Report on Government Information Requests: “We believe that our customers have a right to understand how their personal information is handled, and we consider it our responsibility to provide them with the best privacy protections available. Apple has prepared this report on the requests we receive from governments seeking information about individual users or devices in the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
NYT – No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A.
Via Scott Shane this investigative report – “From thousands of classified documents, the National Security Agency emerges as an electronic omnivore of staggering capabilities, eavesdropping and hacking its way around the world to strip governments and other targets of their secrets, all the while enforcing the utmost secrecy about its own operations. It spies routinely on friends as well as… Continue Reading
UK Guardian’s interactive interviews, charts open the debate on NSA surveillance
NSA Files Decoded – Edward Snowden’s surveillance revelations explained – By EWEN MACASKILL and GABRIEL DANCE – Produced by FEILDING CAGE and GREG CHEN “When Edward Snowden met journalists in his cramped room in Hong Kong’s Mira hotel in June, his mission was ambitious. Amid the clutter of laundry, meal trays and his four laptops,… Continue Reading
WaPo – NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide
Snowden documents how NSA and GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information between the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants – by Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani “The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world,… Continue Reading
The ‘next cool thing’ – Snapchat offers welcome degree of privacy
Matt McFarland – Washington Post editor of Innovations: “All of the positive news for Snapchat lately indicates it is on to something. A study found that 9 percent of cellphone owners use Snapchat. About 350 million snaps are shared every day. AllThingsD reported Snapchat is mulling a round of financing that values it at $3.5 billion. For… Continue Reading
Conclusions of the European Council Meeting October 24-25, 2013
This STATEMENT OF HEADS OF STATE OR GOVERMENT appears on the last of the 19 page document [snipped]: “The Heads of State or Government discussed recent developments concerning possible intelligence issues and the deep concerns that these events have raised among European citizens. They underlined the close relationship between Europe and the USA and the value… Continue Reading
CFPB – Making regulations easier to use
“We write rules to protect consumers, but what actually protects consumers is people: advocates knowing what rights people have, government agencies’ supervision and enforcement staff having a clear view of what potential violations to look out for; and responsible industry employees following the rules…we’re releasing a new open source tool we built, eRegulations, to help… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Electronic Health Records, Federal Real Property, Joint Military Education, FHFA
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS – Number and Characteristics of Providers Awarded Medicare Incentive Payments for 2011-2012, GAO-14-21R, Oct 24, 2013 FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY – Greater Transparency and Strategic Focus Needed for High-Value GSA Leases, GAO-13-744, Sep 19, 2013 JOINT MILITARY EDUCATION – Actions Needed to Implement DOD Recommendations for Enhancing Leadership Development, GAO-14-29, Oct 23, 2013 FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION – Analysis of Options… Continue Reading
UK Guardian – NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts
Jason Ball – The NSA memo suggests that such surveillance was not isolated as the agency routinely monitors world leaders. [snipped] “The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward… Continue Reading
TRAC: Rise in Social Security lawsuits
“Over the past five years, the number of Social Security civil lawsuits filed in federal courts has risen over 60 percent, according to the latest available case-by-case federal court data analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). During September 2013 the government reported 1,757 new filings of this sort, up 14 percent from a… Continue Reading
Le Monde documents NSA PRISM surveillance of citizens
Jacques Follorou and Glenn Greenwald, Le Monde: “According to the documents retrieved from the NSA database by its ex-analyst, telephone communications of French citizens are intercepted on a massive scale. Le Monde has been able to obtain access to documents which describe the techniques used to violate the secrets or simply the private life of… Continue Reading
Report – What the Government Does with Americans’ Data
What the Government Does with Americans’ Data, by Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Brennan Center for Justice, October 8, 2013. “After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the government’s authority to collect, keep, and share information about Americans with little or no basis to suspect wrongdoing dramatically expanded. While the risks and benefits of this approach are the… Continue Reading
