or sensitive data over Peer-to-Peer Internet file-sharing networks. As part of these efforts, the agency also announced that it had reached an agreement with one of …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, PC Security, Privacy

US Courts: Wiretap Applications Decline in 2008

“A total of 1,891 applications to federal and state judges for orders authorizing the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications were reported in 2008. No applications were denied. This is a 14 percent decrease in the total of applications reported, compared to 2007. Fewer states—22 states compared to 24 in 2007—reported wiretap activity and …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research, Privacy

Recent CRS Reports: Exemptions for Photo IDs, Federal Advisory Committees, Organized Crime in the U.S., Disconnected Youth

Legal Analysis of Religious Exemptions for Photo Identification Requirements, April 13, 2009. Federal Advisory Committees: An Overview, April 16, 2009. Piracy Off the Horn of Africa, April 21, 2009. FY2009 Spring Supplemental Appropriations for Overseas Contingency Operations, April 17, 2009. Organized Crime in the United States: Trends and Issues for Congress, April 16, 2009. Disconnected …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Privacy

Sen. Specter: The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power Grabs

New York Review of Books: The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power Grabs, By Arlen Specter, April 16, 2009 “In the seven and a half years since September 11, the United States has witnessed one of the greatest expansions of executive authority in its history, at the expense of the constitutionally mandated separation of powers. …

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

House Hearing on Communications Networks and Consumer Privacy

The Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing titled, Communications Networks and Consumer Privacy: Recent Developments on April 23, 2009. The hearing focused on technologies that network operators utilize to monitor consumer usage and how those technologies intersect with consumer privacy. The hearing explored three ways to monitor consumer usage on broadband …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, Government Documents, Privacy

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Breach Notification Guidance

News release: “On April 17, 2009, HHS issued guidance specifying the technologies and methodologies that render protected health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This guidance …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

NYT: F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases

F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases, by Solomon Moore: “Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who …

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

Symantec Internet Security Threat Report Volume XIV: April, 2009

“The Symantec Internet Security Threat Report offers analysis and discussion of threat activity over a one-year period. It covers Internet threat activities, vulnerabilities, malicious code, phishing, spam and security risks as well as future trends. The fourteenth version of the report, released April 14, 2009, is now available.” Internet Security Threat Report Volume XIV: April, …

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Mail, Privacy

DHS Reports on Rightwing and Leftwing Extremists

Via FAS: Unclassified – Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, 7 April 2009. Prepared by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division. Coordinated with the FBI. Via FOXNews: Unclassified – Leftwing Extremists Likely to Increase Use of Cyber Attacks over the Coming Decade, 26 January …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Government Documents, Privacy

Campaign for Reader Privacy

News release: “Organizations representing booksellers, librarians, publishers, and writers today launched the latest phase in their five-year campaign to restore the reader privacy safeguards that were stripped away by the USA Patriot Act. Since 2003, the Department of Justice has used its expanded power under the Patriot Act to issue more than 200 secret search …

Subjects: Congress, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries, Privacy

New Book: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society

Via EPIC: “A new study by leading scholars from the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands and Italy has revealed that laws are reinforcing technology’s ability to undermine the anonymity of citizens. The law reveals a preference for legislation requiring people to submit to identification and an increasing encroachment of rules into areas where there were previously …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Privacy