PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

National Security Letters

National Security Letter - NSL

Did you know that the FBI can issue a letter to an Internet Service Provider or a financial institution demanding that they turn over data on a customer? The letter doesn’t require probable cause. No judge must authorize the letter. The FBI simply issues the letter and gets the information. There’s a gag order, too, […]

The Airline Screening Playset: Hours of Fun!

Airline Screening Playset Playmobil Box 01

After blogging a few weeks ago about the airline screening playset, I went ahead and ordered one. Each day, I would check my mailbox, eager with excitement about its arrival. Today, it finally arrived. I rushed to open it and began what would be hours of exciting play. Here’s what came in the playset: I […]

Snooping Landlords and the War on Terrorism

Snooping Landlords

In this interesting AP article [link no longer available], a man won an invasion of privacy lawsuit when his property manager searched his home and reported to the FBI that there were terrorist materials in the apartment. FBI officials detained, fingerprinted, and handcuffed the man, but eventually determined that the man wasn’t a terrorist:

Babies on the No Fly List

Babies on the No Fly List

According to the AP [link no longer available]: Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.” It sounds like a joke, but it’s not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling […]

National Security, Terrorism, and the Bird Flu

Bird Flu Cartoon

This great cartoon by Tom Toles (Washington Post) captures what I’ve been blogging about (here, here, and here) with regard to national security, terrorism, and privacy.  We’re spending tons of money on elaborate ways to detect terrorists, such as Secure Flight, data mining, searches of bags in NYC subways, and so on.  Meanwhile, we’re not giving sufficient […]