Thursday, March 8, 2007

Now on the menu at Ruby Tuesday: Better security. Now on the menu at Ruby Tuesday: Better security. Spurred by the growing list of data breaches that have plagued other companies in recent years, restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday is moving to strengthen its credit card security efforts. [Computerworld Privacy News] 11:30:36 PM

Image Gallery: Seven ways to keep your search history private. Image Gallery: Seven ways to keep your search history private. Worried that Google and other search sites know too much about you -- and that the federal government can subpoena that data? Fear not -- we've got seven steps you can follow to keep your search history to yourself. [Computerworld Privacy News] 11:22:29 PM

Managing Access to Critical Data for Protection and Privacy. Managing Access to Critical Data for Protection and Privacy. (Source: Symantec) One common mistake that organizations make is by using Identity management solutions in isolation. Doing so risks access inflation, workarounds and coverage gaps. This white paper shows how comprehensive access management deploys identity management within a framework that includes disciplines for data protection, integration with hiring and promotion, and especially monitoring. [Computerworld Privacy News] 11:18:13 PM

Credit firms hope to sell 'positive records' - 08 Mar 2007 - Personal Finance News - New Zealand Herald Credit companies hope a possible change to privacy laws will make it easier for people with a good credit history to borrow money or get a mortgage. A change to the Privacy Act, which is being reviewed by the Law Commission, could open the door for credit companies to sell both the positive and negative details of people's credit history. Veda Advantage - formerly Baycorp - holds credit files for 2.4 million credit-active individuals and 800,000 companies in New Zealand, but cannot sell details about positive credit history. The Credit Reporting Privacy Code does not allow positive reports, because such people should not be forced to reveal private financial dealings. Veda says a comprehensive credit service would benefit responsible consumers, who at present often have to borrow at the same rate as those with a poor credit history. 7:34:43 PM

Telecoms.com - Telecoms industry "worst for consumer privacy" The telecoms industry has been accused of collecting excessive amounts of personal data from its customers, with telecom firms faring worse for privacy than companies in other industries. The accusations come in the "First Quarter 2007 Online Customer Respect Study of the Telecommunications Industry", from international research... Editor: Just this teaser unless you register at their site. 7:27:48 PM

Homeland Security revives supersnoop - The Washington Times Homeland Security officials are testing a supersnoop computer system that sifts through personal information on U.S. citizens to detect possible terrorist attacks, prompting concerns from lawmakers who have called for investigations. The system uses the same data-mining process that was developed by the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project that was banned by Congress in 2003 because of vast privacy violations. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the project called ADVISE -- Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement -- was requested by Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The investigation focuses on whether the program violates privacy laws, and the findings will be released after completion of the Iraq war supplemental spending bill, possibly as early as this week, a panel aide said. The ADVISE and TIA data-mining projects rely on personal data to track individual behavior and consumer transactions to develop computer algorithms that create a pattern that some behavioral scientists say can predict terrorist behavior. Data can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information. Privacy concerns prompted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to introduce legislation in January to require that government agencies disclose data-mining practices in regular reports to Congress. "A serious discussion on the implications of data-mining programs is long overdue," Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat and a sponsor of the bill, said yesterday. Sen. John E. Sununu, New Hampshire Republican, is also a bill sponsor. 7:21:29 PM

Gates calls for new privacy law | InfoWorld | By Grant Gross Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates asked the U.S. Congress to pass a comprehensive privacy law this year, allowing consumers to control how their personal information is used. Gates repeated past Microsoft calls for a wide-ranging privacy law during a speech at advocacy group the Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) annual gala dinner Wednesday. A comprehensive privacy bill should allow consumers to control their personal data, should provide transparency about what their data is used for, and should notify them when their data has been compromised, Gates said. Gates said he believes the U.S. can achieve a balance between privacy and protecting the country against terrorists and other criminals. But the balance will not be an easy one to create, Gates said. While many U.S. residents would say they want as much privacy "as possible," law enforcement needs to be able to track criminals, Gates said. "These privacy issues are not as easy as you might think," he told the crowd. 7:09:19 PM

FCW.com News - Census Bureau accidentally exposes personal data The Census Bureau accidentally posted personal information on 302 households on a public server several times since October 2006, officials said. The personal information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, family income ranges and other demographic data, was contained in a file that was placed on a public server for the purposes of testing new software applications. The file included about 250 fake accounts in addition to the real information. The bureau found out about the mistake when it found the file on the server in mid-February. 7:04:50 PM

heise Security - All Microsoft updates phone home Possibly as a reaction to heise Security's report that Windows Genuine Advantage Notification sends back data to Redmond even when users choose to terminate its installation, a Microsoft developer using the pseudonym alexkoc has now posted an entry in the WGA blog. There he reveals that every update that flows through Windows Update at the very least informs Microsoft about whether the installation was successful or not. In the Privacy Statement of Windows Update Microsoft grants itself fairly far-reaching rights. Thus the information collected by the Redmond-based behemoth includes the computer make and model, version information for the operating system, browser, and any other Microsoft software for which updates might be available, Plug&Play ID numbers of hardware devices, region and language setting, Globally Unique Identifier (GUID), Product ID and Product Key, BIOS name, revision number, and revision date. By way of justifying Microsoft's approach, alexkoc writes that the EULA, likewise presented by the WGA installer, also covered the relaying of such information. With some updates such as the WGA Notification, the installer transmits data that Microsoft says it merely requires for quality control purposes and to improve the installer itself. The WGA package thus, among other things, sends back an event code. To calm the fears of users, alexkoc presents a graphic explaining the various fields of such a data packet. When the product IDs and product keys found belong to legal software, Microsoft will delete the data right away; only in cases of suspected software piracy will it store the data, the company has said. In the blog, the company once again explicitly states that it does not use the information gathered to identify or contact users. 6:54:34 PM

© Copyright 2007 Paul Hardwick. Last update: 3/18/07; 5:10:49 PM.