Alice Lipowicz reports: The Transportation Security Administration should deploy automated tools to test and monitor the effectiveness of privacy safeguards in its programs, according to a new report from Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner. In a report issued Sept. 18, Skinner recommended that TSA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer implement such tools, and…
Project ‘Gaydar’
Carolyn Y. Johnson reports: It started as a simple term project for an MIT class on ethics and law on the electronic frontier. Two students partnered up to take on the latest Internet fad: the online social networks that were exploding into the mainstream. With people signing up in droves to reconnect with classmates and…
Do social network acquisitions run roughshod over privacy?
Attorney Venkat Balasubramani has a commentary on the issue that begins: Did Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed comport with FriendFeed’s privacy policy? In arguing this point, lawyers may debate the nuances of the policy, but consumers are largely left in the dark. Most observers pegged the recent acquisition by FriendFeed of Facebook and by Mint of…
How Facebook tried to put a shine on $9.5m privacy suit
Bobbie Johnson of Guardian’s Technology Blog is not happy that Facebook announced its Beacon-related settlement on Friday: There are few things that make me more suspicious of a company than when they push out some sort of news announcement late on a Friday afternoon. It’s almost always bad news, purposely intended to miss the news…