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Category Archives: E-Records

FISC Approves Government’s Request to Modify Telephony Metadata Program

“During his speech on Jan. 17, 2014, President Obama ordered a transition that will end the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it currently exists, and establish a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk data. As a first step in that transition, the President directed the Attorney… Continue Reading

EPIC – New Limits on NSA Telephone Record Program Established, Authority Expires March 28

“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has granted the government’s motion to limit access by the NSA to the bulk telephone records provided by US telephone companies. Under the new rules, the government cannot “query” the telephone metadata until after the court finds that there is a “reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term is associated with” a… Continue Reading

Use and Characteristics of E-Health Record Systems Among Office-based Physician Practices

Use and Characteristics of Electronic Health Record Systems Among Office-based Physician Practices: United States, 2001–2013. Chun-Ju Hsiao, Ph.D., and Esther Hing, M.P.H. HHS/CDC. January 2014. “In 2013, 78% of office-based physicians used any type of electronic health record (EHR) system, up from 18% in 2001. In 2013, 48% of office-based physicians reported having a system that… Continue Reading

POGO – DOJ Sues Firm That Screened Edward Snowden and Navy Yard Shooter

Neil Gordon via POGO: “On Wednesday [January 23, 2014], the Justice Department filed its long-awaited complaint in a False Claims Act lawsuit against background check contractor U.S. Investigations Services (USIS). In October last year, Justice announced it had intervened in the lawsuit, which was filed in 2011 by former USIS employee Blake Percival. Percival’s complaint is posted here. The government claims… Continue Reading

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Issues Report on NSA Massive Metadata Surveillance

Report on the Telephone Records Program Conducted under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and on the Operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. January 23, 2014. “The PCLOB is an independent bipartisan agency within the executive branch established by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.6 The Board is comprised of… Continue Reading

CDT – Verizon Transparency Report Sets Industry Standard

“Today Verizon released its first transparency report, which detailed the number of government demands it received in 2013 for disclosure of customer data. The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) welcomes Verizon’s report and believes it should set a precedent for greater transparency in the industry. CDT released the following statement in response to the report:… Continue Reading

EPIC Files Appeal, Challenging Secrecy of Presidential Directives

“EPIC has filed a Statement of the Issue Presented with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. EPIC is appealing a lower court decision that NSPD 54 — a Presidential Directive setting out the scope of the NSA’s authority over computer networks in the United States — is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. EPIC sought… Continue Reading

Vancouver Sun – How to stop the digital dark age

DNA may be our only salvation from the relentless decay of data – BY ROGER HIGHFIELD, LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH JANUARY 8, 2014 “Are we sliding into a dark age of information? True, there are some three thousand billion billion bytes of recorded digital information on the planet, and the figure is rapidly rising. However, most of this will be… Continue Reading

Small San Francisco mobile company first to release transparency report

Wired – Kim Zetter: “A small telecom believed to be at the center of a historic court battle over government surveillance published its first transparency report on Thursday, noting that it had received 16 government requests for customer data in 2013. But the report may be most significant for what it doesn’t say. Credo Mobile, the… Continue Reading

Costs of Keyword Searching, Data Analysis, Not Recoverable, Federal Circuit Rules

Catalyst E-Discovery Search Blog – by Bob Ambrogi | December 18, 2013 “To what extent can the costs of e-discovery be recovered by a prevailing party in federal court? The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued an opinion that provides a detailed analysis of that question, concluding that the answer hinges on which costs fall… Continue Reading

Consumer Privacy Framework Needs to Reflect Changes in Technology and the Marketplace

INFORMATION RESELLERS: Consumer Privacy Framework Needs to Reflect Changes in Technology and the Marketplace, GAO-14-251T, Dec 18, 2013 “No overarching federal privacy law governs the collection and sale of personal information among private-sector companies, including information resellers. Instead, laws tailored to specific purposes, situations, or entities govern the use, sharing, and protection of personal information. For example,… Continue Reading

DOD declassified media library will be available online within 5 years

GCN – John Breeden II: “The Department of Defense manages a huge library of photographs and other media that has been declassified. But accessing that information, some of which dates back to World War II, isn’t easy to do. That will change within the next five years as T3Media uses its enterprise-scale video management platform to bring… Continue Reading