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Congressional Hearing on Employment Verification
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on employment verification. Several hearings have be held by the committee on the proposal to create a mandatory national government employment eligibility system. The current private sector system is voluntary.
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Privacy Coalition Members Send Comments to NIST on Smart Grid Systems
Members of the Privacy Coalition urged a federal agency to establish safeguards for Smart Grid systems that protect consumer electricity usage information from unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, or sale. Smart Grid networks, which uniquely identify individual devices and appliances, create new privacy risks and could reveal intimate details of home life. EPIC recommended that policies be established to safeguard consumer privacy, including limitations on data collection, enforceable privacy practices, new security standards, and independent oversight.
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FISA Reform Bill Introduced in the House
Representatives Conyers, Nadler, and Scott introduced two bills today that would amend the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 will enhance reporting and judicial oversight of law enforcement powers, including the National Security Letter process. The FISA Amendments Act of 2009 will place new limits on the government's ability to collect and store Americans' communications without a warrant and repeals retroactive immunity.
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2010 Annual Privacy Coalition Meeting
The annual meeting of the Privacy Coalition held in Washington DC on January 21-23, 2010 hosted discussions among activists, policy makers, government decision makers, and federal chief privacy officials. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson served as the Keynote speaker at the dinner held on Thursday evening. At the event Beth Givens, founder and director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, was presented with the EPIC's U.S. Privacy Champion Award for 2010. Meeting participants. Meeting Agenda.
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Privacy Coalition Members Defend Privacy of Facebook Users
Ten Privacy and consumer organizations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, urging the FTC to open an investigation into Facebook's revised privacy settings. The complaint, led by EPIC is signed by nine other privacy and consumer organizations, states that the "changes violate user expectations, diminish user privacy, and contradict Facebook's own representations." There has been widespread opposition from Facebook users, security experts, bloggers, and news organizations.
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2010 Annual Privacy Coalition Meeting
The annual meeting of the Privacy Coalition held in Washington DC on January 21-23, 2010 hosted discussions among activists, policy makers, government decision makers, and federal chief privacy officials. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson served as the Keynote speaker at the dinner held on Thursday evening. At the event Beth Givens, founder and director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, was presented with the EPIC's U.S. Privacy Champion Award for 2010. Meeting participants. Meeting Agenda.
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Rulemaking Archives
Privacy Coalition Members Send Comments to NIST on Smart Grid Systems
Members of the Privacy Coalition urged a federal agency to establish safeguards for Smart Grid systems that protect consumer electricity usage information from unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, or sale. Smart Grid networks, which uniquely identify individual devices and appliances, create new privacy risks and could reveal intimate details of home life. EPIC recommended that policies be established to safeguard consumer privacy, including limitations on data collection, enforceable privacy practices, new security standards, and independent oversight.
Homeland Security Releases Final REAL ID Rules
The Department of Homeland Security released the long awaited final rule on state issued drivers licenses and identification documents. The rule indicated that the new federal REAL ID will be used for a variety of purposes unrelated to the law that resulted in the federalization of state issued drivers licenses. If states do not comply with the agency rule the drivers’ licenses held by state residents will not be accepted for air travel or to access federal government buildings. As a cost saving measure the Department of Homeland Security decided not to require encryption of the digital data stored on the REAL ID. The Privacy Coalition led a major anti-REAL ID public education campaign. EPIC's page on REAL ID and the ACLU's analysis of the new agency rule..
FTC Town Hall on Behavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology
On November 1 and 2, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission will host a Town Hall entitled “Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology.” The event will bring together consumer advocates, industry representatives, technology experts, and academics to address consumer protection issues raised by the practice of tracking consumers’ activities online to target advertising - or “behavioral advertising.” The Town Hall is a follow-on to a dialogue on behavioral advertising that emerged at a November 2006 FTC forum, “Tech-Ade,” which examined the key technological and business developments that will shape consumers’ core experiences in the coming ten years. In addition, several consumer privacy advocates, as well as the State of New York, recently sent letters to the FTC asking it to examine the effects of behavioral advertising on consumer privacy.
DHS Announces Changes in SSA Employment Verification
The Department of Homeland Security announced changes in the process that employers must follow should the Social Security Administration report a no match with agency records. Each person seeking employment in the US is requested to fill out an I-9 form which asked for certain documents related to identification. Many employees provide a social security card, drivers license, or other government issued document both as proof of identity and a right to work. The new rule will bypass protections for workers and force employers to collect much more personal information on the behalf of the government under the "safe harbor" provisions.
DHS Retools Secure Flight Program
More than a year after Secure Flight was suspended for a comprehensive review, the Department of Homeland Security has announced major revisions to the program. Previously, DHS sought to use Secure Flight to assess possibilities for criminal behavior from travelers. The new program will "determine if passenger data matches the information on government watch lists, and transmit matching results to aircraft operators," according to DHS. The agency's match lists have a history of errors and accuracy problems.
DHS Announces May 1, 2007 Townhall on REAL ID
The Department of Homeland Security announced plans to hold a townhall meeting in Davis California. The REAL ID Town Hall is being held at the University of California, Davis Freeborn Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis California and is hosted by the State of California (DMV) and sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security.
Privacy Groups File Complaint With FTC Regarding Google/DoubleClick Merger
EPIC, CDD and US PIRG today filed a complaint (pdf) with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging the Commission to open an investigation into the proposed acquisition. The groups urged the FTC to assess the ability of Google to record, analyze, track, and profile the activities of Internet users with data that is both personally identifiable and data that is not personally identifiable. The groups further urged the FTC to require Google to publicly present a plan to comply with well-established government and industry privacy standards such as the OECD Privacy Guidelines. Pending the resolution of these and other issues, EPIC encouraged the FTC to halt the acquisition.
DHS Federal Register Notice on Employment Verification System
The Department of Homeland Security announced in a Federal Register Notice published on April 9, 2007 that it would be changing several systems for records for the Verification and Information System (VIS) Justice/INS-035 published October 17, 2002 (67 FR 64134) and Alien Status Verification Index (ASVI) Justice/INS-009 published September 7, 2001 (66 FR 46815). The established systems of records will be effective on May 9, 2007 and would also be used for purposes related to REAL ID. You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number DHS-2007-0010 by one of the following methods: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. You may also submit comments by fax by following the instructions for submitting comments. Fax: 1-866-466-5370, or mail comments to: Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee Meeting
The morning session of the meeting will consider REAL ID rulemaking. The proposed regulations for the REAL ID where recently made public by the Department of Homeland Security. The meeting agenda has the REAL ID discussion from 9:20 a.m. until Noon. The meeting will take place from 9:00 AM until 4:30 PM at the Crowne Plaza Washington National Airport, located at 1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Attendees should RSVP to PrivacyCommittee@dhs.gov or 571-227-3813. The meeting will be closed to the public from 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. for administrative purposes. Attendees should arrive by 8:45 a.m. or 1:15 p.m. for the public sessions.
DHS Publishes REAL ID Regulations in the Federal Register
The official public comment for REAL ID regulation begins with today's publiation in the federal register. The Department of Homeland Security will accept public comments on its proposed rules for the new ID until May 8, 2007. Comments from the public can be submitted through the following methods: online by visiting the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov Under agency select "DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY*" for Document Type select "PROPOSED RULES" and for keyword input "DHS-2006-0030. Comments can also be faxed to 866-466-5370 or mailed to the Department of Homeland Security, Attn: NAC 1-12037, Washington, DC , 20528.
DHS's New Privacy Impact Assessment
The Department of Homeland Security published Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) in the December 20, 2006 Federal Register [one] [two]. The E-Government Act of 2002 requires government agencies to produce a PIA whenever that create or purchase technology. The implementation of new technologies that may increase the ease of tracking and surveillance by government agencies makes the PIA a valuable transparency tool for privacy and civil liberty advocates.
