The Legislation of Privacy: New Laws That Will Change Your Life
From Backgroundcheck.org
“Technology is changing how we do everything, from connecting with friends to investigating our family history. While most of these changes are for the better, the reality is that many of these new technologies expose us to serious privacy risks, especially as legislation has struggled to keep up. Yet both here in the U.S. and around the world, that could soon change. There are numerous new and pending laws that are starting to seriously tackle the challenges posed by modern technology, helping close gaps in legislation and enforcement that open you up to online stalking, medical data breaches, and disclosure of your online data. Even if you don’t realize it, many of these laws can have a major impact on your life, from how you buy insurance to which bits of personal information are gathered while you shop online, go to the bank, or talk on the phone. What follows is a brief guide to many of the newer and upcoming laws regarding privacy in the United States. You’ll learn what the bills propose, how they’ll affect your life, and when they’ll go into effect, if they haven’t already.”
For the full guide to current and pending legislation, please visit The Legislation of Privacy: New Laws That Will Change Your Life – Background Check.
Mapping the Growth of OpenStreetMap
by Emily Badger, The Atlantic, March 14, 2013
OpenStreetMap is a marvel of modern crowdsourcing. Since its creation in 2004, DIY cartographers – typically armed with GPS devices or satellite photography – have been slowly mapping the world’s road networks and landmarks to create a free alternative to proprietary geographic data that can then support tools like trip planners. The process, which began in the U.K., is painstaking and piecemeal, and nearly a decade into it, more than a million people have contributed a sliver of road here or a surveyed cul-de-sac there. …
For full text of this article, visit Mapping the Growth of OpenStreetMap – Emily Badger – The Atlantic Cities.
Also check out the great work of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team.
Related articles
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team: Saving Lives Through Maps (mollweide.wordpress.com)
- Apple, Google, Facebook, and OpenStreetMap: The top 5 changes to expect from maps in 2013 (venturebeat.com)
- How to replace Google Maps with OpenStreet Maps in your BlackBerry 10 Android App (devblog.blackberry.com)
Google Admits Street View Project Violated Privacy
By David Streitfeld, NYT Technology, March 12, 2013
Google on Tuesday acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users. In agreeing to settle a case brought by 38 states involving the project, the search company for the first time is required to aggressively police its own employees on privacy issues and to explicitly tell the public how to fend off privacy violations like this one.
For full text of the article, visit Google Admits Street View Project Violated Privacy – NYTimes.com.
Related articles
- Google Maps with Street View on iOS: what it can and can’t do (reviews.cnet.com)
- Google settles Street View privacy case with 38 states for $7 million (theverge.com)
ASFPM Releases Report on Cost of Flood Mapping for the Nation
Flood Mapping for the Nation: A Cost Analysis for the Nation’s Flood Map Inventory
Tuesday, March 05, 2013 The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) urges national investment in a comprehensive, updated flood map inventory for every community in the US. This will drive down costs and suffering from flooding on our nation and its citizens, as well as providing the best tool for managing flood risk and building sustainable communities.
For full text and to download a copy of the report, visit The Association of State Floodplain Managers | ASFPM.
Related articles
- More Resources on Floods – from ASFPM (recoverydiva.com)
Texas proposes one of nation’s “most sweeping” mobile privacy laws
by Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, March 6, 2013
Privacy experts say that a pair of new mobile privacy bills recently introduced in Texas are among the “most sweeping” ever seen. And they say the proposed legislation offers better protection than a related privacy bill introduced this week in Congress.If passed, the new bills would establish a well-defined, probable-cause-driven warrant requirement for all location information. That’s not just data from GPS, but potentially pen register, tap and trace, and tower location data as well. Such data would be disclosed to law enforcement “if there is probable cause to believe the records disclosing location information will provide evidence in a criminal investigation.”
For full text of the article, please visit Texas proposes one of nation’s “most sweeping” mobile privacy laws | Ars Technica.
Related articles
- Texas proposes one of nation’s “most sweeping” mobile privacy laws (arstechnica.com)
- Privacy Ref Introduces Interactive, Virtual Data Privacy Roundtable Series (prweb.com)
Reflections on the value of ethics in relation to Earth observation
Abstract:
Earth observation is a science and technology with tremendous power to collect data over the whole of the Earth at many wavelengths and at many spatial resolutions. But does this science and technology, or rather the use of this science and technology, have an ethical dimension? This article explores the application of ethical concepts to Earth observation. Three main aspects of ethics are examined: duty theories of ethics, consequentialist ethics, and environmental ethics. These ethical ideas are then applied to the UN Principles on Remote Sensing, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and to Google Earth, and also to questions of security and privacy. The article concludes that there is no absolute ethical position in relation to Earth observation, but a dependency on the perspective of the observer. For link to the article (but it’s behind a $58 paywall, seriously), click here.
Author: Ray Harris
Source: International Journal of Remote Sensing, Volume 34, Number 4, 2013 , pp. 1207-1219(13)
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2012.718466
Publication date: 2013-02-20
ABOUT
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog of links to relevant news, events, and reports, provided for educational purposes only. The opinions and views contained therein are those only of the authors of the original articles. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the editor of this blog; the Woodrow Wilson Center; the Science and Technology Innovation Program; its staff, scholars, or interns.
