Santa Clara County Goes Online With Property Records

The Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office “allows residents to view, free of charge, basic information about properties in Santa Clara County such as assessed value, assessor’s parcel number (APN), document number, property address and other information.” Here is a link to the Property Assessment Information System. Please note the following disclaimer: “California Government Code 6254.21 …

Subjects: E-Government, Privacy

Researchers Warn of Potential Impact of Cyberattacks

Several recent reports by computer security experts merit a mention, and although they present complex data and analysis, are well worth your review, expecially in light of the current hightened global focus on security issues, both online and offline. Cyberatacks With Offline Damage Defending Against An Internet Attack on the Physical World Cybersecurity: Who’s Watching …

Subjects: Cybercrime

Libraries Act to Protect Patron Records

Public libraries across the country continue to pro-actively protect patron privacy using various straight-forward methods. In and around Chicago, libraries have recently posted signs informing visitors that their reading habits, and web sites visited from library PCs, are subject to tracking. “We want our patrons to be aware we could be forced to turn these …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy

New Privacy Threat Index

EPIC has created a color-coded Privacy Threat Index that corresponds to that used by the Deparment of Homeland Security, which today lists the threat as Red (High). EPIC’s press release states that the Privacy Threat Index will be used to “track the growing threat to privacy resulting from the expansion of government surveillance.” Today’s Privacy …

Subjects: Privacy

State of Tennessee Launches New E-Gov Site

Tennessee launched a new url and website to facilitate easier and expanded access to the state’s many e-gov services. Users may now locate information through the following categories: About TN, Government (Departments and Agencies, including legislative bill search), Employment, Travel, Residents, Education, Business, Laws & Justice, State News, Online Services (permits, licenses, etc.). The site …

Subjects: E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Anniversary of Introduction of Web Browser

Ten years ago this April, Marc Andreessen and his colleagues at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, launched the first free web browser, called Mosaic. See also this MSNBC article for more background, and this News.com article, Legacy: A brave new World Wide Web that profiles “Jon Mittelhauser, a founding father of the Web browser,” …

Subjects: Internet

New E-Gov Survey

The third annual survey on e-government, The New e-Government Equation: Ease, Engagement, Privacy and Protection, conducted on behalf of the non-partisan Council for Excellence in Government, indicates that Americans are pleased with improvements in e-gov services, but are also deeply concerned about data privacy issues associated with the collection and dissemination of personal data by …

Subjects: E-Government, Privacy

New German Copyright Law Opposed by Publishers

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the recently amended German Copyright Law (pdf – in German) now exempts universities from fees associated with providing students and scholars with copyrighted materials in a digital environment. For additional information, please see this April 10 posting from amiga-news.de, New Copyright as Good as Succeeded, which provides some …

Subjects: Copyright, EU Data Protection

Google Powers Growing Advertising Empire and Responds to Privacy Concerns

Internet advertising has become a growing source of revenue for search engine giant Google, and this April 13 New York Times article documents the company’s human and machine resources which are an integral part of their successful marketing strategy, and also provides illustrated examples (available in the print version of the paper) of how they …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Privacy, Search Engines

Law.com Launches Redesigned Site

American Lawyer Media announced a redesigned version of their law.com site. The previous main page brown, black and white color scheme has been replaced by one that is blue, white and grey, with links to News and Information sources (AmLaw’s national and regional legal publications, much of whose content requires a subscription) now in the …

Subjects: Legal Research

Executive Order on Classified National Security Info

The DOJ Office of Information and Privacy FOIA Post website published a statement presenting its perspective on the recent Executive Order on National Security Classification Amended. On March 27, I posted a link to, and related resources on, Executive Order 12958, As Amended, Classified National Security Information. For futher reference, the Federation of American Scientists …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Passing of a Pioneering Librarian

The New York Times noted the passing of “Seymour Lubetzky, who helped librarians channel the rising tide of information with his ingenious transformation of cataloging.” Mr. Lubetsky was lauded as “the finest mind of the twentieth century devoted to the discipline of cataloging, and “one of the most significant influences in the field of cataloging” …

Subjects: Libraries