PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

Are People Really Harmed By a Data Breach?

Data Breach

“It’s just a flesh wound.” — Monty Python and the Holy Grail Over at Privacy & Security Source, Andrew Serwin, a leading privacy lawyer and author of an excellent treatise on privacy law, has a very thoughtful and informative post [link no longer available] about cases where courts found no harm to individuals by data […]

Data Security: When Will the Thick Skulls Learn?

Stolen USB Drive

The Wall Street Journal reports the theft of 3.3 million student loan records, including Social Security numbers: Company and federal officials said they believed last week’s theft of identity data on 3.3 million people with student loans was the largest-ever breach of such information and could affect as many as 5% of all federal student-loan […]

Final Version Available: Data Mining and the Security-Liberty Debate

Data Mining

My short essay, Data Mining and the Security-Liberty Debate, 74 U. Chi. L. Rev. 343 (2008) has just been published. I’ve posted the final version on SSRN. You can find the abstract and more information about the essay in a previous post I wrote about the subject here. The essay critiques arguments by Richard Posner […]

Data Security Laws, the States, and Federalism

Federalism and Privacy

Remember well over a year ago, when last February ChoicePoint announced it had a major data security breach? Since then hundreds of breaches have been announced — over 200 instances involving data on 88 million people. Several bills were proposed in Congress; many Senators and Representatives quickly emphasized the importance of privacy and data security. […]

Public Records and Identity Theft

Public Records and Identity Theft

There are new details to report about the famous Hamilton County public records website. Several years ago, the clerk of courts of Hamilton County, Ohio placed a wide range of public records online. Many of the records had extensive personal information about individuals, including Social Security Numbers and home addresses. The Hamilton County website garnered […]

Website Hacking Blackmail

Hackers

A while back, I wrote about the Million Dollar Homepage, where Alex Tew, a student, created the idea of selling a million pixels on a website to advertisers for $1 each. His plan was successful, and he recently reached his goal of raising a million dollars in just a few months. But the story attracted some unsavory criminals […]