Declan McCullagh reports that “FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House of Representatives committee that Internet service providers should be required to keep records of users’ activities for two years.” Not only is this a giant unfunded mandate that deputizes private companies, but it’s incredibly intrusive. How is this different from the Postal Service opening, photocopying, and archiving your mail before delivering it?

DOJ to expand DNA database

Thanks for visiting this blog for the first time. Check out the home page for the most recent posts, or the archives if you're looking for something in particular. Here are some of our favorite posts, which you might enjoy:

If you like what you see, we hope you'll consider subscribing to the RSS feed.

“The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected,” according to the NYT. The law that allows this was sneaked in via the Violence Against Women Act renewal last year. It allows DNA sampling of anyone arrested where previously only those convicted where sampled.

The only hint at a justification offered by supporters in the article is the story of Angel Resendiz, and illegal immigrant and serial killer who was arrested and deported 17 times during his 15-person rape and murder spree. The implication seems to be that if we had had such a database, then when Resendiz was arrested, his DNA would have been cross-referenced and matched to DNA taken from a crime scene. If that’s the rationale, then wouldn’t it be better to mandate DNA sampling of everyone? “Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” I can hear half the country say.

Feb 5, 2007 | Comment | Tags: , ,

Nike+iPod = surveillance?

I’m a happy user of the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. It’s an add-on for iPods that tracks your running: how far, how long, pace, calories burned, etc. It also lets you track your progress toward a goal or challenge other Nike+iPod users to races. It works by paring a radio receiver attached to your iPod and a radio transmitter placed in your shoe.

However, as those of us who follow such things know, there’s nothing that perks up the ears of privacy activists more than the words “radio transmitter” and “shoe” in the same sentence. Their ears must be at their perkiest as researchers at the University of Washington have issued a report claiming that the Nike+iPod kit can be used to track its wearer. Wired News reports in its usual alarmed tone,

If you enhance your workout with the new Nike+iPod Sport Kit, you may be making yourself a surveillance target.

A report from four University of Washington researchers to be released Thursday reveals that security flaws in the new RFID-powered device from Nike and Apple make it easy for tech-savvy stalkers, thieves and corporations to track your movements. With just a few hundred dollars and a little know-how, someone could even plot your running routes on a Google map without your knowledge.

Below the fold I’ll explain why there are no security “flaws” and you shouldn’t be worried if you own one of these devices.

Continue reading this post »

Dec 4, 2006 | Comments Off | Tags: , , ,

Clubs collecting personal data?

Clubs are apparently turning to swiping your drivers’ license at the door. A device tells bouncers your age. What they don’t tell you is that your name, address and other info is also collected. “Joseph Surdo, a manager at KatManDu, said his club has built a database of more than 15,000 names in a year, but he stressed the information is used only for in-house promotional purposes.”

Nov 27, 2006 | Comments Off | Tags: ,

  •  
  •