In fact, the public air was full of heated opinions and judgments about everything . . . except the videotape itself. No one seemed too concerned about the image or its trail from Kohl's to CNN.

We have gotten so used to the idea of a security camera peering at us out of every ATM and parking lot, every airport and school, every department store and public square, that we no longer question it. When the booty of a department store's private eye is open to the public eye, we don't flinch. We just watch.

Indeed, the only story alarming enough to raise privacy hackles these days came from Washington state, where two men were arrested for taking pictures up women's skirts. But these men were acquitted of voyeurism by the state Supreme Court because the pictures were taken in public places where, the justices ruled, people don't have a ``reasonable expectation of privacy.''

[ ... ]

We've become a nation of surveillance with remarkably little discussion. Few of us are asking the questions offered by David Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center: ``What becomes of any tapes created by such systems, who has access to them and how might they be used?'' Nor are we asking what it means for a nanny or a student or a shopper to be on permanent candid camera.

[ ... ]

Frankly, I am comforted by a security camera in a parking garage late at night. And I know that videotapes are useful for police investigations . . . after the crime. But if security is overrated, intrusion may be underrated.

CNET NEWS.COM - Privacy groups target Amazon again .

Two privacy groups are urging state and federal regulators to force the e-tail giant to live up to past privacy promises and allow customers to view and delete their personal records.

[ ... ]

Junkbusters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) argue that the e-tail giant isn't doing enough to protect the privacy of its customers and must allow customers to view and delete their personal records.

In a letter to be sent Tuesday to consumer protection regulators in 14 states, the District of Columbia and the Federal Trade Commission, the two groups praise state regulators for discussing privacy issues with Amazon and with getting the company last month to commit to clarifying its privacy policy. But that revision, completed last week, did not resolve the primary "inadequacies" of the policy, the privacy groups say.

Amazon still holds the option of selling its customer database, refuses to give customers access to all the data it holds on them and refuses to delete their past purchase records, the privacy groups charge. Amazon should be made to reverse all these stands--and submit to an independent audit of its compliance with its privacy policies, the groups say.

CNET NEWS.COM - House backs new rules for snooping.

The measure encountered no opposition on the sparsely populated House floor and was passed by voice vote 6 minutes after it was taken up.

Government agencies would be allowed to collect personal information from citizens but would be required to say how that information would be used.

Citizens would have a right to review information collected about them, which could not be used for other purposes.

CNET NEWS.COM - Microsoft, RSA team on security.

Microsoft and RSA Security announced on Tuesday an alliance that will include the software giant's licensing of RSA's identity authentication software.

RSA shares were up 58 cents, or 23 percent, to $3.15 in morning trading.

Microsoft plans to integrate a component of RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication software into applications, including upgrades to its Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000, the companies said. SecurID, which helps ensure that only authorized people gain access to a company's network or systems, requires people to identify themselves using two unique factors, such as a password and a digital certificate.

Business News from Wired News - Report: Wi-Fi Networks Too Risky.

Starbucks customers who like surfing the Net wirelessly as they sip lattes might be surprised to hear that the federal government considers the practice dangerous.

In a recently released report, the government asked federal agencies to exercise extra caution when using a wireless local area network (LAN) for Internet access.

Political News from Wired News - Free Speech Same as Free Content?.

In a case that could shake U.S. copyright law to its foundation, attorneys on Wednesday will try to persuade the Supreme Court that public access to copyrighted works is a First Amendment right.

Plaintiffs have challenged the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (CTEA), which extended current and future copyrights by 20 years. The law passed as a result of heavy influence from Hollywood studios such as the Walt Disney Company, whose earliest copyrights on characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were about to expire under the old limit of 75 years.

Business News from Wired News - No Cyborg Nation Without FDA's OK.

A Florida family that received ID chip implants won't have much company in the United States until the "Food and Drug Administratio"n decides whether to regulate the subdermal device.

[ ... ]

Pellerite said the argument could be made that any foreign object designed to remain in the body indefinitely might affect the function of the body -- and therefore requires regulation. Cosmetic implants such as breast and penile enhancers, for example, come under the agency's jurisdiction, despite having no medical function.

If the FDA determines that the VeriChip should be regulated, ADS may have to conduct clinical trials to prove the product is safe. The agency should reach a conclusion before the end of the year, Pellerite said.

[ ... ]

Meanwhile, ADS has forged ahead with VeriChip distribution agreements in Latin America and is developing a subdermal GPS chip.

The latest deal was announced earlier this month with a Mexican security firm called SPIMSA, which plans to market VeriChip as a permanent ID for executives and to control worker access to secure areas, such as airport terminals.

New York Times - free registration required No One Charged in Secret Taping About Iowa Race.

"What it boils down to is, Do you have an expectation of privacy?" Mr. Sarcone said. "There were 750 people invited; there's 22 present; you're in a political campaign and you're a public figure making comments. From our perspective, that's the end of the inquiry."

Charles Larson Jr., chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said that while the secret taping did not "reach the bar" for criminal charges, "this is a type of behavior that Iowans do not respect or condone."

New York Times - free registration required House Passes Bill to Review Federal Agencies' Privacy Rules.

Without dissent, the House passed legislation today to require federal agencies to review the effects on personal privacy of any new regulations that they propose and to let individuals go to court to attack those reviews as inadequate.

The bill, originally sponsored by Representative Bob Barr, Republican of Georgia, and co-sponsored by Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, was supported by a wide ideological range of interest groups from the American Civil Liberties Union to the National Rifle Association.

[ ... ]

Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Scott and Representative Robert B. Aderholt, an Alabama Republican who was in the speaker's chair, were the sole members in the House chamber when the bill came up. It was considered under a procedure that allows 40 minutes of debate and requires a two-thirds vote for passage. The debate and the 2-to-0 vote took six minutes.

It is unclear whether the measure will be considered in the Senate this year, where legislation to control the use of personal information gathered by the Internet has been stalled because of objections by Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the minority leader.

But this bill, because it does not threaten any private industry whose political action committees help members win re-election, may prove more attractive to senators who want to connect with growing privacy concerns in the electorate.

Fedscope .

Welcome to FedScope Development, creators of the free FedScope Plugin for websites. FedScope v1 was released on October 6th, 2002 and has been a smash hit for us. Using reverse host lookups, FedScope determines if each visitor of your website is surfing from a computer that is connected to a US Government-owned Network. If it is, the hit and associated information is logged into a "MySQL" database and you can (optionally) print the last hit information to your webpages using server-side includes. You can see an example of this to your left.

FedScope works on any webserver that can parse PHP and has the capability to write to a MySQL database. Best of all, the software is made available to you free of charge. This program is released under The General Public License ("GPL"), so you are free to use and redistribute it without charge.

That is assuming that they use an address registered correctly.

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - FedScope v1.0 Released Today.

Keith writes "FedScope Development announced today that it has released a free, open-source program called FedScope v1.0 that designed to log and analyze visits from government agencies. FedScope provides the site owner with detailed statistics on previous visits, and prints the last visit to webpages as specified by the website owner. More info at http://www.fedscope.com."

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - You Will Read Our Ads, And Like It.

sheister writes "over at myciti.com they are asking members to agree to a new set of terms before using the service, including "'..we may display advertisements and promotions of all kinds on our web site(s) and you agree not to disable any technology required or utilized to serve or display such advertising;' Has anyone else noticed pushy Terms and Conditions like this on the web?"

BTW myciti.com is part of CitiBank/CitiGroup. And the actual text.

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Kazaa And Exportation of U.S. Copyright Laws.

Mr. Vidster writes "Interesting article in the NYTimes about the potential issues the U.S. justice system must face when dealing with Sharman Networks and KaZaA. Apparently Sharman and KaZaA have servers in Denmark, source code in Estonia, and the developers live in the Netherlands. How far does the long arm of US copyright law reach?"

Slashdot | Turning a Blind Eye to Big Brother.

SiliconRedox writes: "An article in the NYTimes (user reg.) details what many of us who have worked with video or electronics have known for quite awhile: Shine a laser beam (or infrared, but the article doesn't get into that) at a video camera, and you can effectively blind certain viewpoints of the camera. The article follows one man trying to cope with the surveillence society by removing his own image from everyday video footage using this technique. The most interesting part? What kind of culpability does the individual or institution have in utilizing this kind of technology?"

NEWS.com.au | Phone system could have your number.

A single telephone number doubling as an email address could soon be available in Australia despite fears the technology could become a de facto identification number.

Under the ENUM system being analysed by the Australian Communications Authority, one number could track down a person via a home or mobile phone number, or an email or website address.

The technology has attracted controversy overseas because of privacy implications of people being identified by a single number.

The ACA wants feedback on a discussion paper it has issued, saying privacy is one of its concerns.

But ACA numbering manager Neil Whitehead said potential benefits of the system could be enormous.

Slashdot | Developers - ENUM Protocol in Australia?.

Master Kai writes "Looks like Australia's thinking about implementing ENUM, an internet protocol that will convert a simple phone number into a URI. The benefits are obvious, use one number to contact you on any communications medium. Your website, fixed phone, fax, mobile (cell) and email address. But at what cost to our privacy? I know that personally I prefer to give out my email address, because I can change it at the click of a button. And what about spam? Not only would spamers have your email address, but your contact numbers too. Eeeep! Anyway. It looks good nonetheless. Check out the news article , and for the Australian Communications Authority Discussion Paper. "