The 2014 Privies — It’s Time to Vote! Today we’re publishing the third set of nominees for our Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law awards. And at last it’s time for the public to be heard. Voting is now open, to privacy professionals and to members of the public. The votes of privacy professionals will determine […]
Author Archive | Stewart Baker
The Privies — Category Three — Dumbest Privacy Case of the Year
The 2014 Privies — Category Three Dumbest Privacy Case of the Year a. Boston Police Department (Commissioner William Evans) Record Your Talk with Boston Police, Face Felony Wiretap Charges When Taylor Harding called the Boston Police Department’s press spokesman about his case, he recorded the call and posted it to YouTube. At which point […]
Is France Trying to Game the Privies?
Why else would the New York Times report today that France is expanding its legal mandate for intelligence surveillance [caution, paywall, more here]– all on the eve of voting for the Privies? Francois Hollande is already in the running for Privacy Hypocrite of the Year for criticizing U.S. surveillance while France is doing much the same thing. […]
The 2014 Privies — Category Two “We All Got To Serve Someone” Worst Use of Privacy Law to Protect Power and Privilege a. Max Mosley, former president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile That Picture? Forget it. No, Really. I Insist. Max Mosley achieved fame and wealth as head of the Formula One racing association, FIA. […]
The 2014 Privy Nominations — “Privacy Hypocrite of the Year”
I’m pleased to post nominations in the hotly contested first category of Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law. Take your time to make a choice. Voting will not open until all nominations have been published — likely December 15. Corrections and suggestions for additional nominees may be sent to vc.comments@gmail.com. But for those who think a […]
Dubious Achievements in Privacy Law — The 2014 Privies
Recognizing Stupid Privacy Laws It’s time to recognize just how stupid privacy law is getting. And what better way than by acknowledging the most dubious achievements of the year in privacy law? First I should explain why I think privacy law so often produces results that make no sense. After all, most of us think […]
Tale of Two Searches
Google news searches: Chinese+hackers+spied+on+g20 : 3 results NSA+spied+on+g20: 2,330 results UPDATE: china+hackers+spy+g20 -nsa: 4 results NSA+spy+G20 – china: 1,280 results
Export controls on surveillance and hacking tools?
The old Cold War export control alliance, now known as the Wassenaar Arrangement, hasn’t exactly been a hotbed of new controls since Russia joined the club. But according to the Financial Times, the 41-nation group is preparing a broad new set of controls on complex surveillance and hacking software and cryptography. I suspect that the […]
Understanding the Enemy
The latest Snowden leak story is in the Huffington Post. It says that NSA thought about exposing the hypocrisy of Islamic extremist recruiters by revealing their financial greed or predatory sexual habits. I’m quoted in support of considering such tactics, but the backstory of the interview may be more interesting. When one of the authors, […]
Hackback Backers’ Comeback?
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has issued its annual report. It reminds us that, while press and privacy campaigners have been hyperventilating over US intelligence programs, there are, you know, actual authoritarian governments at work in the United States — breaking into the networks of activists whom they dislike, newspapers whose sources they […]
Can We Crowd Audit Healthcare.gov?
The Administration has set a goal in its effort to fix the troubled Obamacare website, healthcare.gov. By November 30, according to the Washington Post, the government’s goal is that 80% of users will be able to buy healthcare policies online. The 80% target moves the goalposts back from the President’s more confident statement earlier this month: […]
When Separation of Powers is a Matter of Life and Death
The Leahy-Sensenbrenner USA FREEDOM Act puts the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FIS) court in charge of shaping, overseeing, and enforcing minimization guidelines in connection with section 215, pen/trap orders, and section 702, largely taking the Attorney General out of the process of writing minimization guidelines. I’m appalled, because the FIS court has taken control of minimization […]
Treasury’s War
I reviewed Juan Zarate’s Treasury’s War for the Wall Street Journal. If you have a subscription, here’s the paywalled link. For cheapskates, here’s the gist: Treasury has attacked money laundering by big banks, imposing fines up to $2 billion on institutions around the world. As a result, banks have toughened their compliance regimes. Under the […]
NSA’s international crisis, and what Congress should do about it
I’ll be testifying tomorrow before the House Intelligence Committee. This post is an excerpt from that testimony. The full document is here: Baker – HPSCI testimony – Oct. 29 2013. I fear that the campaign by Glenn Greenwald and others who control the Snowden documents has forced the executive branch into a defensive crouch. Other nations are […]
Espionage and Allies
I contributed a short piece today to the New York Times on the latest Snowden-generated flap over allegations that NSA targeted Angela Merkel’s mobile phone. Excerpts: To play the role it has played in the world for the last 70 years, the United States must be able to gather intelligence anywhere in the world with […]