Does the government need any warrant or additional legal authority to view or collect information from publicly available web sites? A recent DHS memo received some guffaws on mail lists where people wondered why DHS would need to issue detailed privacy impact memos or justification that it was reading sites that are publicly available to…
Category: Govt
EPIC Urges Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Google Buzz
It was to be expected. EPIC has filed a complaint with the FTC over Google Buzz. From EPIC: EPIC has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, urging the FTC to open an investigation into Google Buzz. Last week, Google tried to transform its popular email service into an untested social networking service. As…
Court Keeps White House Spy Docs Secret
David Kravets writes: A federal appellate panel on Tuesday blocked a court order requiring disclosure of e-mail between the White House, Justice Department, National Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence — communications that paved the way for new spy legislation. The 2008 messages were a precursor to Congress adopting legislation that…
Census chief orders review to ensure accuracy, privacy of data
Carol Morello reports: The head of the Census Bureau said Friday that he has ordered a review of the government’s efforts to protect the identity of individuals who fill out their census forms after researchers discovered months ago that years of publicly available data on the elderly has numerous errors due to the goverment’s use…