Paul Gattis reports:
Gov. Robert Bentley has fired a
high-ranking official in the state department of finance and placed a second on
leave after concerns of a computer security breach emerged.
The breach came to light
following an investigation by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, according to
a letter Bentley wrote June 10 to the FBI.
Bentley has also requested that
the FBI partner with the state of Alabama “to provide appropriate audit and
investigative personnel to assist ALEA in determining the full scope” of the
breach, according to the Bentley letter.
ALEA released the Bentley letter
to AL.com on Friday as well as the termination letter to James Nolin, chief
information officer in the finance department, of his “probationary state
employment” and the letter advising Rex McDowell, assistant director of finance
information/administrative services, that he has been placed on leave.
Read more on AL.com.
Another debate to follow?
Back in March, and due to a government redaction
error, the world got confirmation that yes, Edward
Snowden was the target of a controversial order and court battle
involving Lavabit. But it’s nice
that the government has FINALLY ungagged Ladar Levison so that he can talk
about the case. Here’s his press
release, issued today:
Alexandria, VA–Lavabit founder Ladar Levison can finally
confirm that Edward Snowden was the target of the 2013 investigation, which led
to the shutdown of the Lavabit email service. The original case concerned law enforcement’s
authority to compel the disclosure of an SSL/TLS private key, which belonged to
Lavabit, and was used to protect the communications of all 410,000 customers,
when only one of those customers was the subject of a criminal investigation. After three years, and five separate attempts,
the federal judge overseeing the case has granted Mr. Levison permission to
speak freely about investigation. The
recently delivered court decision unseals the vast majority of the court
filings, and releases Mr. Levison from the gag order, which has limited his
ability to discuss the proceedings until now.
Mr. Levison has consistently relied on the First Amendment
in his court filings, which sought to remove the gag orders entered against
him. He argued that such orders are an
unconstitutional restraint against speech, and an afront to the democratic
process. He plans to use his newfound freedom to discuss the case during a planned
presentation on Compelled Decryption at DEF CON 24 in Las Vegas, NV.
“One of the rights guaranteed to Americans, and a
cornerstone for a functional democracy, is the freedom to speak the
truth,” stated Mr. Levison in announcing the court decision. “The First Amendment protects opinions,
including those unfavorable to government, from injunctions against speech. The gag orders in this case were a violation
of that inalienable right. No American
should have to live for three years, gagged, with every word carefully weighed,
when such opinions are concerned with such a public and controversial issue as
state surveillance. I believe the public
only grants permission to be governed when it knows the means and methods its
government uses to protect the body politic. While I’m pleased that I can finally speak
freely about the target of the investigation, I also know the fight to protect
our collective freedom is far from over. That is why I will continue to do everything
within my power to protect our right to speak freely and privately.We must
decide when speech is necessary. Our
rights must never be subject to the whims of those officials we seek to
criticize.”
In order to continue the fight, Mr. Levison is forming the
Lavabit Legal Defense Foundation (or “LavaLegal”), a non-profit organization
founded to, among other things, protect service providers from becoming
complicit in unconstitutional activities, and fight secret attempts aimed
circumventing digital privacy or impinging upon the right of those involved to
speak of the experience. The foundation
will be funded by donations from people and organizations all over the world
that want to help protect digital privacy and bolster our collective defense
against government overreach. Donations
can be accepted at the foundation’s rally.org page or through bitcoin donations at
1Bqqy3SxZ27ZUogEeiKHYqPsmFwuRTErMu.
For more information contact Lavabit founder Ladar Levison
or Lavabit’s counsel, Jesse Binnall.
(Related)
Great catch by Joseph Lorenzo Hall. As seen in the Federal Register, DHS is
proposing to amend forms that are used in travel arrival and departure records
(Forms I-94 and I-94W) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization. If they ask you nicely, will you tell them
your Twitter handle and other social media usernames? And how long before they stop making this
“optional” and make it mandatory?
DHS
proposes to add the following question to ESTA and to Form I-94W:
“Please
enter information associated with your online presence—Provider/Platform—Social
media identifier.” It will be an
optional data field to request social media identifiers to be used for vetting
purposes, as well as applicant contact information. Collecting social media data will enhance the
existing investigative process and provide DHS greater clarity and visibility
to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool
set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate
the case. Show
citation box
Current
Actions: This submission is being made to extend the expiration date with a
change to the information collected as a result of adding a question about
social media to ESTA and to Form I-94W, as described in the Abstract section of
this document. There are no changes to
the burden hours or to the information collected on Form I-94, or the I-94 Web
site.
More information here.
You have until August 22 to submit your
comments, while I wait for Joe Cadillic’s head to explode in 3…. 2….
Good summary of tracking tools & techniques.
FTC Guidance – Online Tracking
by Sabrina
I. Pacifici on Jun 24, 2016
FTC – Online Tracking: “Have you ever wondered why some
online ads you see are targeted to your tastes and interests? Or how websites remember your preferences from
visit-to-visit or device-to-device? The
answer may be in the “cookies” – or in other online tracking methods like
device fingerprinting and cross-device tracking. Here are answers to some commonly asked
questions about online tracking — how it works and how you can control it…”
Never make a change so big that it signals your strategy,
but make a thousand small changes that achieve the same end.
China Tightens Internet Rules For Search Engines, Announces
Fresh Regulations For Paid Ads
In what is being perceived as another attempt to tighten
its control over the internet, China’s internet regulator on Saturday announced
new rules that ban search engines from showing subversive information and
obligate them to clearly identify paid results.
… In addition,
search engines would also be required to censor “rumors, obscenities,
pornography, violence, murder, terrorism and other illegal information” —
regulations that the Chinese government claims are needed to safeguard the
security of its citizens.
Does this mean that no one really knows who is immigrating?
How Much To Access Government Data On Immigration? Only
$173,775
A little more than a year ago, Quartz’s David Yanofsky did
what many data reporters do every day: He submitted a Freedom of Information
Act request for a set of statistics from a government agency. Yanofsky wanted immigration statistics about
who enters the country from the International Trade Administration, the only
government agency that compiles comprehensive records of this kind.
The ITA got back to him and said that he was welcome to
the data set — all he had to do was cut
a check for $173,775. After weeks of
paperwork and haggling with the agency, Yanofsky is now suing to get access,
and to make a larger statement about the importance of open data for
journalists and residents alike.
On this week’s What’s The Point,
Yanofsky discusses his lawsuit, what he thinks is in the data, and why the
information costs $173,775, anyway.
Stream or download the full episode above, or subscribe
using your favorite podcast app.
For my Architecture students. This happened in “highly mobile” India. Any lessons for the rest of the world?
Why India’s Leading Fashion E-tailer Abandoned Its App-only
Strategy
Earlier this year, a K@W article titled “Can
an App-only E-commerce Model Succeed in India?” looked at the pros and cons
of adopting an app-only e-commerce strategy. The debate was sparked by Myntra, India’s
leading fashion e-tailer, which had announced in May of last year that it was
going the app-only route. It claimed to
be the first big web-based e-tailer, not just in India but globally, to adopt
an app-only model.
However, now Myntra has reversed that decision: On June 1,
it relaunched its desktop website.
I predict an immediate market for “eye protecting
anti-smartphone lenses!” Let’s be the
first to start a KickStarter project!
Smartphone-Induced Temporary Blindness: Using Your Phone
Before Bed Could Cause Vision Problems
Smartphones were recently named one of the most important inventions of the 21st Century and they have
changed how we live our lives in countless ways. Now everything from ordering food, sending
work emails, and speaking with friends and family across the world can be
accomplished with a single device.
However, a new report
suggests that there may be unsettling health consequences linked to excessive
smartphone use: temporary blindness.
According to the report published in the New England
Journal of Medicine, two women in England may be the first patients ever
to be diagnosed with smartphone-induced blindness. Both women reported having temporary vision
difficulties in only one of their eyes.
Some of these are free.
Try them and see what you see.
7 Notable Data Visualization Tools
These might enliven my PowerPoint presentations (if I used
PowerPoint)
5 Sites to
Download Famous Sounds from Movies, Games, & More
… As with most
things, such sounds have a home on the Internet. In some nook or corner, you
can find the perfect ding of a game you love, a short dialogue from your
favourite geeky movies, the ignition sequence from NASA, and much more.
It can be turned into the perfect ringtone or notification
tone. It can punctuate the point you’re
making in a heated argument online. Here’s
where to find the right sound…
Might be worth a shot.
… Starting today,
university faculty in the United States who teach courses in computer science
or related subjects can apply for free credits for their students to use across the
full suite of Google
Cloud Platform tools, like App Engine and the Cloud Machine Learning Platform. These credits can be used any time during the
2016-17 academic year and give students access to the same tools and
infrastructure used by Google engineers.
Every week; amusement.
Hack Education Weekly News
… “Law
Schools Are Going Online to Reach New Students,” says
The New York Times.
… Via
the AP: “New for-profit medical schools springing up
across US.”
… “A computer for
every LA Unified student would cost $311 million,” says
the LA School Report (which seems significantly less than the $1.3 billion
it agreed to pay Apple/Pearson for iPads, but what do I know).
… Google announces “Google Cloud Platform
Education Grants for computer science.”
… “Examining
ethical and privacy issues surrounding learning analytics” by
Tony Bates.
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