Category: U.S.

The U.S. Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 due for overhaul thinks Microsoft

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8 April 2010

20:38

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Legislation, Privacy of communications, U.S.

Interesting development concerning the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, again following on from one of Jack’s twitters 🙂

Big companies such as Microsoft and AT&T and advocacy groups from different parts of the political spectrum have joined forces in the newly formed Digital Due Process coalition intent on strengthening online privacy and to lobby the government on this. Other members include the left-leaning Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union as well as the libertarian Progress and Freedom Foundation and Competitive Enterprise Institute.

U.S. privacy laws in a cloud

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8 April 2010

09:30

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Information Privacy, U.S.

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Jack’s been twittering a lot about cloud computing and privacy laws that are lacking in the U.S. InfoWorld report that:

    “The fact of the matter is that the United States has not updated its privacy laws since 1986. With the rapid rise of cloud computing and the fact that more and more sensitive data will be stored off-premise, many believe it’s high time to revisit those rules to accommodate today’s reality.”

Well it’s good to know that the U.S. has some privacy laws 😉
Joking aside, they do have sectoral laws, and vertical specific, such as for healthcare and finance for example, but their privacy laws are in no way as far reaching as those enacted in the E.U. member states that gives the data subject rights to know ‘what is being stored on them, what it’s being used for’ along with the right ‘to contest integrity of personal data stored on them’. As the article states the U.S. has some way to go in updating their privacy laws!

Controlscan tarnishes integrity on the use of privacy seals

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28 February 2010

13:31

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Information Privacy, U.S.

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I have made a few posts about privacy seals on this blog, however their integrity is being tarnished by Controlscan that certified the privacy and security of online retailers and other Web sites but has been accused of misleading consumers about how often it monitored the sites and the steps it took to verify their privacy and security practices. The settlements will bar future misrepresentations. The founder and former Chief Executive Officer has entered into a separate settlement that requires him to give up $102,000 in ill-gotten gains. Read more at the Federal Trade Commission’s web site for US consumers.

Beware of school authorities bearing gifts ;-)

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19 February 2010

10:18

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Children, Territorial Privacy, U.S.

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Picked up from Jack’s tweets….

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins’s child was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home” and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

This is scandel.. read more at boingboing.

U.S. House overwhelmingly passes cybersecurity research bill

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4 February 2010

22:23

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Cybercrime, Information Security, Legislation, U.S.

The Cyber Security Research and Development Act of 2009, which passed by a vote of 422 to 5, authorizes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a cybersecurity education program that can help consumers, businesses, and government workers keep their computers secure.

“This bill will help improve the security of cyberspace by ensuring federal investments in cybersecurity are better focused, more effective, and that research into innovative, transformative security technologies is fully supported,” said Symantec CTO Mark Bregman. “HR 4061 represents a major step forward towards defining a clear research agenda that is necessary to stimulate investment in both the private and academic worlds, resulting in the creation of jobs in a badly understaffed industry.”

Article here

Privacy guidelines

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1 February 2010

10:16

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Canada, Information Privacy, U.K., U.S.

A revised version of the Generally Accepted Privacy Principles published by AICPA and Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) in August 2009 and are worth a read. You will find some similarities with those published by the The Chartered Institute of IT Personal Data Guidelines on this side of the Atlantic ocean 😉 Andrea Simmons writes a little about this on her blog.

Apple launch free background check app on iPhone

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25 January 2010

14:27

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Information Privacy, Sweden, U.S.

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A new app from BeenVerified is enabling users to conduct background checks on anyone in a matter of seconds from their iPhone. I believe that this is just in the US. The Background Check App is free and employers and individuals can use it to conduct up to three free background checks per week via the iPhone. Users, particularly employers who may want to conduct checks of employees, vendors, suppliers, partners, and other parties they do business with, can also subscribe to the BeenVerified service which would grant them unlimited background checks starting at only $8 per month.

Apparently “A BeenVerified background check contains information collected from thousands of public records and publicly available data where the average person would not even know where to begin. All of the information found in our reports is already out there and accessible to anyone.” claims Levy, BeenVerified CEO. Read more at PCWorld.