Category «Privacy»

Report Outlines Battle Plan to Combat Phishing

Press release: “Consumer confidence in conducting business and protecting personal data online is threatened every day by phishing scams. In an initiative led by the National Consumers League (NCL), law enforcement, financial services and technical industries have joined forces to combat this threat. The group today issued a “call to action” with the release of …

Subjects: Cybercrime, ID Theft, Privacy

Federal Computer Security Gets Failing Grade

Government Reform Committee Oversight Hearing: No Computer System Left Behind: A Review of the 2005 Federal Computer Security Scorecards, March 16, 2006. Please note, the links to the House Committee originally cited in this posting are no longer available. For alternative access to the some of the same information, please see the following: Washington Post: …

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, Government Documents, ID Theft, Legislation, Privacy

NSA Oversight Act Introduced

Press release: “On Thursday, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA)…[introduced] legislation to address the NSA’s warrantless surveillance of Americans on American soil…The bill, the NSA OVERSIGHT ACT, would: Reiterate Current FISA and Wiretap Laws – states that FISA and the federal criminal wiretap statutes shall continue to be the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation, Privacy

California AG Sues Company For Sale of Cell Phone Records

Press release: California “Attorney General Bill Lockyer, in the first enforcement action resulting from his ongoing investigation into the sale of cell phone records, today filed a $10 million-plus lawsuit against Data Trace USA, Inc. (Data Trace) that alleges the firm unlawfully obtained and sold wireless customers’ confidential monthly call records.” Related documents, legislation and …

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

Judge Backs DOJ In Google Info Release Case

Following up on recent postings about Google’s legal battle with the DOJ, today District Court Judge James Ware indicated he will require Google to provide user generated search data, but with the caveat that he was concerned about use of such data for surveillance purposes. In addition, the government has reportedly scaled back the scope …

Subjects: Privacy

NY Announces Settlement in Largest Privacy Breach to Date

Press release: “Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced a settlement to address what may have been the largest breach of privacy in internet history. The settlement with Datran Media, a leading e-mail marketer, follows an investigation that identified the improper disclosure of the personal information of more than six million American consumers.” Assurance of Discontinuance

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Mail, Privacy

FOIA Lawsuit Yields DOJ Email on Warrantless Wiretapping

National Security Archive press release: “The Justice Department official who oversaw national security matters from 2000 to 2003 e-mailed his former colleagues after revelation of the controversial warrantless wiretapping program in December 2005 that the Department’s justifications for the program were “weak” and had a “slightly after-the-fact quality” to them, and surmised that this reflected …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Legal Research, Privacy

DOJ IG Audit Report on Electronic Surveillance

The Implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, Audit Report 06-13, [Redacted] March 2006 (PDF) Executive Summary: “Criminal organizations and individuals frequently use the telecommunications systems of the United States to further serious violent crimes, including terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, organized crime, drug trafficking, and public corruption. One of the most effective tools law …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Privacy, Wireless Web