… The government collects and produces information across sectors as diverse as scientific research and internal government functioning. Information is collected about economic indicators, health, product recalls, and government services such as Medicaid. Many databases are already made available in processed formats, but not in raw form. Different data sets will have different qualitative privacy…
Privacy groups urge rejection of ‘Pass ID Act’
In a letter to key lawmakers, the American Civil Liberties Union today joined 17 other civil liberties groups to oppose the Pass ID Act, a bill that intended but failed to fix the flawed Real ID Act of 2005 designed to turn the state driver’s license into a national identity card. The coalition letter was…
Irish bill requires telephone data retained 2 years
Ireland’s Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern TD, has published a Bill that will require the retention of all telephone and internet data for a minimum of two years to facilitate criminal investigations. The Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009 will enable a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of chief superintendent to instruct…
Snooping through the power socket
Power sockets can be used to eavesdrop on what people type on a computer. Security researchers found that poor shielding on some keyboard cables means useful data can be leaked about each character typed. By analysing the information leaking onto power circuits, the researchers could see what a target was typing. The attack has been…