Privacy, Civil Liberties and Homeland Security

Large Government databases with no oversight... more misuse and abuse?

The Dallas Morning News posted a great article Sunday warning what huge government databases could result in other than people-tracking... misuse and loss of data.

They used the recent VA stolen data case as a springboard.

"Privacy advocates say concern over government intrusions into personal privacy is exacerbated by the government's use of data obtained by commercial data brokers, which often contains inaccurate information. When the government secretly collects and analyzes personal data, it makes it difficult to challenge a program shielded by public view."

How will we ever know how much inaccurate data the government has?

America's fastest growing center of....identity theft

Live in Phoenix? If so, you've got a 1 in 6 chance of your identity having been stolen, at least according to this ABC News report.

The high rate likely has to do with the prevalence of meth use, and a high prevalence of publicly available records information, experts say in the story.

Meth use is a serious issue in many parts of America's heartland, but so is the availability of public records. When local and state officials post information such as court documents or other property information, that data becomes a source for individuals and companies who use the information to compile fairly comprehensive consumer profiles.

Still, the sun is nice, isn't it?

Opinion: the costs of data mining

"Simson L. Garfinkel, an author and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for Research
on Computation and Society, looks beyond the existence of a government database of telephone
numbers to the potential for expanding the cache to include information from other sources. These
vast databases would 'require extensive protections to prevent abuse from low-level insiders and
senior government officials,' according to Garfinkel's op-ed in The Washington Post. Besides the
potential for eroding personal privacy, the costs of collecting, storing and analyzing this
information are expensive. The biggest concern that may arise after spending the money and time to
build these databases is avoiding the 'nagging feeling that you really should be putting it to
use,' Garfinkel writes."

Link to Article

DHS: personal privacy, security risks outweigh benefits of RFID technology

"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a draft report that criticizes the privacy and security risks associated with the use of RFID for identifying and tracking people. The report details ways information stored on RFID tags can be accessed or used improperly to spy on people."

Link to Article.

NSA acquiring phone logs from major telecom companies

USA Today reported on Thursday that AT&T, bellsouth, and verizon have been cooperating with the NSA in providing phone records for all domestic calls in the U.S. since 9/11. While personal information isn't provided as part of the Call database, records records do include every phone call made by every wireless and land-line subscriber. According to sources in the story, that data is then used to identify patterns that might reflect terrorist behaviors. Reportedly, the NSA can then run information against their other databases to identify phone users they perceive as threats.

President Bush quickly defended the program and asserted that the program acts within the law and "fiercely protects" the privacy of Americans.

USA today has additional articles up related to other firms contributing information to the NSA and other government agencies.

Arline ticket could give away your identity

The Guardian reports that a simple airline ticket stub can give someone access to your personal data, down to passport number.

U.S. government wants AT&T wiretapping lawsuit dismissed

The U.S. government has asked a San Francisco federal district court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against AT&T by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the grounds of security concerns. There isn't much in the mainstream press yet. Article links below.

Short L.A. Times article

Longer article on E-Commerce Times

Another article, Security Power News

New York Sun piece

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.