Information Society Watch

June 20, 2007, Ryan Singel, Wired Magazine

Laptops have become ubiquitous tools nowadays and an increasing number of people now travel with these machines. A recent case in which an individual's laptop's contents was electronically examined at the border is now being debated in a California court to determine whether such searches are legally tenable.

January 2, 2008, Associated Press

The cell phone has become a ubiquitious device in the modern world and offers functionality far beyond the simple phone facility. As a result, the analysis of cell phone usage can provide significant inputs about a person's profile, from travelling habits to favourite music.

December 19, 2007, Indiatimes Infotech

The proposed Google-DoubleClick deal, in which Google Inc. intends to take over online adtracker DoubleClick, is now being examined by regulators from two angles. The first is the anti-trust point and the other is related to data privacy.

September 27, 2007, The Economist

This article considers the implications of the rise of the new technologies that collect personal information. It is suggested that the lines between the 'old-time police states' and so-called 'free countries' are becoming less distinguishable as the development of new technologies has led to a world in which people's whereabouts, purchases, behaviours and personal lives are gathered, stored and shared on a scale that no dictator of the 'old school' ever thought possible.

October 4, 2007, BBC News Service

Internet law professor Michael Geist considers the possibility that technology is threatening the legal foundations of privacy law. He reports that this year's International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner's conference addressed possible responses, including privacy audits of both public and private sector organisations and the potential for global cooperation in a world where personal data slips effortlessly across borders.

August 31, 2007, BBC News Service

A move by German federal authorities to spy on the computers of suspected terrorists by deploying malicious e-mails on their computers has come in for sharp criticism. Members of the ruling opposition say that such measures infringes on privacy laws and is a retrograde step.

August 15, 2007, BBC News Service

In what could come as a major blow for Wikipedia's credibility, a web tool which enables the tracing of the source of edits has revealed that a number of edits on key people/institutions have been in fact done by government agencies. The more glaring instances include the CIA editing the story of the Iranian President, a edit on Sinn Fein leader Jerry Adams by the Vatican and so on.

June 21, 2007, Wired News

A European Union probe triggered by concerns over how long Google stores user information has widened to include all Internet search engines. The EU's panel of national data protection officers say they are concerned over the retention of data that the companies use to deliver more relevant search results and advertising.

September 2006, David Murakami Wood, Surveillance Studies Network

This is a detailed report which was specially commissioned for the 28th International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners’ Conference and looks at surveillance in 2006 and projects forward ten years to 2016. It defines and provides a perspective on a surveillance society as one where technology is extensively and routinely used to track and record activities and movements.

2006, Briana N. Godbey, IS-Journal

Privacy standards are the focus of this article, and it first addresses the basic aspects of the three main data protection sources in the European Union: the EU privacy directives, the European Council on Cybercrime and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the European Council on Cybercrime. This article also addresses specific legislation enacting data protection measures in the United Kingdom and the United States, and finally, it addresses some of the concerns associated with increased data protection.