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After three robberies of residents of $400,000 in jewelry the Manalapan Florida�s town council voted to spend $60,000 in security upgrades. As a result cameras and computers will soon be running background checks on every car and driver that passes through the small community.
Florida town to use blanket of surveillance cameras,USA Today, 4/27/2004
Routinely those seeking financial services from mortgage lenders find that the information provided during the application process is used for other purposes. Online applications typically request social security number, date of birth, income, and personal worth. It is illegal to share the information with others, but lenders can make it available to affiliates.
Now They Have Your Numbers, Washington Post, April 24, 2004
A South Carolina man pleaded innocent to an Internet stalking charge made after he was arrested for e-mail sent to a Washington State women. The charge was for 26 counts of using a computer to send annoying, abusive, threatening, or harassing electronic communications. The anti-Internet Stalking law was enacted in 1997.
Man pleads innocent to Internet stalking, USA Today, April 23, 2004
The Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator has a new ally�the local pizza delivery restaurant, which has proven itself to be very good at tracking down people who owe the state money. The state debt collection office found that the most accurate source of contact information for people they are seeking could be found in the databases of local pizza restaurants.
State - Pizza deliverylists may help track scofflaws, Southeast Missourian, April 13, 2004
Some landlords deny housing to people based on private background checks that can rate renters as high-risk. Renters may not have anything wrong with thier credit scores or references, but derogatory information may be relayed to potential landlords by a for fee service used to screen housing applicants. Most renters do not know that these information services exist, nor what harmful information may be in the proprietary records of those companies.
A Blacklist for Renters,, New York Times, April 8, 2004
Taking RFID standards approach to the international level a group of thirteen companies proposed a standard for short-range RFID transmissions in the ultra-high-frequency spectrum band. This is only one of several proposals for creating a communications protocol for RFID that could set the stage for standardization of global RFID communications. If successful this would mean that international transactions that involve shipping of goods from one location on the globe to another could be electronically tracked as it moves across the world.
Next Flavor of UHF for RFID, Internet News.com, April 20, 2004
The Commission investigating the 9/11 attacks reports that the number of FBI request for surveillance has gone up 85% over the past three years. This rate according to the Commission is taxing the Justice Departments ability to keep up with requests. Once the warrants are approved the FBI is said to be lacking agents and other personnel to follow up. This kind of news could result in more funding to the FBI from Congress and the Administration.
Surveillance requests overwhelm feds, The Post Courier Charleston.net, April 16, 2004
While attending a campaign event in Buffalo, New York, where the first successful prosecution under the Patriot Act took place that he would like to see certain provisions of the Patriot Act due to expire next year become permanent. That case involved six Arab-Americans who pleaded guilty of violating the law by visiting a al Qaeda training camp in Afgahanistan prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Bush blends fund-raising with effort to extend Patriot Act, Indianapolis Star, April 21, 2004
Not very well, according to Dan Gillmor. He faults IT as the source of the problems that are routinely reported in the news, when accounts of privacy breeches are disclosed. However, he also points out that IT has to be the solution for stopping the theft and unintentional disclosure of customer information. Gillmor sites the offshoring trend as a source of possible problems that could further complicate the ability of companies to assure customers of privacy.
It's Time to Take Privacy Seriously, Computerworld, April 12, 2004.
Charlottesville Virginia police announced that they would discontinue their practice of asking some black men to provide DNA samples as a method of identifying a serial rapist. In the past, the practice of racial profiling extended beyond traffic stops to include mass arrest in areas near the site of crimes. The question is not just whether the practice is constitutional, but would other racial groups be equally subjected to this practice given the same set of circumstances. Domestic law enforcements history would answer no to this question.
Police in Charlottesville Suspend 'DNA Dragnet', The Washington Post, April 15, 2004
Microsoft announced the creation of a RFID group to work on technology that is supported by the Microsoft platform. The group will include major clients of Mircrosoft who are engaged in supplying RFID products and services. With major efforts underway by the DOD and national retail chains like Wal Mart to incorporate the technology into their supply chain, companies that want to be major suppliers of the technology are working to position themselves now to better compete for RFID customers and market share.
Microsoft bolsters RFID effort, The ADT Magazine, April 12, 2004
The Department of Defense has recently completed trail of RFID technology provided by Alien Technology Corporation. The trial was designed to test if RFID technology improved efficiency of outbound shipments from the Navy Fleet Industrial Supply Center at the Norfolk Military Ocean Terminal for the DOD.
Department of Defense Completes Successful RFID Trial Press Release Alien Technology Corporation, April 13, 2004
Southland Airport reports that over two hundred closed circuit televisions have been installed to monitor secure areas around the airport. Cameras are connected to alarm systems that will be triggered by unauthorized access. Airport personal monitor the televisions for suspicious activity.
TV Surveillance Project Under Way At Southland Airport, NBC Channel 4, Los Angeles, CA, April 13, 2004
Montgomery County Maryland joined a short list of jurisdictions that arel using a new computer tracking system that allows police to identify the physical location of a cell phone caller. The technology triangulates location based on the caller�s proximity to the nearest cell phone tower. The accuracy is reported to be within a city block.
County 911 Now Able To Locate Cell Calls, Washington Post, April 8, 2004
The California Senate bill, SB 1279, would require California companies to inform customer of unauthorized disclosures of their personal information. Personal information among other criterion is defined as name and any of the following pieces of information: social security number, drivers license, or credit card information. The bill would also bar hotels and motels from encoding personal information in the magnetic stripe of room keys.
Bill Would Mandate Timely Notification of Financial Privacy Breaches, Channel 10 - KXTV, Sacramento California
The Department of Defense is aggressively pursing a uniform government wide standard for RFID technology that they would like incorporated into all deliverables shipped on pallets or is cases by manufacturers who also supply a great many products found in local grocery and home improvement stores. Their plan is to following the same technology blueprint for RFID technology as the one announced by Wal-Mart. To coordinate the government wide effort for a uniform RFID policy they are recommending the development of an intergovernmental council.
Defense pushes for a single RFID standard, Government Computer News, April 7, 2004
Rush Limbaugh�s attorney is seeking to suppress medical records obtained by investigators who sought evidence of �doctor shopping� by his client�s because his medical privacy was violated in the process. A judge has yet to rule on the defense motion, which has held up prosecution efforts involving the case. Prosecutors used search warrants, which precluded any prior legal challenge to their request to gain access to Limbaugh�s medical records. The records are now in the custody of authorities, but at this time they are barred from using them to further their case against Limbaugh.
Limbaugh attorney blasts investigators, CNN Online, April 7, 2004
Revolutionary biometric technological innovations, which were first offered under the guise of the U.S.-VISIT program, to identify and track foreign visitors while they are in the country, are making their way from the boarder to a product near you, in the form of credit cards and cell phones. With identity theft as the fastest growing crime in the United States the pressure is on for the financial and telecommunication industries to find effective ways to protect consumers and their bottom line-- biometrics is offering them some hope. The adoption of new technology will present new opportunities to assess their privacy impacts�lets hope the conversations take place prior to the adoption of these innovations and not in the aftermath of failures.
Big Brother Inc., Time Magazine, March 29, 2004
The first report ever done that looks at the effect of free music download services available on the Internet and record sales revenue has found no correlation between the two. The study found that free music downloads had such a miniscule statistically insignificant impact on record sales that it was akin to zero. This definitely is not the result that law makers, the Justice Department or record industry would have expected. The only worse news for them would have been that free downloads increased revenue.
A Heretical View of File Sharing, New York Times, April 5, 2004
Beginning last year everyone who has seen a doctor, picked up a prescription, or gone for a medical test should have been informed, in writing, of new medical privacy rights or what they were told were new rights. What you may not have been told is that the only new thing--is the notice, but your right to medical privacy was not made more secure under the new rules. A recent federal court ruling affirmed that a third party could decide what medical information could be shared with a third party, without a patient�s consent.
Judge upholds changes to medical-privacy law, Philadelphia Inquirer , April 3, 2004
Cable operators have enjoyed the lion�s share of the broadband service market in the U.S. without the oversight posed by federal regulation that governs traditional telecommunication service providers. This situation became very apparent after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which meant that telecommunications providers who wanted to enter the broadband market had higher hurdles to climb than cable operators providing similar services. It is hoped that the decision will lead to more competition in broadband service, which should result in lower prices for consumers
Cable Lines Opened to ISPs;, Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2004 Friday
An Ohio company, which outsourced U.S. medical files, faced an attempted extortion by its workers in Bangalore India, who threatened to reveal confidential information unless they received money. A similar attempt was made by a transcriber working, in another country, on hospital records from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Few U.S. consumers understand that the privacy protections provided by domestic state and federal law do not apply to outsourced contracts that may involve disclosure of their sensitive personal information.
Extortion threat to patients' records;, The San Francisco Chronicle, APRIL 2, 2004, FRIDAY
Municipalities in the State of Maryland have formed a warm relationship with red-light cameras that help to catch traffic violators and at the same time raise much needed revenue. However, the down side of the traffic surveillance program is a steady drop in revenue as drivers amend or mend their ways. Some jurisdictions in the near future may have to rethink their investment in the program as revenue fall short of their expense to deploy.
Red-light cameras focus on finances;, The Baltimore Sun, April 2, 2004
This is a little reminder about an old saying that warns against taking something for nothing, that would also have been a great �April Fool�s� joke if it had not been true. On April 1, Google announced that it wants to give away e-mail accounts for the chance to market to customers based on their personal e-communications. The new service dubbed Gmail has gone to about 1,000 handpicked Google users. Having anyone read your mail is bad enough, but having him or her try to sell you things based on what they learn is something else all together.
Google launches test of e-mail, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 2, 2004 Friday
Children born in the last decade of the 20th Century may be the first generation in our nation to learn to accept living in a surveillance society as being the norm. When children attending Graystone Academy Charter School are told that they had �better watch out� and that they had �better be good�, because their parents might be watching they can look at the video camera installed in every classroom and believe that the warnings are true. As these children mature and take on adult responsibilities within society will they really understand what privacy once meant to their parents and grandparents?
In many area schools, the cameras are always on, Inquirer. April 02, 2004
A US survey found that 60% of adults would support Federal government access to private databases with personal information on citizens if it would help to prevent terrorism. However, 72% of those responding to the survey stated their distrust of government�s ability to properly manage access to personal information. People are willing to exchange something of value for something of value, but in this exchange what is advertised may not be what is received.
Most Say They Are Less Safe Since 9/11, Washington Post, April 1, 2004
A Utah Judge refused JetBlue�s request to dismiss a class action law suit that charges that the privacy of more than 1 million passengers' were violated by the airline. JetBlue admitted that in September 2002 it gave passenger data to Torch Concepts of Huntsville, Ala., after being told the information would be analyzed to help protect military bases from terrorist attack. The lawsuit charges that the airline violated its own privacy policy in sharing the information, which it now says was never used and eventually destroyed.
Utah court won't dump JetBlue privacy lawsuit, The Salt Lake Tribune, March 24, 2004
Dozens of trucking carriers have joined the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in devising an identification system that uses biometrics and smartcard technology to screen and track cargo while in transit. Teams have been installing and testing the system for the past six months. There are twelve months left before the the test phase of the system ends.
Biometric test for hazmat drivers near complete, Today�s Trucking, March 1, 2004
The terror attacks in Madrid, Spain that killed nearly 200 passengers on commuter trains has resulted in discussions to create a Europe-wide database of criminal records to screen for terrorist. The US and EU member nations have clashed repeatedly over American demands for access to the personal information of Europeans traveling to this country, which they say would only be used in passenger screening and terrorist profiling systems. In the past, some EU member nations and US administration officials have differed in their approach to the privacy rights of travelers and what is or is not necessary access to personal information for law enforcement and security purposes.
EU proposes terrorist database following Madrid bombings, USA Today, March 19, 2004
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