That's $1.6 million to educate the school board, not the students.

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=24154

Another webcam claim settled in Lower Merion

August 24, 2011 by Dissent

John P. Martin reports:

The Lower Merion School District has agreed to pay $10,000 to a teen secretly recorded by his school-issued laptop, the fourth settlement with a student since the webcam scandal broke last year.

The school board approved the payout at its meeting Monday night, spokesman Doug Young said.

Lower Merion paid more than $1.6 million last year to litigate and settle allegations that it spied on students through webcams on the laptops it gave to each of its nearly 2,300 high school students.

Read more on Philly.com

Just keeping score...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20071830-245/keeping-up-with-the-hackers-chart/

Keeping up with the hackers (chart)

To see the whole chart on one page click here.

True, Google does this. At least their computers do. So, if no human reads your mail, is there a violation?

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=24144

Google Sued in Massachusetts for Scanning Emails Sent To Gmail Account

August 24, 2011 by Dissent

Lisa Branco writes about a lawsuit that may be interesting to follow:

A Massachusetts woman filed a class action suit in Mass. state court against Google on July 29, alleging that Google violated Massachusetts’ wiretap law by scanning messages she sent from her AOL account to recipients’ Gmail accounts. Massachusetts is one of several states that require all parties to give their consent to the interception or recording of communications (unlike federal law and the laws in a majority of states, which only require consent from one party to the communication). MGL Ch. 272 § 99(B)(4); § 99(C)(1).

Read more on Law Across the Wire and Into the Cloud

TSA (like all bureaucracies) wants to expand their scope... And they have the technology to do it. (Granted, this is a bit of a rant, but perhaps that is what we need to make the point.)

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=24148

Future TSA: Track All ‘Daily Travels To Work, Grocery Stores & Social Events’

August 24, 2011 by Dissent

Ms. Smith writes:

While the TSA can’t explain why invasive patdowns without probable cause are legal, that isn’t stopping TSA from future plans to track all your daily travels, anywhere you go, from work, to stores, or even when you go out to play.

Read more on Network World.

If I was the suspicious type: “In case of an emergency, we need the names of those we intend to leave behind...”

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=24142

AU: Safety database raises privacy concerns

August 23, 2011 by Dissent

Meagan Weymes reports:

Vulnerable Whittlesea residents will be added to a contact list to be shared between emergency agencies in a move privacy advocates have labelled “deeply concerning”.

Councils have been urged to seek advice from the privacy commissioner about establishing the database.

The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommended in 2009 that elderly, frail, disabled or otherwise vulnerable people should be added to a list for police to access in an emergency situation.

Read more on Northern Weekly.

Because our students don't all have the same software...

10 Best Online Tools For Converting Documents

[Particularly handy: DOCX to DOC Convert Office10 Word files to use on earlier versions...