TPRC is a non-profit organization that hosts an annual forum for scholars and decision-makers in the fields of telecommunications and information policy. The purpose of the conference is to acquaint policy-makers with the best of recent research, and to familiarize researchers with the knowledge needs of policy makers.

The 36th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy will be held September 26 - September 28, 2008 at The National Center for Technology & Law, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA. 

TPRC is an annual conference on communications, information, and Internet policy that brings a diverse, international group of researchers from academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations together with policy makers. It serves two primary goals: (1) dissemination of current research relevant to current communications policy issues around the world; and (2) promotion of new research on emerging issues.

TPRC covers the full range of legal, economic, social, and technical issues on national and international information and communications policy, including: wireline and wireless telephony, radio and television broadcasting, cable- and satellite-delivered communication, Internet communication, technological convergence and its regulatory implications, intellectual property, electronic commerce, communications privacy and security, computer crime, and economic development. The breadth of coverage, connections between researchers and policy makers, and diversity of conference participants make TPRC unique. TPRC aims to remain the premier venue for innovative and influential communications policy research.

Date: September 26 - 28, 2008
Location: George Mason University School of Law; Arlington, VA
For more information: http://tprcweb.com/node/20 

Vietnam News has an interesting story on proposed DNA identification cards.

People suffering from hereditary diseases may benefit from a DNA-testing programme that Viet Nam plans to introduce by 2010.

The programme, implemented by the Ha Noi-based Centre for Genetic Analysis and Technologies, would include ‘DNA cards’ that help in early detection of 10 of the most common hereditary diseases, said Le Dinh Luong, the centre founder and president of the Viet Nam Genetics Society. [...]

The cards could even be used for three-month-old children in the womb. Obstetric experts said at this early period, doctors could take necessary intervention measures for disease treatment. (more…)

The Department of Homeland Security recently released a transcript of Secretary Michael Chertoff’s speech at the University of Southern California National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. Interestingly, Chertoff spends a lot of time detailing how identification interacts with economics — especially focusing on problems arising from identity theft. Now, identity theft is a huge problem, but it’s not a problem in the domain of Homeland Security. Read the passage below and try to figure out why Homeland Security is focusing on this, rather than the Federal Trade Commission or the departments of Commerce and Treasury.

So when you think about it, identity lies at the heart of the issue of employment which touches virtually every American. Identity, more and more particularly with the use of the Internet for purposes of transacting business, lies at the heart of our entire financial and market system. If we don’t know who you are, if we don’t know whether you are accurately representing your assets and your intentions over the Internet or even transacting business face to face, we introduce an element of risk into that business model.

The Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Chertoff have spent a lot of time pushing the REAL ID national identification system as a savior for false identification problems. The REAL ID Act of 2005 mandates that state driver’s licenses and ID cards follow federal technical standards and verification procedures issued by the Department of Homeland Security, standards that even the federal government cannot meet. (more…)

I’m quoted in a Washington Post article, “License Plate Readers To Be Used In D.C. Area.” Officials in the D.C. metro area “plan to install about 200 automated license plate readers on police vehicles and alongside roads in the Washington area to thwart potential terrorist attacks, dramatically expanding the use of a high-tech tool previously aimed at parking scofflaws and car thieves. [...] The readers will scan the license plate of every vehicle that zooms by and run the numbers through federal criminal databases and terrorist watch lists, Reardon said. Maryland, Virginia and the District could plug in additional databases.”

The expansion of this technology raises a number of questions. What happens to all this data? “[A Virginia police officer] said that at least in the short term, officials don’t plan to store data on the scanned license plates, except for those associated with terrorism or other crime.” But that is “in the short term.” What prevents the officials from changing their minds and keeping track of every vehicle that passes by these readers — even if the drivers have done nothing wrong?

Also, will this really work to find terrorists? The license plate readers run the names against the terrorist watch lists, which continue to be proved full of problems. Will that lead to numerous individuals being detained because of mistaken matches? Senators, nuns, and federal air marshals have been caught in the watch list mess. The public needs to know much more about this program in order to learn if it is worth the costs paid — in terms of civil liberties and diverting funds from other, more proven, security programs.

"The central theme of this year’s Summer Privacy Symposium is ‘Privacy in Transition’; After four decades of privacy balances, organizational policies, and legal/regulatory systems geared to successive waves of computer and telecommunication applications by businesses and government and then the Net 1.0 environment, many observers believe we have entered a dramatic new information environment.

This arises from a combination of developments, such as Net 2.0 technology, personal mobile communication devices, the social networking and online self-revelation revolution, an increasingly voyeuristic media and blogger world, continuous data breaches and a global identity theft enterprise, the shrinkage of public-places anonymity, adoption of online behavioral marketing, and concerns over various homeland security surveillance measures.

How these developments are unfolding, whether they can be handled effectively by adaptations of the 1970 - 2004 privacy systems, or whether democratic nations will need to develop a new privacy framework will be the Symposium’s key issues."

Date: August 18 - 21, 2008
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
For more information: http://www.privacysummersymposium.com/

A variety of sources are reporting on a case in Australia where: 

Victoria Police force will re-examine 7000 crimes solved through DNA after it was forced to drop murder charges based on contaminated evidence.

Charges were yesterday withdrawn against Russell John Gesah who was last month accused of the 1984 murders of Ferntree Gully woman Margaret Tapp, 35, and her nine-year-old daughter Seana.

Every crime solved by DNA in Victoria in the 20 years since the technology was introduced would be reviewed, Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland said.

This story follows a revelation by the UK Daily Telegraph that “[m]illions of profiles on the national DNA database have been handed over secretly to private companies without the consent of those involved”; recent coverage by the Los Angeles Times on questions surrounding the reliability of DNA evidence; and last year’s news concerning the mishandling of DNA evidence in the Massachusetts State Police crime laboratory. These cases make clear that there needs to be more transparency and oversight of the collection, testing and retention of DNA data.