“In response to a request from the White House, EPIC has submitted extensive comments on “Big Data and the Future of Privacy.” EPIC warned the White House about the enormous risk to Americans of current “big data” practices but also made clear that problems are not new, citing the Privacy Act of 1974 which responded to the challenges of “data… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Legislation
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A Legal Analysis
CRS – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A Legal Analysis “In the wake of the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression, Congress passed and the President signed into law sweeping reforms of the financial services regulatory system through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), P.L. 111- 203.… Continue Reading
The Volcker Rule: A Legal Analysis
CRS – The Volcker Rule: A Legal Analysis, David H. Carpenter, Legislative Attorney; M. Maureen Murphy, Legislative Attorney. March 27, 2014. “On December 10, 2013, more than two years after the statutorily mandated deadline, five federal financial regulators published final regulations (hereinafter, the regulations) implementing Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (hereinafter, Section 619 or the statute). Together these… Continue Reading
Overview of Constitutional Challenges to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments
CRS – Overview of Constitutional Challenges to NSA Collection Activities and Recent Developments. Edward C. Liu , Legislative Attorney; Andrew Nolan, Legislative Attorney; Richard M. Thompson II; Legislative Attorney, April 1, 2014 “Beginning in the summer of 2013, media reports of foreign intelligence activities conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) have been published and are apparently based on unauthorized disclosures of… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – American Samoa, Defense Acquisitions, National Preparedness, Puerto Rico – Statehood
AMERICAN SAMOA AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS: Economic Indicators Since Minimum Wage Increases Began, GAO-14-381: Published: Mar 31, 2014. Publicly Released: Mar 31, 2014. DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs, GAO-14-340SP: Published: Mar 31, 2014. Publicly Released: Mar 31, 2014. NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS: HHS Has Funded Flexible Manufacturing Activities for Medical Countermeasures, but It Is Too Soon to… Continue Reading
Senate Staff Report Details Target’s Missed Opportunities to Stop Massive Data Breach
“Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV released a staff report titled, “A ‘Kill Chain’ Analysis of the 2013 Target Data Breach.” The report details how Target possibly failed to take advantage of several opportunities to prevent the massive data breach in 2013 when cyber criminals stole the financial and personal information of as many as… Continue Reading
How the NSA Can Use Metadata to Predict Your Personality
Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One: “The president and congressional leaders want to end NSA bulk metadata collection, but not the use of metadata, which may even be expanded. From a technical perspective, the question of what your metadata can reveal about you, or potential enemies, remains as important as it was since the Edward Snowden… Continue Reading
Formerly Withheld Documents Released by The Clinton Library
“Formerly Withheld Documents: Please find below documents that were previously withheld under the Presidential Records Act for restrictions P2 (appointment to federal office) and/or P5 (confidential advice between the President and/or his advisors and between those advisors). For more information concerning these collections please see the collection finding aids index. The finding aids detail the scope, content, and provide a… Continue Reading
How Well Does Dodd-Frank Address Regulatory Gaps and Market Failures that Led to the Housing Bubble?
Holstein, Adora D., How Well Does Dodd-Frank Address Regulatory Gaps and Market Failures that Led to the Housing Bubble? (2013). Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 25, No. 1, Spring 2013. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2415043 “This study maps key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 against gaps in regulation and market failures that… Continue Reading
Ineffective Oversight of Purchase Cards Results in Inappropriate Purchases at EPA
EPA OIG Report No. 14-P-0128 March 4, 2014: “The Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 states the Inspector General is to conduct periodic assessments of the agency purchase card and convenience check programs to identify and analyze risks of illegal, improper or erroneous purchases and payments. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) also looks for categories of purchases that could be made by means other than purchase cards… Continue Reading
Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test 2014 Revised Data
Follow up to Federal Reserve releases summary results of bank stress tests – see Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test 2014: Revised Projected Minimum Tier 1 Common Ratios. March 21, 2014. “The biggest change to the minimum Tier 1 common ratios was a 0.5 percentage point decline for American Express Co., followed by a 0.3 percentage point increase for both M&T Bank Corp., based… Continue Reading
Scout – Open Source tool to get alerts on issues you care about
“Scout is a free service that provides daily insight to how our laws and regulations are shaped in Washington, DC and our state capitols. These days, you can receive electronic alerts to know when a company is in the news, when a TV show is scheduled to air or when a sports team wins. Now, you… Continue Reading
