Privacy News Archives

“Equipment inside the corporate datacenter isn't going away anytime soon”

You can call it cloud computing . You can call it grid computing. You can call it on-demand computing. via Infoworld

Canadian Tax Man To Monitor eBay Incomes by Staff Canada's Federal Court of Appeal has ordered the online auction operator eBay Canada to provide data to the tax man on how much people are earning in sales. via The Post Chronicle

You have probably heard about problems with identity theft at big companies and credit card firms, there is also a chance that some of the problems may originate with the state in which you live. via WAVY-TV Portsmouth

“I find that pretty tough to swallow. If a president decides to deploy military troops somewhere, it's these troops that are going to go.”

Yet when it comes to voting, most troops are stuck in the past. Communities in 13 states, including North Dakota, will send overseas troops presidential election ballots by e-mail this year, and districts in at ... via WDAY

The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a former Mississippi Air National Guard officer who alleged the military violated his privacy rights by releasing a report on a wide-ranging probe of corruption ... via The Mississippi Press

Armored vehicles recently roared onto the private property of a seemingly peaceful religious community. via Statesman Journal

“Information must be made available in formats that provide solutions to real business problems like regulatory compliance and data security”

Meeting regulatory demands is tough -- and doing so in a cost-efficient manner is even tougher. via E-Commerce Times

Whenever the state announced that some residents' Social Security numbers had been exposed on a form or mailing, we wondered why the state even needed to use residents' Social Security numbers. via Marshfield News-Herald

“This is a significant step forward for cancer control in Queensland”

The fight against cancer in Queensland is set to benefit after the Cancer Council Queensland and the state government ended a dispute over access to case records. via The Sydney Morning Herald

“The FBI would be more comfortable with congressional authorization to conduct familial searches”

In the end, it was a DNA sample that tied BTK to his crimes. Not his own DNA. But his daughter's. Investigators obtained a court order without the daughter's knowledge for a Pap smear specimen she had given ... via SF Gate

“The personnel that fight our wars, the people who are most affected by the decisions on the use of the military, are being systematically denied the right to vote”

U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan can speak to their families by Web camera and fight insurgents using sophisticated electronic warfare. via Hugh Hewitt

“Before, it was like buying a car and having to buy the brakes separately. We've truly passed a tipping point.”

Martin Veitch Despite the escalating levels and sophistication of cyber crime, survey finds that harm to brand is the most unwelcome prospect for security bosses Reputational damage is top of mind for ... via Computer Crime Research Center

“The health care industry seems to be lagging behind other industries”

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail Article Date: 25 Apr 2008 AP/Long Island Newsday on Tuesday examined how although U.S. patients increasingly "want the ... via MediLexicon

“California will help local law enforcement catch violent criminals by providing, under special circumstances, the identity of a person in the DNA database who is the close relative of a suspect”

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a new DNA search policy that will improve the ability of local law enforcement to investigate unsolved violent crimes by providing new ... via Office of the California Attorney Gen...

“The judgment is a reasonable compromise between law enforcement aspirations to search indiscriminately, and the right to privacy. Now they need reasonable suspicion - not a trumped-up profile or a pretext search based on speculation.”

Two spontaneous police dog searches that led to drug charges failed to pass the legal sniff test, the country's top court has ruled in a split judgment that reaffirms privacy rights. via MyTELUS

“The problem is, the person in therapy may not want that information revealed to spouses, parents or children and that obviously is the confidentiality that has to be respected”

- It's a struggle experts say is an ongoing and familiar one for counsellors: balancing between respecting obligations of privacy, confidentiality and trust with the patient while recognizing the frustration of families concerned for their child's welfare.

The issue came to the fore this week as the parents of late Carleton University student Nadia Kajouji blamed the institution for failing to do enough to inform them of the 18-year-old's depression or prevent her suicide.

Suzanne Blanchard, Carleton's vice-president of student services, said counsellors were bound by confidentiality law from telling Kajouji's parents details of her depression, and that students won't trust counsellors if they start telling parents of their problems. Read more

“Membership of trade union or one's sexual preferences have no place in a police file in a democracy”

Featured IT Quiz France to 'suspend' test of controversial police database Database being tested would include personal habits and affiliations of people for data mining By: Peter Sayer IDG News Service A ... via ITWorld Canada

China Mobile Limited, SOFTBANK and Vodafone have agreed to establish a Joint Innovation Lab to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. via Mobile Burn

THE DECISION: The New Jersey Supreme Court finds that the state constitution provides greater protection against illegal search and seizure than the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. via PhillyBurbs.com

Yesterday, I was a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, which airs on WAMU 88.5 radio , and had the chance to take part in an excellent discussion about the ins-and-outs of student online speech. via The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog

“We will pay particular attention to ensure any agreement is founded on the principles of reciprocity, respect of fundamental rights and individual freedoms, including data protection and the right to a private life”

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The European Commission pledged on Wednesday that any pact with the United States to allow visa-free transatlantic flights for all Europeans would respect privacy rights cherished in Europe.

Most old EU states are already part of the U.S. visa waiver program, which allows their citizens to travel without visas. However, Greece and 11 of the 12 mostly ex-communist countries that joined the bloc in 2004 and 2007 are not, and the EU has set a target of concluding pacts for all 27 states by October. Read more

“Someone at the school needs to know if a student has HIV as a precaution. Then they can direct students who may have been exposed to go to the hospital and get those drugs that reduce the chance of them getting HIV.”

The measure has already been approved by the Senate . Under current law, DHEC is required to disclose to school superintendents and nurses if any student is diagnosed as HIV-positive. The agency has been ... via Medical News

“Because current technology renders the user's identity anonymous to all except the ISP, users have reason to expect that their actions are confidential when they surf the Web from the privacy of their homes”

A recent ruling ensures that subscriber ISP records cannot be accessed without a proper grand jury subpoena. via Digital Trends

“The health care industry seems to be lagging behind other industries.”

Suzanne Kreuziger is a registered nurse who uses e-mail almost exclusively to communicate with friends. via WSLS

“We're bewildered as to why the information should not be available to our scientists.”

Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson has rejected claims cancer researchers are being refused access to the state's database on the disease. via The West Australian

“That proves it's me not you; How do I know you didn't steal that information?”

This month marks two years of "In Security." Over the past year, some of my more popular columns have dealt with data aggregation and theft , the limits of risk management , getting along with human resources ... via ComputerWorld

“We are interested in supporting companies and making investments in companies that [bolster] our mission statement, which is organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful”

Your DNA falls into the realm of "the world's information," and it seems that Google , as part of its corporate mission, is making a play to organize that, too. via BusinessWeek

“EHRs, Privacy & Security - What the NHS Can Learn from HIPAA”

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., BUSINESS WIRE -- Courion Corporation, the provisioning experts for results-driven operations, today announced it will be participating in two major European healthcare technology and identity ... via Digital Producer

“Only if you have a REAL ID card.”

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that most people haven't followed the debate on REAL ID. via The Post and Courier

“Now finally I have some power on my side, the power of the truth”

The Internet is becoming a powerful forum for the airing of lovers' grievances, and the trend, underscored by high-profile breakups around the world, is stoking debate about Internet privacy and legal issues. via PC World

“I don't know fully if this will work”

The efforts of e-commerce sites and online advertisers to educate U.S. consumers about privacy and targeted advertising aren't enough because many consumers won't take the time to understand the issues, privacy ... via Infoworld

“These things often are introduced very gingerly with all the protections, but over the years they're stripped away”

A new body scanner installed Thursday at Kennedy Airport allows security screeners to look beneath travelers' clothing for concealed weapons. via Newsday.com

“Right now there are over 60,000 police officers in this country looking for this individual who is a person of interest.”

The capture of triple-murder suspect Allan Schoenborn by a civilian resident of the B.C. interior town where his children were killed on April 6 brings a strange artistic flourish to yet another Canadian crime ... via Canada.com

An Arkansas nurse who pleaded guilty to violating a federal law to protect patient privacy faces up to 10 years in prison. via KATV Little Rock

The New Mexico Department of Health is screening 250 people for tuberculosis after a healthcare worker was diagnosed with the disease. via RedOrbit

“In very short order, a few large companies could hold larger patient databases than any clinical research center anywhere”

The New York Times points us to an article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , that raises some warnings about taking personal health records online, and entrusting them to third parties not ... via Medgadget

“Our alliance with Facebook included numerous levels of privacy protection built in for our online subscribers. ”

Freedom:- Did Facebook and Blockbuster violate a video privacy law when movie choices made by Facebook members were made available to others?" The question was asked by James Grimmelmann, associate professor at ... via P2pnet.net

Who owns your medical tests results and your personal health data? Such a vexing question cuts to the core of personal liberty and freedom of information. via Huliq.com

“This is just more of a fishing expedition”

Minnesota tax collectors want to enlist banks -- and their electronic records -- in their search for the assets of tax cheats.

The state Revenue Department is pushing a plan to collect an extra $10 million a year in outstanding taxes by making banks, credit unions, life insurance companies and money market mutual funds scan their records regularly and pass on data on tax debtors so the state can get its money.

The provision made it into Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget recommendations and budget bills in both houses of the Democrat-controlled Legislature -- much to the dismay of banks and consumer privacy watchdogs. Read more

“Google and other companies have deployed technologies far worse than anything Phorm could have ever dreamt up”

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN Thursday, April 17, 2008 As Phorm Inc. built a system that watches consumers' Web surfing in order to deliver targeted advertising, CEO Kent Ertugrul believed the British company was doing ... via WQXI-AM Atlanta

“Philosophically and politically, I am skeptical of the concept of paternalism”

In an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, two leading researchers warn that the entry of big companies like Microsoft and Google into the field of personal health records could drastically alter the ... via HendersonvilleNews.com

“We are prepared to sit down with our American friends and discuss on a strictly reciprocal basis what information may be needed to be shared to include our member states in the visa waiver system”

The European Union signalled today it could give the United States limited access to its police databases in a bid to resolve a long-running visa row with Washington. via The Irish Times

“Now innocent people's DNA will be put into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime”

Associated PressWASHINGTON -- The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency -- a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising ... via Thehour.com

“Now innocent people's DNA will be put into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime”

The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency -- a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of ... via WSVN-TV Miami Beach

Should benevolent advertisers have access to your pillbox? In a response to the FTC, the Network Advertising Initiative said behavioral ad targeting should not - and would not - take medical conditions into ... via MarketingVOX

“Where we have found noncompliance, we have been able to get systemic change that benefits all individuals.”

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail Also Included In: Public Health Article Date: 10 Apr 2008 The "recent revelation" that University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center employees looked at the private ... via MediLexicon

“I think that 'Don't Be Evil' is a very easy thing to point at when you see Google doing something that you personally don't like; it's a very easy thing to point out so it does get targeted a lot.”

As Google comes under ever increasing scrutiny for the power it has over our lives, the web giant is tiptoeing back from its long-held corporate motto, Don't Be Evil. via The Sydney Morning Herald

“We believe that any additional principles or guidelines should be issued only after the commission specifically identifies harms and concerns so that business is in a position to consider and address them”

Two consumer groups asked the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday to create a "do not track list" that would allow computer users to bar advertisers from collecting information about them. via WNED.org

“We still use paper a lot, but we focus so much on technology that we have a tendency to minimize paper”

Human resources departments typically have some of the biggest collections of sensitive data in any organization. via ComputerWorld

“It is important for school officials to use their best professional judgment in deciding when to disclose or not disclose information--without fear of violating federal educational privacy laws.”

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb said yesterday he would introduce legislation aimed at easing school officials' concerns over when it is appropriate to disclose student records. via Fredericksburg.com

“We actually make it pretty easy for people to submit a request to us to remove the imagery.”

So far, you can only see the major highways of Long Island at street level, but that may soon change as Google prepares to expand its popular 'Street View' feature, which allows users to find street-level ... via Newsday.com

“The information collected will be accessible only by the contractor, WSN Environmental Solutions, and council. Both parties are bound by council's privacy policy and the information will not be used for any purposes other than those stated above”

BIN BROTHER is watching you. When Randwick City Council began replacing its 78,000 residential garbage and recycling bins last month, a resident, Dan Himbrechts, scratched his head. via The Sydney Morning Herald

Last week, I wrote about the privacy concerns surrounding Phorm, an online advertising company who has teamed up with British ISPs to track user Web behavior from within their networks. via Privacy Digest

“They were told that their lawn, as it stood, before it was treated, was a lead danger to their children”

Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients.

Nine low-income families in Baltimore row houses agreed to let researchers till the sewage sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In exchange, they were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as part of a study published in 2005 and funded by the Housing and Urban Development Department. Read more

“What the rules were supposed to do was regulate one of the most common conversations we have: 'How are you?' ”

When Congress passed a federal medical privacy law more than a decade ago, it was hailed as a new level of protection for patients nationwide. via Portland's WB

“The cable industry's effort in this complaint to suppress communications would reduce consumer choice, and the bureau's recommendation to reject it is legally correct and good policy”

Federal regulators determined Friday that Verizon Communications Inc. did not violate consumer privacy laws when it tried to keep customers who wanted cancel Verizon and switch to cable providers for voice ... via MSN Money

“I think that most people would rather pay to access certain sites than have to deal with constant ads that remind us that what we do on the Internet is far from private”

In response to an FTC request for comments on privacy principles, Microsoft stated that the greater the risk to privacy, the greater the protection data should receive By Grant Gross and Nancy Gohring, IDG News ... via Infoworld

“The EU is way ahead of the US in terms of data retention and privacy”

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Search engines should not hold on to personal data at the end of six months due to privacy concerns, the European Commission's data protection watchdog has recommended in a report. via EUobserver.com

“I'm very pleased with the balance with the legitimate access to personal information that a physician may require and the protection of the sanctity of those records that is so important to the patient.”

- British Columbians will soon be able to use their computers to view their health records, Health Minister George Abbott said Thursday after introducing legislation governing access and privacy for electronic health information databases.

British Columbia became the first province in Canada to create a legislative framework with specific provisions to address access and protection of electronic health information.

The e-Health Personal Health and Information Access and Protection of Privacy Act could eventually create paperless medical offices, allowing physicians to store information about patients on their computers as opposed to the banks of individual file folders in most offices, Abbott said. Read more

“Therefore, after the end of a search session, personal data could be deleted and continued storage ... needs an adequate justification.”

A European Union privacy panel wants Internet search engine providers like Google and Yahoo to delete data taken from users after six months, even when they operate abroad. via Examiner.com

Six Michigan State University students have been suspended following what police characterized as a riot near campus last weekend, the school said Wednesday. via The Ledger

When FBI investigators probing New York prostitution rings, Boston organized crime or potential terrorist plots anywhere want access to a suspect's telephone contacts, technicians at a telecommunications ... via Concord Monitor

“It seems to me we are rushing headlong to protect these interests when people are casting them away”

The trial of a former television pitchman could be a precedent setting case in deciding the privacy rights of Internet subscribers who are the subject of a criminal investigation. via National Post

“The ALRC has conducted a comprehensive inquiry into the Act's effectiveness, and considered at length issues such as creating uniform private regulations along with reducing compliance burdens on business”

THE Rudd Government is ready to overhaul the 20-year-old Privacy Act and build a privacy regime to serve modern Australia, Special Minister of State John Faulkner has told a business breakfast marking the 1988 ... via News.com.au

“We believe that data retention requirements have to take into account the need to provide quality products and services for users, like accurate search results, as well as system security and integrity concerns”

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc on Monday defended a policy of retaining data on Web users for up to 18 months as necessary to improve search results, responding to an EU report that saw no need for search services to keep personal data beyond six months.

A group of data protection commissioners from across the European Union found that computer Web addresses and cookie monitoring are personal information that search services should do more to protect.

The long-anticipated set of recommendations for how European data protection laws should be applied to Web search services was published on Friday and can be found at http://tinyurl.com/5yukzm. Read more

“Our participation in the Citrix Ready program means our customers can now virtually create, deploy and manage their geospatial software solutions from a Citrix environment.”

In a move to provide its AutoCAD Map 3D customers with increased data privacy, lower cost deployment, and centralized software management, Autodesk, Inc. via GISCafe

In a move that seems destined to invite tension with major American search engines, a European Commission advisory body has suggested that those companies delete data collected about their users after six ... via CNET News.com

Consolidated medical information online could not only save lives but also create efficiencies. via TechNewsWorld

“Leslie Williams could go in and disappear for days at a time.”

The city's homeless shelters are emerging as a battleground in the conflict between personal privacy rights and the authority of city police to keep track of registered sex offenders.

Hartford police say that 10 percent of the state's 5,000 registered sex offenders make their homes in Hartford. Of that number - currently 502 - some 11 percent are staying in shelters.

One of those residents, Leslie Williams, was listed at the Stewart B. McKinney shelter on Huyshope Avenue when authorities say he broke into the home of a New Britain woman over the weekend, shot her and abducted and then killed her friend. Read more

A federal judge has ruled that Boston University can't turn over the names of students targeted in a suit over illegally downloading music. via WHDH

Congressman Joe Barton is one of 3,000 patients whose records may have been breached when a National Institutes of Health laptop computer was stolen from a vehicle in February. via WLOS

“We are happy to work with Google on a consumer privacy bill”

Changes are in store for newly merged Google and DoubleClick, following the March 11 approval of the merger. via DM News

“Maybe it's a sign from heaven that the time for this type of legislation has arrived”

If there's one person whose medical records you wouldn't want to lose track of, it's the co-chairman of the congressional caucus that focuses on protecting consumers' privacy. via The Boston Globe

“We haven't created a government office (for identity theft) like you have in European or other Western countries, like New Zealand or Canada”

For the millions of Americans that become victims of identity theft each year, restoring their credit and canceling their credit cards and bank accounts can be a daunting and overwhelming task. via WEWS

UCLA Medical Center officials say they investigated an employee for accessing Farrah Fawcett's medical records and took disciplinary action.

UCLA spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said Wednesday that Fawcett expressed a concern to one of her doctors and he reported it to the hospital's executive in charge of patient privacy last May.

The Los Angeles Times reports on its Web site that hospital officials fired an employee who reviewed Fawcett's records without authorization.

The UCLA spokeswoman would not confirm a firing and would not specify the disciplinary action. Read more

“It would be like the hitting the jackpot”

U.S. technology and other companies flooded the government on Tuesday with an estimated 200,000 visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers in what has become an annual lottery for just 65,000 visas. via Reuters

“Furthermore, Veriplace will allow Aepona's carrier partners to quickly and securely deploy new location applications with other LBS vendors while protecting the security and privacy of their users.”

WaveMarket's product suite now available to Aepona's global carrier customers BELFAST, United K