Sunday, November 25, 2007

This data spill has resulted in MANY stories of similar events. Perhaps it will cause a re-think of the government's surveillance/database plans? Naaaah...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071124194032405

(follow-up) Tories urge ministers to ditch new child database over safety concerns as six more disks go missing

Saturday, November 24 2007 @ 07:40 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Ministers are facing calls to ditch a planned government database containing details of every child in England, amid escalating fears over data security following the catastrophic loss of personal data from HMRC.

[...]HMRC staff have begun to go public with concerns about levels of data security. Also, union officials claimed at least 50 staff are disciplined or dismissed every year for "misuse of data". The agency logs hundreds of fraudulent attempts to extract personal information over its telephone helplines.

Source - The Independent


One example of the expanding “this happens all the time” type of story...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071124092943666

UK: Tesco online store 'is infiltrated by insider card fraudster'

Saturday, November 24 2007 @ 09:29 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Customers shopping at Britain's biggest Internet store – Tesco Direct – are feared to have had their card details stolen by a company insider.

The Information Commissioner and the police are investigating following evidence that the store's online shopping call centre has been infiltrated by a fraudster.

The security breach is allegedly linked to a worker who handled phone orders for items advertised on the Tesco Direct website and the related store catalogue.

[...]The problems at Tesco may be the 'tip of the iceberg', according to Nigel Evans MP.

Fears have been growing that criminal gangs are targeting call centres in Britain and India to steal customer information.

The vetting of some 1.1million poorly-paid workers serving British consumers from the call centres is haphazard, without any legal requirement to conduct criminal records checks.

A Tesco call centre worker – a man from Ghana who is in the UK on a temporary working visa – has been arrested by South Wales police.

Source - ThisIsLondon



http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071124092458993

(follow-up) Visa fines Ohio bank in TJX data breach

Saturday, November 24 2007 @ 09:24 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Fifth Third Bancorp, the Ohio bank that was fined $880,000 by Visa for its role in the customer data security breach at TJX Cos., the largest ever, also paid fines and compensation totaling $1.4 million following the loss of data from BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. several years ago, a court filing shows.

[...]Technically, Visa and MasterCard can't fine merchants directly but rather levy penalties on banks the merchants pay to process transactions when customers pay with plastic.

The arrangement creates tensions because it means card networks aren't directly responsible for security, said Michael Gavin, a strategist for Security Innovation in Wilmington who audits companies to be sure they comply with the standards. "When you pass the responsibility on to them, it's kind of like playing telephone," Gavin said.

Source - Boston Globe

[From the article:

That Fifth Third was previously fined suggests the bank should have known better than to tolerate the issues at TJX, Gavin said. "Fifth Third is definitely guilty of not requiring its merchants" to meet current security standards, he said, "and it has no excuse other than it was willing to accept the risk that any of them might suffer a data breach." [So, where does “accept the risk” stop? Will they pay back the card issuers? Make identity theft victims whole? Bob]



I don't see this as limited to Libraries...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/016631.html

November 24, 2007

Presentation: Reinventing the Law Library Year is 2020

Reinventing the Law Library Year is 2020, NE2007: Law Libraries Without Borders II: 4th Northeast Regional Law Libraries Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Claire M. Germain, Professor of Law & Edward Cornell Law Librarian, Cornell University Law School, October 19, 2007.



Also useful for my web site class...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/016630.html

November 24, 2007

ABA Legal Technology Resource Center - Web Accessibility

"As much of the daily practice of law moves to web-based technologies, it is increasingly important that all members of the legal community -- lawyers and non-lawyers alike -- understand the need for websites that are accessible to all audiences. Efforts to ensure that websites are accessible to disabled persons, simply referred to as "web accessibility," allow people with disabilities to perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the web. In doing so, they promote full and open access to the legal profession -- a longstanding ABA goal. To help you better understand web accessibility and how it can be implemented by your firm or organization, we've collected the[se] useful resources..."



...and Police are more likely to use “non-lethal” force...

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/24/2324212&from=rss

UN Says Tasers Are a Form of Torture

Journal written by Jeremiah Cornelius (137) and posted by kdawson on Saturday November 24, @08:58PM from the just-don't-bro dept.

The use of Tasers "causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture," the UN's Committee Against Torture said. "In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events." Three men — all in their early 20s — died from after tasering in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being tasered by Canadian police. There have been 17 deaths in Canada following the use of Tasers since they were approved for use, and 275 deaths in the US. "According to Amnesty International, coroners have listed the Taser jolt as a contributing factor in more than 30 of those deaths."



Stuff I have to try one of these days...

Hugin

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

Can't quite capture that majestic panoramic view with a tiny 3.5" by 5" photo? Take several photos and stitch them together with a free downloadable software program called Hugin.

WWITV

http://wwitv.com/

Ever wanted to watch news reports from Fiji? Or sports broadcasts from Latvia? WWITV streams more than 2,600 TV channels from more than 100 countries, sorted by country or genre.

[Includes lots of US stations: USA (loc. CO-HI) 95 USA (loc. ID-MA) 90 USA (loc. MI-NY) 98 USA (loc. NC-TN) 96 USA (loc. TX-WY) 99 USA [a-l] 94 USA [m-z] 66

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