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April 24, 2006
CDC and DHS partner up, ACLU sues for details
The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed suit to uncover the nature of secretly negotiated information sharing relationship between the Department of Homeland Security and the Center for Disease Control. Under the arrangement, the CDC will obtain data collected by DHS about air travelers.
"Disclosure of the secret agreement comes at a time when the CDC is proposing controversial regulations that would require the airlines to collect and turn over a broad array of personal information on air travelers."
According to data obtained by the ACLU, the proposed regulations violate an agreement between the US and the European Union, over passenger data on European citizens.
Posted by Nicole Duarte at 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 23, 2006
VA proposes large-scale DNA database
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a DNA database that will dwarf those in existence. The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and other organizations and universities now have databases with hundreds or thousands of samples. The VA envisions collecting millions of samples, beginning with 100,000 in fiscal 2007.
VA patients will be asked to volunteer their DNA to the database, which will be used for research and ultimately to identify those at risk for particular diseases. A panel of geneticists has been assembled to establish rules regarding the handling of this sensitive information.
Posted by Karen Harmel at 10:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 18, 2006
NYC Installs Surveillance Cameras
New York City is the latest major metropolitan area to install surveillance cameras in an effort to strengthen the city's counterterrorism efforts. New York joins other big cities, including London and Chicago that have installed similar devices for similar purposes.
The real story, though, probably comes with following the software programs that give rise to privacy concerns raised by civil libertarians.
Posted by Christopher Kriva at 12:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New GAO Report: Sharing Terrorism Info in the Fed Govt
The GAO released another report Monday entitled Information Sharing: The Federal Government Needs to Establish Policies and Processes for Sharing Terrorism-Related and Sensitive but Unclassified Information
This one details how the federal government still is failing to adequately share and disseminate terrorism-related information between agencies in the wake of 9/11.
Abstract and highlights are also available.
Posted by Meredith Mazzotta at 11:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 17, 2006
Banks first, now credit card companies partner with government
The Justice Department announced last week that it successfully summoned and obtained PayPal Inc. customer records, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 12 in its story, ``U.S. Seeks PayPal Customer Data In Attempt to Find Tax Evaders.'' The agency, along with the Internal Revenue Service, is trying to combat the spending of dollars held in offshore accounts, according to the story.
Justice Department and IRS officials note in the story that this isn't the first time the federal government acquired records from private credit firms. MasterCard International Inc., Visa International and American Express Co. were forced to turn over records in 2000 and 2001, and 141 individual merchants had to provide payment information, according to the story.
The public continues to be largely unaware of the summons process. Even journalists at the news conference where the case was announced were unaware of the ongoing efforts by the Justice Department and the IRS. Banks already are required to consistently report account information; credit card companies appear to be the next partnership.
Posted by Dalia Naamani-Goldman at 10:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 15, 2006
Theme park tracks visitors
The Financial Times reported that visitors entering one of the UK’s largest theme parks, Alton Towers, are being given wristbands embedded with RFID chips. Cameras located around the park will track the visitors’ movements, both for security and commercial purposes. Upon leaving the park, visitors will have the opportunity to by a customized DVD of their day.
Posted by Karen Harmel at 05:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 13, 2006
"Big Brother is Listening"
I am providing on my website a copy of an article from the Atlantic Montly that gives a lot of valuable historical context on the development of the NSA and its operations. Both the main article and an interesting sidebar about how NSA surveillance can lead to military action are provided at www.mattfordmedia.com/NSA
This article also elaborates on the motivation behind the Bush Administration's decision to go around the FISA court. Of special value to us is the portion of the article where James Bamford details the way the NSA operates and from what locations within the U.S. He also gives a good representation of the size and scope of the NSA. He also has this to say about the current discussion of wiretapping.
"Contrary to popular perception, the NSA does not engage in “wiretapping”; it collects signals intelligence, or “sigint.” In contrast to the image we have from movies and television of an FBI agent placing a listening device on a target’s phone line, the NSA intercepts entire streams of electronic communications containing millions of telephone calls and e-mails. It runs the intercepts through very powerful computers that screen them for particular names, telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and trigger words or phrases. Any communications containing flagged information are forwarded by the computer for further analysis."
Posted by Matt Ford at 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 11, 2006
ACLU hosts town hall on domestic spying
The ACLU is hosting a live townhall meeting online tonight at 6p.m. PDT/ 9p.m. EDT. Submit questions and tune in here or watch an archived version here.
Posted by Laura McGann at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 10, 2006
Why are some techies microwaving their MasterCard?
Monetary militants are leery of their new MasterCard PayPass ATM cards, which contain embedded radio chips, according to a front page Wall Street Journal article on Tuesday. (Subscription required.)
The radio frequency identity (RFID) chip transfers users' account information via radio waves when the card is within a few inches of a checkout reader. Tech experts are anxious about the potential abuses of the technology, leading some to hammer or microwave their cards to ruin the chip.
Posted by Beth Davidz at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 08, 2006
Changes will be made to controversial DoD database
The Houston Chronicle reported this week on a controversial database under Department of Defense intelligence agency Counterintelligence Field Activity. The database collects TALON reports (Threats and Local Observation Notices) and made news in December of 2005 when it was discovered the database was collecting information on domestic antiwar and antimilitary base protestors. The articles regarding the database prompted a Pentagon review which found "irregularities" of people and groups left in the database althought their "threat" was never verified. In a March 30 memo, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordan England stated that the program should only be used to report information on possible international terrorist activity and that it is a productive program.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there are about 13,000 entries in the database, and that less than 2 percent either were wrongly added or were not purged later when they were determined not to be real threats.
Additionally, the article reports:
Whitman said Defense Department personnel who use the database also have gone through a refresher course on what should or should not be included. And, he said, there are new requirements that supervisors must review all the reports before they are submitted to the Counterintelligence Field Activity for entry into the database. Then CIFA must also review them before entering them in the database.
Posted by Laura Spadanuta at 02:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 07, 2006
E-tracking through your cell phone
This is an interesting article from ZDNet News by Declan McCullagh about recent court rulings in favor of and against the government locating individuals by tracking their personal cell phone signals.
E-tracking through your cell phone, February 13, 2006
Posted by Meredith Mazzotta at 02:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 06, 2006
Kidspost explains NSA spying
The Washington Post's Kidspost section had a helpful Q&A http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/05/AR2006040502179.html?referrer=emailarticleexplaining the issues involved in the president's National Security Agency surveillance program
Posted by Ellen Shearer at 04:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2006
Cross-border data sharing?
This article on Canada.com reviews upcoming border security plans between the United States and Canada. Various identifcation cards are discussed (including the one US officials are developing), as well as a high-tech ID system that will act as an "invisible barrier" between the nations.
Also brought up is the idea of database sharing between the nations.
Officials have started to talk about sharing databases of information to check the identity of each other's residents, although they're concerned about privacy issues.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will be meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to discuss the security issues.
Posted by Laura Spadanuta at 10:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Schumer's bill would speed up challenge to Bush's surveillance program
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill last week that would speed up legal challenges to Bush's Nional Security Agency surveillance program all the way to the Supreme Court. The New York Times reports that the bill would allow for a three-judge panel to review a case, which then could be appealed to the high court. Here's an excerpt:
The bill would permit lawsuits by scholars, journalists and others who assert that they have refrained from calls or e-mail messages to Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries because of "a reasonable fear" of N.S.A. eavesdropping.
Posted by Faith Okpotor at 04:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Supreme Court declines Padilla appeal
Sometimes the Supreme Court makes the biggest news over the cases it chooses not to take.
The court recently declined to hear an appeal brought by Jose Padilla, the former Taco Bell employee detained at O'Hare International Airport accused of plotting to employ a radiological weapon against the United States. According to the Trib story, the Court essentially said that the appeal is moot because the government altered charges against Padilla to allow Padilla to face trial in the federal court system.
The primary issue in the case, Savage points out, is over presidential powers to deny American citizens accused of terrorism-related crimes the full rights typically afforded criminal defendents in this trial. The question becomes one of tactics: will prosecutors move in similar fashion to avoid this direct issue's appearance on the Court's docket or are we likely to see a confrontation between civil libertarians and the administration in the coming months and years?
Posted by Christopher Kriva at 01:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hearing addresses concerns on privacy
At a congressional hearing Tuesday Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said the government's collection of people's private details from information contractors has stretched beyond the laws currently in existence, according to Robert O'Harrow's articlehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401727.html in the Washington Post.
Also at the hearing Peter Swire a law professor at Ohio State University testified that while the information helps investigators, its accuracy is paramount.
The article also provides a good summary of the GAO report released April 4.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401727.html
Posted by Blathnaid Healy at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 04, 2006
GAO report on privacy principles violated by federal agencies just released
The GAO just released this report -
Personal Information: Agency and Reseller Adherence to Key Privacy Principles. GAO-06-421, April 4. Highlights
The report investigates which agencies purchase information (they note the Dept of Justice, Dept of Homeland Security, the Dept of State, etc.) from resellers and what they use it for. Then it digs into the legality of how they use it and the legality of the resellers selling i. Good resource.
Posted by Meredith Mazzotta at 02:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 03, 2006
Where's the intelligence watchdog in the White House?
When a privacy rights group requested records on how many times a secretive presidential oversight board had requested the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of intelligence-gathering laws since 2001, the answer was zero, according to a April 3 Chicago Tribune article. The article says part of the problem was that no one was even appointed to the Intelligence Oversight Board until more than half way through President Bush's first term.
Posted by Beth Davidz at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack