Privacy wars, cont.

October 9, 2006 12:00 am

The FTC released its new children’s Internet privacy regulations, which require kids under 13 to get verifiable parental consent before giving out personal information. An admirable goal, but to give “verifiable consent” parents will have to reveal their own private information, such as credit card numbers. . . . Jam Echelon Day (21 Oct.) passed without global upheaval, but increased mainstream coverage meant that global surveillance network Echelon got ink even in the likes of the NY Post (a sort of local version of the National Inquirer). . . . British police are using surveillance photos (from, among others, cameras placed to “monitor traffic”) to identify protesters at the 18 June “Carnival Against Capitalism” demonstration in London. Anyone able to identify folks in the photos at www.corpoflondon.gov.uk/citypolice/j18frame.htm is instructed to contact police, though it’s unclear what crimes are ascribed to the pictured individuals besides youth and the bad luck to walk in a public area under police scrutiny. . . . The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed suit against the FTC to get more information on the disposition of hundreds of consumer complaints about privacy violations. . . . Hushmail.com, a Web-based e-mail service allegedly able to provide strong encryption, came under fire when it was discovered that the company that develops it also does much business with various Canadian police agencies, not to mention mining and logging companies that might be very interested in what certain activists had to say in e-mail. . . .

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