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Cybersecurity bill CISPA is back: same privacy concerns, more political support
CISPA, the ill-conceived piece of US legislation on information sharing and cybersecurity, is back. Yesterday, the Intelligence Committee of the US House of Representatives held a hearing on cybersecurity, under the banner of “Advanced Threats Facing Our Nation.” The committee, chaired by Republican congressman Mike Rogers, heard testimony from representatives of the financial, energy, corporate, and security industries. No representative of the civil liberties or privacy community was invited to testify.…
15 February 2013
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Obama cybersecurity executive order good in short term, but sets worrying precedent
The order sets out provisions for sharing critical threat information from government to the private sector, but potentially establishes a foundation for later bidirectional sharing of sensitive information. Its vague categorization of what constitutes critical infrastructure limits transparency on threat reduction, and may hinder confidence building measures intended to mitigate cyber conflict. It offers some civil liberties protections, but doesn’t go far enough.…
13 February 2013
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Federal Trade Commission gets serious about Do Not Track
In the rapidly-changing mobile landscape in the U.S., users often lack information about the new technology running their apps, games, devices, and accompanying privacy policies. On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission stepped in with guidelines to the mobile marketplace to better protect the privacy of mobile users.…
6 February 2013
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Intellectual property and the implementation of US Free Trade Agreements in Latin America
From 2004, the United States has signed onto free trade agreements with nearly half of the countries in Latin America. As a product of these agreements, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Panama and other Central American countries agreed to enact new and more restrictive copyright laws, which can place important threats on the fundamental rights of internet users across the region.
…4 February 2013
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Happy Data Privacy Day!
Today is Data Privacy Day, an international holiday that marks the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Council of Europe’s Data Protection Convention 108. Data Privacy Day, which is celebrated all over Europe, Canada, and the US, recognises our fundamental right under human rights law and the importance of privacy to the maintenance of democratic societies, the advancement of human dignity, and the flourishing of other rights such as freedom of expression and association.…
28 January 2013
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New nomination to US privacy oversight board, just ahead of cybersecurity fights in Congress
With the recent re-nomination of David Medine as chairman, the long-dormant US Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) may finally come to life. The renewal of the Board and its mandate comes not a moment too soon. A strong,…
25 January 2013