UK consultation about changing communications environment

The consultation examined how the rapidly changing communications environment means the existing capability of the police, the security and intelligence agencies and other public authorities is declining, and why change is necessary in the UK. It asked for views on options for maintaining vital communications data capabilities. The responses found that the rejection of a [...]

FBI rules out use of facial recognition technology

(The Guardian) Speaking at the Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II (the man behind the FBI’s automated fingerprint identification system) outlined the plans for the future of biometrics at the FBI.

Under the next generation identification initiative, an irisprint database is likely to be added to the FBI’s existing fingerprint and DNA databases. [...]

Civil society declaration on global privacy standards

The declaration was presentation at a privacy conference in Madrid and included a call for a moratorium on “the development or implementation of new systems of mass surveillance, including facial recognition, whole body imaging, biometric identifiers, and embedded RFID tags, subject to a full and transparent evaluation by independent authorities and democratic debate.”
More news here.

Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities

The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal infrastructure of the United States, little has been written about the use of cyberattack as an instrument [...]

Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Counterterrorism on his mission to Egypt

An advanced edited version of the UN Special Rapporteur’s report on Egypt is out now. (A/HRC/13/37/Add.2, 14 October 2009). It will be discussed at the Human RIghts Council’s Thirteenth Session in March 2010.

In this report the Special Rapporteur examines the emergency law, criminal law provisions on terrorist crimes, and amended article 179 of the Constitution [...]

Shubert et. al v. Obama and the invocation of the state secrecy principle

Georgetown SLB reports that the Department of Justice asserted the state secrets privilege to prevent the National Security Agency from having to disclose information about its domestic collection activities after the disclosure of the Terrorist Surveillance Program, or TSP, in 2005.  The plaintiffs allege they were caught up in a “dragnet” of NSA surveillance that [...]

UK: Thousands of activists monitored on network of overlapping databases

The Guardian reports that UK Police are gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings and protests, and storing their data on a network of nationwide intelligence databases.The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor “domestic extremists”, the Guardian stated. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored [...]

TSA to expand use of body scanners

Georgetown SLB reports that the Transportation Security Administration plans to install 150 security machines at airport checkpoints that enable screeners to see under passengers’ clothes, vastly expanding the use of the controversial body scanners.

Interesting articles

Beth van Schaack – International Criminal Law & its Enforcement
This chapter, to appear in the 2nd edition of Beth Van Schaack & Ron Slye’s International Criminal Law & Its Enforcement (Foundation Press 2010), covers the crime of torture under international criminal law. It begins with a doctrinal discussion of the elements of torture as elucidated [...]

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, [...]