Big
Brother microphones could be next step (Telegraph
05-02-07) Lady Liberty says: In the past,
Great Britain has been ahead of this country in infringements of liberty,
but not by much. Cities like Chicago have already played with deploying
microphones, and she suspects more places in this countryh will soon
follow suit. She even read today that software permitting cameras
to read lips is under consideration! No amount of safety or security
is worth that level of intrusiveness no matter where you live. None.
May 1,
2007 UPDATE
Google
pushes U.S. states to open public records (AP via CNN
05-01-07) Lady Liberty says: She opposes
this project in large part because she opposes the release of some
government records — in part or in whole — as public.
Divorce decrees, health information, even some real estate papers
contain far too much private data about each of us. There are some
things the general public doesn't need to know; those are often the
same things that criminals collect and use against us.
April
30, 2007 UPDATE
Stars
and Stripes, Wrapped in the Same Old Blue (The
New York Times 04-30-07) Lady Liberty says:
The new passports sound real pretty. They also sound pretty problematic.
The State Depeartment can claim all day long that the RFID chip is
locked, but those of you who visit here often are well aware of the
"hackability" of such chips. She suspects that, sooner or
later (probably sooner), we'll not only face the dangers inherent
to being American in certain places in the world, but will also have
to deal with identity thieves here at home.
April
26, 2007 UPDATE
Changes
Urged for Student Privacy Law (AP via My
Way News 04-26-07) Lady Liberty says:
If a man or woman is over the age of 18, it seems to her that they're
an adult deserving of adult privacy rights. Maybe the best way to
go about this is for schools to seek written permission from incoming
students to inform parents of any medical conditions, but it's certainly
not right to simply overrule the wishes of an adult!
Banks
file data breach suit against TJX (CNETNews.com
04-25-07) Lady Liberty says: Good. Maybe
enough of a penalty will get it through the heads of those who collect
data that they're responsible for the safety of that data. And if
the penalties become even more onerous, she dares to dream that some
of these entities will start to rethink just how much data they need
to collect and save in the first place!
April
24, 2007 UPDATE
ID
Task Force Ideas Receive Cool Reception (The
Washington Post 04-23-07) Lady Liberty says:
If we really want to instituute real privacy protections, the government
is just about the last entity we should put in charge of it. The old
adage "fox guarding the henhouse" comes immediately to mind...
With
a zap or swipe of IDs, device helps nab scofflaws (USA Today via
Freedom's
Phoenix 04-23-07) Lady Liberty says:
All of the usual concerns for database integrity apply here, and then
some. After all, errors on this database consortium won't keep you
off a plane or cost you a few bucks. It could land you in jail!
April
23, 2007 UDPATE
Fed
Breach Leaks Social Security Numbers (AP via My
Way News 04-20-07) Lady Liberty says:
She believes that this kind of problem will only become more common
— and more damaging — as the federal government continues
to collect more and more information about us all. Of course private
information should be held close or redacted. And of course information
should be harder to breach. But she also believes that too much information
is being collected, collated, and centralized. That's the
ultimate danger we should be working to curb!
April
20, 2007 UPDATE
Google
draws privacy complaint to FTC (CNET
News 04-20-07) Lady Liberty says:
She agrees that the threat to privacy is much too large to let this
merger go through without additional discussion. Google has, in the
past, been the 'net's prime example of bad privacy policies (its gmail
policies involving the indefinite storage of e-mail) and good privacy
policies (its refusal to cooperate carte blance with the authorities
wanting data on surfers — although Google declined less for
privacy reasons than because it was worried proprietary algorithms
or other programming data might also be uncovered). Let's not allow
too many unprotected eggs in one basket, shall we?
Gov't
Straining to Secure Computer Systems Hackers Increasingly Gaining
Access to Networks, Congress Is Told (The
Washington Post 04-19-07) Lady Liberty says:
How many times does she have to say it? If it's connected to an outside
line it ain't secure. Period. The end. If the authorities
really want to ensure the safety of data, they need to do several
things. First, they need to network only in bursts and remain
disconnected otherwise. Second, encryption is cheap. Use
it. And here's something else that might make the scope of security
implementation a little more manageable: Stop collecting so damned
much data on each of us in the first place!
U.S.
House panel approves anti-spyware bill (Reuters via Yahoo!
News 04-19-07) Lady Liberty says:
That's just terrific, except for one really big and obvious problem:
The bad guys typically don't obey the law anyway. She supposes it's
nice that a law gives victims some recourse after the fact, but when
are we going to do something to ensure users are adequately educated
to protect themselves (as much as possible, anyway) in the first place?
April
19, 2007 UPDATE
DHS
evaluating chipped license proposal Would encode personal information
on driver's ID (WorldNetDaily.com
04-19-07) Lady Liberty says: How many
times to officials have to be told that the chips aren't secure? It's
been proved time and again, and yet they're still willing to risk
data theft even as they clampt down on American civil liberties.
