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Privacy - page 3

Cybersecurity/International

Commerce Dept. Recommends Public-Private Partnership on Cybersecurity

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 - The Department of Commerce released its Cybersecurity, Innovation and the Internet Economy green paper on Wednesday, advising cooperation between the government and private sector to implement ways to address cybersecurity issues. The Internet Policy Taskforce, a department-wide group created in April 2010, wrote the green paper with the goal of addressing the pressing issues surrounding cyber security. Keep Reading

Congress/Cybersecurity/Senate

Leahy Introduces Data Security Bill

WASHINGTON June 8, 2011 - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, re-introduced a bill Tuesday that would establish a national standard for the notification to consumers by corporations when data breaches occur. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) cosponsored the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act, a reiteration of bills by the same name that have failed in each of the three previous Congresses. Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Cybersecurity/International

U.N. Special Rapporteur: Internet Censorship Violation of Basic Human Rights

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2011 – The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, presented his report on freedom of expression and the Internet to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday, concluding that Internet access is a basic human right. In what was hailed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a ‘landmark report,’ La Rue’s report also declared that disconnecting individuals from the Internet goes against international law. Keep Reading

Congress/Cybersecurity/House of Representatives

Bono Mack: Sony Data Breach Is Cybersecurity ‘Ground Zero’

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2011 – The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade met on Thursday to learn the lessons from recent large-scale customer data breaches at Sony and Epsilon. The hearing examined the risks of the unprecedented data breaches, which Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Chair of the subcommittee, called a ‘ground zero’ for cyber attacks. Other members of the subcommittee also assessed current investigation efforts by those companies, and gathered input and support to craft new data breach legislation. Keep Reading

Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks May Also Be Acts of War

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 - Cyberwar is war and the United States will treat it as such, reported The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," said an unnamed military official. Keep Reading

Congress/Cybersecurity/House of Representatives/Privacy

House Subcommittee Weighs Consequences of New Obama Cybersecurity Proposal

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2011 - House Subcommittee members received answers long on ideas but short on specifics when they probed Obama administration officials during a hearing Wednesday on the President's cybersecurity review. The House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet explored the ramifications of the Obama administration’s Cyberspace Policy Review in an oversight hearing that featured two witness panels representing federal and private interests. Keep Reading

Cybersecurity/FCC

Chertoff, Genachowski Join FCC Cybersecurity Roundtable

WASHINGTON May 17, 2011- As part of National Small Business Week, the Federal Communications Commission assembled leading experts for a cybersecurity roundtable discussion on Monday and unveiled a set of new partnerships aimed at educating the public. “A recent Symantec study found that American small businesses lose billions annually to cyber-attacks, and 74 percent of small and medium businesses reported being affected by cyber-attacks in the past 12 months,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The average cost of each cyber-attack to small and medium sized businesses is nearly $200,000.” Keep Reading

Congress/House of Representatives/Privacy/Wireless

Barton, Markey Release Draft of ‘Do Not Track’ Bill for Kids

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2011 - Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MD) released a discussion draft of to-be-introduced legislation that would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to reflect changes in current technology. The Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011 would make several changes to the existing law, which dates back to 1998. Since then, says Rep. Barton, the Internet landscape has changed dramatically. Keep Reading

Cybersecurity

University of Washington Wins National Cyber Defense Challenge

WASHINGTON, Monday, April 18, 2011 ­– The University of Washington’s Computer Science and Engineering Cyber Defense Team won first place in the 5th annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Challenge (NCCDC), with Texas A&M following in second place and the University of Louisville in third. The three-day challenge was held April 16-18th at the Hilton San Antonio Hotel. The competition was created in 2005 to spur regular cyber security exercises amongst post-secondary level students. The contestants are made up of winning teams from each regional challenge, with nine teams competing in this year’s challenge. Keep Reading

People/Privacy

TechFreedom Aims To Fill Privacy Niche

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2011 - In a town where there are as many opinions as there are issues, TechFreedom, a new think tank, aims to provide a non-partisan approach to privacy issues from a free market, libertarian stance. The core focus of TechFreedom approaches privacy issues from two vantage points. One is to seek better protection from law enforcement intrusion, as seen in its efforts to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Second is in facilitating the least invasive government regulation of how the private sector uses data. Keep Reading

Congress/House of Representatives/Privacy/Wireless

Barton, Markey to Wireless Carriers: ‘Do You Track Customers’ Location Info?’

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2011 - Reps. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX), Co-Chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus sent letters Tuesday to Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T asking the wireless companies to disclose how the firms collect and stored user location data. The letters to all four major wireless carriers were sent response to a recent story in the New York Times, which reported that the German mobile provider Deutsche Telekom tracked the locations of German politicians. Keep Reading

Congress/Privacy

Reps. Barton, Markey Keep Watchful Eye On Facebook Privacy Settings

WASHINGTON, February 28, 2011 – Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Edward Markey (D-MA), Co-Chairmen of the House Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, shared Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s response to a letter they wrote to him on February 2, 2011, questioning a particular privacy feature on Facebook that would potentially share mobile numbers and home addresses with websites and third party-applications. Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Cybersecurity/Education/FCC/Health/Net Neutrality/Public Safety/Universal Service

Rockefeller to Focus on Fraud, Cybersecurity

WASHINGTON, January 24, 2011 - The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), released his legislative agenda for the upcoming year on Friday. The senator plans to prioritize three broad areas: economic security and growth, proactive homeland security and consumer protection. “In the new Congress,” said Rockefeller… Keep Reading

FCC/Transparency/Wireless

FCC Offers Online Tool to Search Licenses

WASHINGTON, September 14, 2010 – The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday unveiled a tool allowing anyone to view licenses overseen by the agency. A quick tour of www.fcc.gov/licenseview, shows that there are about 3 million total managed licenses, of which about 2 million are active. Keep Reading

Broadband Updates/FCC/Mobile Broadband/National Broadband Plan/Net Neutrality/Transparency

FCC Seeks Input on How to Treat Specialized Services, Mobile Broadband

WASHINGTON, September 1, 2010 - Sometimes, no matter what you do, things are complicated and you can’t please every one all the time. Welcome to the world of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski who said Wednesday that his agency is seeking more public input on issues related to specialized services and mobile broadband. While he didn’t specifically refer to the recent controversial policy pact made by Google and Verizon regarding managed services and wireless issues, he was presumably reacting to it. Keep Reading

International/Privacy/Wireless

RIM Agrees to Give India Access to Networks

WASHINGTON, August 19, 2010 - India is the latest nation to require Research in Motion to provide a government with access to the traffic across the RIM network. The nation gave the Canadian phone maker until the end of the month to comply with a request for access to its network. RIM has acquiesced and beginning Sept. 1 will give India access to the BlackBerry messenger service. Keep Reading

Broadband Updates/Broadband's Impact/Cybersecurity/International/Mobile Broadband

UAE Retreats from BlackBerry Ban, Germany Steps Forward With Concerns

The Saudi government has decided to back down from its threat to shutter the BlackBerry corporate messenger service in the United Arab Emirates, saying it is making progress in talks with device maker Research in Motion. Meanwhile, Germany's interior minister told a German newspaper that the German government is recommending banning the use of the BlackBerry and iPhone because of increased attacks on Germany networks. Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact/Net Neutrality/Transparency

Public Interest Groups Bemoan Reported Google, Verizon Secret Network Neutrality Pact

WASHINGTON, August 5, 2010 - It has been reported that Google and Verizon are working on a secret pact about network neutrality. The New York Times says this pact will give Google products preferential treatment on the Verizon network. However both firms are claiming this is untrue. Public interest organizations however bemoan the entire concept of a secret pact. Keep Reading

Broadband Updates/Broadband's Impact/Cybersecurity/Mobile Broadband/Wireless

UAE BlackBerry Ban Highlights State Threat to Broadband Freedom

LONDON, August 4, 2010 - The plan announced this week by the United Arab Emirates to ban use of BlackBerry Messenger, e-mail and web browsing services by Oct. 11 unless the company allows it to access the encrypted messages on demand has drawn universal condemnation from freedom and privacy groups, but more a muted governmental response. Keep Reading

Cybersecurity

United States Woefully Lacking a Cohesive Cyberspace Strategy, Says GAO

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2010 – Federal agencies have not provided top-level leadership for the United States on cybersecurity issues, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Additionally, the United States possesses no “clear vision” of how cybersecurity impacts national goals. Rather, the nation has engaged in an ad hoc selection of cybersecurity measures. Keep Reading

Privacy

Facebook, Google, and Apple Ease Privacy Concerns of Senators

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation are worried about unclear consumer online privacy policies and the negative effects of targeted advertising. Representatives from Apple, Facebook, Google, The Cato Institute, AT&T, and the Annenberg School for Communication overviewed their current privacy policies and tools, and outlined the future of their privacy controls. Keep Reading

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Conference Considers Challenges; Debates Need for New Solutions

WASHINGTON July 28, 2010 –Speaking at a conference on cybersecurity hosted by the Department of Commerce yesterday, one expert argued that when it comes to cybersecurity threats, “we don’t need a new strategy.” The speaker, Philip Reitinger of the Department for Homeland Security, made the observation in the introduction to his remarks on how combating cybersecurity might be accomplished in the current climate. Keep Reading

Europe/International/Privacy

Sweden’s Pirate Party to Launch ISP with Privacy Focus

WASHINGTON July 21, 2010- Sweden’s Pirate Party is planning to launch its own ISP which will be maintained by users. Subscribers will be responsible for fixing network issues and helping their fellow customers with technical support. The ISP will also not maintain any logs of usage. Users will access the ISP via an anonymous virtual private network service, iPredator, which famously manages The Pirate Bay. Keep Reading

Mobile Broadband/Privacy

Is Apple Big Brother?

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2010 – Buried within a 40 page privacy policy Apple says that it will share location data with its partners. “Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device.” With increased concern by consumers about the collection and use of location data and other personal data being shared with advertisers Reps. Edward Markey and Joe Barton sent Apple CEO Steve Jobs a letter requesting information on the policy and services. Keep Reading

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