By Jim Harper
Prominent academics, experienced engineers, and professionals published an open letter to Congress yesterday, stating their opposition to CISPA and other overly broad cybersecurity bills. Highlight: We take security very seriously, but we fervently believe that strong computer and network security does not require Internet users to sacrifice their privacy and civil liberties. The bills currently [...]
Cybersecurity Bills? No, Thanks is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
In the late stages of a legislative battle, it often comes down to “talking points.” Whoever puts out the message that sticks wins the debate—damn the substance. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) is prioritizing talking points over substance if a CQ report about a speech he gave to the Ripon Society is accurate. (He put it [...]
Cybersecurity: Talking Points vs. Substance is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
I know little about a House Judiciary Committee hearing tomorrow on E-Verify, but the title of it has a peculiar odor: “Document Fraud in Employment Authorization: How an E-Verify Requirement Can Help.” You see, the immigration policies Congress has set are the source of the problem. Document fraud is made more likely by employment authorization [...]
‘How an E-Verify Requirement Can Help’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
Meet the Data Transparency Coalition. The Washington Post‘s Capitol Business blog reports this morning: A small but growing collection of companies has formed a coalition that will push the federal government to establish a standard system by which agencies categorize their data. … “Our members understand that if the government identified its data elements in [...]
Data Transparency Coalition Debuts Today is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
Why is it that the head of the Transportation Security Administration comes out with his ideas for reform three years after leaving office? Is it the book he’s got coming out next week? That’s part of it. But he supplies the real answer: “TSA’s bureaucratic momentum and political pressures.” It’s possible to imagine an agency [...]
The TSA Won’t be Reformed is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
Why is it that the head of the Transportation Security Administration comes out with his ideas for reform three years after leaving office? Is it the book he’s got coming out next week? That’s part of it. But he supplies the real answer: “TSA’s bureaucratic momentum and political pressures.” It’s possible to imagine an agency [...]
The TSA Won’t Be Reformed is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Timothy B. Lee
For many years, my colleagues at Cato have spoken out against abuse of asset forfeiture, which undermines the rule of law by depriving defendants of their property long before they have been convicted of any crime. In the past, asset forfeiture abuse has mostly occurred in drug cases. But in January, the government used it [...]
Asset Forfeiture Abuse Threatens Fair Trial in Copyright Case is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
Someone finally decided to examine “cybercrime” statistics, and here’s what they found: The cybercrime surveys we have examined exhibit [a] pattern of enormous, unverified outliers dominating the data. In some, 90 percent of the estimate appears to come from the answers of one or two individuals. In a 2006 survey of identity theft by the [...]
From Cybercrime Statistics to Cyberspying is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Jim Harper
Since Congress passed a national ID law called the REAL ID Act in 2005, states have been registering their objections. The law tries to coerce states into implementing the feds’ national ID and would have them issue uniform drivers’ licenses and put drivers’ personal information into a federal data exchange. By 2009, fully half the [...]
Will Pennsylvania Join the REAL ID Rebellion? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Julian Sanchez
As The New York Times reported this weekend, a series of freedom-of-information requests by the American Civil Liberties Union have confirmed what privacy and surveillance wonks long suspected: The use of cell phones as tracking devices by state and local law enforcement has become extremely common over the past few years, and is often done [...]
Cell Phone Location Surveillance: Now at a Police Dept. Near You! is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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