We
keep asking the same questions. What data do we own? What data does
a company generate about us? Time for some broad answers.
Are
Historical Cell-Site Data Protected Under the Fourth Amendment After
United States v.
Jones?
March 5, 2012 by Dissent
Orin Kerr writes:
No, concludes Judge Bennett in United
States v. Graham (District of Maryland, March 1, 2012).
Judge Bennett concludes that historical cell-site records are not
protected because they fall under the third-party doctrine:
Like the bank records at issue in
[United States v.] Miller, the historical cell site location records
in this case are not the ‘private papers’ of the
Defendants—instead, they are the ‘business records’ of the
cellular providers. Federal law does not mandate that cellular
providers create or maintain this type of data,11 and even courts
that have concluded that government acquisition of cumulative cell
site location records can violate the Fourth Amendment generally
acknowledge that these records are ‘generated in the ordinary
course of the provider‘s business.’ In re Application of the
United States, 747 F. Supp. 2d 827, 841 (S.D. Tex. 2010) (Smith, Mag.
J.), appeal docketed, No. 11-20554 (5th Cir. Dec. 14, 2011).
Moreover, insofar as historical cell site records are created and
maintained by the cellular providers, individual customers do not
generally have access to those records, and could not be expected to
produce them in response to a subpoena. Under the reasoning of
Miller, therefore, historical cell site location records are the
provider‘s business records, and are not protected by the Fourth
Amendment.
Read more on The
Volokh Conspiracy.
(Related)
German
Federal Constitutional Court Restricts Access to User Data for Law
Enforcement Purposes
March 5, 2012 by Dissent
On February 24,
2012, the German Federal Constitutional Court
(Bundesverfassungsgericht) ruled
that certain provisions in the Federal Telecommunications Act
concerning the disclosure of telecom user data to law enforcement
agencies violate the German constitution. The Court held that strict
conditions apply when law enforcement authorities and intelligence
agencies ask telecommunications service providers (which may include
hospitals and hotels) to turn over certain user data, i.e. passwords
and PIN codes.
Read more on Hunton & Williams
Privacy
and Information Security Law Blog
Scary legal issues (if you are a cable
company?) Also, A project for my Ethical Hackers: Make me a
stand-alone TV grabber for my home network...
Aereo
Actually Has A Shot At Beating The Broadcast Networks
If you aren’t paying attention to the
unfolding Aereo case, you should be. It will have
industry-changing consequences — if not
now, in the not-so-distant future. Why? For those unfamiliar, Aereo
is a New York City-based startup that, at a rate of $12 a month,
promises to stream over 20 channels of local, broadcast television to
consumers in the New York area.
As to how this works? Aereo
essentially
uses arrays of tiny TV antennas to capture broadcasts over the
public airwaves (most networks have been forced by standards to
update to high-def) and then transmits the signal to customers, who
can rent out their own individual (tiny!) antennas. Of course, that
signal is limited, as users are only able to stream one broadcast
channel at a time. But, that signal comes streaming over the Web —
straight to you — on any of your web-enabled
devices.
Just out of curiosity, who is in charge
of ensuring that advertising has a grain of truth? Is “Unlimited”
a trademark rather than a promise? Is this an “open & shut”
Class Action suit?
"Several months ago, AT&T
notified customers that it would begin throttling network speeds for
users who exceeded a certain threshold, with the definitive throttle
point defined as an imprecise
"the top 5% of mobile data users." The company has issued
a statement clarifying this policy after irate customers with
unlimited data plans demanded to know what the cap was and how the
company determined who should and shouldn't be throttled. The magic
number is 3GB, which conveniently happens to be the maximum
amount of tiered bandwidth AT&T will sell you. So why would AT&T
want unlimited users to move to tiered pricing when its maximum tier
is also set at 3GB? Simple — the amount of money the company makes
on customers who exceed that 3GB limit. The fine print reads: 'If
3GB is exceeded, an additional 1 GB is automatically provided at a
rate of $10 for each additional 1 GB.' Anyone using above 3GB on an
unlimited plan is a customer who isn't paying enough for the
privilege (from AT&T's perspective)."
Are you (is anyone) ready for Work 3.0?
Work
3.0: How The Employment Model Needs to Change
With the economy still struggling to
recover, key indicators of economic performance are largely focused
on traditional employment — we are fixated on how many people have
managed to find on-site, single-employer jobs. But is this an
outdated perspective?
Columbia Business School professor Rita
McGrath would say so. In
a recent blog post for Harvard Business Review, McGrath questions
the pervasive assumption that “regular” employment is always the
most stable and desirable. She writes,
“Many of the
assumptions about society that we take for granted are based on the
notion that relatively stable employment relationships are the norm.
When will our thinking catch up with the new reality?”
The new employment model is here: Work
3.0. In it, work is on demand, virtual and remote
— and it is just getting started.
… In the Work
3.0 model, people are no longer limited to the jobs available within
commuting distance.
… A
recent survey from Harris Interactive found that U.S. workers
would make serious sacrifices to be able to telecommute — 34% would
give up social media, 25% would give up their smartphones, 17% would
give up a raise and a remarkable 5% would even give up their spouses.
Online work continues to grow by 70
percent year over year, and the technology that supports it continues
to improve. In 2012, it is predicted that more than 6 million online
jobs will be posted, representing more than $1 billion of work
performed via the Web.
A question for my Ethical Hackers to
consider. We need a paper on this topic since it is increasingly
arising, as is the reciprocal, bringing your personal devices to the
workplace. The Comments section provides some interesting ideas..
"I'm starting a new job soon,
and I will be issued a work laptop. For obvious reasons I cannot
name any names, but I can state that I do expect my employer to have
tracking software on the laptop, and I expect to not be the
administrator on the device. That being said, I am not the kind of
person who can just 'not browse the internet.' If I ever have to
travel with this laptop, I may want to read an ebook or watch a movie
or maybe even play a game. I can make an image of the drive, then
wipe the machine, and restore it back to its former state if I ever
have to return it. I can use portable apps off a usb key and browse
in private mode. The machine will be encrypted, but I can also make
myself my own little encrypted folder or partition perhaps. Are
there any other precautions I could or should take?"
(Related)
RSAC
2012: BYOD isn’t coming – it’s here and you can’t stop it
Bring Your Own Device –
it’s a seemingly spooky term that was repeated across the show
floor last week during the RSA Conference in San Francisco. It boils
down to the fact that employees are using their own devices on the
corporate network and IT administrators and business leaders have to
prepare.
The thing about it is -
there’s nothing to prepare for. It’s already happened, and the
BYOD phenomenon as it is being promoted has been around for years.
… Connecting that to
the IT world, a Web study from ESET noted that 80-percent of the
employed adults who took part said they use some king of personally
owned device for work.
Nothing
similar in the US? Sounds too useful not to happen here.
March 04, 2012
Open
Access Publishing in European Networks
"OAPEN
(Open Access Publishing in European Networks) is a collaborative
initiative to develop and implement a sustainable Open Access
publication model for academic books in the Humanities and Social
Sciences. The OAPEN Library aims to improve the visibility and
usability of high quality academic research by aggregating peer
reviewed Open Access publications from across Europe."
This is for my Math students... (I
happily grab any simple explanation)
There is no denying that YouTube or
Vimeo have millions of videos about every topic, but this gigantic
size often makes it very complex for people to find the right stuff.
WatchKnowLearn solves this problem for at least the educational
videos by organizing thousands of videos into their specific
categories and sub-categories (up to 4 levels).
… Currently, WatchKnowLearn has
over 30,000 videos covering all areas ranging from science and nature
to arts, literature and technology. Using WatchKnowLearn, you can
also search other sites like YouTube, SchoolTube, GoogleVideo and
TeacherTube.
Useful
Ebook
Database
On
eBookDatabase.net you can search for all kind of ebooks just by
supplying the names of their authors or their titles, and you can do
that completely free of charge. You can find both old and new books
on this site, and supported file formats include everything from
.DOC, .PDF and .XLS to .PPT and .RTF.
Just
a random quote:
"Therefore a wise prince ought to adopt such a
course that his citizens will always in every sort and kind of
circumstance have need of the state and of him, and then he will
always find them faithful. "
But
then, Niccolo Machiavelli believed all power rested with the head of
state. Still this isn't about “Big Government” this is about
dependance...
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