It has been so long since we had a good sized (tens of thousands) identity theft, I was beginning to think people were becoming honest! (Quick, smelling salts/CPR for all the lawyers!)
http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/342336.php?contentType=4&contentId=402122
Laptops Stolen From Chicago Public Schools HQ
Posted: Saturday, 07 April 2007 9:04AM
CHICAGO, Ill. (AP) -- Two laptop computers stolen from Chicago Public Schools headquarters Friday contain the names and Social Security numbers of about 40,000 current and former employees, officials said.
The theft occurred at the district’s downtown offices about noon, and a suspect's image was captured by surveillance video, CPS said in a statement. No one was in custody late Friday and a Chicago police spokesman said he had no information on the theft.
The computers belong to McGladrey and Pullen and its subcontractor — accounting firms that were reviewing the history of payments to the CPS Teacher Pension Fund, the release said. Therefore they contain the names and Social Security numbers of any current and former CPS employees who contributed to the system's Teacher Pension Fund from 2003 to 2006. That includes teachers, principals and assistant principals, the statement said. The laptops do not contain addresses or birth dates.
"We have no reason to believe the person knew what information is on there," [Fair statement. Bob] District spokesman Michael Vaughn told the Chicago Tribune. He said the files containing personal information are password-protected. [Wishful thinking Bob]
The school system, the nation's third-largest, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or the recovery of the computers. [You don't often see that... Bob]
CPS planned to e-mail all current employees about the thefts and to post information for former employees on its Web site: www.cps.k12.il.us.
[Note that the story on the school web site is hidden in plain sight (bottom third of the page, follows a link to another story, no headline) Clever! Bob]
Too long a delay?
Tuscaloosa-based DCH loses personal data on employees
4/6/2007, 11:32 a.m. CDT The Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Social Security numbers and other personal data on more than 6,000 employees and retirees of DCH Health System are missing after a consulting company lost a computer disk and documents containing the information.
The hospital system notified employees of the breach on Thursday. The loss could affect anyone on the payroll last year at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Northport Medical Center or Fayette Medical Center.
While the data has been missing since last month, DCH said it did not notify workers of the breach until it had in place a program to help protect against possible identity theft linked to the loss.
"We felt it was best if we could tell our employees of the issue and solution at the same time," said Brad Fisher, a DCH spokesman.
An encrypted disk and papers containing employees' personal identification information were lost in early March by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, the company that reviews DCH's pension plan to determine annual employer contribution requirements.
The pension documents had been mailed from Mercer's Birmingham offices on March 2, but disappeared after they reached their destination in Louisiana, where they had been sent to a Mercer employee.
However, Mercer did not notify DCH until March 22 that a package of documents containing retirement benefit information had disappeared. It was about a week before Mercer realized the package was missing, said Mercer spokesman Charles Salmans.
Tracking data indicated the package had been delivered properly, but the intended recipient never received it.
"It was sent without requiring the addressee to sign for it, which should not have happened," Salmans said. An investigation is still under way, he said.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
http://www.journal-news.net/news/articles.asp?articleID=8305
Workforce computer missing
By LAUREN HOUGH / Journal Staff Writer Saturday, April 07, 2007— Time:2:17:09 PMEST
MARTINSBURG — Additional security measures are being examined for the recently opened Workforce West Virginia Career Center after a laptop computer was taken from the facility during its first day of business.
... The missing laptop contained audit information pertaining to 107 employers in the five county region of Berkeley, Hampshire, Jefferson, Mineral and Morgan counties.
“It contained limited information about some, but not all, of the employees who worked or had worked for those employers,” Harbour said.
... He also noted that every person who walked through the front door was required to sign in, giving officials a list of names of those who would have had access to the computer. [A little wager anyone? Bob]
Searching for a data haven?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/014490.html
April 06, 2007
World Bank Developing Country-by-Country Database on Access Laws
Via Toby McIntosh, freedominfo.org: "The World Bank is well on its way to developing a country-by-country database "on various transparency and accountability institutions in developing countries...The new database, which may be posted online in a month or so, will summarize national laws on asset disclosure, conflict of interest, freedom of information, and immunity provisions. The Bank also has developed a set of "good practices" against which to measure country laws, according to information provided by Bank officials. The data-gathering effort now covers 78 countries, with an emphasis on developing countries. Of the 78, 53 are so-called IDA countries, a reference to the World Bank's International Development Association, the facility through which the Bank supports anti-poverty programs in the poorest developing countries with long-term, no interest loans."
...and the car's blackbox, and the GPS system, and that laptop in the back seat, and your PDA, and...
Consent to search car extended to looking at call history on cellphone
04/07/07 Permalink 09:22:11 am, by fourth Email
Discovery of an apparent hidden [is that an oxymoron? Bob] compartment justified making defendant follow the officer to a garage in a nearby city. Defendant's consent to search the vehicle extended to looking at the call history on his cellphone. Defendant conceded that it otherwise was a lawful accessing of the number under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. [Here there also was probable cause.] United States v. Espinoza, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25263 (D. Kan. April 3, 2007):
Similar to looking for all cell phones within a mile of the crime?
The problem with expanding DNA searches
They could locate not just convicted criminals but also relatives -- violating privacy.
By Jennifer Mnookin, JENNIFER MNOOKIN is a professor at UCLA's School of Law. April 5, 2007
IF YOU'RE CONVICTED of a felony (or in some states a misdemeanor), your DNA goes into a database. That information primarily helps in the pursuit of repeat offenders. But some people want to extend the reach of that data to find people who are only a partial match. It's a particularly personal form of a law enforcement fishing expedition.
The technique is called "familial searching," and it targets not only the convicted but their relatives as well.
Sometimes, when an investigator tries to match a crime scene sample to the several million profiles in, say, the FBI's database, no exact match turns up. But there might be someone whose DNA profile is unusually similar. [Definition? Both are (fill in ethnic group) Bob] If the partial match is sufficiently close, or if some of the genetic markers in the sample are sufficiently rare, it could mean that the crime scene sample was left by a close genetic relative of the person who is included in the DNA database.
... Is this a lead that any investigator would be crazy to ignore, or is it an encroachment on civil liberties?
The difficulty is that it is both. While mining the DNA database for clues is certainly tempting, it is a temptation we should resist. Fairness and privacy concerns require it.
Although Britain has been using familial searches for several years, it's just arriving in the United States.
... Many prosecutors, including those in California, are lobbying hard to be able to use the technique, and a 2006 article in Science argued that the use of such kinship analysis could increase the number of cases that were solved by up to 40%.
Government should control everything. People can't be trusted.
Missouri bill calls for crackdown on sale of ... baking soda
By Derek Kravitz POST-DISPATCH JEFFERSON CITY BUREAU 04/05/2007
JEFFERSON CITY — First, the state said you must make a special trip to the pharmacy counter to buy certain cold medicines. That was to curb production of methamphetamine.
Now, a St. Louis legislator wants you to do the same thing to buy an even more common household item — baking soda — because it's used to make crack cocaine.
Want to experiment with a photo editor?
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001646.php
Picnik Photo Editor
Free, web-based photo editing
I've seen many quick and dirty photo editing programs via web browser, but this Flash-based editor definitely takes the cake. Hands down, the ease of use is the best part. As you work, little windows pop up with explanations, but I've never needed them because of the usability.
... Picnik also has a bunch of "creative tools" (essentially "filters" in Photoshop). What's great is the ability to adjust most of these effects. Most online programs allow you only to simply set a photo to B&W or Sepia tone. This program allows for adjustments so that you can gradually set a color hue, or go crazy.
... One of the biggest selling points is how it integrates Picasa and Flickr. You can search and download photos from any public Flickr account seamlessly, and Picnik also allows you to email photos to sites like Photobucket, TypePad and even Walmart (Walmart's own online photo editing software is nothing compared to Picnik). Moreover, close Picnik and come back the next day: your image is cached. Picnik sends a cookie to your browser, so when you return, you can pick up right where you left off.
... The main cons here are that it seems you can only upload one photo at a time (which may just be part of the beta), and there's no selection "lasso" tool (as in Photoshop).
Picnik Photo Editor Free! Available here Created by Picnik, Inc.
Free is good! (So good, the site was swamped...)
http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Top_10_Best_Places_to_Get_Free_Books
Top 10 Best Places to Get Free Books
In our fast paced world of email, and RSS feeds, sometimes it ’s best to just slow down and read a good book…but if you’re unwilling to shell out big bucks for the latest bestseller - try out these great resources, and read to your hearts content!
http://www.friedbeef.com/2007/04/02/top-10-best-places-to-get-free-books-part-1/
[...more freebies from the comments:
Here's a nice site for free audiobooks: http://librivox.org/newcatalog/
...books that are freely available under the creative commons license. http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Books
I get all my books at http://www.anonib.com/bookchan/ [Looks like “Copyright Violators Inc.” Bob]
No comments:
Post a Comment