Today, the NY Times reports on a rather shocking surveillance program that China has in the works. The program is starting in the city of Shenzhen, where people will be required to register for residency cards containing a computer chip. According to the Times, “Data on the chip will include not just the [...]

continue reading.....

Google’s mapping service just introduced a new feature called “Street View,” offering detailed photos of addresses in San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami. While the company might not be breaking any privacy laws, the service raises concerns that need to be addressed.
The photographs are not live and were taken from a device [...]

continue reading.....

This week, the U.S. State Department began rolling out “e-passports,” new high-tech documents that bolster border security through identity safeguards. In a dangerous world, upgrading passports is prudent policy that serves the interests of Americans at home and abroad, but not everyone is happy with them.
E-passports employ the use of radio frequency identification. RFID tags [...]

continue reading.....

Social networking Web sites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular with the nation’s youth, prompting attempts to control the medium. However, though protecting children is the goal, the outcome is too often the opposite.
Recently proposed legislation by Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, threatens to effectively stop minors from accessing social networking [...]

continue reading.....

Here’s a great column from Declan on what Congress is plotting for data collection in the name of helping children.

continue reading.....

Last year, Congress passed the Real ID Act, a law that calls for standardization of drivers’ licenses across the country by 2008. The current reaction from states like California and New Hampshire raises questions about how a national ID system would affect civil liberties, putting welcome pressure on the federal government.
California might have a reputation [...]

continue reading.....

Despite national legislation, spam remains a menace that clogs e-mail inboxes and costs Internet Service Providers millions of dollars. One California company is trying to stem the flow of unwanted mail, but California legislators are threatening to stand in the way.
AOL has partnered with Goodmail Systems to offer its customers a service called “CertifiedEmail,” which [...]

continue reading.....

AOL and Yahoo will soon roll out a new program to charge advertisers for guaranteed access to users’ e-mail boxes. It’s not the perfect spam-fighting program that some would have hoped for, but those critiquing the plan on free speech and other grounds are out to lunch.
The reason most people’s inboxes are overflowing with nasty [...]

continue reading.....

Declan and Anne wrote another great piece on this issue today. They quote me saying I think that many of the politicians that criticize businesses for data practices are hypocrites because they are just as bad or worse with their practices. Good to see that the media is paying attention.

continue reading.....

Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache at CNET today report on federal agencies tracking web visitors against the rules. It’s not surprising, but it is disturbing. If government wants to increase surveillance in America and argues that we should trust them to follow the rules, then this example puts a huge dent in their [...]

continue reading.....

There’s a company called Riya that offers software to search personal photos using face recognition technology. Jennifer Granick of Stanford law school wrote a piece about it and its privacy implications, but her take is old and doesn’t see the big picture. Yes, face recognition technology changes society in ways that no longer [...]

continue reading.....

The next time you print a summary of your favorite James Bond film, you should consider that there might be more than one spy on the page. That’s because printer manufacturers and the U.S. Secret Service have been quietly collaborating to track documents — a worrisome revelation.
An announcement by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) that [...]

continue reading.....

A new threat to national security surfaced this week and if federal agencies fail to address it, they could hamstring important tools to catch terrorists. The General Accounting Office (GAO) reported this week that federal agencies are breaking privacy and security laws while conducting data-mining activities. According to the GAO, of the five federal agencies [...]

continue reading.....

If you’re wondering why, it’s because I changed my mind on TIA and this NY Sun piece by Josh Gerstein quotes me and others on the need to re-examine government data-mining programs.

continue reading.....

A few years ago I was staunchly against TIA. Now that I’ve had more time to think about it (as well as watch the technology advance — think social networking sites etc.), I have a different perspective on information gathering systems and liberty. Here’s my column on the subject.

continue reading.....

The subway and bus bombings in London on July 7th added new fuel to the continued debate over security and liberty in a high-tech world. But it remains an open question whether the two must be opposites.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,” Ben [...]

continue reading.....

It’s not only BofA and Lexis Nexis that are having security issues. According to this article, “Security flaws in computer systems used by the Internal Revenue Service expose millions of taxpayers to potential identity theft or illegal police snooping.” Great.

continue reading.....

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act of 2005. Privacy advocates decry the act as move towards a national identification card while others back it as a key national security measure. Both sides miss important points, including the fact that Americans already have a national ID card.
It’s called [...]

continue reading.....