Learn from the mistakes of others

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Canada privacy commissioner concerned about sharing information with US
Joe Shaulis at 11:05 AM ET

[JURIST] Canada [JURIST news archive] must do more to protect citizens' personal information from foreign governments, the national privacy commissioner [official website] said in a report [text; press release] to Parliament presented Tuesday. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart [official profile] singled out the Canadian Border Services Agency [official website] for allowing guards and customs agents to give their US counterparts private information over the phone, even though agreements between the two nations require written requests and responses. The report also noted that the USA PATRIOT Act [JURIST news archive], passed by the US Congress [HR 3162 summary] soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and renewed this year [JURIST report], "has become the symbol of the increasing concern of Canadians about the security of their personal information when it leaves Canada."

Stoddart also called on Parliament [official website] to update privacy legislation [official backgrounder] to reflect "the reality of huge government systems that are capable of a surveillance we could not have dreamed of in 1982." Canada's Privacy Act has not been overhauled since its enactment in 1983.

CBC News has more.
The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Canada privacy commissioner concerned about sharing information with US
Joe Shaulis at 11:05 AM ET

[JURIST] Canada [JURIST news archive] must do more to protect citizens' personal information from foreign governments, the national privacy commissioner [official website] said in a report [text; press release] to Parliament presented Tuesday. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart [official profile] singled out the Canadian Border Services Agency [official website] for allowing guards and customs agents to give their US counterparts private information over the phone, even though agreements between the two nations require written requests and responses. The report also noted that the USA PATRIOT Act [JURIST news archive], passed by the US Congress [HR 3162 summary] soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and renewed this year [JURIST report], "has become the symbol of the increasing concern of Canadians about the security of their personal information when it leaves Canada."

Stoddart also called on Parliament [official website] to update privacy legislation [official backgrounder] to reflect "the reality of huge government systems that are capable of a surveillance we could not have dreamed of in 1982." Canada's Privacy Act has not been overhauled since its enactment in 1983.

CBC News has more.
The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
US government agencies using data brokers to get records without warrants: report
Joe Shaulis at 11:51 AM ET

[JURIST] Law enforcement officials often obtain Americans' phone records without a warrant or subpoena by paying private data brokers, who sometimes get the information through improper or even illegal techniques, AP reports. Federal agencies that hire data brokers include the FBI [official website] and the US Marshals Service [official website], both part of the Justice Department, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [official website] in the Department of Homeland Security. Privacy groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center [advocacy website] consider the government's use of data brokers an "end run" around the Fourth Amendment [text and materials], which requires judicial oversight of most searches and seizures. The National Security Agency [official website] has come under fire recently for its warrantless surveillance programs [JURIST news archive], which are being challenged in a number of lawsuits [JURIST report].

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on investigations [official website] has gathered documents showing that some data brokers trick phone companies into releasing records or hack into customer accounts. The subcommittee is holding hearings on data brokers on Wednesday and Thursday [committee materials]. Several data broker executives scheduled to testify are expected to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights. Last year, executives told a congressional committee [Washington Post report] that they would take measures to protect Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.

AP has more.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
US government agencies using data brokers to get records without warrants: report
Joe Shaulis at 11:51 AM ET

[JURIST] Law enforcement officials often obtain Americans' phone records without a warrant or subpoena by paying private data brokers, who sometimes get the information through improper or even illegal techniques, AP reports. Federal agencies that hire data brokers include the FBI [official website] and the US Marshals Service [official website], both part of the Justice Department, and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [official website] in the Department of Homeland Security. Privacy groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center [advocacy website] consider the government's use of data brokers an "end run" around the Fourth Amendment [text and materials], which requires judicial oversight of most searches and seizures. The National Security Agency [official website] has come under fire recently for its warrantless surveillance programs [JURIST news archive], which are being challenged in a number of lawsuits [JURIST report].

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on investigations [official website] has gathered documents showing that some data brokers trick phone companies into releasing records or hack into customer accounts. The subcommittee is holding hearings on data brokers on Wednesday and Thursday [committee materials]. Several data broker executives scheduled to testify are expected to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights. Last year, executives told a congressional committee [Washington Post report] that they would take measures to protect Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.

AP has more.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Judge temporarily blocks Louisiana violent video games law
Joe Shaulis at 4:30 PM ET

[JURIST] A federal judge has temporarily blocked the enforcement of Louisiana's new law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. US District Judge James Brady [official profile] of the Middle District of Louisiana [official website] in Baton Rouge granted a temporary restraining order [PDF] requested by two industry groups, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) [trade website] and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) [trade website], which sued the state [press release] last week. The statute [text, PDF], which took effect when Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) [official website] signed it on Friday, forbids the sale or rental of electronic games to anyone under age 18 if:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the video or computer game, taken as a whole, appeals to the minor's morbid interest in violence.
2. The game depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors.
3. The game, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

Anyone convicted of violating the law can be fined up to $2,000, sentenced to a year in prison, or both. The industry groups argue that the law violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

Judges have struck down similar laws as unconstitutional in Michigan, California and Illinois [JURIST reports], and the ESA sued Minnesota [press release] earlier this month. In Louisiana, Brady has scheduled a hearing for June 27 to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction.

Reuters has more.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Judge temporarily blocks Louisiana violent video games law
Joe Shaulis at 4:30 PM ET

[JURIST] A federal judge has temporarily blocked the enforcement of Louisiana's new law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. US District Judge James Brady [official profile] of the Middle District of Louisiana [official website] in Baton Rouge granted a temporary restraining order [PDF] requested by two industry groups, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) [trade website] and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) [trade website], which sued the state [press release] last week. The statute [text, PDF], which took effect when Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) [official website] signed it on Friday, forbids the sale or rental of electronic games to anyone under age 18 if:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the video or computer game, taken as a whole, appeals to the minor's morbid interest in violence.
2. The game depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors.
3. The game, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

Anyone convicted of violating the law can be fined up to $2,000, sentenced to a year in prison, or both. The industry groups argue that the law violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

Judges have struck down similar laws as unconstitutional in Michigan, California and Illinois [JURIST reports], and the ESA sued Minnesota [press release] earlier this month. In Louisiana, Brady has scheduled a hearing for June 27 to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction.

Reuters has more.