| Agencies Not Protecting Privacy Rights, GAO Says |
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The Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and two other agencies examined by the GAO spent about $30 million last year on companies that maintain billions of electronic files about adults' current and past addresses, family members and associates, buying habits, personal finances, listed and unlisted phone numbers, and much more.
But those agencies often do not limit the collection and use of information about law-abiding citizens, as required by the Privacy Act of 1974 and other laws. The agencies also don't ensure the accuracy of the information they are buying, according to the GAO report. That's in part because of a lack of clear guidance from the agencies and the Office of Management and Budget on guidelines known as "fair information practices," the report said.
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| iPod used to store data in identity theft |
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A 35-year-old identity theft suspect may have taken Apple Computer's mandate, "Think Different," a little too far. Wilson Lee, of San Francisco, has been charged with 54 criminal--mostly felony--counts including identity theft, grand theft, credit card fraud, forgery, auto theft, student loan application theft and possession of stolen property, San Francisco police said.
But in a new twist, at least for the department, police found some of the alleged stolen data stored on an iPod in Lee's possession. "This is the first time I know of that we actually got data off (an MP3 player)," said Lt. Kenwade Lee, who is no relation to the suspect. "It's something different now to look for."
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| The secret of phishers' success |
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Most people have received an e-mail purporting to be from a bank or other online service that asks for personal and financial details. Occasionally, it has been for a bank or service for which the recipient is a customer. Even in that situation, many people still know to be wary.
For their paper, titled "Why Phishing Works," (PDF here) Rachna Dhamija of Harvard University and Marti Hearst and J.D. Tygar of the University of California at Berkeley, conducted tests on a small sample of users. They found that 90 percent of subjects were unable to pick out a highly effective phishing e-mail when simply judging whether or not it was genuine.
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