Douglas MacMillan blogs about the definition of “sensitive data” over on BusinessWeek. As pointed out previously, at least some privacy advocates have noted that the online behavioral advertising industry’s proposal for self-regulation does not go far enough in restricting what types of information would not be collected and used. The definition in the self-regulatory program…
Category: U.S.
Can Libraries Refuse to Disable Filters?
In the first legal challenge to Internet filtering practices enacted by relatively few libraries, the Washington Supreme Court is weighing whether the North Central Regional Library (NCRL), Wenatchee, can refuse to turn off filters at the request of adult patrons seeking constitutionally protected material. At issue in Bradburn v. North Central Regional Library, which was the…
The SSN Study: Now What?
Since yesterday, when Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross of Carnegie Mellon University released a study demonstrating that it is relatively easy to predict an individual’s Social Security Number (SSN) using data from readily available public records, the security world has been buzzing. As someone who was given a draft copy of the paper to read…
Lawsuit fans flames of N.J. debate on adoption privacy
In New Jersey adoption circles, the right to privacy versus the need for an identity isn’t just an explosive issue of the moment: It’s been a painful, simmering fire for both sides for almost 30 years. […] Last month, numerous adoptee-rights groups and individuals from as far as Wyoming and Washington state contacted the Daily…