personal information

See the following -

StopWatching.Us: Mozilla Launches Massive Campaign On Digital Surveillance

Alex Fowler | The Mozilla Blog | June 11, 2013

Last week, media reports emerged that the US government is requiring vast amounts of data from Internet and phone companies via top secret surveillance programs. The revelations, which confirm many of our worst fears, raise serious questions about individual privacy protections, checks on government power and court orders impacting some of the most popular Web services. Read More »

The Belarusian Connection

Bill Gertz | The Washington Free Beacon | February 3, 2014

U.S. intelligence agencies last week urged the Obama administration to check its new healthcare network for malicious software after learning that developers linked to the Belarus government helped produce the website, raising fresh concerns that private data posted by millions of Americans will be compromised. Read More »

The Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals Are (Cyber) Criminal

One of the redeeming aspects of crises is that, amidst all the confusion, suffering, and loss, there are usually moments of grace, of humans showing their best nature... Unfortunately, crises also tend to bring out the worst of our natures... And then there are the cyberattacks. Last week the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, and HHS issued a joint alert Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector, warning that they have "credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers." I'll spare you the technical details of the expected attack strategies or suggested mitigation efforts, but I will note that they warned: "CISA, FBI, and HHS do not recommend paying ransom." Read More »

The Rise Of Medical Identity Theft

Michael Ollove | The Pew | February 7, 2014

If modern technology has ushered in a plague of identity theft, one particular strain of the disease has emerged as most virulent: medical identity theft. Read More »

The Top Secret Rules That Allow NSA To Use US Data Without A Warrant

Glenn Greenwald and James Ball | The Guardian | June 20, 2013

Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication Read More »

Web Inventor Berners-Lee Warns Forces Are 'Trying To Take Control'

James Hurley | The Telegraph | June 8, 2013

Companies and governments “trying to take control of the internet” are undermining the founding principles of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee has warned. Read More »

What Does The Consumer Data Industry Know About You?

Rebecca J. Rosen | Atlantic | March 7, 2013

Ever been bankrupt? Expecting a child? A whole lot of information about who you are -- and what kind of consumer you are -- is for sale. Read More »

What The AP Subpoena Scandal Means For Your Electronic Privacy

Brian Fung | Nextgov | May 15, 2013

The Justice Department’s snooping on journalists working for the Associated Press is an abuse of power in the broadest sense. But one reason the whole episode is controversial at all is because the Obama administration technically broke no rules. Read More »

Why Your Metadata Is Your Every Move

Elspeth Reeve | The Atlantic Wire | June 12, 2013

The metadata that the National Security Agency collects on all calls in the U.S. is not just what's on a phone bill, as the program's supporters have claimed. Read More »

Your Medical Records Are An Open Book

Linda Gorman | National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) | June 7, 2013

Bloomberg is reporting that states hungry for revenue and flush with the power to requisition individual medical records are moving to capitalize on the value of that information by selling the information in them to all comers. Read More »