Earlier today, a coalition of ten consumer and privacy advocacy organizations urged Congress to enact legislation to protect consumer privacy in response to threats from the growing practices of online behavioral tracking and targeting. The coalition consists of the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Consumer Watchdog, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy…
Category: U.S.
DHS: All your laptops are belong to us
As a follow-up to the position of the Department of Homeland Security on searching laptops at the border (reported here last week), Jaikumar Vijayan of Computerworld reports: The Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office has approved the controversial searches, copying and retention of laptops, PDAs, and other digital devices without cause at U.S. borders. Travelers…
New law threatens students’ privacy rights – MCLU
Tom Porter of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network has a piece on a new law that comes into effect in Maine next week that will enable the state Department of Education to track the progress of students using their social security numbers. While the law makes it optional for students and parents to provide schools…
Bill would give president emergency control of Internet
Declan McCullagh reports that Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. They’re not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting…