Computerworld - At privacy conference, government regulation starts to look inevitable. The most telling moment of this week's Global Privacy Summit here came in the final hour of the conference today when one of the participants, U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Mozelle W. Thompson, asked the large audience of businesses representatives and privacy advocates a simple question: How many believe online privacy legislation is inevitable? A sea of hands were raised.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Daily news: Universities Reject Opportunity to Screen Internet-Wiretapping System.

Researchers from four universities have complained that the department has too much control over the review, and their public comments have prompted a fifth university to ignore the department's request.

Computer-security experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), the University of Michigan, and the University of California at San Diego said they have concluded that the department is really interested in improving Carnivore's public image rather than receiving an unbiased analysis of the system.

"They want to borrow a university's reputation," said Jeffrey I. Schiller, network manager at M.I.T. "Their definition of an independent review is a definition I hadn't been familiar with."

That's probably because he knows it by the name of "Rubber Stamp". A good article without the usual FBI spin control. It explains why the universities have declined to participate in the review and why it is not as open as the Justice Dept. claims it would be. There are lots of restrictions placed on the final product. While the Justce Dept. might let them look at the entire application they would not let them comment on it.

Political News from Wired News - Bush Appears Bullish on Privacy.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush plans to highlight consumer privacy if elected president, a key advisor says.

"I believe a Bush administration would support targeted restrictions, including an 'opt-in' approach on sharing health or medical information," said Lawrence Lindsey, resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Well at least he understands that it is an issue that he should address. I am just not so sure that he will deliver enough. What is his track record on privacy while he was gov. of Texas??

InfoWorld - Privacy group calls for disclosure of 'Web bugs'.

Companies and online advertisers that use information-gathering "Web bugs" on their Web sites should plainly disclose the presence of the technology to users, according to a Denver-based privacy group that proposed a set of standards on that topic this week.

The proposal was detailed at the Global Privacy Summit conference in Washington by the Privacy Foundation, which claimed that many Web sites are using Web bugs to track the activities of visitors without their knowledge. Users "don't have much control over" Web bugs, said Stephen Keating, the foundation's executive director.

32BitsOnline.com - More US Agencies Expected To Flunk Privacy Test.

ABCNEWS.com : Online Privacy Invaded in the Name of Science.

No Meaningful Guidelines Available

"We're waiting for a major lawsuit," said Sarina Chen, professor of communications at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. "Many people consider downloading data from the Internet 'content analysis.' That's very naive."

She ought to know: She said she almost lost her job when participants in a support group for eating disorders complained to her superiors about the tone of some postings that one of her students had made as part of a class assignment.

Newsbytes - More US Agencies Expected To Flunk Privacy Test.

The announcement Thursday by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Web site is not adequately protecting privacy may be the first of many such disclosures about federal agency Web sites, a House leadership source told Newsbytes today.

After releasing a report earlier this week indicating that only 3 percent of federal agency Web sites live up to administration-proposed privacy standards, Armey and other GOP members are considering options for publicizing the names of other non-compliant agencies, said the source, who asked to remain unnamed.

SiliconValley.com - Researchers fear privacy breaches with online research. Don't get too comfortable with your online support group. A researcher may be lurking, recording your outpourings in the name of science. In fact, a researcher posing as a member of the support group may be posting comments simply to observe the reaction from participants.