The Bush administration has pared back the number of government initiatives on computer security in revised plans that give more responsibility the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

Earlier proposals to consult regularly with privacy experts on the civil liberties ramification of security plans have also been dropped, AP via The Washington Post reports today.

Instead the Homeland Security Department will include a privacy officer charged with balancing "privacy and civil liberties concerns" in developing security plans. An ironic position given the Homeland Security Department's leading role in plans to build the most comprehensive Net surveillance system yet created.

TechNews.com part of the Washington Post - A Pared-Back Security Initiative .

ninemsn.com.au - Misuse of personal data highlighted.

Real estate agents and other small businesses must allow clients access to personal information being held on them under new provisions of the federal Privacy Act, the Privacy Commission said.

Deputy Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said changes to the Privacy Act introduced last month targeted small businesses.

He said the changes would ensure public access to information held by organisations about them.

"(Since) December 21, 2002, some small businesses will now fall under the coverage of the Privacy Act and we have recently issued some checklists to help them ascertain whether they will need to comply with the privacy act," Mr Pilgrim said.

He said businesses needed to be aware that the general community was rapidly becoming more aware of their privacy rights, particularly in an increasingly online environment

Mr Pilgrim said real estate blacklists - tenancy databases where information on renters was collected by organisations from real estate agents - would be a strong focus for the commission in this year.

"Currently, if you fail to pay your rent or have a dispute with your real estate agent they can put you on a database," he said.

"If you should go for another property somewhere another real estate can look you up and see if you are on the database and use that to decide whether or not they want to rent to you."

Mr Pilgrim said the new legislation meant the public could access the database information and if necessary, correct misinformation.

Political News from Wired News - Study: Online Polls Skew to Right.

Democrats and Republicans alike turned to the Internet for news during last fall's elections, but conservatives were more likely to weigh in on online polls, according to a study released on Sunday.

Conflict News from Wired News - Revised Cybersecurity Plan Issued.

The Bush administration is circulating a draft of its revised cyberspace security plan, which gives more responsibility to the Homeland Security Department and eliminates several earlier proposals -- including a plan to consult regularly with privacy experts. (ed. emphasis added)

[ ... ]

The draft notes that "care must be taken to respect privacy interests and other civil liberties," and that the new "Homeland Security Department" will include a privacy officer to ensure that monitoring the Internet for attacks would balance privacy and civil liberties concerns.

"It's perplexing," said James X. Dempsey of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology. "This administration is constantly on the receiving end of criticism on privacy issues. This looks like another example of willfully raising privacy concerns. They should know better by now."

Slashdot | Developers - Linux Security: Reflections on 2002, Eye on 2003.

Mirko Zorz writes "Here are the reflections on Linux security in 2002 and predictions for 2003 by Bob Toxen, one of the 162 recognized developers of Berkeley UNIX and author of the acclaimed book "Real World Linux Security" already in its 2nd edition. Read more at Help Net Security."

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - 'DVD Jon' Acquitted On All Counts in DeCSS Case.

benh57 writes "Jon Johansen, the author of DeCSS, has been acquitted on all charges by the Norwegian Supreme Court.' Johansen and his defense attorney Halvor Manshaus won on all counts, with the Oslo court ruling that Johansen did nothing wrong when he helped cracked the code on a DVD that was his own personal property.'" --- Here's Aftenposten's story, in English. Read on below for some more links, and please post others in the comments. Update: 01/07 14:02 GMT by T: Reader Torstein Grotnes writes with a correction: The court which cleared Johansen is not Norway's Supreme Court, but rather "the 'tingrett' which is two steps below 'supreme court' level."

Slashdot | Your Rights Online - Cryptome Log Subpoenaed.

PaulBu writes "Stopped by on Cryptome tonight... It seems that their logs have been subpoenaed by Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General Chief, Corruption, Fruad (sic) & Computer Crime Division. Cryptome's answer was that "logs of Cryptome are deleted daily, or more often during heavy traffic, to protect the privacy of visitors to the site." (Good job!) See here"