The following editorial urging Congress to pass a national data protection law is from today’s New York Times: In 2006, a Veterans Affairs Department analyst lost a laptop and external drive with Social Security numbers and other personal data from more than 26 million veterans and active duty troops. There was a national call for…
UK jails schizophrenic for refusal to decrypt files
Chris Williams reports: The first person jailed under draconian UK police powers that Ministers said were vital to battle terrorism and serious crime has been identified by The Register as a schizophrenic science hobbyist with no previous criminal record. His crime was a persistent refusal to give counter-terrorism police the keys to decrypt his computer…
McDowell ‘Very Troubled’ By Social Security Number Collection
John Eggerton reports: FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell says that when he voted to approve collecting more data on the race and gender of broadcast station owners he was not endorsing collecting Social Security numbers as part of that increased data drop. That came in response to the commission’s notice late Monday that it was delaying…
U.S.-Canada to share refugees’ biometric info
Sheldon Alberts reports: Seeking to enhance its efforts to crack down on fraudulent refugee claims, the Harper government on Tuesday announced it has struck a deal to share fingerprint information on asylum seekers with the United States. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan made the announcement following a bilateral summit here with U.S. Homeland Security…