JP – Japan to Start Collecting Photos and Fingerprints from All Visitors

All visitors to Japan will soon be subjected to tough new checks as part of a series of anti-terrorism measures by Tokyo. They will have their pictures and fingerprints taken on entering the country beginning November 20. [Source]

CA – Ontario Adoption Disclosure Law Comes Into Effect Sept 17

Ontario is proceeding with a new, more open adoption information disclosure system that will make it easier for adult adoptees and birth parents to learn about their past, Minister of Community and Social Services Madeleine Meilleur announced this week. On September 17, 2007, the Ontario government will be implementing the last phase of Bill 183, the Adoption Information Disclosure Act, 2005. At that time, adult adoptees and birth parents, whose adoptions were finalized in Ontario, will be able to apply for information in adoption orders and original birth records. [Source]

NZ – New Zealand Anti-Spam Law Takes Effect September 5

Businesses in New Zealand are scrambling to obtain consumers’ permission to send commercial email before a new anti-spam law takes effect on Wednesday, September 5. The Unsolicited Commercial Messages Act prohibits the sending of spam messages through texting or email without the recipient’s consent. Companies may choose to obtain consent either through direct communication or through inference of a pre-established relationship that permitted the messages to be sent. Companies are not permitted to send opt-out emails and assume that no response indicates consent to receive the messages. Companies are encouraged to obtain express consent to avoid misunderstandings. All messages must contain clear instructions for unsubscribe procedures. Companies violating the new law could face penalties of A$500,000; individuals could be fined up to A$200,000. [Source]

US – Large Databases Are Not Safe Enough, Says Expert

Large databases do not adequately protect sensitive personal information according to a statistics professor in the US who says that individuals can still be identified despite attempts to anonymise them. George Duncan is a statistics professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He writes in the journal Science that traditional methods of anonymising people’s database records are not good enough. He said that databases “de-identify” people by masking important information such as their Social Security number or their birthday, but that this does not render them unidentifiable. Anyone who can access more than one characteristic of a person in a database has a chance at identifying the person, he said. The problem is that the very information that most closely identifies a person is likely to be that in which the organisation behind the database is interested, he wrote, meaning that it cannot be deleted or masked. “The question is, how can data be made useful for research purposes without compromising the confidentiality of those who provided the data?” Duncan said in a statement. Duncan said that it would be possible to build systems which make this kind of identity reconstruction impossible. He also said that further user-specific restrictions on the use of information in databases would go some way to solving the problem. It is, said Duncan, a difficult problem to solve. “Achieving ‘adequate’ privacy will require engineering innovation, managerial commitment, information cooperation of data subjects and social controls (legislation, regulation, codes of conduct by professional associations and response to reactions of the public),” Duncan wrote in Science. [Source] [Source] [ScienceMag]

CA – ING Insurance Using Voltage E-Mail Encryption

Insurance claims contain confidential information that companies such as ING Insurance Co. of Canada must protect carefully. So ING claims adjusters are used to encrypting such documents when e-mailing them. Until recently, they used cumbersome and costly PKI technology that requires the recipient to have special software in order to be able to decode the message. ING wanted a way to allow anyone in the company to send secure e-mail messages to anyone else inside or outside ING. So roughly 40 ING employees are now testing SecureMail, e-mail encryption software from Voltage Security Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif. Now, they can encrypt messages and send them to anyone. The first time someone is sent encrypted mail, it comes with an attachment that opens in the recipient’s Web browser and prompts the person to create a password and sign in to read the message. [Source]

UK – ICO Publishes Guidance to Restrict Driver and Vehicle License Data Sharing

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidelines outlining how motorists’ personal data can be used by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The ICO guide attempts to explain the circumstances where the DVLA is allowed to share their personal details with third parties without breaking data protection rules. The DVLA can pass on an individual’s personal details to a third party if there is “reasonable cause” to do so - such as the prevention or detection of crime - according to the guidance published by the ICO. But the DVLA does not have to ask permission from registered vehicle keepers before passing on any details to other parties. [Source] [ICO Guidance] background [News item] [News item] [News item]

US – U.S. May Invoke State Secrets to Block Swift Suit

The Bush administration is signaling that it plans to turn once again to a favorite legal tool known as the “state secrets” privilege to try to shut down a lawsuit brought against a Belgium banking cooperative that secretly supplied millions of private financial records to the U.S. government, court documents show. The lawsuit against the banking consortium, which is known as Swift, threatens to disrupt the operations of a vital national security program and to reveal “highly classified information” if it is allowed to continue, the Justice Department said in several recent court filings asserting its strong interest in seeing the lawsuit dismissed. [Source]

CA – CIHR Introduces New Open Access Policy

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal government’s health research granting agency, today unveiled a new open access policy for research it funds beginning in 2008. According to the new policy, researchers will be required to make every effort to ensure that their peer-reviewed publications are freely accessible through the Publisher’s website or an online repository within six months of publication. Critics will rightly note that the policy is not iron-clad - publication in an online repository is conditional on the publisher’s policy. Accordingly, if a publisher refuses to allow researchers to post their articles, the researcher does not violate the grant requirements by not posting. This leaves publishers with a measure of control, though a growing number of them do permit this form of archiving (database of publisher policies here). [Source]

US – Medicare to Reveal Data About Doctors

U.S. consumers may soon have more information to help them select a doctor when they need an operation or other serious medical procedure. A recent U.S. federal court decision requires the government to make public Medicare claims information about individual doctors and the procedures they perform, a ruling that could spur development of online reference tools that help patients evaluate physicians based on the volume of procedures they do. [Washington Post]

UK – Put all British Citizens, Visitors in DNA Database: Judge

The DNA of every British citizen and visitor to the country should be included in the national database to ensure equality and fairness in the justice system, a senior judge said Wednesday. In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Lord Justice Stephen Sedley said the current database of nearly four million samples - currently the world’s largest - is insufficient, and that ethnic minorities are disproportionately included. “We have a situation where if you happen to have been in the hands of the police, then your DNA is on permanent record. If you haven’t, it isn’t. … That’s broadly the picture,” Sedley said [Source] See also [Police DNA Database ‘Risks Criminalising Non-Offenders] and [Irish Human Rights Commissioner Warns Against DNA Database]

US – FBI Faces DNA Backlog Nearing 200,000

The FBI has fallen behind in processing DNA from nearly 200,000 convicted criminals – 85% of all samples it has collected since 2001 – Justice Department records show. The backlog, which expands monthly, means most of the biological samples the bureau collects have not been stored in the national DNA database and used to solve crimes. DNA from 34,000 convicts has been added to the database since 2001, resulting in 600 matches to unsolved crimes, according to statistics furnished by the Justice Department to the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the same rate, adding the unloaded samples the FBI has collected could solve an additional 3,200 crimes. The backlog expanded by about 80,000 samples in 2006, when a law took effect requiring that all federal convicts, rather than just violent felons, submit DNA samples. A new law requiring DNA to be taken from about 500,000 federal arrestees and detainees could greatly swell the backlog. Rules for implementing that law are due early next year, according to OMB documents. [Source] See also: [DNA Testing Safeguards for expanding Maryland’s DNA database]

US – Personal info on 150,000 job seekers at USAJobs stolen

Identity thieves who hit Monster.com’s database earlier this month also stole the personal information of 146,000 people who use USAJobs, the federal government’s official job search site. [Source]

US – Pfizer Confirms Third Breach Involving Employee Data Since June

For the third time since June, Pfizer has disclosed a data breach involving sensitive information about employees. As many as 34,000 workers were affected this time. [Source] [Pfizer Offers Credit Monitoring to Individuals Affected by Third Breach]

US – Connecticut’s Revenue Agency Laptop Stolen

A laptop containing data on 106,000 Connecticut taxpayers is missing, prompting the state’s governor to order IT officials to implement new controls for protecting data by Sept. 7. [Source]

US – Hard drive containing Arkansas Democratic Party Data Sold on eBay

A laptop drive offered for sale as new on eBay turned out to have come from the laptop of an Arkansas Democratic Party official -- and still contained sensitive information when the buyer received it. [Source] FOR A ACCOUNT OF RECENT REPORTED DATA BREACHES, VISIT [Data DysProtection]

CA – Younger Alberta Travellers Now Eligible For Photo ID Cards

Albertans age 12 and older planning to travel by air can now obtain a government-issued photo identification card from the province’s registry agents. Under new Transport Canada rules, effective September 18, 2007, all airline passengers travelling within Canada who appear to be 12 years of age or older must show one piece of government-issued photo identification or two pieces of government-issued non-photo identification. At least one piece of identification must show the individual’s name, date of birth and gender. Parents are reminded that government-issued identification cards are favourite targets for identity thieves. ID cards and other important documents (passport, birth certificate and SIN card) should be treated with extreme care and carried only when absolutely necessary. [Source]

WW – At Rapleaf, Personals Are Public

A CNET article profiles a start-up company called Rapleaf, which is aggregating social-networking profiles and, through another outfit called TrustFuse, opening up the possibility of selling that information to marketers. Rapleaf is among a new generation of people search engines that take advantage of the troves of public data on the Net, much of it posted on social-networking sites and personal blogs. [Source]

[Revisions to Privacy Policy Follow Reporter’s Inquiry to Rapleaf] SEE ALSO: [PC Mag: Info, Reference, and Search] and [The Privacy Market Has Many Sellers, but Few Buyers]

EU – Germany Defends Plan to Use Spyware in Terror Investigations

German officials last week defended a proposal to use “Trojan horse” software to secretly monitor potential terror suspects’ hard drives, amid fierce debate over whether the measures violate civil liberties. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to include the measure in a broader security law being considered by conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government. [Source] [German Left Slam E-Mail Spy Plan] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Debate rages over controversial German plan]

NZ – New Zealand Cops Using National Database to Snoop

Five police officers have lost their jobs and 20 have been formally disciplined for using the police national database to snoop on law-abiding New Zealanders. Figures released this week under the Official Information Act show that, as of January 30 this year, a further 7 staff had resigned before police took disciplinary action. The revelations have sparked calls from Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff for tighter controls to stop prying police using the database for non-police business. She was unsure as to exactly why police officers would access confidential files, but said it could be a case of an officer wanting to find out about a potential business partner, or their daughter’s new boyfriend. She was disappointed officers would abuse the “implicit social contract they had with the public” by improperly accessing the national database. Private investigators said they believed officers were often asked for information by firms looking into the backgrounds of individuals. In some cases, private investigators would pay officers “under the table” for information that could assist with their inquiries, one investigator said. Another Auckland private investigator said: “It’s not something we do, but I have no doubt that it goes on.” [Source]

WW – Facebook Opens Profiles to Public

Popular social networking site Facebook has added a public-facing search function in a move which is likely to anger privacy advocates. The function will initially allow anyone who is not registered with the site to search for a specific person. More controversially, in a month’s time, the feature will also allow people to track down Facebook members via search engines such as Google. The firm said that the information being revealed is minimal. The public search listing will show the thumbnail picture thumbnail of a Facebook member from their profile page as well as links allowing people to interact with them. But, in order to add someone as a friend or send them a message, the person will have to be registered with Facebook. Users who want to restrict what information is available to the public or opt out of the feature altogether can change their privacy settings. They have a month to do so. Despite assurances from Facebook, critics have expressed disappointment at the move. [Source]

AU – Australia Privacy Commish: Breach ‘Name-and-Shame’ More Harm than Good

Australian federal privacy commissioner Karen Curtis is warning that calls for Australian companies to be subject to a compulsory name-and-shame data breach regime could backfire and create a compliance nightmare. The statement is the strongest indication yet that a looming shake-up of the private sector provisions of the Privacy Act in Australia will not take the lead of US regulators, which have compelled corporations and government agencies to publish details of even minor infractions against customer data protection laws. The warning comes as New Zealand organisations get to grips with our own Privacy Commissioner’s draft data breach disclosure guidelines, unveiled last week. Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has indicated she will consider whether breach guidelines should become a mandatory. Curtis says serious consideration is being given to publicly identifying companies or agencies involved in incidents when there was a tangible risk of harm to consumers. This is backed by research undertaken by her office over the past nine years that shows consumers favour pragmatism and common sense over onerous bureaucracy. “The guts of it is that mandatory reporting for breaches should be examined, but you have to find the right threshold,” Curtis says. “We think there is merit, but not in all circumstances. Direct comparisons [with the US] are not ideal.” [Source]

AU – Australia Survey: National ID Support Up / Privacy Fears Up

Support for a unique identifier for dealing with government agencies has risen, but there is less tolerance for the misuse of personal information, a Privacy Commissioner’s survey has found. The survey of more than 1500 people concludes Australians believe the internet is not as secure as traditional means of providing information, such as in hard-copy or over the phone. Respondents also were less than keen on the growing practice of businesses, pubs and clubs scanning or copying identity documents. While 80% were happy to show drivers’ licences and the like upon entry to licensed premises, only 18% were happy about their documents being copied. Public support for a government ID number increased to 62% in the survey, Community Attitudes to Privacy 2007, up from 53% in a similar survey in 2004. The increase was driven by those who strongly agreed with the proposal – 33% this year compared with only 25% three years ago. More people are prepared to allow cross-referencing or sharing of information between agencies (80% vs 71%) in certain circumstances: fraud and other crime, updating contact details and for efficiency. But respondents strongly objected to agencies asking for irrelevant information (87%); using information for other purposes, and monitoring their activities on the internet (86% each). Support for a national health database of personal medical records depends on voluntary participation, with 76% taking this stance, up from 64% in 2004. Only 21% believe that all medical records should be included in a national network. Sensitivity over health professionals sharing patient information was also expressed, with 35% of respondents believing only information relevant to the condition being treated should be shared. 17% supported information sharing if the condition was serious or life-threatening, while 32% said health information should only be shared with the patient’s consent. However, there was a vote of confidence in medical practitioners: health service providers are believed trustworthy by 91% (up from 89% in 2004). In contrast, government departments are believed trustworthy by 73% (up from 64%) - higher than financial institutions, which suffered a decline in confidence to 58% (down from 66%). 96% regarded business monitoring of internet activity a misuse of personal information. Asking for irrelevant personal information and using information for another purpose also annoyed customers, at 94% each. And 93% objected to personal information being obtained by businesses with which there was no relationship. Identity fraud and theft are seen as growing problems, with 9% claiming to have been victims, while 17% say they know someone who has been a victim. Web-browsing, online shopping and internet banking are regarded as the riskiest activities. Half the respondents are more concerned about providing information over the internet than they were two years ago, with 31% as concerned. Only 11% were less concerned. [Source] [Survey Report: Community Attitudes to Privacy, 2007]

US – Federal Court Strikes Down NSL Statute

A federal district court has struck down as unconstitutional a statute that allows the government to obtain – without a prior court order – extensive records of telephone and Internet communications. The law – part of the PATRIOT Act – authorized FBI agents to use “National Security Letters” to obtain “transactional records,” including telephone dialling information, “to” and “from” lines of e-mail messages, and information about web site visits. The decision confirms CDT’s long-held view that Congress should amend the NSL statute to require prior judicial approval of such government demands. [Source] [Judge Scolds U.S. on Wiretapping Records]

US – Judge Dismisses Privacy Lawsuit Over Computer Breaches

A judge dismissed a lawsuit by two Ohio University graduates whose Social Security numbers were among thousands exposed in a series of security breaches involving school computers. The lawsuit asked a judge to order the school to pay for credit monitoring services for the people whose personal information may have been compromised. Judge J. Craig Wright of the Ohio Court of Claims granted a motion by the university to dismiss the case, saying the plaintiffs failed to prove they suffered damages for which they could be compensated. [Source]

US – Report: 10 Steps to a Multi Layered Privacy Notice

The Center for Information Policy Leadership recently published a framework for creating a multi layered privacy notice, whose benefits they outline in the introductory paragraph: “Experts agree that good privacy begins with effective transparency. Transparency requires privacy notices that are easy to understand, facilitate comparison, and are actionable. Privacy notices must also comply with legal requirements that may differ from country to country, and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Research on how people learn has shown that for notices to be easy to read and understand, they must be short, use plain language, and be presented in a common format. Complete notices tend to be longer and more complex, so it is impossible to have both sets of requirements in one document. A multilayered notice is made up of a condensed notice that contains all the key factors in a way that is easy to understand and is actionable, and a complete notice with all the legal requirements. A growing number of privacy officials and experts agree that multilayered notices meet the transparency objective. Corporate and government sponsored research shows that multilayered notices build both trust and compliance.” [Source] [Framework]

US – California Senate Blocks Mandatory ID Implants In Employees

Tackling a dilemma right out of a science fiction novel, the state Senate passed legislation last week that would bar employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted under their skin. State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the measure after at least one company began marketing radio frequency identification devices for use in humans. “RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses,” Simitian said. “But we shouldn’t condone forced ‘tagging’ of humans. It’s the ultimate invasion of privacy.” Simitian said he fears that the devices could be compromised by persons with unauthorized scanners, facilitating identity theft and improper tracking and surveillance. The bill has been approved by the state Assembly and now goes to the governor. [Source] See also: [SB-28: DMV personal information] [SB-29: Pupil attendance, electronic monitoring] [SB-31: Identification documents] [SB-362: Identification devices] [SB-388: RFI tags]

NZ – Privacy Commissioner Warns of Privacy Threat from RFID Use

RFID technology could become a major privacy threat, warns Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff. In a keynote address to last week’s Privacy Awareness Week opening forum, she said although RFID might not present a clear and immediate threat to personal privacy, the potential range of applications left room for concern, as well as doubt about future uses. The devices were promiscuous in that they could talk to any compatible reader, as well as being stealthy and remotely readable. [Source]

CA – Coming Soon to Canada: Mobile Hackers - Report

Canadian smart phone users are less likely to get hacked on their mobile devices than their Asian and European counterparts, but that may soon change. Security researchers are uncovering more ways that hackers can attack and steal information off these data-rich devices. User behaviour will also play a huge part in whether mobile malware attacks will increase in North America, according to McAfee Inc.’s Avert Labs. “If the users are going to engage in the same kind of behaviour on the phone as they do on the PC, you’re probably going to see a lot of the same types of malware on the mobile phone as you are seeing on the PC.” McAfee has released a white paper detailing various threats plaguing smart phones, specifically discussing vulnerabilities associated with smart phones and PDAs running Windows Mobile, based on the Microsoft Windows CE platform. [Source]

US – New Licenses, ID Cards at Risk of Security Breaches

Despite an $11 billion price tag and the availability of new security technologies, the millions of new driver’s licenses that states will need to produce to comply with the Real ID Act may still be vulnerable to counterfeiting and tampering, industry experts say. Recent emphasis in the government identification card field has been on high-tech security features, such as encryption of data on the microchip embedded in the cards. But the Real ID Act cards that now exist may present greater low-tech risks. [Source]

AU – Schools Adopt Swipe Cards for Toilet Breaks

Parents are pushing for a statewide roll-out of electronic tracking of students to combat truancy. Swipe cards, SMS alerts to parents and fingerprint logging are already in use in some schools and have led to a dramatic drop in absenteeism. NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Association president said the success of the swipe-card and SMS systems should lead to them being installed across the state. [Source]

US – Judge: Court Order Needed Before ISPs Turn Over User Info Without Notification

A federal court today ruled that the FBI can’t compel ISPs to turn over user records without notifying those users unless it has a court order or a grand jury subpoena. A U.S. District Court struck down part of the amended Patriot Act’s National Security Letter (NSL) provision, according to the ACLU, which had filed a lawsuit challenging the provision (PDF). The law had allowed the FBI to issue NSLs to ISPs demanding that they turn over private information about people within the United States without court approval and without telling the affected customers. NSLs can be used to get access to subscriber, billing and other records from ISPs, as well as to obtain other financial and credit documents from other companies -- including telephone companies and even libraries. According to the court, the gag order was unconstitutional because it prevented courts from engaging in meaningful judicial review and violated the principles of separation of powers and free speech. “In light of the seriousness of the potential intrusion into the individual’s personal affairs and the significant possibility of a chilling effect on speech and association -- particularly of expression that is critical of the government or its policies – a compelling need exists to ensure that the use of NSLs is subject to the safeguards of public accountability, checks and balances and separation of powers that our Constitution prescribes,” said U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero in the decision. “A statute that allows the FBI to silence people without meaningful judicial oversight is unconstitutional,” Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement. “The court today held that because the gag provisions cannot be separated from the entire amended statute, the court was compelled to strike down the entire statute.” [Source] [Source] [ruling] See also: [EFF: Visit StoptheSpying.org and Fight for Your Freedom Now!]

US – Real ID Will ‘Strengthen’ Americans’ Privacy, Chertoff Says

In another attempt to head off privacy advocates’ attacks on the Bush administration’s Real ID plans, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the national-identification scheme will actually “strengthen” personal privacy by providing added protection against identity theft. In written testimony Chertoff submitted (PDF) on Wednesday to the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, he made another pitch for his department’s requirements, which generally say that starting on May 11, 2008, Americans will need a federally approved, “machine readable” ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments or take advantage of nearly any government service. A Real ID-compliant document will be of higher “quality” than existing driver’s licenses and other state-issued identification cards, thus helping prevent terrorists and identity thieves alike from committing forgery, Chertoff said in his testimony. [Source] [Testimony]

US – GAO: US-VISIT Management Out of Whack

The Homeland Security Department’s U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program is top-heavy in management costs but shows a persistent pattern of management shortcomings, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. The 167-page report reviews progress on U.S.-VISIT, which collects and validates biometric information from incoming visitors to the United States. The GAO report describes a “longstanding lack of strategic direction and management controls” affecting the U.S.-VISIT program, including a lack of justification for high management costs and a failure to plan and implement exit controls. [Source]

US – ACLU Calls for End to ATS-P Screening Program

The ACLU is calling for the closure of a DHS computerized screening program it says allocates terror risk scores to U.S. travelers. The Automated Targeting System (Passenger), or ATS-P program, “violates a congressional mandate barring Homeland Security from assigning risk levels to ordinary Americans,” the ACLU said this week. ATS-P “uses secret criteria and computer algorithms to calculate the security risks (posed by) ordinary Americans.” The statement accompanied formal comments filed with the department’s Privacy Officer Hugo Teufel, who last month posted regulatory filings for the system required under federal law. ATS-P “assists U.S. Customs and Border Protection frontline officers in frustrating the ability of terrorists to gain entry into the United States,” Teufel said. The system “does not profile by race, ethnicity or arbitrary assumptions,” and “does not replace human decision making” by customs and immigration officials. “Congress has banned this type of program with good reason: It rates the potential for terrorism of every traveler and violates every American’s right to privacy,” said Barry Steinhardt. “The judgments about Americans calculated by ATS-P will be stored for years, and we have no idea how they may be used in the future. The benefit to the government is extremely questionable, but the consequences for Americans are simply dangerous.” [Source] See also: [DHS ends criticized data-mining program] and [U.S. may invoke ‘state secrets’ to squelch suit against Swift]

US – California Bill Would Place Burden of Breach Costs on Retailers

California’s state Senate Appropriation Committee last week approved a measure that would require retailers to bear responsibility for costs incurred by banks and credit unions as a result of data breaches. The State Assembly approved the Consumer Data Protection Act (AB 779) in June by a vote of 58-2. Retailers have been actively lobbying legislators to vote against the bill. The bill is expected to go before the full Senate in about a week. If it is approved, it will then go to Governor Schwarzenegger. Under the bill, retailers would reimburse banks and credit unions for the costs of notifying customers of data breaches and issuing new cards. Retailers would also be required to employ strong data protection measures surrounding credit card information. Retailers would also have to provide details about breaches, including precisely what type of information was compromised. [Source]

US – NASA Facility Employees Sue Over New Background Check Requirements

Workers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which is operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, are suing over new security measures, which require nongovernmental workers to provide background information and sign waivers to allow for in-depth checks of past employment, interviews with neighbors and other security measures. The lawsuit alleges that the practices invade the workers’ privacy and violate other rights, according to coverage of the federal lawsuit in The New York Times. [Source]

US – New York Taxi Drivers Strike Over GPS

A group of taxi drivers launched a two-day strike Wednesday, right in the middle of the New York Fashion Week and the U.S. Open tennis tournament, to protest a city plan to require GPS tracking in cabs. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance called the strike in the nation’s largest city to protest new rules requiring all cabs to have global positioning systems and touch-screen monitors that will let passengers pay by credit card. Some cabbies fear the GPS systems could be used to track their movements and that they could get stuck paying hefty fees for credit card processing. [Source] [NYC Taxi Dispute Over GPS Turns Ugly] [New York Mayor Vows to Install Surveillance Devices in Taxis]

US – ‘Track’ Man is Sacked

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein this week fired a veteran worker whose movements were tracked for five months through the GPS device in his cellphone, leading to charges that he was repeatedly cutting out early. “This individual was getting paid for not working,” said schools spokeswoman Margie Feinberg, explaining Klein’s decision to accept an administrative law judge’s recommendation to ax John Halpin, a longtime supervisor of carpenters. Halpin had worked in the school system for 21 years and was conscientious enough to show up as much as two hours early for his 8 a.m.-to-3:30 p.m. shift. He said he was never told that the cellphone he was given in 2005 could be used to monitor his every move and questioned the accuracy of the data it produced. [Source]

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