 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Data Breach Prompts Quick State Action
by Michael Martinez
Several governors this week took immediate action after learning Monday that a data breach at the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has put the personal information of more than 26 million Americans at risk.
The VA announced that a computer stolen from the home of one of its employees contained personal data on as many as 26.4 million military veterans. Two days later, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law a bill to give all citizens in his state the ability to freeze their credit to protect their identities from being stolen. But the law will not take effect until January next year.
In a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, Blagojevich urged the department to begin negotiating immediately with credit-reporting agencies to implement security freezes. Nicholson "can help protect veterans' credit now, before they become victims of financial fraud or identity theft," Blagojevich wrote.
Under the measure, S.B. 2310, Illinois residents could prevent unauthorized loan applications in their names and request credit freezes before their personal information is at risk. The measure also would prohibit credit-reporting agencies from lifting such freezes without the express consent of consumers.
"Current law only allows consumers to freeze their credit report[s] once they have evidence that they've been the victim of identity theft," Blagojevich said. "Our new law is a common-sense step to prevent identity thieves from opening new lines of credit and running up debt under someone else's name."
Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Tuesday called for the formation of a task force on ID theft in her state. She further ordered the creation of a section on the state's Web site dedicated to providing information to veterans about how they can best protect their personal information.
"Our veterans' personal information has been jeopardized through no fault of their own, and we must take every step to ensure that, going forward, they are protected," Rell said in a release.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle directed his state's office of veterans affairs to work with its newly formed privacy office to help veterans whose identities were compromised by the breach. In a statement, Doyle urged all veterans to take immediate action, even if there is no evidence that harm has been done to their credit.
"Waiting until suspicious activity is detected almost certainly means ID theft has already occurred," Doyle said. "Taking action now could help prevent veterans a lot of headache in the future."
Nebraska Ban On Public Broadband Blasted
Nebraska lawmakers need to reconsider an act that prohibits local governments from deploying their own high-speed Internet networks, according to a report published Monday.
A 2005 law imposing a two-year moratorium against publicly run telecommunications services has expanded the "digital divide" in the Cornhusker State between urban and rural areas, the report said. The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University law school issued the report, along with the Center for Rural Affairs, Common Cause, Free Press, the Media Access Project, the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, and the Rural Policy Research Institute.
The report, which was submitted to a task force commissioned by the law to study public broadband, claims that rural communities in Nebraska are often priced out of the services offered by private companies. Municipal governments and public power utilities can help increase the availability and lower the cost of broadband throughout the state, the report said.
"Nebraska's new law banning public broadband hits small rural communities with a double whammy," Brennan Center Associate Counsel Ciara Torres-Spelliscy said in a release. "Their town governments can't build low-cost, [wireless] broadband networks, and their local power companies can't use their existing fiber or any other technology to provide them with service."
Utilities can be particularly useful because of the ability to offer broadband over their existing infrastructure, according to the coalition. The report found that developing technologies such as broadband over power lines and dark fiber provide solutions in communities throughout the state.
"By banning municipal broadband, we are allowing the big phone companies to keep charging exorbitant rates for rural broadband," said Jack Gould of Nebraska Common Cause. "Municipal broadband would bring needed competition to the market for high-speed Internet service and force phone companies in Nebraska to lower prices."
Oklahoma Law Targets Sexual Predators
Okalahoma Gov. Brad Henry on Monday signed into law a bill to establish a special unit to keep children safe from sexual predators lurking on the Internet.
The measure, S.B. 1479, calls for the creation of an Internet Crimes Against Children unit with the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation. The unit will be tasked with "offenses related to child pornography and solicitation of minors for pornography, prostitution or sex-related offenses."
"The Internet is too incredible a resource for education and information to let it be compromised by those who seek to harm our children," Henry said in a release.
The law also boosts state penalties for attempting to solicit minors via the Internet. Those caught violating the statute are subject to fines up to $10,000 and prison sentences up to the 10 years.
"Sexual predators and pornographers have discovered that cyberspace affords them a cloak of anonymity," he said. The bill "will help give our law enforcement the tools they need to root out that criminal element."
In other news, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle on Tuesday announced the launch of an Internet site to provide public information about sex offenders living his state.
The site, dubbed "Wisconsin's Most Wanted," includes the names, addresses, criminal records and photographs of sex offenders who have failed to comply with the state's sex-offender registration rules. Wisconsin requires all convicted sex offenders to enter such data into the registry so their behavior can be monitored. The site was built by a task force of 15 law enforcers.
In a release, Doyle said the offenders whose data is made available on the site are the most dangerous in the state, and that they are selected based on certain criteria, such as the seriousness of their offenses and their overall criminal history.
"Keeping our kids safe is a never-ending job," Doyle said.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
