Rental car companies are installing tracking devices in cars that monitor drivers� travels. "Telematic" systems combine GPS location technology and a wireless phone to track drivers who may be unaware that such devices even exist in the car. The systems raise the possibility that the rental car company can track a driver�s trip, and automatically call the driver if there is a deviation from travel plans. Other location tracking devices being developed are marketed to parents who wish to monitor their children as they drive. These devices can automatically report the whereabouts of a vehicle and whether the driver exceeded certain boundaries set by the parent.
Increasingly states have been compelling all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample to an offender database. All 50 states collect DNA samples from convicted sex offenders.
The International Broadcasting Bureau, which governs the Voice of America, has confirmed plans to support the Safeweb network, a system of servers that provides privacy to those accessing the web. Safeweb's Triangle Boy servers allow individuals to circumvent filtering and other tools of censorship.
In and address to the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig argued that Intellectual Property Law is stifling innovation and even academic inquiry. Lessig proposed a new copyright system, where protection in law would last for five years with the option to renew for up to seventy-five years.
A new study by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) demonstrates that online financial services often have inadequate means of controlling personal data use. CDT also filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that several financial institutions are collecting information from customers without posting a privacy policy.
Borders Book shop, a large bookselling retail chain, has employed facial recognition technology to monitor its customers at UK stores. The facial recognition cameras are being used to identify known shoplifters present in the stores.
Egghead.com, an online electronics store currently in bankruptcy, is attempting to sell its customer lists to Fry�s Electronics. The transfer violates the Egghead.com privacy policy, and Fry�s may cancel the sale if 10% of former Egghead.com customers opt out of the information sharing.
Polling firm Harris Interactive reports that Internet consumers harbor distrust against America Online (AOL) and Microsoft (MS), and The poll found that 37% of respondents had a high level of distrust for AOL. 29% reported a high level of distrust for MS.
Edith H. Jones, a Federal Judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, has written a letter to the Judicial Conference objecting to plans to routinely monitor all Internet use of the federal courts. Judge Jones warns that this monitoring may compromise confidentiality and cause unease among judicial employees.
The Gartner research firm has found that Internet users are rejecting the Microsoft Passport system because they believe that it could lead to a loss of privacy. Gartner found that only 11% of Internet users believe that Passport will enhance user experience. Further, the group found that 90% of online consumer are not interested in exchanging personal information for personalization.
Federal law enforcement officials may expand the Carnivore Internet monitoring system to include the ability to capture wireless telephone messages. If Carnivore is expanded, it will likely result in the FBI capturing many messages that are not germane to law enforcement investigations.
New York City voter registration records that include voters� home addresses and party affiliations are now online. Many New Yorkers have requested that their information be removed from the online database.
Business and information brokers are selling individuals� personal information on their prescription drug purchases, credit information, civil and criminal legal information, professional licenses, property ownership, marriage and divorce records, and retail purchases. This information is culled from public records, catalog and online purchases, credit reports, product warranty cards, and consumer surveys. Jason Catlett, of Junkbusters, estimates that a typical consumer�s name and address is held by 500 different companies.
Arabella Hallawell, a Gartner research analyst writes that enabling P3P on Passport sites will offer no real benefit to consumers. Further, the inclusion of P3P in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 was intended to prevent privacy legislation from Congress.
Microsoft (MS) has made an appearance in Washington with the Center for Democracy and Technology in order to quell notions that the Passport system will harm privacy and security.
A Federal Judge in New York has ordered a cable company to provide a subscriber�s records to law enforcement officials without notifying the subscriber. The court held that the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 does not require notice to the subscriber before law enforcement receives information on when the subscriber accessed the Internet and the volume of data transferred over the cable connection.
A Illinois state judge has ordered three anti-abortion activists to remove from the medical records of a patient from the Internet. The patient had experienced complications from an abortion, and the anti-abortion activists had obtained medical records of the incident and posted them online.
Two California Assembly committees voted to approve new legislation that would restrict the sale of personal financial information and telemarketing business practices.
Citizens� Council on Health Care (CCHC) has published privacy declaration forms for public use. The forms explain individuals� rights under law and contain a statement to give to companies detailing preferences for handling health, medical, and financial data privacy.
The Senate Intelligence Committee again is considering the Official Secrets Act, legislation that prohibits the disclosure of classified information by federal employees. Thomas Blanton, Director of the National Security Archive, argues in the New York Times that the Act will close government from citizen scrutiny and chill speech.
Michael Hyatt has published an article detailing the prevalence, costs, and high-risk behaviors associated with identity theft. The high-risk behaviors include: sharing the Social Security Number (SSN), losing one�s wallet or purse, receiving bills and credit card offers at a home mailbox, discarding paper with personal information in the trash, neglecting to check credit reports, failing to opt-out of financial information sharing, and choosing poor passwords to secure bank accounts and personal data.
According to a recent report by Seth Finkelstein, N2H2�s Bess Internet filtering software contains a loophole that blocks certain sites due to program limitations. The loophole automatically blocks sites that provide anonymity, privacy, language and language translation services.
A survey of 75 cooperate web sites performed by Andersen Consulting found that none was in compliance with international privacy standards.
Web Sites Fail Global Privacy Test, CNET (Reuters), August 16, 2001.
A UK resident is planning to ask the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate whether the Microsoft Passport system violates the EU-US safe harbor agreement.
EPIC and 13 other civil liberties and consumer protection groups renewed objections to the Microsoft Windows XP operating system and the Passport identification and authentication system. In supplement to the original complaint, the groups alleged that Microsoft�s new operating system and identification system will be privacy invasive, weaken user control over data, and result in the degradation of Internet anonymity.
The Administrative Offices of the US Courts has released a proposed policy that will increase privacy protections of electronic case files. The policy requires that personal identifiers, such as Social Security Numbers, be removed from electronic documents to prevent aggregation and identity theft. The proposed policy will be reviewed by the Judicial Conference at a September convention.
A panel of federal judges has recommended that all judicial branch computers should be electronically monitored. In May, a group of judges in the Ninth Circuit ordered their technical staff to disable monitoring systems, claiming that the monitoring violated privacy and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Professor Peter Swire has written a report in response to a Cato position paper that was critical of privacy protections in law. Swire argues that self-help remedies for privacy protection are ineffective, and that the Cato paper misstated the relevant law governing privacy protection.
The Australian Privacy Commissioner has announced the results of three surveys assessing attitudes on privacy. The studies focused on community, business, and government attitudes towards privacy. Among other things, the studies show that when Australians purchase products, they consider respect for personal information as important as product quality.
Heather Green writes in BusinessWeek that emerging technologies, such as E-ZPass, Keystroke logging, and facial recognition are posing new challenges to protecting privacy.
South Africa is considering granting new powers to security services to monitor citizens in an effort to fight terrorism and crime. A bill recently passed by the Cabinet provides for state monitoring of all telecommunications systems. Opponents claim that the new bill will eliminate anonymous Internet access and extend new powers to police that exceed those used by the former apartheid government.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) has released information from its automatic toll-collection system to police investigators. The system, called "Fast Lane," bills drivers for their use of toll highways. Since Fast Lane records the date and time of each passage through the system, it can also be used to track vehicles as they travel.
EPIC has filed a motion to compel the Department of Justice to begin discovery in the Carnivore case. Through discovery, EPIC will be able to determine the adequacy of the document search performed by the agency. Carnivore is a surveillance tool used by law enforcement that can capture Internet communications. Last year, EPIC filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain all records regarding the system. Since filing the request, EPIC has received documents on Carnivore, however, it is clear from the documents that the search performed by the agency was incomplete.
Microsoft (MS) is planning changes to the Passport authentication service. Specifically, the company plans to reduce the amount of information required for registering a Passport account and to move user profiles outside Passport into the Hailstorm service. MS will also include the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) in Internet Explorer 6, which will be bundled with the Windows XP operating system.
A group of federal judges has disabled monitoring systems on their work computers, claiming that the surveillance violates ethical principles and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
A federal judge hearing the case of Little Nicky Scarfo Jr. has ruled that the DOJ must submit testimony on the use of Keystroke logging devices. Previously, DOJ has argued that revealing any information on Keystroke logging would endanger the lives of law enforcement officers.
The American Bar Association (ABA) rejected a proposed rule that would have enabled attorneys to disclose information to police where a client uses the lawyer to commit a crime or fraud. However, the ABA did adopt a rule allowing attorneys to inform officials where a client plans to take an action that will cause "reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm." The ABA ethics rules are not binding on attorneys. But, they are often used as model law by state legislatures and bar associations.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has held that states may assert copyright protection to prevent the distribution of public records obtained with freedom of information laws. Public records are commonly used for profiling and building dossiers on citizens.
Attorneys from the Justice Department have argued in court that introducing evidence on a keystroke-logging device will compromise national security. In the case being tried, the FBI employed a device to capture all the text entered into the computer via the keyboard. Privacy advocates argue that allowing the DOJ to enter the keystroke evidence without explanation may result in a new wave of manufactured evidence.
Marketers increasingly are relying on "viral marketing" to entice children to purchase more products. Viral marketing is the practice where marketers target and then observe popular children using new toys and video games. The popular children are then urged to entice others to use or purchase the product.
As part of Microsoft�s strategy to foster respect for intellectual property, the company has developed an Internet surveillance program for illegal eBook content. The program, according to Microsoft, searches for unauthorized distribution of eBooks constantly.
State and Department of Justice officials are considering blocking the release of Microsoft Windows XP. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that Microsoft is a monopolist company that used its market power unfairly to maintain dominance in the operating system market.
The Privacy Foundation has printed an article arguing that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act harms both privacy and research. The DMCA prohibits the use and distribution of tools that circumvent access controls of digital content.
