Cyber safety & security
Appeals Court Rules COPA Is Unconstitutional
Jul 22, 2008 | The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling today, affirming that the Child Online Protection Act Read More
Google, CNET Employees' Data Stolen
Jul 7, 2008 | Last Thursday, News.com reported that someone broke into an HR outsourcing company and stole several computers containing unencrypted data that Read More
ISPs Make Deal with NY to Fight Child Porn
Jun 10, 2008 | Internet service providers (ISPs) Sprint, Verizon and Time Warner Cable are the latest Net companies to respond to pressure from Read More
Like MySpace, Facebook Strikes Net Safety Deal with AGs
May 8, 2008 | TechCrunch broke the news this morning that Facebook is adopting a set of "Key Principles Of Social Networking Safety" as Read More
Trying to Bring DOPA Back
May 7, 2008 | If sites like Second Life won't protect kids from obviously inappropriate content, the Congress will. That quote is from Rep. Read More
Virginia Takes Lead in Net Safety Education
May 5, 2008 | According to The Washington Post, Virginia is taking the lead in promoting Internet safety education by incorporating online safety lessons Read More
New Bill Links P2P Monitoring + Internet Safety
Apr 18, 2008 | The issue of online child safety was raised several times during yesterday's FCC hearing on broadband network management practices. For Read More
News From Who's Who
Apr 14, 2008 | In the Who's Who section of Tech Policy Central, we do our best to keep tabs on the many organizations Read More
FTC Commissioners Head to Hill
Apr 7, 2008 | Newly-appointed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman William Kovacic and his three fellow commissioners will appear before the Senate Commerce Committee Read More
Net Safety In The News
Feb 29, 2008 | The fight to make the Internet a safer place for kids and teens made headlines this week. First, the European Read More
Senate's New Anti-Phishing Bill Raises Privacy Concerns
Feb 27, 2008 | Citing data from Gartner that about 3.5 million computer users were tricked by phishing scams between 2006 and 2007, resulting Read More
Net Safety Goes Mobile
Feb 12, 2008 | The GSM Association has announced the formation of the Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse, a coalition of international wireless Read More
Net Safety and Cyberbanging
Feb 8, 2008 | When it comes to protecting kids online, most of the focus has been on stopping sexual predators and child pornography. Read More
President's State of the Union: Tech Highlights
Jan 29, 2008 | As a follow-up to our earlier post about the President Bush's State of the Union address, here is a summary Read More
Govt.'s Fight Against Terrorism Hitting Net
Jan 21, 2008 | "If we are ready and willing to take action to stop the grooming of the vulnerable young on social networking Read More
The Radioactivity of Electronic Data
Jan 15, 2008 | Science fiction writer and blogger Cory Doctorow, who is also an Electronic Frontier Foundation fellow, makes a case for why Read More
MySpace's Net Safety Principles
Jan 15, 2008 | After being targeted by state attorneys general for not doing enough to protect minors following a series of high-profile cases, MySpace Read More
Chertoff: Real ID Helps Fight Terrorism, Illegal Immigration & ID Theft
Jan 11, 2008 | Speaking at the National Press Club in D.C. earlier today, Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff announced that DHS Read More
Online Games: A Breeding Ground for Criminals?
Dec 10, 2007 | FOXNews.com published an article earlier today that explores whether or not multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft "could be Read More
Texas Sues Sites for Violating Child Privacy Act
Dec 7, 2007 | Texas became the first state to take legal action under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) earlier this week Read More
House Passes SAFE Act, 409-2
Dec 6, 2007 | A bill designed to "modernize and expand" how child porn is reported sailed through the House of Representatives yesterday. Only Read More
Who's Responsible for Net Safety?
Dec 4, 2007 | Joe Brennan, chair of a newly-formed trade group called the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, comes to the defense of Read More
Update: Federal Govt's Progress on Smart IDs
Dec 3, 2007 | Last week, we pointed to a Computerworld article about U.S. federal agencies failing to meet an October 27th deadline to issue Read More
British Agency Accuses China of Cyberattack
Dec 3, 2007 | According to England's Times Online, the head of Britain's MI5 intelligence agency has accused the Chinese government of engaging in Read More
UK Worried about Teens' Electronic Footprint
Nov 27, 2007 | A new survey of 2,000 teens and young adults in the United Kingdom found that 71 percent of them hope Read More
Federal Agencies Lag in Issuing Smart ID Cards
Nov 26, 2007 | October 27th was the deadline for a number of U.S. federal agencies to issue smart ID cards known as Personal Read More
Annual Report to Congress Cites Concerns with China
Nov 15, 2007 | The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, established in 2000 to advise Congress on its policy toward China, released its Read More
Industry's Role in Keeping the Web Safe
Nov 14, 2007 | In a Huffington Post editorial, Stephen Balkam writes about the Internet industry's role in protecting kids online. The CEO of Read More
Government's Role in Ensuring Cybersecurity
Nov 13, 2007 | Yesterday, we wrote about the San Jose Mercury News' special report on cybercrime in the U.S. The final part of the Read More
Fighting the Al Capones of the Info Age
Nov 12, 2007 | The San Jose Mercury News is publishing a special three-part report that takes an in-depth look at the state of Read More
Who Decides When Videos Cross the Line?
Nov 9, 2007 | As you've probably heard by now, a teenage gunman who went on a killing spree at a school in Finland Read More
UN's Internet Governance Forum Meets Again
Nov 9, 2007 | The United Nations' Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is hosting its second annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next week. Read More
Sending Federal Workers Home (to Work)
Nov 7, 2007 | It's not that unusual these days for employees to telecommute, especially in Silicon Valley where connectivity is plentiful and work Read More
House Hearing Considers Role of Net in Homegrown Terrorism
Nov 6, 2007 | The House Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment just wrapped up its hearing on "Using the Web as a Weapon." Although Read More
Senate Committee Passes Cybercrime Bill
Nov 2, 2007 | The Senate Judiciary Committee passed The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007, co-sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Read More
Bipartisan Cyber Security Group to Advise Next President
Oct 30, 2007 | According to News.com, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) plans to create a bipartisan commission on cyber security comprised of over Read More
CDT, Others Fight Child Online Protection Act
Oct 30, 2007 | The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and 17 other organizations collaborated on a "friend of the court" brief that CDT submitted Read More
Notification of Data Breaches
Oct 29, 2007 | For at least a few more days, it is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and one of the key policy priorities for Read More
WSJ: Google's Lessons on Doing Business in Brazil
Oct 19, 2007 | The front page of The Wall Street Journal features an article about Google's social networking site Orkut that reads as Read More
Om Malik on Facebook's Week
Sep 28, 2007 | Om Malik weighed in on the reports earlier this week that Microsoft (or another suitor like Google) may be investing Read More
Kid-Friendly Technology and Regulation
Sep 5, 2007 | Progress and Freedom Foundation senior fellow Adam Thierer, who has authored a book about online child safety called "Parental Controls Read More
N.C. Age Verification Bill and MySpace
Jul 24, 2007 | While the Senate Commerce Committee held its hearing on Internet safety earlier today, the state legislature in North Carolina had Read More
Hearing on Internet Safety
Jul 24, 2007 | The Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology held a full committee hearing this morning about protecting children on the Read More
Google on EU's Data Retention Directive
Jul 11, 2007 | At Google's policy blog, the company's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer writes about privacy concerns surrounding data retention laws in Read More
House approves second spyware bill
Jun 7, 2007 | The House voted 368-48 in favor of the Spy Act, a bill sponsored by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Mary Read More
Backlash Against RFID?
May 22, 2007 | In a recent CNNMoney.com article called "Backlash against RFID is growing," writer Chris Zappone takes a look at the concerns Read More
MySpace To Provide AGs with Data on Sex Offenders
May 21, 2007 | News.com and the Associated Press are reporting that MySpace has announced that it will in fact turn over data it Read More
CA's Internet Predator Legislation
Apr 23, 2007 | According to a Mercury News article, California lawmakers may enact legislation requiring "registered sex offenders to report their e-mail addressess Read More
Data Retention Bill Introduced in House
Feb 7, 2007 | News.com's Declan McCullagh (one of the session hosts at Tech Policy Summit) reported yesterday evening on new data retention and Read More
More MySpace News
Jan 18, 2007 | The Associated Press is reporting that four families whose daughters were sexually abused by online predators have filed separate law Read More
Data Mining Bill Reintroduced
Jan 10, 2007 | At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning on balancing privacy and security, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) announced that he, Read More
StopBadware and CDT File FTC Complaint
Dec 18, 2006 | Earlier this month, StopBadware.org and the Center for Democracy and Technology filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Read More
Reactions to McCain/Schumer bill
Dec 12, 2006 | Last week, we posted about MySpace.com's plans to cross-reference its membership against a database of registered sex offenders. Separately, we Read More
Bill Would Try to Restrict Sex Offenders' Web Access
Dec 7, 2006 | According to a Reuters report on News.com, during the next session of Congress, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Charles Schumer Read More
MySpace's Move to Ban Sex Offenders
Dec 6, 2006 | The New York Times (free sub required) reports that social networking site MySpace.com, which has over 130 million members, is Read More
Highlights from Coverage of ITU Telecom Event
Dec 4, 2006 | There have been a handful of news stories today surrounding the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) conference, which is taking place Read More
EU Plans to Crack Down on Spamming
Nov 28, 2006 | The Associated Press reports in Yahoo! News that the European Union (EU) plans to introduce new legislation to make it Read More
BSA's Consumer Campaign to Fight Piracy
Nov 16, 2006 | The Business Software Alliance (BSA) - a Tech Policy Summit event partner - issued a news release yesterday about its Read More
Is the Globalization of Software a Threat to National Security?
Nov 3, 2006 | According to an article in BusinessWeek, a task force that advises the U.S. Department of Defense is evaluating the security Read More
CSIA Calls for National Data Security Legislation
Oct 19, 2006 | BusinessWeek features an editorial this week by Paul Kurtz, Executive Director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) in which Read More
Greg Garcia Named New Cyber Security Czar
Sep 19, 2006 | After months of anticipation (and criticism about the delay), it's official: the Department of Homeland Security has appointed Greg Garcia Read More
The State of Cyber Security Readiness
Sep 15, 2006 | The Cyber Security Industry Alliance, a partner of Tech Policy Summit, issued a press release on Wednesday that calls for Read More
Ad Campaign to Warn Teens about Online Predators
Aug 22, 2006 | The Department of Justice issued a press release yesterday announcing a new ad campaign that encourages teenage girls to be Read More
Red Herring: Security Concerns With Muni Wi-Fi
Aug 14, 2006 | As we've mentioned in previous blog posts, municipal Wi-Fi plans are underway in cities around the country, including Washington, D.C., Read More
Google and StopBadware.org Team Up to Warn Net Surfers
Aug 4, 2006 | StopBadware.org, the non-profit organization that describes itself as a "Neighborhood Watch campaign aimed at fighting badware," announced that it is Read More
Exploring "The Price of Virtual Living"
Jul 18, 2006 | An article in CNN.com takes a look at how spending more time online is affecting the way we live, work Read More
Waiting for the Cyber Security Czar
Jul 13, 2006 | A year ago, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a new job opening at DHS - an Assistant Secretary for Read More
To Store or Not to Store: Should Net Companies Retain Data for Feds?
Jun 5, 2006 | Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported on a meeting last Friday between federal law enforcement officials and representatives from Read More
Data Breach Legislation Stalling
May 8, 2006 | ComputerWorld reports that it is becoming less likely that Congress will pass any data breach notification legislation this year, despite Read More
Federal Goverment Releases Preliminary Cyber Security Plan
Apr 21, 2006 | The National Science and Technology Council (NTSC) has released a pre-print version of its Federal Plan for Cyber Security and Read More
NY Attorney General Goes After Spyware
Apr 4, 2006 | An AP story in the Mercury News reports that New York's Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, has filed a lawsuit on Read More
StopBadware.org Releases First Report
Mar 23, 2006 | In its first report since forming in January, StopBadware.org has identified four programs as badware. A joint effort between Harvard's Read More
Key Federal Agencies Receive Failing Grades on Computer Security
Mar 16, 2006 | The House's Government Reform Committee released its computer security report card for 2005, and the committee gave the federal government Read More
Windows Vista Tries to Improve Security
Mar 2, 2006 | Microsoft is releasing its new Windows Vista product in the second half of 2006 with claims of greater security for Read More
Stop Badware Organizes to Drive Change
Feb 21, 2006 | The 463 blog reports on a new site called StopBadware.org that aims to increase consumer awareness and involvement in its Read More
