PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

The Government’s Data Security Breach and “Data Neutralization”

Digital Person Privacy

The AP reports an enormous breach of data security by the government: Thieves took sensitive personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, after a Veterans Affairs employee improperly brought the material home, the government said Monday. The information involved mainly those veterans who served and have been discharged since 1975, […]

Examining Law School Exams

Law School Exams

There are a lot of really good discussions going on in the blogosphere about law school exams recently. Ann Althouse asks whether exams are a rewarding educational experience in and of themselves for students. Jonathan Adler offers his thoughts here. Rick Garnett chimes in at PrawfsBlawg. In most law school courses, the grade is based on one final […]

Electronic Surveillance Statistics for 2005

Surveillance Audio

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has released its annual report on the number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders, Wiretap Act orders, and National Security Letters issued in 2005. For FISA surveillance orders, 2072 applications were made to the FISA court; none were denied. Over the past few years, the number of orders has been steadily increasing:

Get High (and Identified) With a Little Help From Your Friends

Marijuana

It’s time to modernize the lyrics to some old Beatles songs. The University of Colorado police are using a website to post surveillance photos of students and other individuals it wants to identify for smoking pot on Farrand Field. Apparently, there’s a tradition at the University of Colorado for students to spoke pot on Farrand Field on April […]

Stuntz Responds: Further Thoughts on Privacy and Transparency

Government Surveillance

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post criticizing an essay by William Stuntz (law, Harvard) in The New Republic. Today, he has responded to my post in The New Republic Online. I’ll reply briefly here to a few of Stuntz’s points in response. Stuntz observes: