New automotive technology is making it possible to track where you go in your car. The most prominent example of this is the OnStar personal security system, which features a communications and tracking component that is facilitated by a built in cell-phone and a global positioning system, or GPS that can locate exactly where a car is. OnStar is one of a growing number of automated eyes and ears that enhance driving safety and convenience but that also increase the potential for surveillance. Privacy advocates say that the rise of the automotive technologies, including electronic toll areas, location-tracking devices, "black box" data recorders like those found on airplanes and even tiny radio ID tags in tires, are changing the nature of Americans' relationship with their cars.
The Gilmore Commission, also known as the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, released its fifth and final annual report to the President and Congress on December 15. Among the Commission's recommendations is the creation of a bipartisan board to provide oversight on homeland security activities that may impinge upon civil liberties. According to the report, such a board is necessary because of the "potential chilling effect" of government surveillance conducted for homeland security purposes. The Committee also recommends the establishment of a domestic intelligence agency responsible for collecting and analyzing information related to terrorist threats within the United States. Since its inception, the Committee has made 144 recommendations, 125 of which have been adopted by Congress and government agencies.
A new U.S. program designed to enhance border security will require foreign travelers from all but Western Europe and a few other countries to take part in a new biometric ID program. The program, called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, will digitally photograph and fingerprint millions of people who visit the United States each year on tourist, business and student visas. Photographs will be used to help create a database for law enforcement. US-VISIT is slated to begin operation January 5.
European politicians have raised concerns over the European Commission's decision to provide the US with airline passenger data. The agreement comes after a year of negotiations in which the U.S. has sought expansive access to EU passenger information, which it claims to need to combat terrorism. However, two European Parliament members are already calling for the European Union's highest court to examine the legality of the announced compromise, which they claim violates EU data protection laws.
The New York Times reports in depth on the methods used by criminals to engage in identity theft. The thieves sorted through recycling bins, finding personal information left by accounting firms and other companies that discarded personal information without shredding it. They also stole mail, pulling identifiers out of bills sent to individuals' homes. But they also ordered credit reports on potential victims, because in doing so, they could determine which victims had access to instant credit:
''I would know what I'm dealing with before I'd invest time in the person's Social Security number,'' (Kari Melton) went on to say. Part of that decision depended on whether the prospective victim owned a home. A typical homeowner can get an instant credit line of $5,000 to $25,000. Melton told me: ''If you have the credit to get a home loan, you have the credit I need.''
"If the victim passed this test, Melton or Massey would begin applying for credit cards using one of the many online credit-card sites that give automated responses to requests for credit. One site, which is now defunct, ''let people apply online and get an instant answer within 30 seconds,'' Melton explained. ''I would have $1,000 available to me instantly'' -- along with the promise of a credit card.
The article continues and discusses the problems posed by insiders at financial services companies, and the failings of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to properly protect personal information.
A new study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has found that discrimination is widespread in home lending, resulting in the extension of subprime or predatory loans to minorities and older purchasers of homes. Traditionally, lenders have argued that credit scoring systems allow lending decisions to be made in a colorblind fashion. However, the study, which controlled for risk and housing market conditions, found that race and age were strongly correlated with unfair, high-cost subprime lending.
Mexican officials have arrested three men affiliated with U.S.-based database company ChoicePoint and are considering charging them with treason. The three men allegedly provided information on 65 million Mexican voters, likely obtained illegally, to ChoicePoint, which then resold the information to the U.S. government. ChoicePoint, one of the largest providers of databases in the world, was contracted by the government to obtain the information shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), ranking member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, has written a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claiming that DHS has not fulfilled its privacy requirements in regards to a new a new entry-exit checking system. Specifically, the Department has failed to conduct and make public a "privacy impact assessment" on a biometric technology program developed for use in the US VISIT program, which will maintain a database of information on anyone entering the U.S. on a visa. The privacy impact assessment is required under the E-Government Act of 2002.
Germany is considering easing its privacy laws in an effort to combat hate on the Internet. The government says that new rules are needed to store online connection data so that it may eventually be used as evidence in criminal investigations.
Alberta has become Canada's third province, following Quebec and British Columbia, to enact private sector privacy legislation as its PIPA was passed earlier this week. It will take effect on January 1st, as will the federal law (PIPEDA) which will apply in all other provinces.
Predisent Bush signed legislation renewing the Fair Credit Reporting Act that will preempt tougher state laws protecting privacy and preventing companies from sharing personal info. The bill is a victory for the financial industry. One positive aspect of the legislation, however, is that it gives consumers new protections against identity theft, including free credit reports and a national fraud-alert system to minimize damage once a theft has occurred.
New Zealand's National Testing Centre in Auckland holds blood samples from 1.9 million, or nearly half, of its citizens, and allows access to an increasing number of third parties. Few New Zealanders even know their blood samples have been stored with barcodes and personal details. In a report written in September, then-privacy commissioner Bruce Slane pushed for an "urgent" review of the storage procedures. He was "uneasy" that access to the blood was getting cheaper, easier and more frequent. There was "no legal protection for the samples against access by third parties or against future uses".
Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach, Fla. is trying to sell people on the idea of implanting a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip under their skin to identify themselves when going to a cash machine or in place of using a credit card. The surgical procedure, which is performed with local anesthetic, embeds a 12-by-2.1mm RFID tag in the flesh of a human arm. Such a practice raises security and privacy concerns, as the tag transmits id information over radio waves that can be intercepted. Furthermore, it could potentially allow the wearer of the tag to be tracked.
Another ambitious domestic project is being undertaken by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is gathering "geospatial information" about 133 cities, the borders and seaports. This "urban data inventory" combines unclassified and classified data (including such things as the location of emergency services, communications, transportation and food supplies) with a high-resolution satellite map of the United States. When the mapping efforts are completed, a national "spatial data infrastructure" will be created down to the house level. Intelligence analysts speak of one day being able to identify individual occupants, as well as their national background and political affiliations.
The FBI had directed intelligence-gathering efforts targeting anti-war demonstrators and organizors in the name of anti-terrorism. In a memo sent to local law enforcement agencies, the FBI listed legal and illegal activities of protesters and encouraged the monitoring of these activities. While FBI officials claim that the intelligence-gathering is aimed at identifying anarchists and "extremist elements" plotting violence, the moves harken back to the J. Edgar Hoover era of the FBI, in which the bureau routinely spied on and disrupted activists.
