/PRNewswire/ -- The Digital Policy Council (DPC), an international, non-partisan "think tank" on 21st Century Governance, investigates the swirling controversy around internet cafes across the globe as these establishments are sprouting into hot spots for illicit gambling, teenage gaming, terror e-mails, and other nefarious activities.
The DPC is the research and public advocacy arm of Digital Daya ('digital influence'), a new generation strategic consultancy that empowers leaders in the public sectors to leverage the new media of the Internet to communicate their message, build public influence, and execute high-impact programs to reshape governance and public policy.
According to The Digital Policy Council's most up-to-date research, governments around the world are struggling to regulate the growing number of cybercafes in their communities and whether open or autocratic, all authorities are intensifying surveillance and enforcements tactics to try and gain control over the situation.
Time For New Policy Actions
Governments at first deeply encouraged Internet cafes as a means to offer access to modern technology to its citizens and create opportunities for social and economic development. They are now heavily retreating from this idea. Internet cafes have failed as a tool for public policy.
The vast majority of Internet cafes are in reality now merely online gaming and gambling arcades. Many have become integral to government counter-terrorism strategies as heavy surveillance of these establishments is creating an unnerving atmosphere wherein people are afraid. The aspirations for cybercafes as places of innovation, inspiration, and inclusion into the digital economy have faded away.
As an alternative, the report encourages governments to consider investing in specifically designed internet-based innovation centers to promote e-literacy, build human capital, and broaden access to information technology.
Join the discussion at http://www.squidoo.com/internet-cafes-trouble-governements
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Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) Opposes The FCC's "Third Way" Approach to Address Network Neutrality
/PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE) expressed opposition to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recently developed "third way" approach to regulating the Internet, and urged Congress to play a larger role in the network neutrality debate.
"This policy shift appears to be a risky experiment and will likely lead to higher broadband prices," said ADE Chairman Julius H. Hollis. "It could conceivably keep 100 million Americans economically disenfranchised and locked out of our society - keeping the miracles and benefits of this 'Digital Revolution' far beyond their reach. That is something that we as a country simply cannot afford and, as such, we strongly feel that this is the wrong path to take."
In the letter, ADE urged Congress to play a larger role in the net neutrality debate. The group asked for "sensible action to guarantee all Americans have access to the benefits of high-speed Internet technology," and made several recommendations to achieve this.
"As the world of business, medicine and education shift towards a more digital-based economy, the Chairman's proposal could worsen the problems of low and moderate-income Americans, who are already stretched financially and have disproportionately borne the brunt of this recession," said Manuel A. Diaz, Vice Chairman of the ADE Board of Directors.
"ADE and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are dedicated to closing the economic divide through digital technology so that everyone, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, has the opportunity to access information in order to improve their quality of life, said Larry Cohen, CWA President. "With quick action from Congress, we can move forward to build the world class Internet society that will truly transform our nation into a better and fairer society for all Americans."
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"This policy shift appears to be a risky experiment and will likely lead to higher broadband prices," said ADE Chairman Julius H. Hollis. "It could conceivably keep 100 million Americans economically disenfranchised and locked out of our society - keeping the miracles and benefits of this 'Digital Revolution' far beyond their reach. That is something that we as a country simply cannot afford and, as such, we strongly feel that this is the wrong path to take."
In the letter, ADE urged Congress to play a larger role in the net neutrality debate. The group asked for "sensible action to guarantee all Americans have access to the benefits of high-speed Internet technology," and made several recommendations to achieve this.
"As the world of business, medicine and education shift towards a more digital-based economy, the Chairman's proposal could worsen the problems of low and moderate-income Americans, who are already stretched financially and have disproportionately borne the brunt of this recession," said Manuel A. Diaz, Vice Chairman of the ADE Board of Directors.
"ADE and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are dedicated to closing the economic divide through digital technology so that everyone, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, has the opportunity to access information in order to improve their quality of life, said Larry Cohen, CWA President. "With quick action from Congress, we can move forward to build the world class Internet society that will truly transform our nation into a better and fairer society for all Americans."
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Consumer Watchdog Lauds Clinton's Call for Open Internet, Stresses Need for Online Consumer Privacy Safeguards
/PRNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's condemnation of cyber attacks and censorship is an important endorsement of a free global Internet, but just as important to ensuring the Internet's contribution to democracy and economic growth is a commitment to consumer privacy, Consumer Watchdog said today.
"Too many online companies ignore a consumer's right to control information gathered about their behavior on the Internet," said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group. "Consider Google; they track your every move as you use their services and surf the Web just so they can mine the accumulated data and serve up targeted ads."
Consumer Watchdog said Clinton's speech demonstrated the State Department is playing a key role in ensuring an open Internet globally, but said the Federal Trade Commission must act to ensure consumer privacy is guaranteed within the United States.
Clinton's high-profile speech on Internet policy came after a recent incident in which hackers, widely believed to be tied to the Chinese government, gained access to Google and at least 30 other corporate computer networks. Google revealed the cyber attacks and said it would no longer self-censor search results on its China Internet search engine, Google.cn.
Cyber attacks and censorship undermine the free flow of information on the Internet and must be thwarted, Consumer Watchdog agreed. Equally important to a vibrant cyber economy, the group said, is that consumers are able to trust online companies not to abuse their privacy. Too often privacy guarantees are given short shrift in the drive for profits.
"For instance, Google tells us they are a technology company that wants to organize the world's information and make it accessible," said Simpson. "In analyzing Google's every move we need to understand they are fundamentally an advertising business. Most of what they do is to maximize those revenues."
Documents filed with the SEC show that 97 percent of the Internet giant's revenue came from advertising in the third quarter of 2009. The documents show that 53 percent of its revenue came from outside the United States.
"Google was right to end its misguided self-censorship in the face of the Chinese cyber attacks and good for them," said Simpson. "But while I'm concerned about the Chinese attacks, I'm even more concerned about the private data gold mine Google and other online companies have gathered about us, what they do with it and whom they share it with. Consumers must have control of what data is gathered, how it is used, how long its kept and whether it is even gathered."
Meanwhile, the FTC is holding a series of roundtable discussions to discuss online privacy issues. The second in the three-part series is next Thursday in Berkeley, Ca. Read about the Privacy Roundtable: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/
Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, DC and Santa Monica, Ca. Our website is: www.ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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"Too many online companies ignore a consumer's right to control information gathered about their behavior on the Internet," said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group. "Consider Google; they track your every move as you use their services and surf the Web just so they can mine the accumulated data and serve up targeted ads."
Consumer Watchdog said Clinton's speech demonstrated the State Department is playing a key role in ensuring an open Internet globally, but said the Federal Trade Commission must act to ensure consumer privacy is guaranteed within the United States.
Clinton's high-profile speech on Internet policy came after a recent incident in which hackers, widely believed to be tied to the Chinese government, gained access to Google and at least 30 other corporate computer networks. Google revealed the cyber attacks and said it would no longer self-censor search results on its China Internet search engine, Google.cn.
Cyber attacks and censorship undermine the free flow of information on the Internet and must be thwarted, Consumer Watchdog agreed. Equally important to a vibrant cyber economy, the group said, is that consumers are able to trust online companies not to abuse their privacy. Too often privacy guarantees are given short shrift in the drive for profits.
"For instance, Google tells us they are a technology company that wants to organize the world's information and make it accessible," said Simpson. "In analyzing Google's every move we need to understand they are fundamentally an advertising business. Most of what they do is to maximize those revenues."
Documents filed with the SEC show that 97 percent of the Internet giant's revenue came from advertising in the third quarter of 2009. The documents show that 53 percent of its revenue came from outside the United States.
"Google was right to end its misguided self-censorship in the face of the Chinese cyber attacks and good for them," said Simpson. "But while I'm concerned about the Chinese attacks, I'm even more concerned about the private data gold mine Google and other online companies have gathered about us, what they do with it and whom they share it with. Consumers must have control of what data is gathered, how it is used, how long its kept and whether it is even gathered."
Meanwhile, the FTC is holding a series of roundtable discussions to discuss online privacy issues. The second in the three-part series is next Thursday in Berkeley, Ca. Read about the Privacy Roundtable: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/privacyroundtables/
Consumer Watchdog, formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, DC and Santa Monica, Ca. Our website is: www.ConsumerWatchdog.org.
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Justices Step Into Uncharted Waters With 'Sexting' Cyber-Liability Case
/PRNewswire/ -- When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take the case of a California police officer who sent sexually explicit text messages on a department-issued pager, news reports underscored the potential impact on private employers. Whether this case will lead to a new "blueprint" for privacy rules in the American workplace is uncertain at best, but it does point to the rising prominence of cyber-liability in our Twittering, Facebooking, iPhone-enabled age, said veteran attorney Joseph P. Paranac, Jr., a member of LeClairRyan's Labor & Employment team.
"In its first major case on cyber-liability, the Supreme Court is striding into uncharted territory," noted the Newark-based attorney. "But it is important to emphasize that this case, in which a police chief acquired and read transcripts of texts sent by his officers, involves a public employer. This was a state action. That means it is covered under Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Public employees have a greater expectation of privacy than their private-sector counterparts."
The Supreme Court will hear the case, Ontario v. Quon, this spring. At issue is whether the police chief in Ontario, Calif., violated the privacy rights of SWAT team member Jeff Quon and three other officers by acquiring and reading records of their texts, many of which turned out to be sexually explicit. The chief, who shared the texts with city officials, had sought to find out whether the officers were reimbursing the department for all personal messages sent from their pagers. The officers sued, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in their favor.
While the public nature of this case might limit its ultimate impact on private employers, Ontario v. Quon nonetheless touches upon unexplored questions that are at the heart of the rapidly evolving field of cyber-liability, Paranac said.
For more than a decade, lawyers have urged employers to adopt straightforward policies on how their employees use company-owned computers, pagers and other electronic devices. The City of Ontario Police Department did have such policies in place, and specifically warned employees that their communications were subject to monitoring. According to the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the Quon case, however, the lieutenant in charge of monitoring pager use for the department had undermined this written policy by telling officers he would not read their texts.
"His informal policy, notwithstanding the official policy, was to go to the officers and ask them for a guesstimate of their personal pager use over and above the monthly content limit of 25,000 total characters," Paranac noted. "According to the court decision, the supervisor would then ask the officers to reimburse the department based on those guesses."
In the view of the Ninth Circuit panel, this mixed message was enough to create an expectation of privacy regarding personal texts. "Again and again, Labor & Employment attorneys have urged employers to adopt, clearly communicate and consistently enforce cyber-communications policies," Paranac said. "This case illustrates precisely why."
Indeed, the decision, which included a 10-page dissent, pointed to other cases in which government agencies, by adopting such straightforward and consistent approaches, were able to diminish their employees' privacy expectations. "This was true despite the greater expectation of privacy generally afforded public employees," Paranac noted.
As befits the complexity of cyber-liability, however, courts do appear to be demarcating some notable exceptions even to clearly enunciated Internet and electronic-communications policies. "For example, the case of Stengart v. Loving Care Agency Inc., which is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, centered on whether e-mails sent by an employee to her lawyer using a company-owned computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege and therefore off-limits from monitoring," Paranac noted. "In that case, the plaintiff used her password-protected Yahoo account, not the company's e-mail system, to communicate with her attorney about a planned lawsuit against the company."
The nation's highest courts might well carve out similar exceptions for other sensitive communications, such as doctor-patient e-mails sent with employer-owned equipment. "This puts employers in a quandary," Paranac said. "The best they can do is to establish and enforce clear and consistent polices, because we are just at the beginning of a process in which the courts will likely shape the limits of those policies. Until that process is complete, employers and employees alike will have to operate within a kind of cyber-liability grey area."
In its Quon ruling, meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit asserted that Arch Wireless, the pager provider that turned over the text transcripts to the police chief, violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 by doing so. The act stipulates that stored communications be released by third-parties only with the permission of the sender or receiver of the original message. "This act, which has largely been forgotten about and is rarely if ever cited in cyber-liability cases, was passed back in the prehistoric age, when it comes to Internet, e-mail and mobile devices," Paranac explained. "If the SCA is resurrected as a result of the Quon case, there could be major liability implications for third-party communications companies like Verizon and AT&T. They will likely have to grapple with questions like, 'Are we actually allowed to hand these texts or e-mails over to the employer?' "
In certain instances, IT specialists who work with third-party providers to facilitate access to employee communications might even be subject to liability under a newly resurrected SCA, Paranac noted. "I would not be surprised if Congress were to revisit the Stored Communications Act," he said. "If you look at the iPhone and the whole universe of apps, many of which are GPS-enabled, it becomes clear that we are dealing with communications and devices that nobody even dreamed of in 1986."
Much the same could be said of cyber-liability itself, the attorney added. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, and both courts and lawmakers are struggling to catch up to technology," he said. "Technology, however, evolves at an ever-accelerating pace."
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"In its first major case on cyber-liability, the Supreme Court is striding into uncharted territory," noted the Newark-based attorney. "But it is important to emphasize that this case, in which a police chief acquired and read transcripts of texts sent by his officers, involves a public employer. This was a state action. That means it is covered under Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Public employees have a greater expectation of privacy than their private-sector counterparts."
The Supreme Court will hear the case, Ontario v. Quon, this spring. At issue is whether the police chief in Ontario, Calif., violated the privacy rights of SWAT team member Jeff Quon and three other officers by acquiring and reading records of their texts, many of which turned out to be sexually explicit. The chief, who shared the texts with city officials, had sought to find out whether the officers were reimbursing the department for all personal messages sent from their pagers. The officers sued, and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in their favor.
While the public nature of this case might limit its ultimate impact on private employers, Ontario v. Quon nonetheless touches upon unexplored questions that are at the heart of the rapidly evolving field of cyber-liability, Paranac said.
For more than a decade, lawyers have urged employers to adopt straightforward policies on how their employees use company-owned computers, pagers and other electronic devices. The City of Ontario Police Department did have such policies in place, and specifically warned employees that their communications were subject to monitoring. According to the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the Quon case, however, the lieutenant in charge of monitoring pager use for the department had undermined this written policy by telling officers he would not read their texts.
"His informal policy, notwithstanding the official policy, was to go to the officers and ask them for a guesstimate of their personal pager use over and above the monthly content limit of 25,000 total characters," Paranac noted. "According to the court decision, the supervisor would then ask the officers to reimburse the department based on those guesses."
In the view of the Ninth Circuit panel, this mixed message was enough to create an expectation of privacy regarding personal texts. "Again and again, Labor & Employment attorneys have urged employers to adopt, clearly communicate and consistently enforce cyber-communications policies," Paranac said. "This case illustrates precisely why."
Indeed, the decision, which included a 10-page dissent, pointed to other cases in which government agencies, by adopting such straightforward and consistent approaches, were able to diminish their employees' privacy expectations. "This was true despite the greater expectation of privacy generally afforded public employees," Paranac noted.
As befits the complexity of cyber-liability, however, courts do appear to be demarcating some notable exceptions even to clearly enunciated Internet and electronic-communications policies. "For example, the case of Stengart v. Loving Care Agency Inc., which is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, centered on whether e-mails sent by an employee to her lawyer using a company-owned computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege and therefore off-limits from monitoring," Paranac noted. "In that case, the plaintiff used her password-protected Yahoo account, not the company's e-mail system, to communicate with her attorney about a planned lawsuit against the company."
The nation's highest courts might well carve out similar exceptions for other sensitive communications, such as doctor-patient e-mails sent with employer-owned equipment. "This puts employers in a quandary," Paranac said. "The best they can do is to establish and enforce clear and consistent polices, because we are just at the beginning of a process in which the courts will likely shape the limits of those policies. Until that process is complete, employers and employees alike will have to operate within a kind of cyber-liability grey area."
In its Quon ruling, meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit asserted that Arch Wireless, the pager provider that turned over the text transcripts to the police chief, violated the Stored Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 by doing so. The act stipulates that stored communications be released by third-parties only with the permission of the sender or receiver of the original message. "This act, which has largely been forgotten about and is rarely if ever cited in cyber-liability cases, was passed back in the prehistoric age, when it comes to Internet, e-mail and mobile devices," Paranac explained. "If the SCA is resurrected as a result of the Quon case, there could be major liability implications for third-party communications companies like Verizon and AT&T. They will likely have to grapple with questions like, 'Are we actually allowed to hand these texts or e-mails over to the employer?' "
In certain instances, IT specialists who work with third-party providers to facilitate access to employee communications might even be subject to liability under a newly resurrected SCA, Paranac noted. "I would not be surprised if Congress were to revisit the Stored Communications Act," he said. "If you look at the iPhone and the whole universe of apps, many of which are GPS-enabled, it becomes clear that we are dealing with communications and devices that nobody even dreamed of in 1986."
Much the same could be said of cyber-liability itself, the attorney added. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, and both courts and lawmakers are struggling to catch up to technology," he said. "Technology, however, evolves at an ever-accelerating pace."
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Study Finds U.S. Small Businesses Lack Cybersecurity Awareness and Policies
/PRNewswire/ -- Small business owners' cybersecurity policies and actions are not adequate enough to ensure the safety of their employees, intellectual property and customer data, according to the 2009 National Small Business Cybersecurity Study. The study, co-sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Symantec [Nasdaq: SYMC], as part of this year's National Cyber Security Awareness Month, surveyed nearly 1,500 small business owners across the United States about their cybersecurity awareness policies and practices.
The survey confirmed that small businesses today are handling valuable information - 65 percent store customer data, 43 percent store financial records, 33 percent store credit card information, and 20 percent have intellectual property and other sensitive corporate content online. 65 percent of the business survey claimed that the Internet was critical to their businesses success yet they are doing very little to ensure that their employees and systems are not victims of a data breach.
The survey shows discrepancies between needs and actions regarding security policies and employee education on security best practices. Only 28 percent of U.S. small businesses have formal Internet security policies and just 35 percent provide ANY training to employees about Internet safety and security. At the same time, 86 percent of these firms do not have anyone solely focused on information technology (IT) security. For those small businesses that do provide cybersecurity training, 63 percent provide less than 5 hours per year.
The lack of focus on cybersecurity awareness and education on the part of U.S. small businesses can lead to the loss of vital customer and company data. The study found that while more than 9 in 10 small businesses said they believe they are safe from malware and viruses based on the security practices they have in place, only 53 percent of firms check their computers on a weekly basis to ensure that anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls and operating systems are up-to-date and 11 percent never check them.
"The 20 million small businesses in the U.S. are a critical part of the nation's economy. While small business owners may understandably be focused on growing their business and the bottom line, it is imperative to understand that a cybersecurity incident can be disruptive and expensive," said NCSA Executive Director Michael Kaiser. "To the millions of very savvy entrepreneurs across our nation, our message is simple - being smart about the online safety of your employees, business and customers is a critical part of doing business. Cybersecurity is not a nice thing to have for American businesses, it is critical to their survival."
Meanwhile, small businesses seem out of sync with some Internet security risks. 75 percent of small businesses said that they use the Internet to communicate with customers yet only 6 percent fear the loss of customer data and only 42 percent believe that their customers are concerned about the IT security of their business. What's more, 56 percent of small businesses believe cybersecurity is the cost of doing business while 21 percent believe it is just "a nice thing to have."
Laptops, PDAs and wireless networks are great conveniences to businesses, yet they carry with them an added responsibility to ensure the data is secure. Today, more than 66 percent of employees take computers or PDAs containing sensitive information off-site. Wireless networks are gateways for hackers and cyber criminals and must be secured by complex passwords. Unsecured wireless networks are akin to leaving the front door of a filing cabinet wide open on the sidewalk. 62 percent of the companies surveyed have a wireless network but 25 percent of them do not password protect their wireless networks. This is a significant security risk as hackers can steal information being passed through these open networks.
"Security threats are becoming more complex and employees of small businesses are increasingly the target of attacks that expose their organizations to data loss," said Sheri Atwood, vice president, global solutions and programs, Symantec. "Security awareness and education, combined with a comprehensive security solution, can empower small businesses and their employees to protect themselves and their information."
For more information on how you can keep you and your business safe online visit www.staysafeonline.org. For additional results from the Zogby study, visit: http://staysafeonline.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=67
The demographic makeup of the small business polled focused on number of employees and revenue. 56 percent of those polled were companies with one-to-nine employees, 10 percent had 10-25 employees, five percent had 26-50 employees and five percent had more than 51 employees. In terms of revenue, 56 percent had annual revenue of $249,000 or less, 11 percent have revenue of $250,000-$499,000, eight percent have revenue of $500,000 to $1 million. 11 percent have revenue between $1 million and $5 million and five percent have revenues exceeding $5 million. The Zogby International poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.
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The survey confirmed that small businesses today are handling valuable information - 65 percent store customer data, 43 percent store financial records, 33 percent store credit card information, and 20 percent have intellectual property and other sensitive corporate content online. 65 percent of the business survey claimed that the Internet was critical to their businesses success yet they are doing very little to ensure that their employees and systems are not victims of a data breach.
The survey shows discrepancies between needs and actions regarding security policies and employee education on security best practices. Only 28 percent of U.S. small businesses have formal Internet security policies and just 35 percent provide ANY training to employees about Internet safety and security. At the same time, 86 percent of these firms do not have anyone solely focused on information technology (IT) security. For those small businesses that do provide cybersecurity training, 63 percent provide less than 5 hours per year.
The lack of focus on cybersecurity awareness and education on the part of U.S. small businesses can lead to the loss of vital customer and company data. The study found that while more than 9 in 10 small businesses said they believe they are safe from malware and viruses based on the security practices they have in place, only 53 percent of firms check their computers on a weekly basis to ensure that anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls and operating systems are up-to-date and 11 percent never check them.
"The 20 million small businesses in the U.S. are a critical part of the nation's economy. While small business owners may understandably be focused on growing their business and the bottom line, it is imperative to understand that a cybersecurity incident can be disruptive and expensive," said NCSA Executive Director Michael Kaiser. "To the millions of very savvy entrepreneurs across our nation, our message is simple - being smart about the online safety of your employees, business and customers is a critical part of doing business. Cybersecurity is not a nice thing to have for American businesses, it is critical to their survival."
Meanwhile, small businesses seem out of sync with some Internet security risks. 75 percent of small businesses said that they use the Internet to communicate with customers yet only 6 percent fear the loss of customer data and only 42 percent believe that their customers are concerned about the IT security of their business. What's more, 56 percent of small businesses believe cybersecurity is the cost of doing business while 21 percent believe it is just "a nice thing to have."
Laptops, PDAs and wireless networks are great conveniences to businesses, yet they carry with them an added responsibility to ensure the data is secure. Today, more than 66 percent of employees take computers or PDAs containing sensitive information off-site. Wireless networks are gateways for hackers and cyber criminals and must be secured by complex passwords. Unsecured wireless networks are akin to leaving the front door of a filing cabinet wide open on the sidewalk. 62 percent of the companies surveyed have a wireless network but 25 percent of them do not password protect their wireless networks. This is a significant security risk as hackers can steal information being passed through these open networks.
"Security threats are becoming more complex and employees of small businesses are increasingly the target of attacks that expose their organizations to data loss," said Sheri Atwood, vice president, global solutions and programs, Symantec. "Security awareness and education, combined with a comprehensive security solution, can empower small businesses and their employees to protect themselves and their information."
For more information on how you can keep you and your business safe online visit www.staysafeonline.org. For additional results from the Zogby study, visit: http://staysafeonline.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=67
The demographic makeup of the small business polled focused on number of employees and revenue. 56 percent of those polled were companies with one-to-nine employees, 10 percent had 10-25 employees, five percent had 26-50 employees and five percent had more than 51 employees. In terms of revenue, 56 percent had annual revenue of $249,000 or less, 11 percent have revenue of $250,000-$499,000, eight percent have revenue of $500,000 to $1 million. 11 percent have revenue between $1 million and $5 million and five percent have revenues exceeding $5 million. The Zogby International poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Facebook needs to improve privacy practices, investigation finds
/PRNewswire/ -- In order to comply with Canadian privacy law, Facebook must take greater responsibility for the personal information in its care, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said today in announcing the results of an investigation into the popular social networking site's privacy policies and practices.
"It's clear that privacy issues are top of mind for Facebook, and yet we found serious privacy gaps in the way the site operates," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
The investigation, prompted by a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues and bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy law.
An overarching concern was that, although Facebook provides information about its privacy practices, it is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the "account settings" page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook's servers.
The Privacy Commissioner's report recommends more transparency, to ensure that the social networking site's nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
The investigation also raised significant concerns around the sharing of users' personal information with third-party developers creating Facebook applications such as games and quizzes. (There are more than 950,000 developers in some 180 countries.) Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict these outside developers from accessing profile information, the investigation found.
The report recommended a number of changes, including technological measures to ensure that developers can only access the user information actually required to run a specific application, and also to prevent the disclosure of personal information of any of the user's friends who are not themselves signing up for an application.
The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts - a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's private-sector privacy law. The law is clear that organizations must retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to meet appropriate purposes.
Recommendations to Facebook included the adoption of a retention policy whereby personal information in deactivated accounts is deleted after a reasonable length of time.
Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner's investigation or, in some cases, has proposed reasonable alternatives to the measures recommended. However, there remain a number of recommendations that Facebook has not yet agreed to implement.
"We urge Facebook to implement all of our recommendations to further enhance their site, ensure they are in compliance with privacy law, and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy," says Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who led the investigation on behalf of the Office.
"Social networking sites can be a wonderful way to connect. They help us keep up with friends and share ideas and information with people around the globe. It is important for these sites to be in compliance with the law and to maintain users' trust in how they collect, use and disclose our personal information."
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will review after 30 days the actions Facebook takes to comply with the recommendations. The Commissioner is empowered to go to Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.
"The privacy issues stemming from social networking sites are still relatively new. All of us - social networking sites, users and data protection authorities - are only beginning to develop the appropriate rules of engagement in this new world of online communication," says Assistant Commissioner Denham. "The findings of our Facebook investigation are an important contribution to the development of these rules."
While the investigation recommendations are aimed at Facebook, Assistant Commissioner Denham said users of social networking sites also have responsibilities.
"We asked Facebook to clearly advise users about its privacy practices, but it's still up to the user to actually read it and use the privacy tools to control how their information is shared," she says. As a result of the investigation, Facebook has announced a new privacy tool for its site, which is aimed at giving users more control over who gets to see each item on their Facebook page.
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"It's clear that privacy issues are top of mind for Facebook, and yet we found serious privacy gaps in the way the site operates," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
The investigation, prompted by a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues and bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy law.
An overarching concern was that, although Facebook provides information about its privacy practices, it is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the "account settings" page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook's servers.
The Privacy Commissioner's report recommends more transparency, to ensure that the social networking site's nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
The investigation also raised significant concerns around the sharing of users' personal information with third-party developers creating Facebook applications such as games and quizzes. (There are more than 950,000 developers in some 180 countries.) Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict these outside developers from accessing profile information, the investigation found.
The report recommended a number of changes, including technological measures to ensure that developers can only access the user information actually required to run a specific application, and also to prevent the disclosure of personal information of any of the user's friends who are not themselves signing up for an application.
The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts - a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's private-sector privacy law. The law is clear that organizations must retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to meet appropriate purposes.
Recommendations to Facebook included the adoption of a retention policy whereby personal information in deactivated accounts is deleted after a reasonable length of time.
Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner's investigation or, in some cases, has proposed reasonable alternatives to the measures recommended. However, there remain a number of recommendations that Facebook has not yet agreed to implement.
"We urge Facebook to implement all of our recommendations to further enhance their site, ensure they are in compliance with privacy law, and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy," says Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who led the investigation on behalf of the Office.
"Social networking sites can be a wonderful way to connect. They help us keep up with friends and share ideas and information with people around the globe. It is important for these sites to be in compliance with the law and to maintain users' trust in how they collect, use and disclose our personal information."
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will review after 30 days the actions Facebook takes to comply with the recommendations. The Commissioner is empowered to go to Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.
"The privacy issues stemming from social networking sites are still relatively new. All of us - social networking sites, users and data protection authorities - are only beginning to develop the appropriate rules of engagement in this new world of online communication," says Assistant Commissioner Denham. "The findings of our Facebook investigation are an important contribution to the development of these rules."
While the investigation recommendations are aimed at Facebook, Assistant Commissioner Denham said users of social networking sites also have responsibilities.
"We asked Facebook to clearly advise users about its privacy practices, but it's still up to the user to actually read it and use the privacy tools to control how their information is shared," she says. As a result of the investigation, Facebook has announced a new privacy tool for its site, which is aimed at giving users more control over who gets to see each item on their Facebook page.
-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
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