Administrivia: A remder for those of you who have not switched. I am relocating the XML files that contain the RSS and ScriptingNews news feeds. Please switch over to the new locations as soon as possible. The current locations will be maintained for a while to ease the transition but will be phased out as part of implementing some other changes. The new locations for each of the news feeds are listed below

Users of Radio 8 from UserLand can just click on this graphic and be automatically subscribed to the news feed at the new location. The URL is: http://127.0.0.1:5335/system/pages/subscriptions?url=http://www.PrivacyDigest.com/xml/scriptingNews2.xml

The RSS 0.9 formatted file can be found by clicking on this graphic. This version just contains the headlines without the 'pull quotes' The URL is: http://www.PrivacyDigest.com/xml/rss.xml

The ScriptingNews ver 2 formatted file can be found by clicking on this graphic. This version contains both the headlines and the 'pull quotes' The URL is: http://www.PrivacyDigest.com/xml/scriptingNews2.xml

New York Times - free registration required Nanny-Cam May Leave a Home Exposed.

Thousands of people who have installed a popular wireless video camera, intending to increase the security of their homes and offices, have instead unknowingly opened a window on their activities to anyone equipped with a cheap receiver.

The wireless video camera, which is heavily advertised on the Internet, is intended to send its video signal to a nearby base station, allowing it to be viewed on a computer or a television. But its signal can be intercepted from more than a quarter-mile away by off-the-shelf electronic equipment costing less than $250.

[ ... ]

Such digital peeping is apparently legal, said Clifford S. Fishman, a law professor at the Catholic University of America and the author of a leading work on surveillance law, "Wiretapping and Eavesdropping."

When told of the novel form of high-technology prying, Professor Fishman said, "That is astonishing and appalling." But he said that wiretap laws generally applied to intercepting sound, not video. Legal prohibitions on telephone eavesdropping, he said, were passed at the urging of the telecommunications industry, which wanted to make consumers feel safe using its products. "There's no corresponding lobby out there protecting people from digital surveillance," he said.

Some states have passed laws that prohibit placing surreptitious cameras in places like dressing rooms, but legislatures have generally not considered the legality of intercepting those signals. Nor have they considered that the signals would be intercepted from cameras that people planted themselves. "There's no clear law that protects us," Professor Fishman said. "You put it all together, the implications are pretty horrifying."

With no federal law and no consensus among the states on the legality of tapping video signals, Professor Fishman said, "The nanny who decided to take off her dress and clean up the house in her underwear would probably have no recourse" against someone tapping the signal. Police officers with search warrants could use the technology for investigative purposes, as well, he suggested.

Slashdot | War Driving Version 2.0.

There is an interesting article in the New York Times about the popularity of wireless cameras from X10 and how easy it is to easedrop on the feeds with relatively inexpensive equipment from up to a 1/4 mile away

Slashdot | "Ask Slashdot" - The Secure Public Data Repository?.

So Hailstorm has died an unlamented death. But the demand for the idea of an information repository isn't going to go away -- users demand convenience, and this would be convenient. So here's a timely question looking for wild speculation: how would a truly secure, public data repository work? How would your data be stored? Would it be centralized or distributed? How would you grant access to specific elements within it? What would the business case for running such an archive be? Maybe if we can come up with a good design now, we can head off the next inevitable bad one...

Yahoo Press Release (may contain unnecessary superlatives, corporate bias) - - Viisage Awarded $7.5 Million Contract by State Of Connecticut. New Driver License and Identification Cards Have Advanced Security Features

The initial term of the project is valued at $7.5 million. Design and development of the system will begin immediately and will be deployed in 38 issuing offices throughout the state of Connecticut. The new system will enable the DMV to acquire digital images, signatures and demographic data and store them in a relational database. The driver's licenses and ID cards will have a ``new hi-tech look'' with a multi-color format. The cards will contain some of the industry's most advanced security features including, a PDF-417 two-dimensional bar code.

Commenting on the award and the new system, Gary DeFilippo, Connecticut DMV Commissioner said, ``We are undertaking a major initiative to update Connecticut's drivers' license system to improve customer service levels; enhance the quality and look of licenses; and improve card security. The state also has also exercised the option to utilize biometric features with the new Digitized Driver License system given the need for greater security since September 11. It has become evident that the driver's license is now a critical identification document. As such, it behooves the state of Connecticut to ensure that our licenses are as secure and tamper resistant as the latest state-of-the-art technology allows.'' Mr. DePilippo went on to say, ``Viisage understands our service and security needs and we have selected them based on their reputation for providing the best value, leading technology and quality customer service.''

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Connecticut To Store Biometric Information.

I just got word that when I renew my driver's license, I will have to submit to allowing the CT DMV to store biometric information, as well as smile for facial recognition software from Viisage to be able to continue driving. I am so appalled, I don't even know where to begin. With all of the national law enforcement agencies opening up their databases to each other, is this the first step in taking a surveillance society to a tracking society?