EPIC and a broad coalition of organizations sent a formal petition to the Department of Homeland Security to demand that the agency suspend the airport body scanner program. The petition states that the "uniquely intrusive search" is unreasonable and violates the Constitution. The petition further states the program fails to comply with several federal laws, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act , the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Administrative Procedures Act. The petitioners also argue that the machines are ineffective and that there are better, less costly security technology. The petitioners contend that the TSA has routinely misled the pubic about the ability of the devices to store and transmit detailed images of travelers' naked bodies. In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, EPIC has already obtained technical documents, vendor contracts, and hundreds of traveler complaints. EPIC is seeking additional documents. For more information, see EPIC: Whole Body Imaging Technology and EPIC: EPIC v. Department of Homeland Security.
Lower Merion School District became internationally known when it was disclosed that it deployed spyware to take images of student while using their school issued laptops. Images were taken of students while off school grounds, often went they were at home. The case is only just beginning, but it is already proving to be a very emotional and difficult process for both families and school officials. Privacy violations of this type have most often occurred in domestic abuse or predator cases. This is the first known court case to rise from an incident of a non-judicial decision by a domestic government institution to use this type of surveillance technology in this manner.
The Department of Justice changes its mind about pressuring Yahoo to deliver users' e-mails. The issue related to interpretation of the US Stored Communications Act and the authority of the Department of Justice to request that private information service providers deliver e-mails upon request. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology led the effort to block the DOJ's request to Yahoo.
Italian court finds Google employees guilty of violating privacy statutes because the company was attempting to profit from the video of an autistic child being mistreated by classmates. Ads displayed while viewers watched the video generated money for the company. This was the first case in which Google employees were found criminally responsible for content posted by a user. The judge in his ruling said that the Internet is not the wild west and not everything that could be done should be allowed.
Rome court finds Google employees guilty of violating privacy statutes for attempting to profit from the video of an autistic child being mistreated by classmates. Content generates ad revenue for the search engine giant. Viewers of the video meant any ads displayed generated money for the company. This was the first case in which Google employees were found criminally responsible for content posted by a user. The judge in his ruling said that the Internet is not the wild west and not everything that could be done should be allowed.
Shoppers love coupons to get money off of the items they need or may want to purchase. The Internet has made coupon hunting easier and more accessible for shoppers. However, online shoppers may not understand that Internet Coupons are very different from the ones provided by magazines or newspapers. Both types of coupons have bar-codes that contain information that make it easier for the retailer to redeem them, but there is a huge privacy difference with Internet coupons. The Internet coupon's bar-code can contain very specific information on the individual who printed it, such as identification about the customer, Internet address, Facebook page information, and search terms used to locate a particular coupon.
In an unusual public move, 10 nations including Germany, Canada and seven other nations made a collective statement about the their concerns regarding Google's Buzz social networking application. The newest of the social networking offerings made its entrance by executing more of a anti-privacy pratfall than a clever business move into a market heavily dominated by Facebook, no privacy angle either. Google is still trying to clean up the mess from the Buzz application's launch.
According to a study released by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania the declarations made by a some social networking service providers that privacy was dead seems to be extremely premature. Responses to the questions posed by researchers on social networking user attitudes make it clear that people relate the posting of personal information online with the sharing of a credit card in a physical transaction. Control of the information should always remain with the data subject, and under no circumstances should it be used without their expressed permission and effective notice to give or reject a request. One important point although young people are very familiar with digital technology they know very little about their right to privacy online.
The fight is over a 1986 law that allows government access to e-mail over 180 days old without probable cause. Federal prosecutors argue that they may gain access before 180 days if the target of the e-mail search has accessed the message. The 4th Amendment on the front line once again over stored e-communications held by a third party.
Senators Collins (R-ME), Kyl (R-AZ), and Chambliss (R-GA) encouraged Secretary Napolitano to consider "auto-detection" devices instead of human screeners to address privacy concerns. The technology available and fielded in Europe is much more advanced and addresses health and privacy concerns in its design and implementation. The dehumanizing experience of being digitally disrobed for inspection by another person is not performed. Instead computers perform the task of checking images of passengers for items that might pose a risk to air travel.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding key privacy safeguards for the PATRIOT Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act earlier in the year, which included many reforms, but the full Senate did not act on the measure Because the administration supported the reforms within the bill, Sen. Leahy advised the Attorney General that he can voluntarily adopt many of the reforms even without Congressional action. Senator Leahy expressed particular concern about the possible misuse of National Security Letter authority.
Terrorist and terrorism has dominated the nation speak for nearly a decade, but the call of historians, privacy advocates, civil libertarians, civil rights, and human rights experts has been transparency and oversight. Toward that end, Congress followed the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and created the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to keep a watchful eye on the use of surveillance authority by federal government agencies. The capacities and abilities of government to create a surveillance state was recognized by the establishment of laws to curtail the use of surveillance, limit data collection, retention, use, and sharing at the beginning of the computer information age. Managing the technology of surveillance and the policy that may drive its use will be the job of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
Bruce Schneier, an internationally recognized privacy and security expert, opinion piece for Forbe's Magazine upends the mantra from Google and Facebook that "privacy is dead." Actually if it were dead they would not be talking about it, but I digress. Schneier points out one important fact about privacy--we care about it based on our ability to control who has access to what information. The core value of privacy is not ownership, but control because the power relationship in a transaction would rarely be equal between consumer and service provider. Public debate is the best method for flushing out the policy and legal issues regarding The Right to Privacy.
Since the company sprang the new social networking application on unsuspecting Gmail users it has faced nothing but controversy as it attempts to undo the privacy damage. It has now posted a note to its blog site asking Gmail users to confirm their privacy settings on the Buzz application. The Buzz application automatically created followers among Gmail users based on their e-mail communications. EPIC filed a FTC complaint against Google for the Buzz application.
Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for privacy hearings on updating the Electronic Privacy Communications Act (EPCA). Earlier in the week a coalition of companies, organizations, and academics called for tougher standards to control government access to electronic communications held by private companies. A Department of Justice Inspector General report recounted serious breakdowns in FBI protocols in using "exigent letters" to gain access to telephone records.
Senator Calls For Privacy Hearings, By Antone Gonsalves, Information Week, April 1, 2010
