--------------------------------------------------------------- EPIC DIGEST AT PRIVACY.ORG EPIC-DIGEST is a weekly update of news, information, and action items posted on privacy.org. February 20-27, 2001 TOC------------------------------------------------------------ NEWS Judges to Conduct Hearing on Electronic Public Access to Court Documents Sen. Nelson Signs Privacy Pledge MD Legislature Considers Online Privacy Bill IBM Ends Plan to Implement CPRM N2H2 Ends Data Selling Plan Judicial Conference to Conduct Privacy Hearing Bush Administration Delays Medical Privacy Regulations ACLU, EFF Defend Online Anonymity ACTION Support the Privacy Coalition's Privacy Pledge NEWS----------------------------------------------------------- Judges to Conduct Hearing on Electronic Public Access to Court Documents A subcommittee of the Judicial Conference of the United States will hold a panel hearing next month to evaluate the privacy and security issues involved with electronic public access to court documents. Public Hearing Over Online Court Documents Planned, Newsbytes, February 20, 2001. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/162183.html --------------------------------------------------------------- Sen. Nelson Signs Privacy Pledge Senator Nelson (D-FL) has signed the Privacy Coalition's Privacy Pledge. The Senator also announced the introduction of two bills to promote privacy. The first would require customer consent before a business could share financial or medical information. The second establishes criminal penalties for those who steal or misuse Social Security numbers. The Privacy Pledge. http://www.privacypledge.org/ Keep personal data private, Vero Beach Press Journal, February 20, 2001. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/verobeach/20v311.shtml --------------------------------------------------------------- MD Legislature Considers Online Privacy Bill Legislators in Maryland are debating the merits of a new online privacy bill that offers notice and opt-in consent for consumers. Despite widespread public support for such a measure, banking, retailing, health, telecommunications, and software lobbyists attempted to kill the legislation. House leaders back bill to protect online privacy Industry lobbyists strive to weaken it, Baltimore Sun, February 22, 2001. http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/balbz.privacy22feb22.story? coll=bal%2Dbusiness%2Dheadlines --------------------------------------------------------------- IBM Ends Plan to Implement CPRM IBM has withdrawn its proposal to digitally mark content with Content Protection for Removable Media (CPRM) technology. IBM pulls digital tagging plan, CNET, February 22, 2001. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-201-4922288-0.html?tag=mn_hd --------------------------------------------------------------- N2H2 Ends Data Selling Plan N2H2, a company that collects data on children through the use of Internet content filtering software, has announced that it will discontinue the practice of selling reports on children's Internet browsing habits. EPIC had filed a series of FOIA requests to determine what information N2H2 was collecting from children and selling to the Department of Defense. Internet Co. Drops Data - Selling Plan, New York Times, February 22, 2001 (registration required). http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Kids-Privacy.html?printpage=yes EPIC FOIA letter to DoD, EPIC Web Site. http://www.epic.org/open_gov/dodfoian2h2.html --------------------------------------------------------------- Judicial Conference to Conduct Privacy Hearing The Judicial Conference of the United States, the body that sets policy for the federal courts, will hold a hearing on public access to electronic court files this week. The body will consider the privacy implications of creating a nationwide standard for publishing case files electronically. Courts Face Privacy Conundrum, Wired, February 26, 2001 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41967,00.html EPIC Comments on Public Access to Electronic Case Files, EPIC web site. http://www.epic.org/open_gov/ecfcomments.html Judicial Privacy Policy Comment Page. http://www.privacy.uscourts.gov/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Bush Administration Delays Medical Privacy Regulations The Bush Administration, at the request of health care lobbyists, has delayed the implementation of medical privacy regulations adopted in the last days of the Clinton presidency. The rules would have required medical service providers to gain consent before accessing patients' records. Bush delays medical privacy rules, MSNBC (Reuters), February 26, 2001. http://www.msnbc.com/news/536107.asp --------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU, EFF Defend Online Anonymity The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have taken legal action to defend the anonymity of persons who posted to Internet bulletin boards. The groups wish to heighten the legal standard that must be met before a court can force Internet service providers to reveal the identities of anonymous posters. ACLU Defends Internet Anonymity, Newsbytes, February 26, 2001. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/162428.html ACTION--------------------------------------------------------- Support the Privacy Coalition's Privacy Pledge The Privacy Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition of consumer, civil liberties, educational, library, labor, and family-based groups unveiled the Privacy Pledge last week. The Pledge calls upon legislators to promulgate laws that effectively protection personal privacy. The Privacy Pledge http://www.privacypledge.org/ --------------------------------------------------------------- Privacy.org is a joint project of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (http://www.epic.org) and Privacy International (http://www.privacyinternational.org). For more information, e-mail Chris Hoofnagle at digest-editor@privacy.org. --------------------------------------------------------------- How to unsubscribe from EPIC-DIGEST: You can leave the EPIC-DIGEST by entering the subscription e-mail address at http://www.privacy.org/digest.php and selecting "unsubscribe." Or, you can send a blank e-mail message to EPIC-DIGEST@lists.epic.org from the subscribed address with the following text in the subject line: unsubscribe If you experience difficulty with subscription issues, send a message to digest-editor@privacy.org. --------------------------------------------------------------- EPIC-DIGEST Privacy Policy: http://www.privacy.org/privacy.php --------------------------------------------------------------- END EPIC-DIGEST