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Air marshall info among 100,000 records on lost TSA hard drive: The Transportation Security Administration has lost a hard drive with personal information from 100,000 current and former employees. TSA isnt sure whether its just lost or if it was stolen but in either case they "deeply regret this incident," Ars Technica reports. And so, as in so many...; Tags: Security, Homeland security, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-05-08
Deadline today for comments on RealID: The deadline to file comments on the Real ID Act is 5pm ET on Tuesday, May 8, Declan McCullagh reports on the News.com blog. If you want to object or offer praise to the idea, a website called Privacy Coalition is set up to send in comments on...; Tags: Privacy, Homeland security, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-05-08
Six years after 9/11, state emergency systems still a hodgepodge: In 2009, the nations broadcasters are required to switch over to digital signals. That frees up a huge swath of analog frequency, which the agency will auction off shortly. Under the current plan, thd FCC will set aside $1 billion of the take for states to fund communications systems for...; Tags: Homeland security, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-05-04
TSA watchlists based on antique technology. Would ChoicePoint do a better job?: Writing in Technology Review, Mark Williams explains that the problem with the Transportation Security Administrations watchlists - which famously produce reams of false positives - is based on a very old algorithm called Soundex. Latanya Sweeney, director of the Data Privacy Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon Universitys School...; Tags: Government technology, Privacy, Homeland security; Blog posts 2007-04-13
DHS locates advanced forensics lab in AL: The Department of Homeland Security is opening a forensic crime lab in Alabama, Information Week reports. The new National Computer Forensic Institute will emphasize digital evidence analysis, according to a Department of Homeland Security release. The Secret Service - an investigator into financial and cyber crime - will...; Tags: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, training; Blog posts 2007-03-13

USPTO: Filesharing poses national security risks: The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a report that finds filesharing programs "threaten the security of personal, corporate, and governmental data,” according to Jon Dudas, the Bush Administration’s point person on copyright policy. According to a government press release, distributors intentionlly included features to facilitate...; Tags: Homeland security, Privacy, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-03-08
DE: More money needed to comply with Real ID: Even with the new extensions and funding for Real ID, Delaware will have a hard time meeting the laws requirements, some state officials say, according to the DE News Journal. For one thing, the federal government hasnt actually released any new money. Department of Homeland Security Michael...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, State &, Local Govt; Blog posts 2007-03-02
Extension, details for states on Real ID: After two years of legislative wrangling over a national ID program, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is finally laying out state responsibilities on how to implement the program, reports the Washington Post. The Bush administration has also agreed to postpone the launch of the "Real ID" program ...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, State &, Local Govt; Blog posts 2007-03-01
Datamining program violated privacy laws: The Department of Homeland Security has violated privacy laws in the testing of an aggressive data-mining program, a forthcoming Government Accountability Office reports says. The Washington Post reports that the GAO found that DHS researchers used citizens real information instead of fake data in testing the ADVISE program. ADVISE...; Tags: Privacy, Government technology, Homeland security; Blog posts 2007-02-28
GAO rips US-VISIT program, lawmakers are seething: According to a GAO report PDF released in February, the Department of Homeland Securitys US-VISIT programs costs are spiraling out of control "without any accompanying explanation of the reasons," Wired News reports. Randy Hite, the author of the GAO report, described US-VISIT as a plane flying aimlessly. "Were asking...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, Congress; Blog posts 2007-02-27
Report: DHS must complete privacy assessments: The Homeland Security Department is not doing enough to protect personal information within its computer systems, Government Computer News reports on DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinners report. The department has performed draft assessments of most of its computer systems, but only 23 percent of those assessments of...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, Privacy; Blog posts 2007-02-23
MD lawmakers dubious about Real ID: Maryland legislators ripped the pending Real ID law, passed by Congress in 2005 and due to take effect next year. Legislators fear the measure will cost the state too much in issuing new, high-tech drivers licenses to comply with the law, Capitol News Service reports. Sen. Jennie M....; Tags: Homeland security, State &, Local Govt, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-02-16
DHS' Garcia: Network security is everyone's business: On Between the Lines, Dan Farber reports back from the RSA 2007 Conference, where Greg Garcia, the Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications, described the security problems inherent in a totally IP-connected world. "The next ten years there will be a single integrated IP network...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, Network security, Greg Garcia; Blog posts 2007-02-08
States' rebellion against Real ID grows: A battle royal between the states and the federal Department of Homeland Security is gathering steam. The revolt is over the Real ID Act, which would require states to issue new high-tech drivers licenses but provides no funds for the expensive makeover. The revolt started in Maine, but about a...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, State &, Local Govt, REAL ID; Blog posts 2007-02-06
Bush drops NSA warrantless spying ops: The Bush administration has given up on the warantless eavesdropping program run by the National Security Agency. From now on, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said, the secret FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court will oversee eavesdropping operations, The Washington Post reports. Under the new plan, the FISA court...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, Intelligence, FISA Court; Blog posts 2007-01-18
Treasury needs more time for financial data tracking project: The Treasury Departments Cross-Border Electronic Funds Transfer Program - a data-collection program that is supposed to give analysts access to 500 million cross-border financial transactions - will not be ready until 2010, officials told Congress yesterday. The Washington Post reports: In a report to Congress to be...; Tags: Government technology, Homeland security, FINCEN; Blog posts 2007-01-17
Port worker ID card program starts - without card readers: The Department of Homeland Security announced a new program, to start in March, that will require 750,000 U.S. port and maritime workers to carry biometric identification cards. There will be no card readers for at least a year, though, The Sacramento Bee reports. The Transportation Security...; Tags: Transportation Security Administration, United States Coast Guard, Security, Homeland security, Government technology; Blog posts 2007-01-04
VA, MD responders get digital ID cards: Virginia and Maryland will be the first states to deliver high-tech credentials to police, firefighters and emergency workers to carry in a regional crisis. The program is limited to counties surrounding Washington DC. In Northern Virginia, 4,000 cards with digital fingerprints will be delivered to first responders. In Maryland counties,...; Tags: ID card, responder; Blog posts 2006-12-22
Secure Flight violated privacy law, report finds: The Transportation Security Administration violated federal law by gathering passenger information from commercial databases without notifying passengers, a report by the Department of Homeland Securitys privacy office concludes. According to the Washington Post, TSAs Secure Flight program violated the 1974 Privacy Act, which requires that the public be...; Tags: Transportation Security Administration, EagleForce, commercial data, Government technology, Homeland security, Privacy; Blog posts 2006-12-22
EFF sues DHS over risk assessment data collection: The Department of Homeland Securitys Automated Targeting System ATS has come under fire after a notice in the Federal Register revealed that the agency was creating "risk assessments" of air travelers. The latest fuel on that fire is a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against the...; Tags: Privacy, Homeland security, Government technology, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Blog posts 2006-12-19