Bruce Schneir writes in his blog: "The very term 'identity theft' is an oxymoron. Identity is not a possession that can be acquired or lost; it's not a thing at all. Someone's identity is the one thing about a person that cannot be stolen.
The real crime here is fraud; more specifically, impersonation leading to fraud. Impersonation is an ancient crime, but the rise of information-based credentials gives it a modern spin. " ¶ 10:20 a.m.
According to David Akin's On the Hill: the Justice Minister is, "proposing the possible extension of the ATIA to the Office of the following Agents of Parliament: the Information Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Auditor General".
One wonders if this means that one will be able to use an access to information request to disclose the names of companies that have been found to have violated privacy? ¶ 9:23 a.m.
According to the BBC Press Office: "The BBC Creative Archive, first announced by former BBC Director-General, Greg Dyke at the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 2003, launches in autumn 2004 and will allow people to download clips of BBC factual programmes from bbc.co.uk for non-commercial use, keep them on their PCs, manipulate and share them, so making the BBC's archives more accessible to licence fee payers.
However, the initiative also has broader public service ambitions to pioneer a new approach to public access rights in the digital age."
Are you listening RIAA? ¶ 9:10 a.m.
According to the story to be found here: "Canada's main opposition party is unlikely to let the minority Liberal government survive more than a month, senior Conservatives said on Monday."
Given the almost complete lack of principle shown by the major parties, I'm thinking it might be time to nominate Rick Mercer from Monday Report for our next P.M. If nothing else we'll have the possibility for some straight talk, and a little fun besides. Just picture Prime Minister Mercer in question period. If he can get Mary Walsh as his Minister for Attitude, I'd be a happy Canadian.
¶ 6:31 p.m.
Check out the story below. Two passengers were on the U.S. 'no-fly' list and a KLM flight was therefore denied overflight of U.S. territory. Note that neither the U.K. nor Saudia Arabia detained or arrested these individuals when they returned through the U.K. to Saudi Arabia. One doubts that either of these states would have hesitated if there had been any real evidence.
Expatica - Living in, moving to, or working in the Netherlands, plus Dutch news in English: "The two passengers who were on the US 'no-fly list' were not arrested at Schiphol and were flown via England back to Saudi Arabia, their land of origin, where they were not refused entry either. Neither British nor Dutch authorities decided to detain them."
Clearly, as if any extra evidence was required, the balance between privacy and civil rights on one side and 'security' on the other is completely skewed in the U.S. ¶ 6:14 p.m.
Here's a pretty good example of someone whose eyes are pretty firmly fixed in the rear view mirror:
States Scramble To Protect Data (washingtonpost.com): "'Consumers may say they want the choice, and may exercise the choice, but they don't often realize the consequences,' said Nessa Feddis, senior policy counsel with the American Bankers Association. 'They may not realize that a freeze will slow a credit application. It may also delay job applications, apartment rental applications, insurance applications.'"
¶ 10:38 a.m.
Black eye for privacy | Tech News on ZDNet: "The downside of security becoming more mainstream is that everyone has an agenda or opinion, and the default behavior is overt overreaction. Yes, something must be done, but it's important to get back to basics first." ¶ 10:28 a.m.
