http://www.databreaches.net/?p=1901
OK: City loses disk of account info
March 1, 2009 by admin
Keith Purtell reports:
Officials at the city of Muskogee recently discovered that a computer “zip” disk containing personal information has been in public circulation since 2000.
The citizen who found the disk noticed the official city label and returned it.
Late Friday afternoon, the city issued a press release saying they had discovered a “possible breach [What would it take to make it “definite?” Bob] of utility billing information” on about 4,500 utility accounts that were closed prior to August 2000.
[...]
Although the disk contained Social Security numbers for some of the account holders, the press release said officials don’t believe the information has been used to harm anyone.
Read more in Muskogee Phoenix
Nigeria started to migrate from the mag-stripe (the US still uses) to a “smart chip” back in 2003. Will TJX and HPS sized breaches encourage the US to do the same?
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090301181357673
Ng: CBN orders banks to stop issuing magnetic stripe payment cards
Sunday, March 01 2009 @ 06:13 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered banks to Stop issuing magnetic stripe payment cards by April 1st 2009. A magnetic stripe payment card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. The magnetic stripe, sometimes called a magstripe, is read by physical contact and swiping past a reading head.
Source - Vanguard
I'm conflicted on this. One reason to carry concealed is for protection. Knowing that you might be armed should add to the deterrent factor.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2009030204195432
Gun Database Ignites Debate in Tennessee
Monday, March 02 2009 @ 04:19 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
A Memphis newspaper has posted a searchable database of Tennesseans with permits to carry concealed handguns, upsetting firearm owners and igniting a debate on whether such information should be publicly available.
Source - NY Times
[From the article:
The database allows people to search for those who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon by name, ZIP code or city. Mr. Peck said it is the most viewed item on the newspaper’s Web site, with more than 65,000 page views per day.
… Tennessee is one of 19 states that allow the public to have access to gun permit information, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. At least 21 states keep such information confidential.
A bill before the Arkansas Legislature would close to public view that state’s list of concealed weapon license holders.
Perhaps relying on your campaign supporters without considering the issues isn't the wisest of moves?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13739_3-10184578-46.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
White House ditches YouTube after privacy complaints
by Chris Soghoian March 2, 2009 6:00 AM PST
Responding to complaints by privacy activists, the White House has quietly abandoned YouTube as the provider of the embedded videos on the President's official home page. With the release of the most recent weekly video address, the White House has shifted to a Flash-based video solution using Akamai's content delivery network.
The White House's decision to move away from the Google-owned video sharing site will likely be met with praise by privacy activists, and could mark the beginning of a real backlash in response to Google's insatiable thirst for detailed data on the browsing habits of web surfers.
Ironically, the decision by the White House comes days after YouTube began to roll out new policies to better protect the privacy of visitors who view videos embedded into Federal government Web sites. The move by YouTube may prove to be too little, too late.
“They're our customers, we can abuse them if we want to!” Attention Class Action lawyers?
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/01/2120224&from=rss
Uproar Over Netflix's New Instant Viewer
Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @08:14PM from the one-way-beta dept. Movies Television
almechist writes
"Many Netflix customers are up in arms over the new instant-watch player powered by Microsoft's Silverlight. The official Netflix blog is full of complaints from users who decry not only the new player's quality but also the way it's being distributed, with many claiming they were deceived into downloading it. Once you opt for the new player, the old Windows Media based player won't function, not on any computer associated with the account. The new player is supposedly still beta, but NF members are strongly encouraged (some say tricked) by NF into the so-called 'upgrade,' which is permanent — there is no way to opt out. The marked decrease in video quality seen by those who have switched is perhaps not surprising, since the old player could utilize bit streams up to twice as fast as the new one, but this information is nowhere given out by NF. So far NF has been answering all complaints with variations on 'tough luck pal, you're stuck with it,' but many customers are so disgusted they're ready to cancel their NF membership. [and replace it with what? Lock-in is a bitch, ain't it. Bob] This could be a public relations disaster in the making for Netflix."
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch?
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/01/174249&from=rss
RIAA Sued For Fraud, Abuse, & "Sham Litigation"
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday March 01, @01:27PM from the chickens-coming-home-to-roost dept. The Courts
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes
"It's been a rough week for the RIAA as massive layoffs are about to cost many employees their job. On top of that, the anti-piracy outfit is being sued in North Carolina for abusing the legal system in its war on piracy, particularly for civil conspiracy, deceptive trade practices, trespassing and computer fraud in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Moursy. Named along with the record companies as defendants on the counterclaims are Safenet (formerly known as MediaSentry) and the RIAA. This case first started out as 'LaFace Records v. Does 1-38' until the court required the RIAA to break it up into 38 separate cases, at which point it morphed into 'SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Doe.' Only after the RIAA finally got its 'expedited' discovery did it become SONY v. Moursy. And from the looks of things, it has a long, long way to go. The RIAA hasn't even filed its answer to the counterclaims yet, but is making a motion to dismiss them on the grounds of legal insufficiency. Sound like a good investment of record company resources, anyone?"
Related? Is Microsoft's suit another example of “sham litigation” and does it rise to new anti-competitive heights when a “monopoly” does it?
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/01/2055239&from=rss
Analyzing Microsoft's Linux Lawsuit
Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @06:05PM from the does-this-suit-make-my-filesystem-look-fat dept. Patents Microsoft The Courts
jammag writes
"Open source advocate Bruce Perens takes a close look at Microsoft's lawsuit against TomTom (discussed here last week), which involves an implementation of the Linux kernel, and calls it essentially a paper tiger. He notes: 'the technologies claimed in the 8 patents involved are so old and obvious that it's fair to say they have a high "Duh!" factor. There's an anti-trust angle to this suit that could blow up in Microsoft's face. And there's a high probability that some or all of the patents involved are invalid, due to recent court decisions.' Although the legal expense for TomTom to defend itself in court could be astronomical — meaning they may be forced to settle — in Perens' view Microsoft is aware its case is weak, yet hopes for a PR victory at limited cost."
And reader nerdyH adds speculation from Open Innovation Network CEO Keith Bergelt that Redmond's action could be retaliation for TomTom's spurning a Microsoft acquisition bid in 2006.
Free (ad supported) phone calls. No doubt this signals the death of the telephone industry... (I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, but perhaps a competitor?) Bad for privacy, unless you use someone else's phone...
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/freevoiceline-com-the-free-call-revolution
FreeVoiceLine.com - The Free Call Revolution
http://www.freevoiceline.com/dialer.php
Freevoiceline.com makes calling someone a completely free process. The site itself is truly simple and straightforward, nothing complicated and no registration process. When you land on the site one of the first things you see are two fields where you must input your phone number for caller-id purposes and the number you wish to call. When you have done that, you simply press call.
There is, however, one small issue that deserves some special consideration. Every time you use this service you are giving them your telephone number, and by doing so you are also giving them a very qualified lead for several selling purposes. Everyone hates unsolicited marketing calls, however by using this service you are practically begging for them. You might be asking yourself why? And the answer is simple, their terms of service you agree to give them “free to use or disseminate such content on an unrestricted basis for any purpose” of the information you submit to the site. As well as this, you will have to listen to some advertising every time you start a call before it is actually connected.
Nothing’s really free in this world and this site is another example of it, but if you are willing to pay for your calls with advertising you receive, then this site is the place to go!
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