Today is Data Privacy Day

January 28 marks the annual observance of Data Privacy Day. First held in 2007 by the Council of Europe as “Data Protection Day,“ the event has grown into a international observance that seeks to provide information about personal data rights and protections to consumers of all ages. The United States officially joined in the observance of Data Privacy Day in 2009 when the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution HR 31, declaring January 28 National Data Privacy Day.

Data Privacy Day 2012: Youth and Privacy

This is the second of a series of posts celebrating Data Privacy Day 2012 , an international celebration designed to promote awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared, and to promote education about privacy practices that will enable individuals to protect their personal information.

Young people care about their privacy and reputation, and are always willing to try and consider new tools and information that help them protect their online reputation. Data Privacy Day 2012 has compiled online resources discussing privacy and youth and offers a Youth and Privacy Tipsheet, available online as a digital download.

Celebrate Data Privacy Day 2012

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Is your library celebrating Data Privacy Day?

Data Privacy Day is an annual international celebration designed to promote awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared, and to promote education about privacy practices that will enable individuals to protect their personal information.

ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom will be celebrating Data Privacy Day from January 26 through February 3, 2012 with a series of blog posts highlighting webinars, special events, and resources that libraries and librarians can use to promote an understanding of best privacy practices and privacy rights and celebrate Data Privacy Day.

Community Group comments on W3C DNT--Towards a Do Not Track System that Protects User Privacy

Interview with CBC’s Spark on the coming war on general-purpose computation

I did a quick interview with the CBC Radio programme "The Spark" last week from my office in London, talking about my idea of "the upcoming war on general purpose computing." They've just posted the unedited audio in advance of airing a shorter excerpt. MP3 linkRead More »

International Privacy Day

Retroactive Privacy Act exemptions could cost a US citizen his life

In his ruling this week in Hasbrouck v. CBP, Judge Seeborg of the US. District Court for the Northern District of California suggested that US citizens have no “rights” that would be prejudiced by applying newly-issued Privacy Act exemption rules to previously-made requests for government records. But a parallel case currently before the U.S. District Court [...]
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First rulings in our lawsuit over DHS travel records

From The Identity Project U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg has issued his first rulings inHasbrouck v. CBP, our lawsuit seeking information from and about DHS records of the travels of individual US citizens. Judge Seeborg granted some of the government’s motions for summary judgment and some of ours, ordered US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to [...]
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Constitution Project: Recommendations for the Implementation of a Comprehensive and Constitutional Cybersecurity Policy

The Constitution Project has released a new report, “Recommendations for the Implementation of a Comprehensive and Constitutional Cybersecurity Policy” (Project pdf; archive pdf), calling on Congress to include strong privacy protections in any cybersecurity legislation it adopts. The report is “endorsed by legal and policy experts (including former federal judges and prosecutors, retired military and intelligence [...]
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Password Sharing Among American Teenagers

Interesting article from the New York Times on password sharing as a show of affection.

"It's a sign of trust," Tiffany Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, said of the decision she and her boyfriend made several months ago to share passwords for e-mail and Facebook. "I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me."
"That is so cute," said Cherry Ng, 16, listening in to her friend's comments to a reporter outside school. "They really trust each other."

We do, said Ms. Carandang, 17. "I know he'd never do anything to hurt my reputation," she added.

It doesn't always end so well, of course. Changing a password is simple, but students, counselors and parents say that damage is often done before a password is changed, or that the sharing of online lives can be the reason a relationship falters.

Ethnologist danah boyd discusses what's happening:

For Meixing, sharing her password with her boyfriend is a way of being connected. But it's precisely these kinds of narratives that have prompted all sorts of horror by adults over the last week since that NYTimes article came out. I can't count the number of people who have gasped "How could they!?!" at me. For this reason, I feel the need to pick up on an issue that the NYTimes let out.
The idea of teens sharing passwords didn't come out of thin air. In fact, it was normalized by adults. And not just any adult. This practice is the product of parental online safety norms. In most households, it's quite common for young children to give their parents their passwords. With elementary and middle school youth, this is often a practical matter: children lose their passwords pretty quickly. Furthermore, most parents reasonably believe that young children should be supervised online. As tweens turn into teens, the narrative shifts. Some parents continue to require passwords be forked over, using explanations like "because I'm your mother." But many parents use the language of "trust" to explain why teens should share their passwords with them.

Much more in her post.

Related: a profile of danah boyd.

SEC Goes After Online Trading Firms That Unwittingly Helped Latvian Hacker

In an effort to crack down on hacker/stock traders who hijack brokerage accounts and exploit the stock market for gain, the Securities and Exchange Commission has, in a novel move, gone after four online trading companies and eight executives who they say helped a Latvian hacker make more than $850,000 from fraudulent trades.
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