Privacy

Two new federal proposals that Republican supporters claim will protect children have alarmed Internet companies, who say the measures could make it a crime to provide e-mail.

The bills, each named the Internet Safety Act and announced at a press conference on Thursday, have mostly attracted attention for a sweeping requirement saying broadband providers and Wi-Fi access points must keep records on users for two years.

Another section of the legislation, however, is numbered 1960B. It says anyone employed at a provider who "knowingly engages in any conduct the provider knows or has reason to believe facilitates access to, … Read more

If a new federal proposal announced this week requiring Internet providers and Wi-Fi access points to keep records on users for two years becomes law, police would not be the only ones to benefit.

So would individuals and companies bringing civil lawsuits, including the Recording Industry Association of America and other large copyright holders, many of which have lobbied for similar data retention laws in other countries.

When filing lawsuits over suspected online piracy, lawyers for the RIAA and other plaintiffs typically have an Internet Protocol address they hope to link with someone's identity. But if the network operator … Read more

Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.

The legislation, which echoes a measure proposed by one of their Democratic colleagues three years ago, would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates.

"While the Internet has generated many positive changes in the way we communicate … Read more

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Thursday she is appointing attorney Mary Ellen Callahan as the department's chief privacy officer.

"Homeland security and privacy are not mutually exclusive, and having a seasoned professional like Mary Ellen on the team further ensures that privacy is built in to everything we do," Napolitano said. "Our Privacy Office is viewed as a leader in the federal government in public outreach and as model for Privacy Impact Assessments. I look forward to the skill and experience Mary Ellen will bring to this robust and important office." … Read more

When the mainstream media first announced Barack Obama's "victory" in keeping his BlackBerry, the focus was on the security of the device, and keeping the U.S. president's e-mail communications private from spies and hackers.

The news coverage and analysis by armchair security experts thus far has failed to focus on the real threat: attacks against President Obama's location privacy, and the potential physical security risks that come with someone knowing the president's real-time physical location.

Serial numbers Before we dive in, let's take a moment to note that each mobile phone has … Read more

commentary The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved an $838 billion "stimulus" bill by a 61-37 vote, capping more than a week of political sparring between critics of the measure and President Obama, who claimed during a press conference that an "economic emergency" made it necessary.

What didn't come up during the president's first press conference was how one section of the convoluted legislation--it's approximately 800 pages total--is intended to radically reshape the nation's medical system by having the government establish computerized medical records that would follow each American from birth to … Read more

Police Blotter is a regular CNET News report on the intersection of technology and the law.

What: Defendants in Florida and Virginia, each arrested after being stopped for speeding, claim warrantless searches of their handheld devices violates the Fourth Amendment.

Outcome: One federal judge rejects the warrantless search as illegal, while a federal appeals court upholds it as perfectly OK.

What happened, according to court documents and other sources: Anyone who relies on a handheld device for e-mail, Web browsing, note, and scheduling knows how well it knows them. Modern gadgets contain enough data about us to raise alarms about … Read more

Ever wonder just how anonymous your online searches from a public library were? Ask Richard Leon Goyette, arrested Tuesday on federal charges involving 64 threatening letters with white powder and one bomb threat that were mailed October 17.

Goyette, 47, was arrested in an Albuquerque, N.M., airport after an investigation that involved the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service regarding the case. The letters, sent to JP Morgan Chase offices, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) from Amarillo, Texas, contained unidentified white powder and a threat that the person breathing it … Read more

A criminal trial starting Tuesday that could mean jail time for three Google employees and the company's former chief financial officer was postponed until Feb. 18, Google said Tuesday.

Tracey Bentley, who's monitoring the trial for the International Association for Privacy Professionals, also reported that the municipality of Milan has added a new charge against the company itself. Bentley In addition, Bentley quoted a former Italian prosecutor as saying procedural delays are common in such cases.

The case involves a video of teenager with Down syndrome being taunted by classmates in a Turin school that had been posted … Read more