Texas to Destroy Baby Blood Taken without Consent: Via CNSNews.com .

Austin, Texas (AP) - Texas health authorities will destroy more than five million blood samples taken from babies without parental consent and stored indefinitely for scientific research.
 
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced Tuesday it would destroy the samples after settling a federal lawsuit filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project. The project, acting on behalf of five plaintiffs, had sued the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas A&M University System.
 
The lawsuit alleged that the state's failure to ask parents for permission to store and possibly use the blood - originally collected to screen for birth defects - violated constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. The plaintiffs cited fears their children's private health data could be misused. [ Read more ... ]

Texas county to name drunk drivers on Twitter: Via Network World.

If you get busted for drunk driving in Montgomery County, Texas, this holiday season, your neighbors may hear about it on Twitter.

That's because the local district attorney's office has decided to publish the names of those charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

County Vehicular Crimes Prosecutor Warren Diepraam came up with the idea as a way of discouraging residents from getting behind the wheel while drunk. "It's not a magic bullet that's going to end DWIs, but its something to make people think twice before they get behind the wheel of a car and drive while they're intoxicated," he said. [ Read more ... ]

Texas Statute Paves Way for Highway Robbery: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Last Friday, the ACLU and the ACLU of Texas submitted a brief to the Texas Attorney General’s office arguing that a District Attorney in East Texas should be barred from using money unfairly taken from motorists under Texas’s asset forfeiture law to defend herself from a lawsuit brought by motorists who claim that their property was taken illegally.

The District Attorney, Lynda K. Russell, is accused of participating in a scheme in which police officers routinely pulled over motorists in the vicinity of Tenaha, Texas without cause, asked if they were carrying cash and, if they were, ordered them to sign over the cash to the town or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes. The seizures were purportedly made under Texas’s asset forfeiture law, which enables authorities to seize the profits of crime without a conviction. However, authorities had no evidence that plaintiffs were engaged in any criminal activity. None of the plaintiffs was arrested or ever charged with a crime. [ Read more ... ]

Breaking Vanish: A Story of Security Research in Action: Via Freedom to Tinker.

Today, seven colleagues and I released a new paper, "Defeating Vanish with Low-Cost Sybil Attacks Against Large DHTs". The paper's authors are Scott Wolchok (Michigan), Owen Hofmann (Texas), Nadia Heninger (Princeton), me, Alex Halderman (Michigan), Christopher Rossbach (Texas), Brent Waters (Texas), and Emmett Witchel (Texas).

Our paper is the next chapter in an interesting story about the making, breaking, and possible fixing of security systems. [ Read more ... ]

Granny Sues RIAA Over Unlicensed Investigator: NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "An elderly, non-file-sharing grandmother from East Texas, who had been sued by the RIAA after being displaced by Hurricane Rita, has sought leave to file counterclaims against the RIAA record companies for using unlicensed investigators. [ Read more ... ]

Texas among states opposed to standardized ID cards | Latest News | WFAA.com: "WASHINGTON DC -- The Real ID Act of 2005 was enacted with the intention of protecting America from terrorists, but critics claim it's a threat to privacy and proposed standardization rules for states essentially sets up a national ID card. [ Read more ... ]

Waxahachie Daily Light - News - House bill aimed at protecting privacy: "AUSTIN -- State Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, D-Laredo, introduced legislation Friday that would immediately move the Texas Data Exchange database out of Gov. Rick Perry's office and into the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In a press release, Raymond said an investigative report by the Austin-based Texas Observer disclosed that Perry's office has spent more than $3.6 million to create an extensive centralized database -- TDEx -- containing detailed personal information 'on thousands or perhaps millions' of Texans.

'It is imperative that this information be retrieved and be secured within the DPS. It should not be used until guidelines are determined to protect the privacy rights of the Texans included in the governor's improper data file,' Raymond said.
A request for comment to the Governor's office about the Observer article and Raymond's proposed legislation was not returned by press time. [ Read more ... ]

CIAS Hosts Second Annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition: The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS), located at The University of Texas at San Antonio, will host the 2nd Annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) April 13-15, 2007. The CCDC program consists of competitions at the state and regional levels with the winner from each regional being invited to compete in the championship in San Antonio, Texas. Participants consist of teams of full-time college students from across the country who must apply their information assurance and information technology skills to maintain a secure, operational network.

CCDC competitions focus on business operations and incorporate the operational aspects of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. Teams assume control of an "operational" network from a fictitious business complete with e-mail, Web sites, data files, users, and network traffic. [ Read more ... ]

Texas Sues RadioShack After Retailer Dumps Thousands of Customer Records: "Texas is suing RadioShack after the retailer's employees dumped thousands of customer records in garbage bins behind a store near Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 21. The records contained Social Security numbers, credit and debit card information, names, addresses and telephone numbers, according to investigators. [ Read more ... ]

Trash-talking Texas sues RadioShack: "

'Exposed victims to dumpster-diving' ID thieves

RadioShack is being sued in Texas for allegedly exposing its customers to ID theft. The lawsuit follows allegations that it carelessly discarded sensitive records outside one of its stores.…

"

(Via The Register - Security.)