No mention of encryption. No reason why this data wasn't transferred electronically (taking minutes rather than days).

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071220120822163

NY: Dormitory Authority loses worker data

Thursday, December 20 2007 @ 12:08 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Almost 800 state employees are wondering if their information has slipped into the wrong hands.

The state Dormitory Authority is trying to find five computer tapes containing the social security numbers, birth dates and other personal information of the employees.

The tapes were sent from Albany by overnight delivery on Monday to the state authority's office in Manhattan. When the package was arrived, it was empty.

Source - WNYT

Always inventive – seldom thoughtful. (They do encrypt the data, God Bless Them!)

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071220115305263

(follow-up) Computer stolen from service center

Thursday, December 20 2007 @ 11:53 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles is notifying 155 customers that their personal information may have been on a computer stolen from a mobile service center vehicle while it was being repaired.

Both the DMV and the State Police have begun investigations into the recovery of the stolen equipment.

Authorities say the personal data on the computer included name, address, date of birth, license number, photo and signature. It is unlikely that the data could be accessed due to a number of security features, including a software program that triggers a deletion of the data when the computer is turned on. [Suggesting that state workers never turned their computers on? Bob]

Source - ABC

Well, you learn something new every day...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071220180151591

SC: School Employees' Personal Data Stolen

Thursday, December 20 2007 @ 06:01 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Hundreds of current and former Greenville County School District employees had personal information stolen from computers accessing state insurance information, prompting an investigation by federal Homeland Security officials.

The district notified employees last week that the computers had been compromised and that employees' personal information was taken, including their names, home phone numbers and Social Security numbers.

Homeland Security said that school employees were among several governmental agencies across the state whose employees were hit by data thieves.

Source - WYFF

Related - letter sent to employees

[From the article:

According to a release, the school district says it was informed about the security breach by state information security officials, who learned of it from the Department of Homeland Security, which monitors government computers for suspicious activity.

“Hey, we could have asked for a spinal tap and one of your kidneys...” (Or we could use your refusal as proof.)

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071221070423147

TX: Blood to be drawn from DWI suspects

Friday, December 21 2007 @ 07:04 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: State/Local Govt.

El Paso police will use search warrants to get blood samples from suspected drunken drivers who refuse breath tests in a controversial pilot program that begins tonight.

The temporary "no-refusal program" is patterned after similar efforts in a few other Texas cities, including Houston, where it has raised invasion-of-privacy issues. It has immediately compelled constitutional questions in El Paso.

Source - El Paso Times

...soon it will be built into every Craftsman tool and every Kenmore appliance! Did they learn this from Sony?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20071220/164410.shtml

Sears.com: Join Our Community... So We Can Spy On Your Every Online Move

from the ouch dept

Rich Kulawiec writes in to let us know that Sears.com and Kmart.com (owned by Sears) have been inviting visitors to those sites to "join our community." However, rather than joining any actual community, what you appear to be doing is installing spyware that reports on your every move online. It's actually a trick to get you to install Comscore's tracking app. Comscore has been accused in the past of distributing spyware surreptitiously, which the company vehemently denies -- but it's hard to see how this is above board. It's certainly worse than Facebook's Beacon fiasco. What happens is that you are asked if you want to "join the community," and then, without clearly explaining what the software does, Comscore's tracking software is installed. After that, all of your online activities -- including to "secure" sites like banking sites -- is sent directly to Comscore, despite Sears' website insisting that none of the data you share will go to anyone but Sears. As for the "community," it doesn't seem like there is one. The security researcher who signed up for the community says that once the software is installed, there's no obvious indicator that it's installed or running -- and he received no "communications" from the so-called community whatsoever. Basically, it sounds like it's just a trick to get you to install this tracking software while hoping you'll forget about it.

How else will politicians know which second class citizens to call, email, text, and otherwise annoy? Perhaps we should form the “Don't bother me” Party?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071221065529892

WA: An inappropriate invasion of voters' right to privacy (commentary)

Friday, December 21 2007 @ 06:55 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: State/Local Govt.

Many Washington voters will be shocked and offended to learn that their private votes will not be counted in the Feb. 19 presidential primary unless they make a "political party declaration." That declaration will be provided to the political parties and will be publicly available under the state public records act.

Under our populist traditions, a voter previously could make a primary-election choice for president in the privacy of the voter's booth, confident that the vote would be counted and the privacy of his or her party selection would be protected.

Source - Seattle Times

But don't we want to be famous? Where is the rulebook here?

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-12/st_thompson

Clive Thompson on the Age of Microcelebrity: Why Everyone's a Little Brad Pitt

By Clive Thompson Email 11.27.07 | 12:00 AM

... Microcelebrity is the phenomenon of being extremely well known not to millions but to a small group — a thousand people, or maybe only a few dozen. As DIY media reach ever deeper into our lives, it's happening to more and more of us. Got a Facebook account? A whackload of pictures on Flickr? Odds are there are complete strangers who know about you — and maybe even talk about you.

... Some of the newly microfamous aren't very happy about all the attention. Blog pioneer Dave Winer has found his idle industry-conference chitchat so frequently live-blogged that he now feels "like a presidential candidate" and worries about making off-the-cuff remarks. Some pundits fret that microcelebrity will soon force everyone to write blog posts and even talk in the bland, focus-grouped cadences of Hillary Clinton (minus the cackle).

... In essence, I'm sending out press releases. Adapting to microcelebrity means learning to manage our own identity and "message" almost like a self-contained public relations department. "People are using the same techniques employed on Madison Avenue to manage their personal lives," says Theresa Senft, a media studies professor and one of the first to identify the rise of microcelebrity. "Corporations are getting humanized, and humans are getting corporatized."

Why passwords are never enough.

http://digg.com/microsoft/How_to_Retrieve_a_Lost_Windows_Password_5

How to Retrieve a Lost Windows Password watch!

5min.com — Offers hope for my XP-Pro notebook I haven't used in months and can't remember my login. What a dummy. Talk about secure. They say: "Even though it can be difficult to retrieve a lost password, it can be done"

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Retrieve-a-Lost-Windows-Password-4512

Probably won't replace the Oscars, but amusing.

http://www2.csoonline.com/exclusives/column.html?CID=33394

Privacy: The Worst Quotes of the Year

From massive data breaches to insidious new ways to deliver ads online, we found plenty of privacy lowlights in 2007. So many, in fact, that we’re introducing a new award. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2007 Privvy Awards for outstanding quotability regarding privacy.

By Scott Berinato

Doesn't free speech mean we are free to laugh at what you say?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20071220/010156.shtml

Judge Points Out That Lawyer Ranking Site Is Free Speech... Even If It's Dumb

from the that-whole-free-speech-thing dept

Earlier this year, we wrote about a new website, Avvo, that had created an algorithm to try to "rank" lawyers based on quality. It should come as no surprise, of course, that some lawyers (e.g., the low-ranked ones) weren't particularly pleased with such a system and some of them got together to sue the site as a class action suit -- on behalf of poorly ranked lawyers around the world. While you can certainly understand why lawyers would be upset at such a site, just because you're upset about something doesn't make it illegal. And, just as judges have repeatedly pointed out that things like Google's search rankings are protected free speech as opinions, a judge has dismissed the lawsuit against Avvo, noting that the rankings are merely opinions and that's protected free speech. That's not to say that the judge thinks Avvo is particularly useful. In fact, he points out how ridiculous the rankings are -- but that doesn't mean they're illegal. Chalk one up for free speech online.