...and people wonder why CEOs get the big bucks.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220173857527
TJX reports soaring profits one year after breach disclosure
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 05:38 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches
TJX on Wednesday reported a 47 percent spike in quarterly profits, aided by a reduction in the reserve that was created to pay for costs associated with the retailer's record breach. [The pittance they had set aside was more than they actually needed. Bob]
The Framingham, Mass.-based company said its profit for the quarter ending Jan. 26 rose to $301 million, or 66 cents per share, from $206 million, or 43 cents per share, over the same quarter one year ago.
Source - SC Magazine
If they don't know where the data is being stolen, this could be a tough nut to crack...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220232218781
MS: Debit Card Scam Grows To 260 Victims...Still No Solid Leads
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 11:22 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches
DeSoto County investigators have been working to solve a debit card scam for four months. As of right now, they've got more than 260 victims in DeSoto County alone and they're no closer to finding who's responsible.
Some victims had every dime stolen from their bank accounts in just a few days.
"We're still having as many as 3 to 4 [victims] come in a day," said Commander Mark Blackson of the DeSoto County Sheriff's Dept.
Every day he comes into work there are more victims with the same story.
"I've just been contacted by my bank, my credit card, they're saying there are fraudulent charges, from Naples Florida or Miami or Austin, Texas," he said.
Source - WREG
Perhaps if they change to criminalizing “receiving un-taxed goods”
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9875342-38.html
Supreme Court strikes down law targeting online cigarette sales
Posted by Declan McCullagh February 20, 2008 12:02 PM PST
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a Maine law that slapped severe restrictions on sales of cigarettes via mail order and the Internet.
In their opinion (PDF) on Wednesday, the justices said a 1994 federal law trumped the Maine statute restricting sales and shipments of tobacco.
The argument is that the laptop is a “container.” My question is, what are you looking for and how will you recognize it? Will a “Happy Hanuka” e-mail, written in “one a them fur'in languages” result in a cavity search?
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220135641451
Searching Laptops at the Border and In Airports: A Disturbing Practice That Imperils Fourth and First Amendment Rights
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 01:56 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Fed. Govt.
FindLaw columnist and National University of Ireland - Galway visiting law professor Anita Ramasastry discusses the First and Fourth Amendment issues raises by U.S. government searches of laptops and other electronic devices at international borders and international airports. Ramasastry discusses the recent suit by two public interest groups to enforce a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to disclose government policy regarding this category of searches. She also covers the handful of federal cases, in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, that have taken on the First and Fourth Amendment issues involved when laptops are searched.
Source - FindLaw's Writ
If they are selling data they collected from public sources, what makes it illegal?
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220125814528
Nixon sues Web site operator for offering sensitive consumer data
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 12:58 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: In the Courts
Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is suing a Texas Web site operator in Jackson County Circuit Court for running a site that aggregates consumer data, in some cases including sensitive information including Social Security numbers and physical descriptions.
Nixon claimed that paying users of www.publicdata.com can access wide-ranging personal information, which can [not “Must” Bob] turn into a treasure trove for criminals.
"This Web site is a gold mine for identity thieves and needs to be shut down as soon as possible to protect the privacy of Missourians," Nixon said in a written statement Wednesday. "My office has already seen proof of how this site can be used to destroy the credit of innocent consumers in at least one prominent identity theft case."
Source - Kansas City Business Journal
Looking for that warm, fuzzy feeling? Look elsewhere!
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220142247100
Federal Government to American Public: our data is DEFINITELY not safe
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 02:22 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches
The number of security breaches on government computers has quadrupled in the last 2 years – from just over 3,500 in fiscal 2005 to just over 13,000 in fiscal 2007.
Maybe that’s because government computer security isn’t getting any better: a new report (PDF) from the GAO has the snappy title: “Information Security: Although Progress Reported, Federal Agencies Need to Resolve Significant Deficiencies.” It notes that in virtually all cases, federal computer systems have significant security holes.
Source - The Snitch blog
This suggests the (Canadian) government shouldn't have collected the data in the first place. Something that would never happen in the US...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220160848791
Ca: Privacy watchdog orders pawnshop database destroyed
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 04:08 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Non-U.S. News
Alberta's privacy commissioner has ordered the city of Edmonton and city police to stop collecting personal information from pawn shops and second-hand stores.
Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work has also ordered that a database established to store the information be destroyed.
Source - Edmonton Journal
Of course, the government is not the only one gathering information into databases (right TJX?)
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220211406858
Ca: Alberta Commissioner forbids license scanning
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 09:14 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Non-U.S. News
In a long awaited decision, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has ordered a nightclub to cease scanning drivers licenses. The practice is an unreasonable collection of personal information [Does that phrase appear anywhere in US law? Bob] and is not justified under the Personal Information Protection Act.
From the decision [pdf], the Commissioner didn't see the connection between the collection of drivers license information and the supposed purposes for collecting it:
Source - Canadian Privacy Law Blog
Microsoft is already doing this, so naturally Google had to compete... (Also see next article)
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080221045008912
Google to Store Patients' Health Records
Thursday, February 21 2008 @ 04:50 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Medical Privacy
Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader.
The pilot project to be announced Thursday will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public.
Source - Associated Press
...and nothing could go wrong...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080220204909187
Privacy group sounds alarms over personal health records systems
Wednesday, February 20 2008 @ 08:49 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Medical Privacy
In some cases, people whose health care information is stored in online personal health records (PHR) systems may be exposed to serious data privacy risks, according to a warning issued by a privacy advocacy group.
That's because not all PHR systems are covered by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the World Privacy Forum said in a 16-page report released today (download PDF). The WPF contended that as a result, many of the privacy protections offered under the HIPAA statute don't apply to the personal health care data being maintained in such systems.
Source - Cpmputerworld
Another way to play with Linux
andLinux.org
andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista [32-bit only]).
... andLinux is not just for development and runs almost all Linux applications without modification.
For you early adapters... (Or those who want to get into the conversion business)
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/20/197208&from=rss
How to Convert Your HD-DVD Discs to Blu-Ray
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday February 20, @03:58PM from the but-what-about-how-to-do-it-on-linux dept. Media Hardware
eldavojohn writes
"Are you one of the few who boarded the HD-DVD Titanic ship headed to the bottom of ocean to join BetaMax? Fret no longer, friend, simply convert those and pretend like you never invested in the wrong technology! All you need is a Windows machine with a fast processor, an HD-DVD drive, a Blu-Ray burner, 30GB of free disk space, at least, though 40GB or more is recommended and an internet connection to download the software! Or you can sit and be the crazy guy who continues to argue that HD-DVD is the superior technology whether it's true or not."
Someone should find this useful... Shouldn't they?
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/PLoLorg---The-Law-Library/
PLoL.org - The Law Library
If you work with the law study it or find it interesting you should visit PLoL.org . PLoL, The Public Library of Law is a search engine that helps users find the law research materials they need. At PLoL.org you can search for Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, from all 50 states, federal statutory law and codes. At PLoL.org you can search through: regulations, court rules, constitutions, legal forms, and more. When searching for information you can choose the state you are looking for as well. There is also an advanced options filter that allows you to choose start and end dates. You can also choose the Jurisdiction for the State Supreme and Appeals Court as well as the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Courts. PLoL.org makes it easy for you to find the information you are looking for. Searching for cases on general search engines can prove to be difficult, PLoL.org makes it easy.
http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx
...and if one was interesting...
Explosion of New Free Legal Databases
Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu | February 18, 2008 - 11:48
It's great to snuggle down for an evening with the classics...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080220/ap_en_tv/tv_vintage_reruns_2
Look for 'Kojak,' 'Vice,' others online
Wed Feb 20, 7:25 AM ET
LOS ANGELES - "The A-Team," "Kojak" and other blasts from television's past will be streamed online, NBC Universal said Tuesday.
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