Cybersecurity plan to involve NSA, Ttelecoms
Since The Washington Post first broke the news that the Obama administration is moving ahead with Einstein, a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, the drum beat from privacy advocates has been growing. Today, Siobham Gorman of The Wall Street Journal reports that the latest complete version of the system won't be fully installed for 18 months, and even when it is, the system won't protect networks from attack but will only trigger an alarm after one has happened: A more capable version has sparked privacy alarms, which could delay ...
DOJ wins rehearing in Tooley wiretapping suit
Scott Tooley narrowly won an appellate court victory earlier this year in his suit against top government officials, accusing them of invading his privacy through purported wiretaps, clandestine surveillance and “terrorist watch lists.” Now he may lose again. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-to-1 in February that as “thin” as Tooley’s claims appear, he has standing to sue. (The trial judge had tossed Tooley’s suit.) Justice Department lawyers challenged the split decision, saying that it conflicts with other circuits’ views. The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday granted a rehearing, a win for the government. ...
DHS requires more personal info from employees, contractors
The Homeland Security Department is updating and expanding its record collection to include new categories of personal information on all employees, contractors and volunteers who regularly need access to DHS facilities. The new categories of information include maiden name, mother's maiden name, clearance level, identifying physical information, financial history, duty date and weapons-bearer designation, states a Federal Register notice on June 25 . Other information to be collected includes date of birth, Social Security Number, organizational and employee affiliations, fingerprints, digital color photograph, digital signature and telephone phone numbers.Read more on Washington Technology. Also see the Editor's Notebook about the ...
Bachmann gets help with the form
Jake Sherman's blog over on The Wall Street Journal has an interesting tidbit on Congresswoman Michele Bachman's concerns over completing the 2010 census. Apparently, Will Caskey, president of Chicago’s Third Coast Research (a Democratic opposition research firm), completed his own census form for Bachmann based on earlier questionnaires and Google and public records. You can see his estimated form here (pdf). Sherman adds, He couldn’t find out quite everything about her: whether she is selling agricultural products in her home, the state of her mental health, how much she is spending on fuel, or her ancestry. Debbee Keller, a spokeswoman for ...
Internet
Highlights of proposed Canadian spam lawThe Canadian House of Commons in April introduced a bill to create the Electronic...
Cybersecurity plan to involve NSA, TtelecomsSince The Washington Post first broke the news that the Obama administration is moving...
NSA to monitor civilian agency networksThe Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security...
Online behavioral advertising principlesA group of the nation’s largest media and marketing trade associations today...
Read More News About Internet PrivacyBreaches
Commentary: Gary McKinnon’s extradition battleJames Slack of The Daily Mail has an article on the extradition battle for Gary McKinnon,...
When will organizations pay for data breaches?… The furor created by various high-profile data security scandals [in the...
Bar groups protest “red flag” rulesThe New York State Bar Association Monday became the latest bar group to protest...
McDonald’s can sue employee over naked pixThere was another development in court concerning the lawsuit (pdf) filed by Arkansas...
Read More News About BreachesCourt
Commentary: Gary McKinnon’s extradition battle
James Slack of The Daily Mail has an article on the extradition battle for Gary McKinnon, a case that has become somewhat of a cause celebre. The case raises a number of issues, including whether extraditing someone with Asperger’s Disorder to face a potentially lengthy prison sentence in the U.S. constitutes a serious threat to his health. ... [Read more of this story]
Court orders spammers to give up $3.7 million
A U.S. district court has ordered key players in an international spam ring to give up $3.7 million that they made by sending out illegal e-mail messages pitching bogus hoodia weight-loss products and a “human growth hormone” pill they claimed reversed the aging process. In a Federal Trade Commission law enforcement action, the court found that... [Read more of this story]
DOJ wins rehearing in Tooley wiretapping suit
Scott Tooley narrowly won an appellate court victory earlier this year in his suit against top government officials, accusing them of invading his privacy through purported wiretaps, clandestine surveillance and “terrorist watch lists.” Now he may lose again. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-to-1 in February... [Read more of this story]
Lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools
On the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court limited the use of strip searches in the public schools, two young women filed an action in Jefferson County Court against a local middle school and several of its employees for using “grossly intrusive” methods to discover an alleged cache of marijuana. They were allegedly forced to unzip their... [Read more of this story]
MySpace not liable for sexual assaults
MySpace is immune from liability in cases of sexual assaults stemming from people meeting through the site pursuant to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 2nd District Court of Appeals in California ruled on June 30. Four teenage girls and their parents had sued MySpace after the girls were sexually assaulted by men they met online. ... [Read more of this story]
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