http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2008112705465369
Ca: Data taken, company says
Thursday, November 27 2008 @ 05:46 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
When Nick Belmonte left his $150,000-a-year job at C-W Agencies in Vancouver earlier this month, the owners of the company accused him of taking a computer backup tape containing names and information about 3.2 million customers, potentially worth more than $10 million.
The company said the tape also contained credit card and bank account information of more than 800,000 customers.
Although the information was in encrypted form, the tape contained information and programs to decrypt the data, according to a company executive.
Source - Vancouver Sun
[From the article:
"If the customer library data is sold, it could have a devastating effect on CW's business and that of CW's clients worldwide." [Not apparent from the security procedures used... Bob]
Have I reported this before – or only something similar? The Canadian Privacy Law Blog is worth looking at – lots of links to resources
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081126111316939
Porn complaint hits Waterbury library; Warrant requested before computer release
Wednesday, November 26 2008 @ 11:13 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
After receiving a complaint that a patron of the Silas Bronson Library had used a computer there to view child pornography on Tuesday, Library Director Emmett McSweeney would have happily turned the computer over to police for a forensic search.
Instead, he asked police to get a warrant.
McSweeney said he felt obliged to deny the investigating officer’s request for the computer Tuesday. Connecticut law is very clear that library patrons should expect their privacy will be protected, he said.
Source - RepublicanAmerican hat-tip, Canadian Privacy Law Blog
Another “guideline” -- perhaps people are starting to wake up? (Still can't come up with a short title...)
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081126172029814
Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) And the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) To Student Health Records
Wednesday, November 26 2008 @ 05:20 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
The purpose of this guidance is to explain the relationship between the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, and to address apparent confusion on the part of school administrators, health care professionals, and others as to how these two laws apply to records maintained on students. It also addresses certain disclosures that are allowed without consent or authorization under both laws, especially those related to health and safety emergency situations. While this guidance seeks to answer many questions that school officials and others have had about the intersection of these federal laws, ongoing discussions may cause more issues to emerge. Contact information for submitting additional questions or suggestions for purposes of informing future guidance is provided at the end of this document. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are committed to a continuing dialogue with school officials and other professionals on these important matters affecting the safety and security of our nation’s schools.
Source - Guidance [pdf, November 2008] hat-tip, AACRAO
Apparently many people are listening to Prof. Soma... (Note to self: Never argue markets with a PhD in Economics.)
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/26/1834217&from=rss
Houses With Tails
Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 26, @02:00PM from the how-about-with-roots? Dept. The Internet Networking United States
nnfiber writes
"What if home owners could also own their Internet connection? Tim Wu, of New America Foundation and Derek Slater, Google's Policy Analyst, say this can be a new effective way to encourage broadband deployment — an important issue in 'America's economic growth.' In his post, Timothy B. Lee says: 'That might sound like a crazy idea at first blush, but Wu and Slater do a great job of explaining how it might work. The key idea is "condominium fiber," an arrangement in which a number of neighboring households pool their resources to install fiber to all the homes in their neighborhoods. Once constructed, each home would own its own fiber strand, while the shared costs of maintaining the "trunk" cable from the individual homes to a central switching location would be managed in the same way that condominium and homeowners' associations currently manage the shared areas of condos and gated communities.
Crooks have “Disaster Recovery Plans” (Makes you wonder if they had “business interruption” insurance and other safeguards...)
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/26/1930226&from=rss
Massive Botnet Returns From the Dead To Spam On
Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 26, @03:07PM from the late-entry-for-hallowe'en dept. Spam Security The Internet
CWmike writes
"Gregg Keizer reports that the big spam-spewing Srizbi botnet, shut down two weeks ago when McColo was shuttered, has been resurrected and is again under the control of criminals, security researchers said today. As of late Tuesday, infected PCs were able to successfully reconnect with new command-and-control servers, which are now based in Estonia, said Fengmin Gong, chief security content officer at FireEye. The comeback confirms what researchers noted last week, that Srizbi had a fallback strategy. So, in the end, that strategy paid off for the criminals who control the botnet."
Research: An interesting concept, but not yet fully realized.
http://www.killerstartups.com/Search/evri-com-a-new-way-to-explore-connections
Evri.com - A New Way To Explore Connections
Evri is a new search tool that enables you to look up any person or item that interests you and see the different connections that it has with other people and concepts.
For instance, if you key in “Pete Townshend” you will be shown a diagram that links him not only with his bandmates but also to his latest romantic interest, Ms. Rachel Fuller. Moreover, you are presented with a mini-biography, a list of articles about him, and a full set off pictures.
Dang! Now my only shot is the “One dessert, many spoons” patent.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/26/1352257&from=rss
IBM's But-I-Only-Got-The-Soup Patent
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 26, @09:02AM from the next-they-patent-blue dept. Patents IBM
theodp writes
"In an Onion-worthy move, the USPTO has decided that IBM inventors deserve a patent for splitting a restaurant bill. Ending an 8+ year battle with the USPTO, self-anointed patent system savior IBM got a less-than-impressed USPTO Examiner's final rejection overruled in June and snagged US Patent No. 7,457,767 Tuesday for its Pay at the Table System. From the patent: 'Though US Pat. No. 5,933,812 to Meyer, et al. discussed previously provides for an entire table of patrons to pay the total bill using a credit card, including the gratuity, it does not provide an ability for the check to be split among the various patrons, and for those individual patrons to then pay their desired portion of the bill. This deficiency is addressed by the present invention.'"
I had the “Free Upgrade” concept built into my “lease a computer, cheap” business model. The math is simple. Expect others to follow. (Lock-in is good)
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/27/0114247&from=rss
Fujitsu Offers Free Laptop Upgrades For Life
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 27, @08:13AM from the one's-all-you-need dept. Portables Businesses
Barence writes
"Fujitsu Siemens is offering its customers free laptop upgrades for life with its Lifebook4Life scheme. Customers buying a Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook will be offered a free upgrade three years after their original purchase, and every subsequent three years for the rest of their life — as long as they purchase an extended three-year warranty. Customers will have to hope inflation stays low, though: the value of each new notebook cannot exceed the value of the previous one, adjusted 10% for inflation. Fujitsu says the scheme is profitable, and a raft of small print ensures plenty of people will find they've excluded themselves from the scheme for all sorts of reasons."
For Internet potatoes?
http://www.killerstartups.com/Video-Music-Photo/beta-sling-com-watch-tv-shows-online
Beta.Sling.com - Watch TV Shows Online
Sling was just released to the general public amid a lot of interest and a lot of expectations. This service will enable anybody to watch the TV show of his choice over the Web. The site already includes more than 600 shows on almost 100 channels - quite a compelling start.
As it was to be expected, you can subscribe to your favorite shows and channels in order to ensure you won’t miss a thing and will remain fully updated on what goes on, as well as sharing information and recommendations with other online friends and site users.
Adobe puts their software in “The Cloud!”
http://www.killerstartups.com/Video-Music-Photo/photoshop-com-store-share-your-pics-online
Photoshop.com - Store & Share Your Pics Online
Photoshop is a resource that serves one concise aim, namely letting you share your own pictures and stills with other site users, while also preserving them for posterity on the WWW.
This service is presented by Adobe, and it lets you upload and organize photographs in the way services like this usually do – IE, you create folders, you name them… you get the basic twist.
In addition to that, the site makes it possible for you to edit any photograph you have uploaded. Tutorials are provided alongside ideas to inspire and fire you up.
This service is available to computer users anywhere, and it is provided on a SaaS basis. It is also available to mobile users and directly from within Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 or Adobe Premier Elements 7.
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