Monthly Archives: February 2009
Site Updates
( Source ) As an administrative note, I’ll be updating the version of Wordpress that I’m using and be performing some tweaks to the page navigation of the site for a little while tonight. Let me know if anything breaks! Continue reading
Comment: Google Latitude
On the one hand, I think that some of the criticisms towards the ‘privacy’ features of the program have been innane – at least one privacy advocate’s core ‘contribution’ to has been a worry that individuals might be given a phone with Latitude installed and active, without knowing about its presence or activation. … What hasn’t been addressed (at least as far as I’ve read), is that the UI for the Latitude program is actually very explicit when it comes to where to adjust your privacy settings – see the image below for just how clear it is. 
Google isn’t hiding the fact that people want to adjust their privacy – it’s two ‘clicks’ away from the google maps screen (‘Options’ >> ‘Privacy’).
…Consumers are more likely to watch a video that’s a few minutes long than read a privacy policy, and will likely only watch this video if it is either put in their face, or they are actively interested in the privacy policies associated with the service. Continue reading
Update: Ontario EDL Suppliers Named
Ann Cavoukian, the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, announced yesterday that GND (located in Munich) would be responsible for producing Ontario EDLs. … As of yet, Peratech only has their technology working with contactless smart cards (i.e. cards with a 10 cm range), but they expect to overcome this. Ann is presently in talks with DHS to let them build the Peratech solution into the EDLs – this ‘privacy protective’ feature is not currently in the EDL spec. Continue reading
BC Privacy Commissioner Would Resign Over Longterm Surveillance
When asked by a member of the audience if he would consider resigning were this infrastructure not dismantled (and thus mirror the actions taken by Greek privacy officers when police refused to limit their use of surveillance infrastructure developed for the Athens games) he responded that he would consider it. Micheal Vonn, the policy directory for BCCLA, noted in her presentations that the Vancouver police have established a policy for ‘routine’ consent searches throughout the lower eastside area of Vancouver during the games – by her rough calculations, around 300 people would be searched each patrol. … Vonn’s information is in the Vancouver police’s business plan, which suggests that a premeditated, unwarranted, search regime may be coming to the games along with other ‘exceptional’ security measures. Continue reading
