Minnesota Public Radio is reporting on an opinion (pdf) from the Minnesota Court of Appeals concerning privacy. The case, Yath vs. Fairview Clinics, involves a medical clinic employee posting onto MySpace some embarrassing personal information from a patient’s medical file. One of the questions involved whether “an Internet posting on MySpace.com constitute ‘publicity.’” The court held, “the publicity element of an invasion-of-privacy claim is satisfied when private information is posted on a publicly accessible Internet website.” The court reasoned:

The MySpace.com webpage that triggers Yath‘s claim was such a site.  Access to it was not protected, as some webpages are, by a password or some other restrictive safeguard.  It was a window that Yath‘s enemies propped open for at least 24 hours allowing any internet-connected voyeur access to private details of her life.  The claim therefore survives the “publicity” challenge.

Read more »

Previously, I noted that Spain, Mexico and Japan are all seeking to identify some types of cellphone users and create databases. Besides the usual biographical data, Mexico also seeks to gather cellphone owners’ fingerprints. Now, VietNamNet Bridge reports that many prepaid cellphone users in Vietnam “have not yet registered their personal information with their network providers, or have provided only false information.”

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has ordered all prepaid subscribers to register their SIM cards by providing their name, date of birth and ID card or passport number by Tuesday, June 30. The move is part of an effort to track down companies and individuals who send out large volumes of unsolicited text messages and to hold them accountable. Read more »

The Wall Street Journal reports, “The Obama administration plans to kill a controversial Bush administration spy satellite program at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials familiar with the decision.” This is the National Applications Office. There was an uproar last year over the spy-satellite program, which would greatly expand the domestic use of military technology.

“[Homeland Security Secretary Janet] Napolitano ordered a review of the program and concluded the program wasn’t worth pursuing, the homeland official said. Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa declined to speak about the results of the review but said they would be announced shortly,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Recently, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, wrote to Napolitano (pdf), saying, “In our view, the NAO is not an issue of urgency.” They also said: Read more »

News organizations are reporting that the “Clear” Registered Traveler program has gone out of business. Clear was the leading company in the Transportation Security Administration’s Registered Traveler program, which offered dedicated security lines for travelers who paid an annual fee, passed a background check and submitted biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints. More than 250,000 people were enrolled in Clear.

Last year at AmericaBlog, I wrote about a security breach by “Clear” (also known as “Verified Identity Pass, Inc.), and I detailed the substantial privacy and security problems with creating a trusted class of travelers that criminals and terrorists would try to join.

At the company’s Web site, there is this posting:

Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available.

At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.

What will happen to my personal information? Read more »

The Associated Press reports that Canoe Ventures, “a joint venture formed by the nation’s six largest cable operators is suspending trials of its first advertising product before it even gets off the ground.”

Canoe Ventures, which includes Cablevision of Bethpage, said Friday that it will discontinue plans for now to launch “community addressable messaging,” which sends ads that vary by household depending on factors such as income and age. Cablevision is parent company of Newsday.

The product has sparked privacy concerns. Privacy groups fear that these ads could lead to unwanted tracking of viewing habits and discrimination against poorer households. Read more »

Tech law expert Michael Geist writes in the Toronto Star about possible changes to laws on the Internet in Canada.

Yet by the end of the day, a trio of events unfolded that could help shape the Internet in Canada for years to come.

The first took place mid-morning, with the introduction of new lawful access legislation.

The bills would dramatically change the Internet in Canada, requiring Internet service providers to install new surveillance capabilities, force them to disclose subscriber information such as name, address and email address without a court order, as well as grant police broad new powers to obtain Internet transmission data. [...] Read more »