Total Information Awareness Report Due to Congress

The ACLU published a report on May 16, Total Information Compliance: The TIA’s Burden Under the Wyden Amendment, in anticipation of the required release to Congress tomorrow of a DARPA report detailing the the program’s data mining technology applications, the impact on citizen privacy, and overall project spending.

Subjects: Privacy

Patriot Act Continues to Generate Opposition, Unusual Alliances and Strident Controversy

Ideological foes agree: Privacy rights in danger Surveillance State: “Since September 11, a flood of federal legislation has reduced American freedom without increasing our security.” Calif. Town To ‘Defy’ Patriot Act . “A new city (Arcata) ordinance would impose a fine of $57 on any city department head who voluntarily complies with investigations or arrests …

Subjects: Patriot Act, Privacy

High-Tech Surveillance Not Just Gov’t Work

From the New York Times, Big Brother Is Tracking You. Without a Warrant. “But as cameras (from commercial imaging satellites) take ever-closer aim at domestic targets, the legal, political and ethical issues remain unresolved.” This article also references, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency.

Subjects: Privacy

CIPA, Net Filtering and the Supreme Court

From Seth Finkelstein’s Infothought blog, this informative posting on Internet software filtering company N2H2’s current 10Q filing which includes the following language: “Free speech and privacy concerns could adversely affect the demand for our Internet filtering solutions.” On a related issue, see my April 10 posting: U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns (MA) dismissed a …

Subjects: Censorship, Free Speech, Libraries, Privacy

Penn. State President Spearheads File Sharing Debate

Penn State President Graham Spanier has assumed a high-profile role in attempting to broker an agreement in the escalating battle over student use of networked file sharing applications and the increasingly aggressive entertainment industry response to pursue, identify and punish individuals who they believe are engaged in digital piracy. Mr. Spainer has apparently suggested that …

Subjects: Copyright

Hearing on P2P File Sharing and Privacy Issues

On May 15, the Committee on Government Reform held a hearing titled “Overexposed: The Threats to Privacy and Security on File Sharing Networks.” Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Associate Director Alan Davidson’s testimony presented a two-pronged position – privacy and digital rights: “A broad public education effort and better software practices are needed in …

Subjects: Privacy

Report on Extensive UK Data Collection Program

From Privacy International’s Know Your Data Campaign: “Many of the companies that supply Britain’s communications services – the landline services, cable companies, mobile operators and Internet Service Providers – are accumulating a vast amount of personal information about their customers. This “communications data”, which is currently stored for up to seven years, may relate to …

Subjects: E-Government, Privacy