Privacy Advocates Alarmed - White House Proposes Change to Allow Tracking of US Government Websites

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Peter Vogel
Since 2000 the US government websites generally prohibit tracking of visitors except if there is a compelling need, and the White House Office of Management and Budget is considering an end of this ban and make changes to promote social networking. In the future transparent government may mean that visitors to US government websites are being tracked. Two privacy groups Electronic Privacy Information Center  and Electronic Frontier Foundation  are alarmed at the change and sought information under the freedom of information act. They uncovered the fact that in January 2009 the General Services Administration negotiated an exception to the current ban that allowed Google to track those individuals who used the YouTube service on Whitehouse.gov. However with all the hubbub this tracking was apparently stopped.
 
Gov 2.0

Tim O’Reilly coined the term Web 2.0 in 2002 and in a recent report O'Reilly encourages more social networking for the government. Of course he’s not the Lone Ranger on Gov 2.0 as there are plenty of advocates including my good friend Ellis Pines who blogs about Gov 2.0 and encourages the use of GovLoop – a social network for Gov 2.0.

Are We Cybersecure?

Okay so great, Gov 2.0 encourages more social networking. But a recent report that the White House’s senior aide on cybersecurity resigned because she was “not empowered” is alarming since it is clear no one wants to be the Cyber Czar. In the meantime there are never ending reports of widespread Cyberattacks in the world, and hackers apparently have no problems breaching commercial websites.

Enlarging the use of social networking only compounds the problems of cybersecurity, so at this moment none of us should feel so safe. What do you think?

 

 
 
 
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Are We Any Safer Because the NSA Exceeded its Authority to Intercept eMails?

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Peter Vogel

A report that the National Security Agency (NSA) exceeded its authority by intercepting emails and phone calls of Americans make some people feel safer, and others wary. Many speculate that these massive email and phone call interceptions are systematic and intentional. For instance the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have been following NSA’s activities for some time and are alarmed at NSA’s actions.

US Patriot Act

In the wake of September 11 terrorist attacks on October 26, 2001 President Bush signed the US Patriot Act after passing both houses of Congress in less than one day. The US Patriot Act gave the federal government unparalleled power to search emails and private communications without many checks and balances in the name of protection from terrorists. The US Patriot Act was renewed in 2005 substantially without major change. Congress and US citizens want certain protections, but EPIC and EFF are concerned that the US Patriot Act is too broad.

Increased in Criminal Data Breaches

Reports that there have been a significant increase in data breaches by organized crime is hardly surprise, but it seems that NSA’s efforts in searching emails and phone calls have not really paid off to make our Internet a safer place in which to conduct business. Last year there were more than 100 confirmed data breaches involving roughly 285 million consumer records, most of which occurred from sites overseas. There needs to be a balance between safety from bad guys and protection of civil liberties.
 

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