Campaign against the Belgian transposition of the European directive on the retention of data

By means of a website (www.bewaarjeprivacy.be for the Dutch version or www.preservetavieprivee.be for the French version) and a petition, a wide platform of organisations has launched a campaign against the Belgian transposition of the European data retention directive. These organisations include the Flemish and Walloon League for Human Rights, the Flemish and Walloon Bar, the [...]

European Privacy Association issues principles, asks for EU Cybersecurity commissioner

Their guiding principles are as follows:
1. Privacy is an assetIt can be “an instrument for improving the competitiveness of their companies, transforming them into allies of citizens, who are also often their customers.” EPA specifically favours and promotoes ‘privacy by design’ and PET’s.
2. Privacy and cybersecurityWith the advent of “cloud computing”,personal data, security of storage, [...]

Canadian airport to test ‘behaviour detection’ program

Beginning next year, some air travellers will be scrutinized by airport “behaviour detection officers” for physiological signs of hostile intent.
Planning for the training and deployment of the plainclothes security officers is to begin this fall, with a pilot project expected to roll out at a major airport in 2010, the Canadian Air Transport Security [...]

John Brennan on the US counterterrorism policy

Remarks by John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, As Prepared for Delivery “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans, 6 August 2009. Read the speech here.
Interview with Brennan here. Comments in the LA Times and the WSJ.

New NGO reports and academic articles of interest

Human Rights Watch has a new report on administrative detentions in Jordan. Read it here.The Open Society Initiative has a new report analyzing ethnic profiling both in ordinary policing and in counterterrorism, and finds that it is not just a violation of European laws and international human rights norms, but also an ineffective use of [...]

New stop and search figures in UK starkly illustrate the risk of alienating communities carried by ethnic profiling

The stop and search figures released this week by the Ministry of Justice revealed an extraordinary surge in the number of black and Asian people stopped under counter-terrorism laws.The figures are stark – there was a 322% rise in the number of black people stopped, compared with an increase of 277% for Asian and 185% [...]

US Department of Homeland Security seeks scientists to develop smell detection technologies for terrorists

Law enforcement agencies are seeking scientists to develop an artificial nose that can detect the smell of fear as terrorists pass through security at airports, The Australian reports. The technology builds on recent breakthroughs in finding human scent-prints which, many researchers believe, may be as unique as fingerprints.
Body odours also change perceptibly according to mood. [...]

News CRS reports on Data Breach Notification Laws and National Aviation Security Policy

CRS report on Federal Information Security and Data Breach Notification Laws describes information security and data breach notification requirements included in the Privacy Act, the Federal Information Security Management Act, Office of Management and Budget Guidance, the Veterans Affairs Information Security Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Federal Trade [...]

Napolitano on surveillance, databases, pnr, body scanners

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the House Committees on Homeland Security, and said that DHS plans to connect governmental databases containing personal information, expand the government’s employment tracking system, promote passenger screening, use e-passports, employ watchlists and utilize contactless identity verification cards.

UN Special Rapporteur Releases Report on the Role of Intelligence Agencies in the Fight Against Terrorism

In a new thematic report that will be discussed with states at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 10th of March, Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the protection of Human Rights while countering terrorism, focuses on the role of intelligence agencies in the fight against terrorism and the accountability problems [...]