Press release: “The 2006 Identity Fraud Survey Report – released by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and Javelin Strategy & Research – provides new facts on how identity fraud occurs, counterintuitive insights that challenge conventionally accepted beliefs about these crimes, and steps consumers can take to further protect themselves against this problem…people are not… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: February 2006
Commentary on Domestic Surveillance, Net Privacy
Of Wiretaps, Google Searches and Handguns – Who’s Counting: Ineffective Government Screenings Not Worth Loss of Privacy, by John Allen. Postings on domestic surveillance Continue Reading
Some in Congress Set to Confront White House On Domestic Spying Program
AP reports today the Senate Judicary Committe Chairman Arlen Specter “said he believes the administration violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secretive court to consider and approve such monitoring.” Additional resources: Time, Sunday, Feb. 05, 2006 – Wartime Power Play, by Massimo Calabresi: “As Capitol Hill prepares to battle the White House over… Continue Reading
Review of Book That Sparked Controversy on Domestic Spy Program
‘State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,’ by James Risen – Spies and Spymasters, Review by Walter Isaacson. Continue Reading
State Department To Launch New Website Design
Press release: “The Department of State is updating its main website at www.state.gov to improve usability and increase awareness of important news items. The new design streamlines the number of content sections from nine to four: Issues and Press, Travel and Business, Youth and Education, and About the State Department. The redesigned homepage will feature… Continue Reading
Survey of Major Search Engines Yields Info on Consumer Data Retention Policies
Declan McCullagh and Elinor Mills: “To find out what kind of information the four major search companies retain about their users, CNET News.com surveyed America Online, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. We asked the same seven questions of each company. Their answers are reproduced… with the responses sorted by the companies’ names in alphabetical order.” Postings… Continue Reading
Release of Historic Gov. Docs Chronicle White House Position on Wiretapping
Follow-up to February 3, 2006 posting, Judiciary Cmte. Democrats Again Request Data on Domestic Surveillance From AG, which referred to an AP article, Papers: Ford White House Weighed Wiretaps…George H.W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney are cited in the documents, see this additional documentation from the National Security Archive: “Despite objections from then-Secretary of… Continue Reading
Majority Believes WMD Used As Prevarication
Gallup: More Than Half of Americans Feel Bush Deliberately Misled Country on Iraq WMD Related postings on WMD Continue Reading
VP Informed Libby About Plame Identity
New York Times: New Details Revealed on C.I.A. Leak Case: “Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him “in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion” in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak case, according to a… Continue Reading
Copyright Office Releases Report on “Orphan Works”
“The Copyright Office has completed its study of problems related to ‘orphan works’copyrighted works whose owners may be impossible to identify and locate. As requested by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Office submitted its Report on Orphan Works to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 31, 2006. The Report is also available… Continue Reading
Customer Info Collected By Search Engines Increasingly Subject to Scrutiny
FAQ: When Google is not your friend, by Declan McCullagh: “Google’s recent legal spat with the U.S. Department of Justice highlights not only what information search engines record about us but also the shortcomings in a federal law that’s supposed to protect online privacy.” Related references: New York Times – Increasingly, Internet’s Data Trail Leads… Continue Reading
NASA Chief Calls for “Scientific Openness” Amidst Claims of Gov’t Secrecy
Follow-up to recent postings, Gov’t Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data, and Sen. Boxer Calls For Hearings on Censorship of Gov’t Scientists, the New York Times reports that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin issued a “statement of scientific openness” to agency employees, saying, “NASA has always been, is and will continue to be committed to… Continue Reading
