American travelers to get secret “Risk Assessment” scores
You think the credit scoring system isn’t Big Brother enough? Wait until Monday, when the Department of Homeland Security rolls out its “Risk Assessment” scores for travelers. See this EFF link for...
View ArticleLeahy promises privacy, patent reforms
Senator Patrick Leahy, the (presumptive) incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is promising reforms that will increase privacy and reform patents. Among key privacy reforms, he is seeking...
View ArticleJoin the National Clandestine Service (Facebook group)!
The CIA’s National Clandestine Service has a new recruiting tool: a Facebook account (login required). Here’s how Wired News sums it up: Since December 2006, the Central Intelligence Agency has been...
View ArticleUMass Riot Footage From an Unlikely Source
While I was an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, security cameras were installed outside, pointed at certain locations. The most vehemently opposed by students was the camera at...
View ArticleHow (Not) to Do FISA Reform
Here is a letter I just sent to Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), my elected representative, with added links: Dear Rep. Sires, I am a voter in your district, and I am writing in regards to H.R. 3773, the...
View ArticleAdministrators Trawl Through Students’ Text Messages
In light of publicity surrounding a series of incidents in the Boulder Valley School District, high school administrators in Colorado have been publicly defending their right to read students’ text...
View ArticleHouse Rebuffs Immunity for Spying Telecoms
On Thursday, the US House passed a FISA reform bill without granting immunity to telecommunications companies accused of assisting illegal eavesdropping on US citizens. As we noted last month, the...
View Articlesenate approves secret spying program
Bad news, as the Senate overwhelmingly voted to legalize President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program and also decided not to amend a bill that would prevent telecom companies from getting immunity...
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Introducing the iTelescreen!
Still from a recent Apple launch In his iconic novel “1984”, George Orwell envisioned omnipresent “telescreens” in every home, business and on every street that could be monitored by the government....
View ArticleOn PRISM: Orwell’s or Huxley’s America
It’s been a whirlwind news cycle over the past 48 hours. Welcome to the 21st century surveillance state. We’ve been living here for some time, but no one bothered to say so until now. In grappling...
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