Zack Kaldveer, Communications Director, Consumer Federation of California and author of the blog Privacy Revolt, has a commentary on the California Progress Report that provides an overview of the smart grid system and its privacy implications that could be a good overview for those first trying to understand the issue. It begins: A critically important…
Ar: New law forces DNA tests to find ‘disappeared’ kids
Mayra Pertossi of the Associated Press reports: Valuing truth over the right to privacy, Argentina’s Congress has authorized the forced collection of DNA from people who might have been born to political prisoners slain a quarter-century ago — even if they don’t want to know their birth parents. Rights activists hope that the new law…
AU: Police to have power to strip-search at random
Tom Reilly reports: Police will soon have sweeping powers to search people at random, including strip-search, even if there is no reasonable suspicion those targeted have done anything wrong. The ”stop and search” tactic is part of a law and order crackdown set to be passed by State Parliament, despite the Government conceding that the…
NV: Metro admits to improper release of criminal history data
J. Patrick Coolican reports: At least 12 Metro employees have been found since 2005 to be improperly accessing and disseminating criminal history information for reasons unrelated to police work, according to a Metro filing in a recent lawsuit. Given Metro’s roughly 6,000 employees, that means one in 500, or 0.2 percent, have been caught improperly…