Privacy

Obama's new BlackBerry: The NSA's secure PDA?

Bill Clinton sent only two e-mail messages as president and has yet to pick up the habit. George W. Bush ceased using e-mail in January 2001 but has said he's looking forward to e-mailing "my buddies" after leaving Washington, D.C.

Barack Obama, though, is a serious e-mail addict. "I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry," he said in a recent interview with CNBC. "They're going to pry it out of my hands."

One reason to curb presidential BlackBerrying is the possibility of eavesdropping by hackers and other digital snoops. While Research … Read more

U.S. visitors required to register online

Starting Monday, travelers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, and a host of other countries will have to register online with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before they can travel into the United States.

As part of its efforts to use technology to improve border security, the DHS is mandating that travelers from any of the 35 countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program apply online for an Electronic System of Travel Authorization before boarding a plane to the U.S. Previously, visitors from those countries were only required to fill out the I-94W form on … Read more

Police Blotter: Handheld search during arrest legal?

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

What: Police claim they can legally copy data from the handheld devices of anyone who's arrested.

When: Two judges wrestle with concepts including privacy, the Fourth Amendment, and searches, and reach two different conclusions.

What happened, according to court records and other documents: Handheld gadgets and laptops seem to know us better than our spouses do. They know whom we talk to, which Web sites we visit, whose e-mail we ignore, and with a little extra smarts, they could probably offer an educated … Read more

Business groups sue over Homeland Security E-Verify program

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations filed suit against U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week, complaining that the Homeland Security Department cannot legally require federal contractors to use its online worker verification database.

Beginning January 15, 2009, the department will require certain federal contractors and subcontractors to use its E-Verify system, an online database run by the Homeland Security Department and the Social Security Administration against which employers can check a person's work status. Use of the system is voluntary, but President George Bush signed an executive order earlier this year requiring … Read more

Tech policy predictions for 2009

It's that time of year again: predictions for the next 12 months, most of which are likely to be wrong, and a few that, if right, will further cement Surveillance State's status as a top tier tech blog...maybe.

President Obama will break the heart of Net neutrality activists by picking pro-telecom industry people for the FCC. On the other hand, Obama will pick someone great for the position of privacy czar, and then castrate him/her by not giving the position any power. Comcast, AT&T and other ISPs will begin the mass deployment of monthly … Read more

Group seeks blinders on Google Street View in Japan

Citing privacy concerns, a group of Japanese lawyers and professors have asked Google to shut down its Street View feature of Google Maps in the country, according to a Reuters report.

"We strongly suspect that what Google has been doing deeply violates a basic right that humans have," said Yasuhiko Tajima, a professor of constitutional law at Sophia University in Tokyo and head of the Campaign Against Surveillance Society, in an interview with Reuters.

"It is necessary to warn society that an IT (information technology) giant is openly violating privacy rights, which are important rights that the … Read more

DHS wants green card holders' fingerprints

Millions of green card holders will be fingerprinted and photographed every time they enter the United States as part of an expansion of a controversial biometric program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday.

The expansion of the US-VISIT program to permanent residents--also known as green card holders--takes effect on January 18, 2009. At the moment, the program's biometric requirements apply to foreign citizens with a non-immigrant visa or those traveling as part of the so-called Visa Waiver program.

Anyone screened as part of the US-VISIT program must provide digital fingerprints and a photograph at the … Read more

New privacy guidelines for e-health records announced

The Department of Health and Human Services this week released new privacy guidelines (PDF) for electronic health records, the use of which President-elect Barack Obama has promised to support as part of his plan to jump-start the economy.

The use of electronic medical records could reduce costs and medical errors while potentially improving the quality of care patients receive, advocates say, but the level of new privacy standards needed for e-health records has been a matter of debate.

"Consumers need an easy-to-read, standard notice about how their personal health information is protected, confidence that those who misuse information will … Read more

Privacy groups ask Obama for stronger FTC

About a dozen leading privacy and consumer groups met with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Tuesday to discuss the Federal Trade Commission's role in protecting consumer privacy.

While participating organizations addressed a range of problems and potential solutions, the underlying message was clear: the FTC has for too long allowed industries to self-regulate their online privacy practices--to the detriment of consumers.

"The FTC keeps moving the goal post on what privacy advocates need to prove" before it provides substantive regulation, said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology's … Read more