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At least 45.7 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen by hackers who accessed the computer systems at the TJX Cos. at its headquarters in Framingham and in the United Kingdom over a period of several years, making it the biggest breach of personal data ever reported, according to security specialists.
Breach of data at TJX is called the biggest ever, Boston Globe, March 29, 2007.
A committee of the Internet's key oversight agency agreed Wednesday to form a new working group that would examine how to offer more privacy to small businesses and people with individual Web sites. At a meeting of the agency's Generic Names Supporting organisation Council, members opted to focus initially on a proposal known as operational point of contact.
New Group Created on Domain Name Privacy, Associated Press, March 29, 2007.
Footage from surveillance cameras must be made freely available to the public if Britain is to avoid becoming a Big Brother state, researchers warned yesterday. Under the proposals, networks of CCTV cameras would be turned into public webcams, allowing those under surveillance to see where cameras are directed, what images are recorded and who is viewing the footage. The recommendations, in a report called Dilemmas of Privacy and Surveillance, published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, come as the Home Office and police forces prepare to upgrade national CCTV networks amid concern that evidence from the cameras is often too poor in quality to use in criminal investigations.
Public webcams, not CCTV, urged to avoid Big Brother society, The Guardian, March 27, 2007.
Private businesses such as rental and mortgage companies and car dealers are checking the names of customers against a list of suspected terrorists and drug traffickers made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list. The Office of Foreign Asset Control's list of "specially designated nationals" has long been used by banks and other financial institutions to block financial transactions of drug dealers and other criminals. But an executive order issued by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has expanded the list and its consequences in unforeseen ways. Businesses have used it to screen applicants for home and car loans, apartments and even exercise equipment, according to interviews and a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area to be issued today.
Ordinary Customers Flagged as Terrorists, Washington Post, March 27, 2007.
FBI agents repeatedly provided inaccurate information to win secret court approval of surveillance warrants in terrorism and espionage cases, prompting officials to tighten controls on the way the bureau uses that powerful anti-terrorism tool, according to Justice Department and FBI officials. The errors were pervasive enough that the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, wrote the Justice Department in December 2005 to complain. She raised the possibility of requiring counterterrorism agents to swear in her courtroom that the information they were providing was accurate, a procedure that could have slowed such investigations drastically.
FBI Provided Inaccurate Data for Surveillance Warrants, Washington Post, March 27, 2007.
A growing number of police crime labs are adding DNA from suspects to databases that operate outside of state and federal law by matching those suspects to unrelated crimes. Proponents say the databases, which have solved more than 50 crimes, are legitimate because no laws forbid them. Defense lawyers and privacy advocates counter that the federal government and all 50 states require individuals to be convicted or in some cases indicted for a serious crime before their DNA can be added to the FBI's national criminal database. Searching a suspect's DNA, they argue, violates privacy rights.
Local DNA labs avoid state and U.S. limits, USA Today, March 26. 2007.
Each day, thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world -- field reports, captured documents, news from foreign allies and sometimes idle gossip -- arrive in a computer-filled office in McLean, where analysts feed them into the nation's central list of terrorists and terrorism suspects. Called TIDE, for Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the list is a storehouse for data about individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States. It is the wellspring for watch lists distributed to airlines, law enforcement, border posts and U.S. consulates. Ballooning from fewer than 100,000 files in 2003 to about 435,000, the growing database threatens to overwhelm the people who manage it.
Terror Database Has Quadrupled In Four Years, Washington Post, March 25, 2007.
For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews. But potential troublemakers were hardly the only ones to end up in the files. In hundreds of reports stamped �N.Y.P.D. Secret,� the Intelligence Division chronicled the views and plans of people who had no apparent intention of breaking the law, the records show.
City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention, New York Times, March 25, 2007.
High-security driver�s licenses aimed at letting U.S. citizens return from Canada without a passport could be adopted elsewhere if Washington state�s experiment works, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. The pilot project, signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire and formally approved by Chertoff on Friday, calls for Washington to begin issuing new �enhanced� driver�s licenses in January. They will look much like conventional driver�s licenses, but will be loaded with proof of citizenship and other information that can be easily scanned at the border.
Wash. to test �enhanced� licenses that would let residents travel passport-free to Canada, Associated Press, March 24, 2007.
A senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security official on Wednesday said he finds privacy concerns prompted by the proposed Real ID regime puzzling. Stewart Baker, the department's assistant secretary for policy, said a forthcoming system of uniform national identification cards will not put more personal information into the hands of motor vehicle administrators or result in a massive centralized database that's more susceptible to hackers. Privacy groups took issue with the agency's assertions.
Homeland Security dismisses Real ID privacy worries, CNet News.com, March 21, 2007.
A New Jersey state judge on Monday refused to dismiss an indictment against a couple accused of taking revealing pictures of girls and women at public events. The couple were charged under a 2004 invasion of privacy law aimed at people who used technology to secretly record personal images of others, such as with a hidden camera in a bathroom.
Judge upholds invasion of privacy indictment against couple, Associated Press, March 19, 2007.
FBI counterterrorism officials continued to use flawed procedures to obtain thousands of U.S. telephone records during a two-year period when bureau lawyers and managers were expressing escalating concerns about the practice, according to senior FBI and Justice Department officials and documents. FBI lawyers raised the concerns beginning in late October 2004 but did not closely scrutinize the practice until last year, FBI officials acknowledged. They also did not understand the scope of the problem until the Justice Department launched an investigation, FBI officials said.
Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On, Washington Post, March 18, 2007.
Millions of workers poring over brackets rather than spreadsheets. Office computers used for streaming the day's big game instead of reviewing the boss's latest memo. An estimated $1.2 billion lost in productivity across the country. That's where businesses like his come in, he said. Using software his company developed -- and has sold to two other companies -- he pulled up reports showing the names of every worker in his office, the Web sites they visited that day and total minutes they spent Web surfing. "Amazing, isn't it?" he asked. Scary is another word that comes to mind.
Technology Is Watching The Watchers, Washington Post, March 16, 2007.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday downplayed privacy concerns raised by the government's efforts to create standardized, data-chipped drivers licenses across the country. The same technology that makes information on identification cards more reliable can also protect privacy, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said during a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council. "It's my contention that properly used technology ... actually protects privacy," he said. "We should not allow folks to be captivated by the argument that every time we do something with a computer, it invades privacy."
Chertoff: Security and privacy not at odds, Computerworld, March 15, 2007.
A California judge on Wednesday dismissed charges against Patricia C. Dunn, the former chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard, in a corporate spying case that gained national attention and prompted Congressional hearings on the protection of personal telephone records.Judge Ray Cunningham of the Santa Clara County Superior Court also agreed to dismiss a reduced misdemeanor charge against three other defendants in the case once they each perform 96 hours of community service. Ms. Dunn and the three others had initially been charged with four felony counts for their participation in a cloak-and-dagger investigation inside H.P., the world�s largest computer company.
Charges Dismissed in Hewlett-Packard Spying Case, New York Times, March 15, 2007.
Google keeps logs of all searches, along with digital identifiers linking them to specific computers and Internet browsers. It said on Wednesday that it would start to make those logs anonymous after 18 to 24 months, making it much harder to connect search records to a person. Under current practices, the company keeps the logs intact indefinitely. �I think it is an absolute disaster for online privacy,� said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He said that 18 to 24 months was too long, and added that because of Google�s dominant position, it would most likely set a de facto standard for data retention.
Google Adds a Safeguard on Privacy for Searchers, New York Times, March 15, 2007.
Investigators said Wednesday there was not enough evidence to show that Yahoo Inc.'s Hong Kong branch provided private information that helped convict a Chinese reporter accused of leaking state secrets. The case raised questions about whether Internet companies should cooperate with governments that deny freedom of speech and frequently crack down on journalists.
Official: Yahoo didn't violate laws in case of jailed journalist, Associated Press, March 14, 2007.
The Transportation Security Administration carried out surprise inspections on workers at five airports in Florida and Puerto Rico on Monday, one week after a baggage handler in Orlando allegedly used his airport credentials to smuggle more than a dozen firearms into a commercial jetliner. Some 160 TSA officers, backed by Federal Air Marshals and local police, searched airplanes for contraband, shined flashlights in airport vehicles and patted down contractor employees involved in airport security. The five airports inspected were in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Airport security targets the inside threat, CNN, March 12, 2007.
Papers with sensitive information about Connecticut residents - Social Security numbers, medical records, names, phone numbers, addresses and bank records began blowing from an Ohio landfill onto nearby homeowner Harry Evans' yard months ago. At first he just picked up the litter - dozens of papers in all - and threw it away. But about a week ago, Evans says, he talked with his wife about the personal nature of some of the windblown papers and decided he'd had enough. He called the local media. Soon, newspaper and TV reporters descended on his home in Negley.
Our I.D., Their Trash, Hartford Courant, March 10, 2007.
Convenience stores that check ID by swiping driver's licences could be violating privacy law, Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips said Wednesday. The system called "We Expect ID," would see store clerks swipe licences through a lottery terminal to verify a customer's age when purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, adult magazines, lottery tickets or fireworks. The terminal will read age information from the magnetic stripe on the licence and display the person's age on the terminal.
Privacy swipe?, Toronto Sun, March 9, 2007.
Deputy prime minister Maud Olofsson has added a new twist to Sweden's divisive surveillance debate. The Centre Party leader claims that defence minister Mikael Odenberg's proposed legislation would merely codify practices that have already been in operation for decades. Previously, at a time when all telecommunications were state-operated, Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (F�rsvarets Radioanstalt - FRA) regularly tapped telephone lines in and out of the country, says Olofsson.
Olofsson claims Sweden has tapped phones 'for decades', The Local, March 9, 2007.
A Justice Department investigation has found pervasive errors in the FBI's use of its power to secretly demand telephone, e-mail and financial records in national security cases, officials with access to the report said yesterday. The inspector general's audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations -- some of which were potential violations of law -- in a sampling of 293 "national security letters." The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases.
Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests, Washington Post, March 9, 2007.
Two airline baggage handlers used their employee uniforms and airport identification cards to enter restricted areas, bypass screeners and carry a duffel bag containing 14 guns and drugs on a commercial flight from Florida, according to court documents released Wednesday.
Feds: Bag Of Guns Smuggled Onto Plane, Associated Press, March 8, 2007.
China is at the top of a list of countries blocking Internet access, and Russia and Venezuela have shown serious regression in several areas, mainly in centralizing power in the executive branch, according to State Department officials who released the department's annual human rights report yesterday. On Sudan, the report outlined evidence that genocide continues to ravage the western region of Darfur, and said the Khartoum government and its militias were responsible for it, despite violations of humanitarian law by all sides in that conflict.
State Dept. Human Rights Report Faults China's Curbs on Internet, Washington Post, March 7, 2007.
The Texas House of Representatives late Monday passed an emergency bill that essentially exempts courthouse clerks in Texas from state and federal Social Security number confidentiality laws. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Keffer, allows county and district clerks to disclose "in the ordinary course of business" Social Security numbers contained in public records maintained by their offices. It also holds that such disclosure is not "official misconduct and does not subject the clerk to civil or criminal liability" under the state's privacy laws. The measure also states that Social Security numbers should not be included in future public records filed with county governments. And it gives individuals the right to ask that their Social Security numbers be removed from existing public records.
Texas House exempts courthouse clerks from privacy laws, Computerworld, March 6, 2007.
California state health officials apologized Friday for a mail mix-up that exposed the identities of as many as 53 Californians infected with HIV. A clerk slipped letters containing names and addresses of patients in the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program into the wrong envelopes, causing them to be mailed Tuesday to the wrong patients, said Sandra Shewry, director of the California Department of Health Services. The program helps pay for expensive HIV/AIDS medications and serves about 30,000 Californians.
State scrambles over HIV privacy, San Jose Mercury News, March 3, 2007.
omeland Security officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years. The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes. Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits.
National ID Card Rules Unveiled, Wired News , March 1, 2007.
Hundreds of millions of Americans will have until 2013 to be outfitted with new digital ID cards, the Bush administration said on Thursday in a long-awaited announcement that reveals details of how the new identification plan will work. The announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers a five-year extension to the deadline for states to issue the ID cards, and proposes creating the equivalent of a national database that would include details on all 240 million licensed drivers. The draft regulations are unlikely to assuage privacy and cost concerns raised by state legislatures.
Homeland Security offers details on Real ID, CNet News.com, March 1, 2007.
Under pressure from lawmakers and governors, the Bush administration is planning to give states more time to adopt uniform driver's licenses. The Homeland Security Department was to issue new rules Thursday giving states that need it an extension past the May 2008 deadline that Congress established two years ago.
Deadline Extended on License Compliance, Associated Press, March 1, 2007.
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