The long awaited first part of the Information Commissioner's Data Protection Code has now been issued dealing specifically with recruitment and selection. It is intended to help employers comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act and covers areas such as obtaining information about workers, the retention of their records, access to their records and their disclosure.

The act and the code deal with the handling of personal and sensitive data regarding workers - including job applicants (regardless of whether or not they are successful), employees, agency workers, casual workers and both current and former contractual workers.

Personal data likely to be covered by the act include: details of a worker's salary and bank account; an e-mail about an incident involving a named worker or a set of completed application forms. In practice, nearly all useable information held about individual workers will be covered by the code.

Sensitive data cover information concerning an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health or condition, sexual life or the commission of or conviction for any offence.

Slashdot | Law Scholars Say WaveLAN Hacking Is Legal, In Germany. Seems in Germany sniffing other peoples WaveLAN is no criminal offense.

Slashdot | A New Low for Web Advertisers: Pop-Up Downloads.

CNET NEWS.COM - Web surfers brace for pop-up downloads.

Web surfers who thought online advertisements were becoming increasing obtrusive may be dismayed about a new tactic: pop-up downloads.

In recent weeks, some software makers have enlisted Web site operators to entice their visitors to download software rather than simply to view some advertising. For example, when visiting a site a person may receive a pop-up box that appears as a security warning with the message: "Do you accept this download?" If the consumer clicks "Yes," an application is automatically installed.

Computer security expert Richard Smith explained that with such downloads, "You don't even know why you're getting this program, and the people who do (pop-up downloads) are relying on the fact that people tend to say 'Yes.'"

"A person should (be able to) request the download" if they want it, or decline it if they don't, he said. "It's the classic opt-in, opt-out debate."

In some cases, people are not even asked whether they want the software. It just installs on the hard drive--a particularly troublesome tactic that some have dubbed "drive-by download."