Accountability matters when it comes to privacy. As a business, though, you may not always find it clear what accountability really means when it comes to personal information protection. Accountability is the first fair information principle in the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This reflects its importance—it is the bedrock of [...]
To recap: In 2010, Google came under fire for its Street View product, where the online services giant photographed homes and other buildings in numerous countries as part of its online mapping service, as individuals said the photos invaded their privacy. Then, in 2010, Google announced that, for more than three years — in more than 30 countries — it had been [...]
On Thursday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited Canberra, Australia, to celebrate the 70th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea (related to World War II). She also came to sign agreements, including one to “improve information sharing between the United States and Australia.” During her trip, she spoke at [...]
Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass), co-chairman of the House caucus on privacy, has sent letters (Markey page; archive pdf) to nine major wireless communications companies – U.S. Cellular, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, Leap Wireless Inc./Cricket Communications, MetroPCS, Verizon Communications, AT&T, C Spire Wireless and TracFone Wireless — and asked “each about its policies and practices for sharing [...]
In March, the Federal Trade Commission started a new technology blog and Twitter account for FTC Chief Technologist Ed Felten. Recently, Felten wrote two posts concerning the issues of anonymity and privacy. In the first, he discusses “hashing” as a poor technique for “anonymization.” (We’ve discussed problems with anonymization and de-anonymization before.) Felten writes: What is hashing [...]
NPR takes a look at tensions between Europe and technology companies in the United States concerning privacy rights: America’s big technology companies are negotiating the details of a new privacy system called “Do Not Track,” to let people shield their personal data on websites. There’s no deal yet, but people inside the talks say the [...]
UPDATED TO ADD, from the White House, the Executive Order Blocking the Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons with Respect to Grave Human Rights Abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria via Information Technology, a Fact Sheet, and a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner on the executive order. [...]
In an opinion column at the Washington Post, the Brookings Institution’s Benjamin Wittes and John Villasenor discuss privacy and other problems with the use of aerial drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, “UAVs”) to conduct surveillance in the United States. Earlier this year, the FAA reauthorization bill was passed, which includes a provision to integrate [...]
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) will be hosting its first annual Pathways to Privacy Research Symposium on May 2, 2012, in Ottawa! The theme for this year’s event is Privacy for Everyone, and we will be discussing the results of research on emerging privacy issues among communities of interest. This year’s [...]
Agence France-Presse reports that the European Parliament has approved a passenger-name record (PNR) data-sharing agreement with the United States: STRASBOURG — A controversial deal enabling transfer of EU air passenger data to US authorities as part of the global fight against terrorism was finally approved Thursday in the European Parliament. After two years of wrangling due [...]