The Washington Post reports in this article1 that the new Department of Homeland Security has announced their choice for Privacy Czar as Nuala O'Connor Kelly, former Double-Click Privacy Officer. Original link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39211-2003Apr16.html) no longer available as of 2025-12-22. No reliable archive snapshot …

According to a news release, EPIC (the Electronic Privacy Information Center), has announced that they have established the Privacy Threat Index, a color-coded graphical depiction of how under threat our privacy is due to recent government changes.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, designed to increase potability of health insurance also includes provisions that are aimed at increasing the privacy of health care users. An article from Wired describes some of the confusion surrounding these provisions.

So far, the FCC has been holding to its thrice-postponed November 11th deadline for number portability despite clamoring from the major cell carriers to postpone it yet again. At issue is the ability to keep your telephone number when you move from one cell carrier to another. Hidden inside is …

An anti-spam activist, Francis Uy, appears to have won a victory for tracking down and complaining to purveyor of spam. Uy created a web site that claims to have a list of "Maryland's most wanted spammers". Unfortunately, I couldn't find the site (it also wasn't in Google's cache), but appears …

Wired is reporting in this article that a number of well-known hackers (mostly white hats), are standing up against the people who hacked the Al-Jazeera site, on the grounds that it is tantamount to the same kind of censorship of unpopular speech that are promulgated by those who seek to …

In a article1 from CNet, we are told that US District Court judges in Missouri and New York threw out searches used against people arrested in the Government's largest Child Pornography operation, Candyman. The problem is that it appears the FBI used a users list without verifying that all …

Sometimes, the big company gets the good press at the expense of the small company. This is certainly the case with SCO, the Santa Cruz Operation, and their recently filed law suit against IBM. According to an article at Wired, there is a groundswell of support for big blue and …

As with any compromise position, the FCC's decision to go forward with some form of "broadcast flag" to limit the reproduction of TV signals that have copyright protection is taking heat from all sides. According to an article on CNet, congress is upset that the FCC might make rules that …

In a move certain to raise the eyebrows of the reactionary right and warm the hearts of first-amendment lovers, the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has again struck down the COPA (Child Online Protection Act), an overly-broad act aimed at putting in prison people who don't cordon off "inappropriate …

In the latest salvo in the DMCA war started a couple of months ago by printer manufacturer Lexmark, SCC has filed an antitrust lawsuit against them claiming unfair competitive practices. It appears, based on this article that the manufacturer is going to be the poster child for anti-competitive DMCA fights …

In an amusing twist, the folks at Lindows1 have asked for hundreds of boxes of evidence from Microsoft which that company had used to extricate itself from a nasty copyright dispute with Apple. Apparently, the hope is that the evidence, which was compelling enough to keep Microsoft from having …

In another shocking privacy twist, the WebLog of Karlin Lillington recounts an afternoon spent at a briefing by Irish authorities about a proposed new security policy. At this briefing, they revealed that, over a year ago, the Irish government had instructed all telecoms providers to maintain three years worth of …

In a recently published article in the IEEE's magazine, The Institute, the organization is calling for congress to take a second look at the DMCA. To quote the article: "Two recent court battles, as well as concerns raised by members, have prompted IEEE-USA?s Intellectual Property Committee to re- …

With Verizon's recent request for a stay of the order for it to provide information to the record labels after a recent court loss, the labels are fighting back. According to an article from CNet, the RIAA has filed a strongly worded brief accusing Verizon of failing to live up …

In an obvious effort to deflect recent complaints (and legal action) about the run-away nature of the TIA (Total Information Awareness) initiative to spy on Americans, the Pentagon announced the formation of two boards to help oversee the program. InfoWorld reports in this article that the two boards are being …

Sometimes you just never know who's going to come to your rescue. In the case of privacy on the Internet, Verizon is starting the year off as benefactor to the world by fighting the RIAA in court over the identity of an internet user. Of course, it's not all quite …

An article on CNET reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a ruling that AOL (and hopefully therefore other ISPs) are immune to prosecution over destructive files (such as viruses) sent over their common carrier systems from one user to another. It appears …

In a stunning departure from the kinds of lawsuits that make you unable to eat, a judge has dismissed the case against McDonald's that claimed the food giant was responsible for obese patrons' obesity. The suit, brought in New York, claimed that McDonald's had done too much to make its …

In good news for privacy advocates, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has come out against the controversial Total Information Awareness initiative by our fine government. In an article on CNET, there are details of this latest opposition from the chairman of the Senate Finance committee.