TelecomPaper is reporting that the Dutch upper house of parliament rejected a government proposal to require telecom operators to store communications data for 12 months. A majority reportedly voted against the proposal “and called for the government instead to stick to the minimum period of six months indicated in the EU legislation.” Update of 7-08: …
Court: IP addresses != PII
In a ruling that could fuel debate about online privacy, a federal judge in Seattle has held that IP addresses are not personal information. “In order for ‘personally identifiable information’ to be personally identifiable, it must identify a person. But an IP address identifies a computer,” U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones said in a…
Can your boss fire you for smoking at home?
An employer adopted a policy to hire only nonsmokers. After a new hire tested positive for nicotine, he was fired. He then sued the employer, claiming wrongful discharge and invasion of privacy. What happened. In an effort to curb medical costs and promote a healthy lifestyle, the Scotts Company in Massachusetts adopted a policy prohibiting…
Bombshell study: SSN relatively easy to predict
In a study that challenges current initiatives to reduce identity theft, researchers Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross of Carnegie Mellon University have released the results of a study showing how easily all nine digits of an individual’s Social Security Numbers can be accurately predicted from information that is readily available in numerous public databases. Based…