A new twist.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080122111246656

Three accused in credit card ring that robbed $70,000; Police say muggings and hospital data enabled identity theft

Tuesday, January 22 2008 @ 11:12 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

... What investigators didn't see coming was the link to the Bloods street gang, with gang members suspected of committing strong-arm robberies in Elizabeth, not so much for their victims' cash, but for the bank cards and identification in their wallets that make credit card fraud so much easier, said Mountainside Police Capt. Richard Osieja.

... The list of victims runs the gamut from unsuspecting patients seeking emergency care at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson to an older couple out to dinner at a Westfield diner, to major brokerage houses like E*Trade and Merrill Lynch. And the toll continues to mount -- $70,000 at last tally and likely to double before the investigation is over, said Mountainside Detective Jeffrey Stinner.

... In addition to Tortorello, police charged Samuel Jacobs, who worked at the Passaic County hospital, with keeping Polo supplied with names and vital information, such as credit card and Social Security numbers.

... Investigators have still not been able to locate all of the victims, Stinner said, adding that he is hoping patients from St. Joseph's will review their credit card bills and contact police if they see anything questionable. Polo got their identities from Jacobs, 27, who would photocopy patient information sheets -- police discovered 30 at the house -- and then turn them over to Polo, usually in return for about $150 a batch, Stinner said.

Source - NJ.com

Always interesting...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080122133909139

Ca: The Role of Identity in Society and the Privacy Issues Related to Identity: A Discussion Paper

Tuesday, January 22 2008 @ 01:39 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Non-U.S. News

Identity issues are poorly understood by all but a relatively small community of experts, and this is having an impact on how Canadians react to proposals for increased security measures, notes Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

... Today the Commissioner released Identity, Privacy and the Need of Others to Know Who You Are, a discussion paper that hopes to inform Canadians about the role of identity in society and the privacy issues related to identity.

Source - Canada News Centre

If they can search, can they make a copy to search later?

http://techdirt.com/articles/20080122/005904.shtml

Police Officers Can Search Your iPhone Following Arrest For A Traffic Violation

from the fourth-amendment dept

Adam Gershowitz writes "I am a criminal law professor from Houston, Texas and I have recently finished an article about the ability of police officers to search the contents of a person's iPhone at a traffic stop. In brief, under what is referred to as the "search incident to arrest doctrine," police can search through any container found on the body of a person who has been arrested. It does not matter that the arrest was for running a stop sign, or speeding, or some other seemingly minor traffic infraction. Regardless of the reason for the arrest, police can search through every container on the person's body, even if the police have no suspicion that there is anything illegal in it. A few courts have concluded that this doctrine permits police to search text messages found on cell phones. My article explores the circumstances under which police can now search not only text messages, but also the email, pictures, movies, calendar entries, and internet browsing history found on iPhones and similar devices -- even if the police have no suspicion that there is anything illegal on the iPhone. In short, the article explores ways in which the police can search through the thousands of pages of data on individuals' wireless technology even if there is no probable cause or other suspicion of illegal activity."

e-Discovery California has a bad idea? How unusual!

http://ralphlosey.wordpress.com/

California Proposes e-Discovery Laws that Governor Schwarzenegger will want to Terminate

January 21, 2008

New e-discovery rules have been proposed in California that are unfair because they do not adequately protect litigants from requests for inaccessible data. The proposal reverses the balance of Federal Rule 26(b)(2)(B), and thereby opens the door for unreasonable, expensive e-discovery.

If you think about it, this is exactly what the airline systems have been doing for years – changing their prices based on demand. Econ101 Why is this patentable?

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/22/1828245&from=rss

IBM Patents Pricing Motorists Off Highways

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 22, @02:03PM from the prior-art-stuck-at-the-tollbooth dept. Patents IBM

theodp writes "Self-professed patent reformer IBM snagged a patent Tuesday for the Variable Rate Toll System, which covers the rather anti-egalitarian scheme of pricing motorists off of the roads by raising tolls as congestion increases. 'Congestion pricing of traffic is emerging as a completely new services market for IBM,' boasted Jamie Houghton, IBM's Global Leader for Road Charging."