News Archive: April 2008

The views represented in these articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, the Privacy Act Program, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

THE SCOOP for April 30, 2008

The Art of Data Management Compliance, Part 1: Keeping Pace
E-Commerce Times - April 26, 2008
"In an effort to stem the tide of cyber-crime -- or at least compel the business world to be more diligent in implementing prevention efforts -- thousands of U.S. state and federal regulations (in addition to numerous voluntary standards) officially require that organizations be in full legal compliance with mandates concerning records management."
Clay Shirky: How the Enterprise Moves to 2.0
CIO Insight - April 27, 2008
"The consultant, author and professor says businesses are just beginning to understand the value -- and challenges -- of social technologies."
Court Expands White House Missing E-Mail Order
eWeek - April 25, 2008
Concerned over contradictory White House statements about the government's controversial e-mail archiving efforts, a U.S. district judge April 24 ordered the Bush administration to collect and preserve all e-mails in .pst files for individuals employed at the White House between March 2003 and October 2005. Millions of White House e-mail are missing from the period."
Court Rules Web Users Have Expectation Of Privacy
Mediapost - April 24, 2008
"A court ruling in New Jersey this week stating that Web users have an expectation of privacy in their Internet activity and IP addresses is being viewed as a new milestone in the effort to define what constitutes personal information."
Disaster planning, mix and match style
Computerworld - April 29, 2008
"Disaster planning traditionally focuses on three variables: data center replication, building design and backups...Yet, for many enterprises throughout the U.S., the reality is that recovery plans should be customized for whichever type of major disaster is most likely to occur in any given area."
E-Discovery: How to Understand, and Meet, This Legal Challenge
Computer Technology Review - April 25, 2008
"Electronic discovery is no longer just a concept. E-discovery is fast becoming a critical, legal challenge. The number of requests for production, or discovery, has been increasing for years. Electronic records have been getting more attention as all industries become more reliant on electronic records and electronic communication (which is now designated an electronic record)."
The Essential Guide to VoIP Privacy
VoIP News - April 23, 2008
"The problem with most VoIP calls is that they travel over the Internet, a very public network. This means that calls are vulnerable to snooping at various points throughout their journey. And even private-network VoIP calls can be tapped if access can be gained to the physical wiring. As a result, business competitors, employees, criminal gangs, tech hobbyists and just plain snoops can listen in to a business's outgoing and incoming VoIP calls."
Measurement - do records management policies, systems and procedures really deliver?
IT Director - April 22, 2008
"The importance of assessing and measuring records management policy and the subsequent procedures used has been thrown into sharp relief by the disaster that last year befell the UK's Revenue and Customs organisation. The personal records of 25 million of the UK population were sent protected only by a password in an internal postal system, and lost."
Not All Federal Agencies Meeting E-Mail Management Challenges, Says GAO
Government Technology - April 24, 2008
"Federal agencies are increasingly using e-mail for essential communication according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In doing so, they are potentially creating messages that have the status of federal records, which must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal Records Act."

More coverage:
E-mail management a mighty struggle for US agencies
Network World - April 23, 2008
Officials question cost, scope of e-mail storage measure
Government Executive - April 24, 2008
"A House bill to force the White House and federal agencies to improve e-mail retention received general support Wednesday from the National Archives, GAO and public advocacy groups, but the organizations diverged on whether the measure is too strong or toothless."
White House urges federal appeals court to rule visitor logs not public records
Jurist - April 21, 2008
"White House lawyers argued on Monday before a federal appeals court that White House visitor logs maintained by the Secret Service are executive branch documents and thus not subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests."

THE SCOOP for April 23, 2008

Colleges struggle with privacy laws
The Seattle Times - April 16, 2008
"In the year since a mentally disturbed student went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, federal regulators, educators and legal experts have tried to reach a new understanding of the complex web of privacy laws that came under heavy criticism as one of the reasons no one acted in time to prevent the tragedy."
Panel would reform records storage
Federal Computer Week - April 16, 2008
"Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have introduced legislation that would revamp the Presidential Records and Federal Records acts to address how the White House and federal agencies maintain electronic communications, including e-mail messages."

More coverage:
Dems seek to require electronic storage of agency e-mail
Government Executive - April 17, 2008
Record-Keeping Bill Is Criticized As 'Anemic' by Watchdog Group
The Washington Post - April 17, 2008
No Easy Answers For Data Privacy
Internet News - April 18, 2008
"In the great Internet privacy wars, where so much of the debate takes place through prepared statements, official filings and carefully scripted comments, it's a rare moment when concerned parties from each side of the aisle sit down to engage in a public discussion. At a National Press Club gathering here, representatives from consumer advocacy groups, Google, AOL and several universities cracked open the kernel of the debate: whether consumer education is an effective and viable solution to ensure that computer privacy is not trampled upon."
Putting e-mail intelligence to work
InterGovWorld - April 18, 2008
"Canadian government organizations collect massive amounts of sensitive public data, and much of it exists in e-mail form. Studies show that more than 70 per cent of a public sector organization's intellectual property is contained, in some fashion, within its messaging system."
Robocall Regulation Debate Heats Up
OMB Watch - April 15, 2008
"Controversy over S.2624, the Robocall Privacy Act of 2008, has increased in recent weeks following a February Senate committee hearing...According to a press release from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the bill's sponsors, the main objective of the legislation is to create a reasonable framework that protects Americans from being inundated by computer automated calls in the days leading up to an election."
Tough cookies for Web surfers seeking privacy
Los Angeles Times - April 19, 2008
"For consumers trying to protect their privacy on the Internet, it's a Catch-22.0. Advertisers often track Web surfers' activities so they can deliver targeted ads. One of the best ways to avoid this is to install a tiny piece of software that lets computer users opt out of the practice. But the trouble is that the digital stop sign is often wiped out by other programs designed to protect people's privacy and security."
Your printer: An open door for hackers?
Network World - April 17, 2008
"...It turns out that the old problem of misdirected faxes has a new twist: networked printers are posing the potential for misdirected printouts - including printer hacking."

THE SCOOP for April 16, 2008

Agency under fire for decision not to save federal Web content
Computerworld - April 11, 2008
"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is coming under fire for discontinuing its policy of taking a 'digital snapshot' of all federal agency and congressional public Web sites at the end of congressional and presidential terms."
EU Says Search Engines Threaten Privacy
Business Week - April 9, 2008
"Search engines should not hold on to personal data at the end of six months due to privacy concerns, the European Commission's data protection watchdog has recommended in a report."
Franklin Park couple clashes with Google over privacy
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - April 13, 2008
"The Borings claim Google invaded their privacy by taking pictures of the home on Oakridge Lane and posting them on the Internet despite a sign clearly marking the road as private. No one asked permission to be on the road or take photographs, their attorney wrote in the lawsuit filed April 2 in Common Pleas Court."
Hackers open new front in payment card data thefts
Computerworld - April 14, 2008
"What's noteworthy about the Hannaford and Okemo breaches is that they both involved the theft of data in transit -- credit and debit card information that was being transmitted from point-of-sale systems to payment processors in order to authorize transactions."
House panel to take up bill requiring electronic e-mail storage
Government Executive - April 14, 2008
"A bill taking aim at the e-mail preservation policies of the White House and federal agencies will be subject of a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing Wednesday...The measure would require federal agencies to keep e-mails electronically."
Information Management: The Value of an Enterprise Data Model (Part 1 of 2)
Enterprise Systems - April 9, 2008
"The management and delivery of information is a challenge every organization must face. Across every enterprise, information challenges are intensified by the presence of complex combinations of applications; heterogeneous rather than homogeneous technology environments are now the norm."
IRS chief to tackle identity theft
Federal Computer Week - April 10, 2008
"IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman today promised lawmakers that within 90 days the service will develop a comprehensive program to fight identity theft."
Managers advised to plan for transition
Federal Computer Week - April 14, 2008
"When should agency information managers start working toward next year's presidential transition? If you have to ask, you're already behind, according to panelists who spoke today at the Interagency Resources Management Conference here."
OMB issues records management guidance
Government Computer News - April 11, 2008
"When agencies build or purchase new information technology systems, they should make records management and archiving capabilities be part of the system, decreed the Office of Management and Budget earlier this month in a memo signed by Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for e-government and information technology."
Rescues designed to save web projects gone awry
New Jersey Business News - April 9, 2008
"What starts out as an informational resource, with a modest collection of web pages, can easily morph into a sprawling, messy and out-of-control endeavor. Broken links, outdated information, and a hodgepodge of clashing graphics may turn up as new pages are added and the site's navigation is altered."
Survey Confirms Business Benefits of Efficient Document Management
Biloxi Sun Herald - April 9, 2008
"While 90 percent of senior executives involved in document management agree that managing documents throughout their lifecycle (creation through disposal) helps improve business performance, only 12 percent of the surveyed executives rate their organization as highly effective in this practice."
U.S. Adults Wary Of Web-Use Tracking
Information Week - April 10, 2008
"A majority of U.S. adults are uncomfortable with Web sites using a person's online activity to deliver customized content, a study released Thursday showed. However, Harris Interactive found that people became more comfortable after they were presented with Web-site privacy and security policies recommended by the Federal Trade Commission."

THE SCOOP for April 9, 2008

Agencies grapple with search and discovery
Federal Computer Week - April 2, 2008
"As increasing amounts of information exist only in electronic form, agencies are having to find ways to search it, retrieve useful information and retain it to comply with information retention rules."
Census turns to paper, rejects IT risks
Federal Computer Week - April 3, 2008
"Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced today that the 2010 census will return to using paper questionnaires for following up with nonresponding citizens; leaving a much smaller role for handheld computers and cutting a major contract."
E-discovery adds twist to litigation
Government Computer News - April 2, 2008
"New rules for electronic data discovery during litigation, combined with the massive amount of electronic data now available in federal databases, will require closer communication between the legal and information technology departments at federal agencies and standardized processes across business units, according to panelists discussing enterprise search and e-discovery at the FOSE Conference and Exposition in Washington."
FTC Divided Over Online 'Behavioral Targeting'
Information Week - April 7, 2008
"The agency calls for industry self-regulation despite concerns regarding collection and use of sensitive data, such as medical information and information about children."
HP Ups Records Management Game with Tower Acquisition
CMS Wire - April 3, 2008
"HP has taken a dip into the acquisitions market with its recent purchase of Tower Software, an Australian Enterprise Content Management Provider. But they don't call it an ECM acquisition — rather it's a deal that will help HP expand its reach into the ediscovery and compliance software market."
Implementing Document and Record Management Systems as a part of your business continuity plan
CIO - April 4, 2008
"Effective business continuity planning requires the timely restoration of critical functions after a disruption to normal business operations...In the aftermath of emergency situations, however, it is all too common to find that organizations fail to plan adequately to protect and replicate paper records, as necessary to mitigate risk and continue operations."
Microsoft-Yahoo: The Privacy Issue
Business Week - April 8, 2008
"As both pairs of companies [Microsoft-Yahoo and Google-DoubleClick] evolve to this next level of digital customer intimacy, the potential for privacy problems increases dramatically. Identity management companies should be held to a higher privacy standard than the one applied to software or search firms."
More personal data lost — this time on paper
Federal Times - April 7, 2008
"The personal data lost last month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission isn't protected by passwords or secured by encryption — it's on paper. The agency reported Friday the loss of a three-ring binder containing personal information of about 2,810 former employees."

THE SCOOP for April 3, 2008

After Campus Shootings, U.S. to Ease Privacy Rules
The New York Times - March 25, 2008
"The Federal Education Department proposed on Monday new regulations to clarify when universities may release confidential information and, after the Virginia Tech shootings last year, reassure college officials that they will not face penalties for reporting facts about mentally ill students"
Another phone-phishing scam spoofs IRS
Government Computer News - March 31, 2008
"A new scam to steal personal and financial information through a combination of e-mail and phone calls surfaced last week, masquerading as an urgent message from the IRS about a tax refund. "
As More Of Our Health Records Move Online, Privacy Concerns Grow
Fox Business - March 26, 2008
"A host of big-name companies is launching initiatives aimed at helping people take control of their personal health-care information and making it more useful to them. . .But the elephant in the room is privacy"
E-filing transforms work at IRS: Automated tools examine returns
Federal Times - March 27, 2008
"If you file your tax return electronically, it's likely that no one at the Internal Revenue Service will ever look at it. E-filing is revolutionizing how the agency functions"
Google Has A Privacy Policy That Doesn't Offer Privacy
Information Week - March 31, 2008
"It should hardly come as a surprise that spy agencies want a bit of that Google magic to help them mine their vast stores of data. What is remarkable is that Google insists that it is strongly committed to protecting user privacy"
IRS Needs Better Tax Records Management
WebCPA - March 28, 2008
"A report by the Treasury Department's inspector general faults the Internal Revenue Service for its management of taxpayer records"
Programmer who stole drive containing 1 million bank records gets 42 months
Computerworld - March 26, 2008
"A former programmer at Birmingham, Ala. -based Compass Bank who stole a hard drive containing 1 million customer records and used some of that information to commit debit-card fraud was sentenced last week to 42 months in prison by an Alabama district court judge"
Protecting Feds from Personal Information Release and Identity Theft: Are Current Policies Enough?
FedSmith - March 24, 2008
"In the wake of recent privacy-violating probing of presidential candidates' passport files and earlier losses by agencies of computers or hard drives containing sensitive employee data, it appears the risk of nosy feds, political paparazzi, curious contractors and others getting personal personnel info may be at an all time high"
Responders test coordination skills
Federal Computer Week - March 31, 2008
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies converged in southern Virginia last week to demonstrate and test the interoperability of the communications systems that will need to work together for the agency's disaster response plans to succeed"
Stolen laptop reveals security gap
Federal Computer Week - March 31, 2008
"Despite federal security policy established two years ago, the National Institutes of Health failed to encrypt a laptop that contained sensitive information and was stolen Feb. 23. The incident, made public last week, demonstrates that agencies have not moved fast enough to secure their data, security experts say"
Surviving the big one: 7 lessons learned from the decade's deadliest disasters
Computerworld - March 31, 2008
"You may have a disaster recovery plan in place, but are you prepared for a true catastrophe? If you're fortunate enough, you don't have personal experience dealing with tragedies like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or Hurricane Katrina. But one of the best ways to prepare for such disasters is to learn from those who survived them"
Va. Domestic Intelligence Center Sued for Info
Wired News - March 24, 2008
"A D.C. privacy group that is curious about the activities of a Virginia domestic intelligence center filed a government sunshine lawsuit Friday, after Virginia's so-called fusion center rebuffed its requests for documents about what the center was doing"

News Archive: April 2008

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