Showing posts with label Department of Homeland Security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Department of Homeland Security. Show all posts

Friday, July 14, 2017

Face scans for US citizens flying abroad stir privacy issues; Associated Press via Hawaii News Now, July 12, 2017

Frank Bajak and David Koenig, Associated Press via Hawaii News Now; Face scans for US citizens flying abroad stir privacy issues

"During the trials, passengers will be able to opt out. But a DHS assessment of the privacy impact indicates that won't always be the case.
"The only way for an individual to ensure he or she is not subject to collection of biometric information when traveling internationally is to refrain from traveling," says the June 12 document on the website of Customs and Border Protection, which runs the DHS program...
Such concerns shouldn't stop the government from moving ahead with the program and U.S. citizens have already sacrificed considerable privacy as the price of fighting terrorists, said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which promotes restrictions on immigration.
He called it a "moral and security imperative."

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

You are not what you read: librarians purge user data to protect privacy; Guardian, 1/13/16

Sam Thielman, Guardian; You are not what you read: librarians purge user data to protect privacy:
"Interlibrary loans, said Alison Macrina, founder and director of the Library Freedom Project, form an ad-hoc record of departures from regular patterns of lending – the kind of thing that often interests intelligence and law enforcement analysts.
“It seems like it’s a more interesting data trail,” said Macrina. “It’s a book you wanted so bad that you went to special lengths to get it, and we know how intelligence agencies pay attention to breaks in patterns.” Macrina hadn’t heard about the CUNY Graduate Center initiative, but said it was a relief to her. “It’s taken a little too long but I’m really glad to see it’s happening somewhere.”
Libraries continue to develop ways to keep patron privacy at the forefront of the services they provide, including material accessed through library computers. Macrina’s group encourages libraries to operate “exit nodes” that aid the operation of difficult-to-trace web browser Tor – the Department of Homeland Security attempted to enlist the help of local law enforcement to shut down the project at a New Hampshire library last year, but was thwarted."

Monday, April 13, 2015

Drive-by data: Motorists deserve limits on plate camera collection; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/13/15

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Drive-by data: Motorists deserve limits on plate camera collection:
"Seventy percent of law-enforcement agencies now have license-plate cameras, and they have an impressive track record on everything from recovering stolen cars to tracking down motorists who endanger others by blowing through red lights. Even the American Civil Liberties Union concedes that they’re useful and legal.
But what happens after the data is collected raises legitimate privacy concerns. Motorists deserve to know what kind of information is collected, who can see it and how long it is retained. Every law enforcement agency with license-plate readers should have a detailed policy, publicly shared."