From the Seattle Times: “U.S. Department of Labor officials have created two new Web sites aimed at helping small employers learn how to comply with federal law. The FirstStep Employment Law Advisor – available at http://www.dol.gov/elaws – helps employers determine which laws apply to their business and provides information on how to comply. The Employment… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2003
New DOJ IG Report on Patriot Act Documents Civil Rights Abuses
Accusations of Abuse in Report on USA Patriot Act: “A report by internal investigators at the Justice Department has identified dozens of recent cases in which department employees have been accused of serious civil rights and civil liberties violations involving enforcement of the sweeping federal antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act.” Report to… Continue Reading
Briefing on .kids.us Domain
Informational Briefing on the kids.us Domain: The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host an informational briefing regarding the launch of the new kids.us domain, Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 3 p.m. Continue Reading
Judicial Council of California Adopts plain English Jury Instructions
New Plain-English Jury Instructions Adopted to Assist Jurors in California Courts: “In another jury reform, the Judicial Council of California today officially adopted new civil jury instructions that emphasize plain, straightforward language, to provide an alternative to often confusing legal terminology that has been used in California trial courts for the past 70 years.” Continue Reading
Closure of GPO Bookstores Heralds End of Era for Print Gov Docs
GPO Holds a Clearance Sale as It Closes Bookstores Because of Web’s Growth: “It’s the Internet,” explained GPO spokesman Andrew M. Sherman. “Our online operation has just killed the retail end of this business. The mainstay of sales at our stores was principally regulatory information — tax rules, international trade, the Code of Federal Regulations.… Continue Reading
Essays, Resources and Links from EPIC Privacy Program
On June 2, EPIC sponsored a conference, Privacy and Technology Looking Back, Looking Ahead. They only recently provided online access to resources associated with the presentations, which took themes from George Orwell’s writings in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth: Selections from EPIC Advisory Board and Essays by EPIC Staff. Continue Reading
25 More Sites Are Worthy of Consumer WebWatch Praise
As I previously posted on June 18, Consumer WebWatch is encouraging websites to implement privacy and content credibility guidelines, and recently added 25 more sites committed to upholding the guidelines. A pdf of the current list is here. Continue Reading
Senate Votes Against Total Information Awareness Program
From Reuters: “The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to cut off funding for a widely criticized computer-surveillance program that would comb travel records, credit-card bills and other private records to sniff out suspected terrorists. In a military spending bill it passed unanimously, the Senate forbade the Defense Department to spend any portion of its $369… Continue Reading
New Privacy Laws and Regulatory Requirements
Tech Guide: Keeping The Government Happy: “As tough new privacy protections are put in place, lessons are emerging about savvy ways to keep regulators at bay.” Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) National Do Not Call Registry Continue Reading
Airline Plans to Use Digital Video to Monitor Passengers
According to an article in today’s Wired: “Southeast Airlines said it plans to install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times, as a precaution against terrorism and other safety threats. In addition, the charter airline, based in Largo, Florida, will store… Continue Reading
Will Public Pressure Result in Do Not Spam Registry?
The FTC’s Do Not Call Registry has garnered considerable press and more than 25 million registrants. A recent survey from Insight Express indicates that consumers are eager for a similar program to address spam: “83 percent of consumers said that the government should roll out a similar ‘do not spam’ list that they can use… Continue Reading
Communicating With White House Via E-Mail Now a Daunting Task
White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly: “Those who want to send a message to the president must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a form that asks if they support White House policy.” A New York Times follow-up article: “The White House Web site began more prominently featuring the… Continue Reading
