Senate Votes Against Total Information Awareness Program

From Reuters: “The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to cut off funding for a widely criticized computer-surveillance program that would comb travel records, credit-card bills and other private records to sniff out suspected terrorists. In a military spending bill it passed unanimously, the Senate forbade the Defense Department to spend any portion of its $369 …

Subjects: Congress, Legislation, Privacy

Airline Plans to Use Digital Video to Monitor Passengers

According to an article in today’s Wired: “Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. In addition, the charter airline, based in Largo, Florida, will store …

Subjects: Privacy

Communicating With White House Via E-Mail Now a Daunting Task

White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly: “Those who want to send a message to the president must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a form that asks if they support White House policy.” A New York Times follow-up article: “The White House Web site began more prominently featuring the …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Mail, Web Site Accessibility and Usability

Hearing on Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003

Legislative hearing on H.R. 2517, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003, to enhance criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, educate the public about the application of copyright law to the Internet, and clarify the authority to seize unauthorized copyrighted works. Witness List, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Jana Monroe (FBI), David Trust (Professional Photographers of …

Subjects: Copyright, Cybercrime, Legislation

Public Underestimates Website Privacy Standards

Three Things You Don’t Want to Know About Your Personal Information: “Online merchants are frantically sucking up every scrap of information they can get about consumers, but consumers know next to nothing about what happens to that information.” Also see New Annenberg Report Examines Americans’ Understanding of Online Privacy. Yahoo! and Your Personal Information: “Yahoo’s …

Subjects: Privacy

Your New Passport Will Have A Digital ID Chip

From FCW.com: “The State Department is developing a passport that contains biometric technology to authenticate the identities of U.S. citizens who travel abroad.” Also see, Vendors boost biometrics for homeland. “In a trusted traveler program, such as one proposed as part of the Transportation Security Administration’s Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) II, a passenger …

Subjects: E-Government, Privacy