Declan McCullagh reports: The Obama administration has dropped its insistence that police should be able to warrantlessly peruse Americans’ e-mail correspondence. But at the same time, the Justice Department is advancing new proposals that would expand government surveillance powers over e-mail messages, Twitter direct messages, and Facebook direct messages in other ways. Read more on CNET.
Category: Govt
EPIC Highlights Need for Broad Reform of Federal Privacy Law
From EPIC: In response to a request from the House Judiciary Committee, EPIC has recommended a comprehensive review of the federal communications privacy law. Congress will begin hearings this week on ECPA Part 1: Lawful Access to Stored Content. EPIC’s letter to the Committee noted the recent settlement by the state Attorneys General with Google in the Street View matter and…
The Internet is a surveillance state
Bruce Schneier writes: … The Internet is a surveillance state. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, and whether we like it or not, we’re being tracked all the time. Google tracks us, both on its pages and on other pages it has access to. Facebook does the same; it even tracks non-Facebook users. Apple tracks us…
Social Security Administration Considers Stronger Privacy Safeguards for SSNs of Children
From EPIC: The Social Security Administration seeks public comment on a proposal to assign new Social Security numbers to children age 13 and under. Currently, the agency may assign new SSNs only if it has evidence that “a third party has improperly used an adult’s or child’s SSN, the number holder was not at fault, and the…