Privacy Archives Digest
This is a summary of each post only. The numbers in parenthesis after each entry are the number of comments and number of trackbacks.
For the full archive (large file), click
here.
February 09, 2008
Alternet isn't exactly known for being that credible, so take alternet.org/rights/76388/?page=1 with more than a grain of salt. There's an FBI public-private partnership program called InfraGard consisting of over 23,000 members from security companies, major corporations, and the like. They receive warnings of terrorist threats and in exchange are supposed...
(0 / 0)
November 20, 2007
The House recently passed Jane Harman's "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act" (HR 1955, link), and it's currently in the Senate. I scanned it after seeing some anti-HR1955 videos (example link), but I didn't see any bright red flags. Now comes the guest editorial "Here come the thought police"...
(0 / 0)
September 18, 2007
Let's set the wayback machine to HillaryCare, circa 1994: Under President Clinton's health-care plan, every person in America will be registered by the federal government and issued a red, white and blue "Health Security Card." This includes independent contractors, the self-employed, the homeless, and illegal immigrants who have regular jobs....
(0 / 0)
August 17, 2007
The following is an actual news report from Shreveport's KSLA (text here and in extended entry) discussing how the DHS is working with local religious leaders as part of "Clergy Response Teams" who would tell the citizens to give up their guns and abide by any martial law restrictions. Speculation...
(0 / 0)
May 15, 2007
From this: The Social Security card faces its first major upgrade in 70 years under two immigration-reform proposals slated for debate this week that would add biometric information to the card and finally complete its slow metamorphosis into a national ID. The leading immigration proposal with traction in Congress would...
(0 / 0)
February 09, 2007
ABC News' Person of the Week is 10-year-old Justin Kvadas of Connecticut who, despite his young years, has actually proposed (but AFAIK not yet written for them) legislation for that state's legislature: "I came up with this idea one day when I was driving home from tae kwon do, and...
(1 / 0)
January 07, 2007
This article describes how Martin County, Florida will be using fingerprint scanners to let schoolkids pay for lunch, and also mentions in passing that such a scheme is currently used at Piggly Wiggly stores in Indiana. Another county (Indian River) is considering the scheme, but St. Lucie and Okeechobee haven't...
(1 / 0)
December 27, 2006
San Franciso's scofflaw squad - the team that tracks down those who have five or more unpaid parking tickets - has a wonderful new tool. They can simply drive down the street, and a camera system provided by ACS Inc. automatically scans the license plates of parked cars looking for...
(1 / 0)
December 13, 2006
The article "A generation is all they need" lays out the possible ways that the public could be sold on implantable ID chips/RFID tags that could be used to make purchases and for other purposes. It gets one thing wrong in the intro: millions of consumer goods are now traced...
(1 / 0)
October 11, 2006
Could anyone be in so much of a hurry to consume that they would want to have a chip installed subcutaneously in their body in order to make check out so much more convenient? Apparently, if we're to believe an industry-conducted survey, the youth of Britain have been so cowed...
(0 / 0)
October 03, 2006
The headline is a bit of a low blow, and the article is so short and devoid of facts that I really should look into what the poll actually says, but anyway: Most Canadians do not understand what biometrics are, but think the government should use them to prevent prospective...
(1 / 0)
August 02, 2006
From this: The EU is planning to fingerprint children from as young as six, and earlier just as soon as it is technically feasible, according to documents obtained by Statewatch. The matter has already caused considerable debate (albeit behind closed doors and with no visible civil liberties concerns) among member...
(3 / 0)
May 29, 2006
Recently, Mayor Mike Bloomberg proposed a massive biometric database for every worker in the U.S. In a perhaps unrelated story, VeriChip Corporation has proposed RFID implants for "guest" workers: "Makers of VeriChip have been planning for this day. They've lost millions of dollars trying to sell their invasive product to...
(5 / 0)
February 19, 2006
Guess what: they already have. As detailed a year ago, L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti - consistently an idiot - together with then-mayor Jim Hahn welcomed Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley to the rollout for new security cameras which were placed on Hollywood Boulevard. Chicago now has a proposed ordinance...
(3 / 0)
January 31, 2006
Conspiracy Planet? OK, so we're dipping a bit low in the barrel, but: Homeland Security has begun exercising its new power to 'identify' the contents of your safe deposit box. This news should be seen in the context of the many rumors floating around on the internet. The so-called temporary...
(2 / 0)
January 19, 2006
Only terrorists have something to hide, so from now on I suggest using Patriot Search! instead of Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, or Google. (I added the exclamation mark to their name.) Regarding the previous entry "Feds want Google search data; got search data from other engines", the motion is in this...
(1 / 0)
From this: The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases. The move is part of a government effort to revive an Internet child protection law struck down two years ago by the U.S....
(1 / 0)
November 08, 2005
Uh oh: Spurred by paranoia and aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies. The "enemies list" dates back to Bush's days as...
(2 / 0)
October 24, 2005
Remember "Picture posting site busted for obscenity, but there's much more to it"? I hadn't heard of this issue before that happened, but this site says that "liberal" stalwarts RawStory, Americablog, and BuzzFlash lead the charge that lead to the bust and that they have curious ideas of the First...
(0 / 0)
October 12, 2005
From this: Claiming it needs greater latitude for the war on terror, the US Senate Intelligence Committee has approved a request from the Pentagon for the right to "covertly" gather intelligence on US citizens in order to determine whether they can recruit them as informants, without telling them that they...
(0 / 0)
October 09, 2005
The site nowthatsfuckedup.com is one of those "post pics of your wives and girlfriends" type of sites, run by one Christopher Wilson out of Lakeland FL. He's a 27-year-old former cop, and the servers for the site are located in Amsterdam. The site has at least one affiliate banner, active...
(0 / 0)
October 08, 2005
Here's a little bit of wackiness from the California Penal Code: 538a. Every person who signs any letter addressed to a newspaper with the name of a person other than himself and sends such letter to the newspaper, or causes it to be sent to such newspaper, with intent to...
(2 / 0)
October 06, 2005
Last year, I took a long look at the flu vaccine shortage and the incompetence I found was quite shocking. Even after all the other incompetence displayed by the Bush administration in the past year, I still find it hard to believe. Another story I've covered here concerns a company...
(1 / 0)
October 05, 2005
Finally! The FBI raided the headquarters of porn producer Max Hardcore earlier today, and I fully welcome this move. What's that? This has nothing to do with him making crap movies featuring heavily-spraypainted dumbed-down dumb bimbos who wear socks and streetwalker-grade high heel shoes doing things that aren't exactly in...
(0 / 0)
June 10, 2005
The old post "Dispel your Mark of the Beast phobia, citizen!" discussed a company that wants to replace credit cards with fingerprint scanners. One old coot Old Testament reader balked, something about the Book of Revelations or something. A company marketeer noted, "Must continue to educate the public on how...
(0 / 0)
June 02, 2005
In order to make it easier to identify those who fondle themselves in front of public library computers, the Naperville (Illinois) library will now require computer users to sign in using a fingerprint scanner. Apparently, the scanner will record 15 measurements from a finger, which will then be stored away....
(0 / 0)
March 07, 2005
What, one might ask, could be wrong with a clearly upstanding organization like Empower Peace? Look at the bright splashy graphics, the happy smiling schoolchildren and teachers, and read the scrolling news ticker. Watch the news ticker, read the news ticker, just stare at the news ticker, let your mind...
(1 / 0)
February 21, 2005
From this: SOBBING 31-stone [~420 lbs.] Chris Leppard was dragged off to a mental hospital against his will by meddling social workers and police. Chris, 23, has been forcibly detained for a month because he cannot stop eating [due to a physical, not mental disorder --LW]... She said: “Four people...
(1 / 0)
February 15, 2005
Br'er Drudge is linking to the CBS News report "States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile", which apparently was on or will be on CBS's national broadcast. The report is pretty vapid. For a more detailed story, see this blog's "Pop the top and blue sky with me". That's from three...
(0 / 0)
February 11, 2005
SUTTER, Calif. (AP) - The only grade school in this rural town is requiring students to wear radio frequency identification badges that can track their every move. Some parents are outraged, fearing it will take away their children's privacy. The badges introduced at Brittan Elementary School on Jan. 18 rely...
(0 / 0)
February 07, 2005
Three days ago, this blogger posted "To protect, serve, and constantly monitor" about the City of L.A.'s new surveillance cameras in Hollywood and their new system that can scan 1000 license plates an hour. It was also posted here. Now, three days later, comes Andrea Cavanaugh of the L.A. Daily...
(0 / 0)
February 02, 2005
From this: A controversial cafeteria system that identifies Akron Public School students from their fingerprints has proved beneficial for the district, school leaders say. More middle-school students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches now are taking advantage of them. That helps both the students and the district. ``What...
(0 / 0)
January 31, 2005
Today NBC broadcast an interview with Texas Senator Leticia van de Putte about her recent cry for nannyism and attention. From another report: A Texas lawmaker filed a bill Tuesday that would require school districts to measure the body mass index of students and include the information in regular report...
(0 / 0)
December 23, 2004
WND: Once inserted into a human, [the RFID chip from VeriChip] can be tracked by GPS technology and the information relayed wirelessly to the Internet, where an individual's location, movements and vital signs can be stored in a database for future reference... Previous VeriChip coverage is here. Get Chipped[TM]!...
(0 / 0)
December 06, 2004
In what may be a publicity stunt, or may be something he actually believes in, Rowan "Mr. Bean" Atkinson: ...is to warn MPs that a Bill outlawing the incitement of racial hatred could undermine free speech and stop comedians making fun of religion. Atkinson will head a coalition of comedians,...
(0 / 0)
November 16, 2004
In the same spirit as the last post, I somewhat support the system described in "In Texas, 28,000 Students Test an Electronic Eye": In front of her gated apartment complex, Courtney Payne, a 9-year-old fourth grader with dark hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, exits a yellow school bus. Moments...
(0 / 0)
Have you ever "blue-skyed" about an uninvented technology, or thought of a way that a current technology could get even better? Even if you aren't "technical", please read the following press release from Siemens and imagine the possibilities: The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) has received an order...
(1 / 0)
July 18, 2004
Br'er Drudge alerts us to "Surveillance targeted to convention": An unprecedented number of video cameras will be trained on Boston during the Democratic National Convention, with Boston police installing some 30 cameras near the FleetCenter, the Coast Guard using infrared devices and night-vision cameras in the harbor, and dozens of...
(0 / 0)
July 11, 2004
Relax! They aren't implants, they're just putting RFID chips on "kids' schoolbags, name tags or clothing in one Wakayama prefecture school": RFID is more commonly found in supermarket and other retailers' supply chains, however, companies are now seeking more innovative ways to derive value from the tracking technology... Indeed. UPDATE:...
(0 / 0)
June 16, 2004
The Army has donated armored personnel carriers to local sheriffs in Georgia. It weights 10 tons and can crush a house. Please feel free to make up your own satire about this wonderful event. Bonus points for the use of the words and phrases "Citizen," "Citzen ID," "retina scan,"...
(0 / 0)
May 31, 2004
I don't know, let's go to SeattleBBW.com and find out. "Whoa, hold up a minute there pardner," I hear you saying, "isn't that a porn site?" Relax. It's not a porn site. Although the sight of those lovelies promoting the Summer Pajama Party at the Wild West VFW in Tacoma...
(1 / 0)
May 05, 2004
Sexual orientation has been added as a protected category to Canada's hatecrime law: Some members of Parliament have called it a "dangerous" law that muzzles free speech, including Liberal Party member John McKay, who dubbed it a "chill bill." "Anybody who has views on homosexuality that differ from Svend Robinson's...
(0 / 0)
April 27, 2004
The city of Manalapan in Florida will soon begin automatically taking photos of every car that drives through town. They'll run a check on the plates, and store that information together with a photo of the driver. Cops cars will be dispatched after suspect cars... There are only 321 residents...
(0 / 0)
April 19, 2004
Holy S! Check out this major proof-reading error: Looks like the S-word might be the next profanity in the sites of indecency foes. Can you believe that? Spelling errors like that are in my 'sites.' As for the rest of the article, it goes into how decency maven John/Jack Thompson...
(0 / 0)
March 26, 2004
Hey kids! Look what we've got in store for you: VeriChip, the world’s first subdermal personal verification technology, announces a special, introductory pre-registration program. Sign up today to be among the first in the world to “Get Chipped.” Why, they've even got a ChipMobile that's coming to a town near...
(1 / 0)
March 04, 2004
Via Drudge comes this report: The Pinellas school system is ready to approve a new technology that uses student fingerprints to keep track of who is riding school buses. Beginning in the fall, the fingerprint system would identify students as they board and leave. The goal is to ensure they...
(0 / 0)
March 02, 2004
Received via email: TO: The Lonewacko Blog FROM: Sen. Barbara Boxer SUBJECT: Senator Boxer On Computer Privacy Dear Friend: I recently joined my colleagues, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) in introducing legislation to better protect the privacy of American computer users. Our bill would prohibit spyware,...
(0 / 0)
February 20, 2004
The New Mexico House of Representatives wants to require ignition locks on all cars in the state in the state to prevent drunk driving. In the unlikely event that this passes, I'm sure that thousands of people would attempt to find "work-arounds." Those might include things like: having another occupant...
(0 / 0)
January 25, 2004
From this: NEW YORK - Normally sane actors have been known to gain or lose huge amounts of weight for their art. Think of Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary. Directors, of course, never have to undergo such torture. Or so it used to be, until Morgan Spurlock had a...
(0 / 0)
January 02, 2004
From the article "Casinos, Airlines Ordered to Give FBI Information": LAS VEGAS -- Las Vegas hotel operators and airlines serving McCarran International Airport are being required by the FBI to turn over all guest and passenger names and personal information, at least during the holiday period, several sources said Tuesday....
(0 / 0)
December 27, 2003
From this: Issues 2004 - Picture, if you will, an information infrastructure that encourages censorship, surveillance and suppression of the creative impulse. Where anonymity is outlawed and every penny spent is accounted for. Where the powers that be can smother subversive (or economically competitive) ideas in the cradle, and no...
(0 / 0)
July 25, 2003
From "Vegas officials charge Hunting Bambi promoter in'hoax'": A promoter who city officials said created a hoax about selling paintball safaris to hunt naked women is being charged with operating without a license, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Friday... "I'll do everything I can to see this man is...
(1 / 0)
July 20, 2003
According to "Videocams will monitor plane passengers": Passengers who fly Southeast Airlines will be under the constant eye of digital video cameras providing a live feed and recordings of their faces and activities for security purposes. Wired News said the Florida-based charter airline plans to store the video for up...
(0 / 0)
July 14, 2003
According to this: The U.S. federal government launched a new initiative Wednesday aimed at cracking down on child predators. The program -- dubbed Operation: Predator -- is designed to protect children from pornographers, child prostitution rings, Internet predators and other criminals. Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge announced the program along...
(0 / 0)
June 24, 2003
Every child born in the UK could be genetically screened and the data stored to plan their future healthcare under government proposals for a massive expansion of genetic testing. Links to my previous "Mark of the Beast" posts start here....
(2 / 0)
June 22, 2003
Drudge links to this story about the FBI etc. raiding the house of a desert-rat-Area-51 type of guy: He's prowled the hills and deserts of Lincoln County for several years now, has photographed exotic aircraft in the skies, and keeps an eye on the top secret base known as Area...
(1 / 0)
June 11, 2003
From this: The passport office has begun digitizing the photographs of millions of Canadians whose mugshots may end up in a United Nations-sanctioned global facial recognition database. The move is to meet standards set by the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which requires a tiny computer chip with a...
(0 / 0)
June 03, 2003
I blogged a couple days ago about the high school student whose blog entry had triggered a visit from two "FBI agents." Eugene Volokh (whose web site has recently moved to volokh.com) has some comments, interspersed with comments from an anonymous reader. I have absolutely no idea who this anonymous...
(0 / 0)
June 01, 2003
Insty links to this report of a blogger getting a visit from Chapel Hill cops posing as FBI agents, when in reality they were still in the process of being assigned to FBI duty. It links to the article "The FBI has been reading my diary"....
(0 / 0)
May 27, 2003
As an update to the previous post, the January 1, 2003 article "Drones at Home: Big Market, Big Concerns" has more. Unfortunately, it's in their "TechNews" section, and almost all of the "Big Concerns" involve the safety of other aircraft, not the privacy issues. The only mention of privacy is...
(0 / 0)
May 26, 2003
Via Drudge comes this neato article in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Pilotless planes, which the U.S. military has used to snoop out Iraqi tanks and assassinate an al-Qaida terrorist, will be tested in Ohio to see whether they can battle a more down-to-earth hazard: traffic jams. Ohio transportation officials and university...
(0 / 0)
May 22, 2003
LifeLog is a great new program that helps you remember all the important events of your life! And, it will also fight terrorism! Try LifeLog! LifeLog will change your life! [cue peppy music and distracting happy scenes and animation.] LifeLog may lead to a police state in many cases. It...
(0 / 0)
May 19, 2003
Drudge links to the article "Pentagon System Hopes to Identify Walks": The Pentagon is developing a radar-based device that can identify people by the way they walk, for use in a new antiterrorist surveillance system. Operating on the theory that an individual's walk is as unique as a signature, the...
(0 / 0)
May 06, 2003
In a previous post, I discussed the L.A. Times editorial by Jason Halperin concerning the raid at an Indian restaurant in NYC. This raid was supposedly conducted under the Patriot Act. In the previous post I was skeptical that this raid had either taken place, or had taken place as...
(0 / 0)
May 05, 2003
From "Blunkett wins backing for iris chip in passports": David Blunkett won cautious support at home and abroad last night for the rapid development and use of biometric testing of travellers' eyes as a near-foolproof means of checking identity at international border crossings. If successfully adopted on an international scale,...
(0 / 0)
May 04, 2003
Remember the story of Jason Halperin, the guy who went to an Indian restaurant and (supposedly) had an up-close-and-personal encounter with the Patriot Act? His original account is at alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15770 and here. Instapundit covered the original version here. Surprisingly, this was reprinted in the local rag a couple of days...
(0 / 0)
May 02, 2003
From this: The UK Passport Service (UKPS) has confirmed plans to put biometric chips into passports by 2005... The UKPS plans to run a six-month trial with a systems integrator to "evaluate issues around biometric capture using iris, facial recognition and fingerprints to support the passport card development programme". This...
(0 / 0)
April 21, 2003
Via Drudge comes the story 'N.J. Schools Testing Eye Recognition': ...it was somewhat of a surprise when the Plumsted district's three schools became the test site for a cutting-edge eye recognition security system designed to keep out strangers. "We're an appealing test site because we are a small community where...
(0 / 0)
April 09, 2003
A New Yorker leads a "Video Surveillance Tour of Manhattan" which searches for and documents security cameras, talking back to them as necessary. I might do something like that here in L.A....
(0 / 0)
March 09, 2003
According to 'U.S. May Require Fingerprinting and Study of Rocket Hobbyists': Hobbyists who build and launch high-powered model rockets could soon be subject to background checks, fingerprinting and storage inspections. Under new provisions set to go into effect May 24 under the Homeland Security Act, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,...
(0 / 0)
RuminateThis links to a scary article about eBay's "privacy" policy. Apparently, all a law enforcement agency needs in order to obtain information on you from eBay is to FAX a request, no subpoena. Just a FAX, and eBay will send your name, address, buying history, the whole enchilada. I disagree...
(14 / 0)
March 04, 2003
My good buddy Atrios, taking a break from whining Shrub-this "peace"-that, takes time to link to the 1992 SPY Magazine article 'Inside the Shadow CIA', which is about unsavory activities of the Wackenhut Corp.: What? A big private company - one with a board of former CIA, FBI, and Pentagon...
(1 / 0)
March 03, 2003
From nealpollack.com comes the story 'Santa Fe Police Detain Library Patron over Chat-Room Visit'. A former public defender in NM was briefly detained by the Secret Service for supposedly making threats against Bush in a chat room. He says he's going to sue. There's more here. He also testified about...
(0 / 0)
February 20, 2003
Oliver Willis points to the Dan Gillmor column "Patriotism Perverted", which in turn points to a more detailed FindLaw piece that I'm going to be sure to read later called 'Patriot II: The Sequel Why It's Even Scarier than the First Patriot Act'....
(0 / 0)
February 07, 2003
According to this: The Justice Department is preparing to expand the 2001 Patriot Act to increase surveillance within the United States while restricting access to information and limiting judicial review, a nonprofit government watchdog group asserted Friday. The Center for Public Integrity said it obtained a copy of the draft...
(0 / 0)
Orin Kerr chez Volokh has another TIA-friendly article. Apparently, some moderately famous people have been nominated to an external oversight board. More discussion here. I'm still not convinced, nor will I ever be. Until, of course, the TIA computers see that I've been slagging off on TIA and then......
(0 / 0)
February 05, 2003
So sayeth this article. Sounds great! But, let's run that through the ol' Orwell machine, just to be on the safe side. "Kaiser to Put Patient Records Online": As for hacker attacks, Kaiser said the AMR uses tools to protect against unauthorized remote access, with security checks and audits within...
(0 / 0)
February 03, 2003
The columnist Taki (co-editor with Pat Buchanan of The American Conservative) is being investigated by Scotland Yard for an article he wrote in a British newspaper. According to this: The Yard's Diversity Directorate will assess whether the piece incites racial hatred and thereby breaks the Public Order Act, for which...
(0 / 0)
January 23, 2003
Thankfully, I haven't read WIRED for a long time, but in this case, I'll make an exception: [L]awmakers have introduced three separate bills banning or suspending the [Total Information Awareness] program. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed an amendment on Wednesday to the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that would suspend the program's...
(0 / 0)
January 18, 2003
Here's an article that says Total Information Awareness isn't that bad. I only read the first part, but I think this article deserves a right good fisking....
(0 / 0)
January 09, 2003
[UPDATE: the link below doesn't work; here's another link and here's one more.] This article is about a new school in England that's going to start scanning their student's retinas. The reason? So that the disadvantaged students who get free lunches won't be stigmatized. Oh, and by the way, they'll...
(0 / 0)
January 02, 2003
The Prof lets us know that Samizdata has slides from a talk given by John Poindexter: "Information Awareness Office Overview" online....
(0 / 0)
December 02, 2002
A company named Indivos is trying to take biometrics to a new level, by replacing 100 million credit cards with fingerprint scanners. The juicy comments are in a PDF file, which are also printed in the article above. The home page for the Biometric Consortium Conference is here. And, as...
(0 / 0)
November 22, 2002
My referrers at the Volokh Conspiracy have an interesting piece on TIA: Concede no powers to your friends that you would not give to your enemies. If you are a Republican, the Law can be applied in the following form: give no powers of surveillance to the Bush administration that...
(0 / 0)
November 14, 2002
This article is truly scary: If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you: Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or...
(1 / 0)
