privacy
Biometric Access Control: Secure, Privacy-Driven, Authentication Breakthrough
Biometric access control is one of the most popular topics on the minds of security professionals these days and for good reason. Access control and the overall management of access points, whether doors, turnstiles, computer systems, or operational controls is among the first areas of concern for most physical security managers, facility directors and IT managers.
Genetec help ensure organizations don?t have to choose between privacy and security
Privacy by Design methodologies provide an essential road map for forward-thinking, ethical developers to build those principles into the products they create. This involves proactively embedding privacy into the design and operation of IT systems, networked infrastructure, and business practices from the first line of code to the third-party vendors selected for partnership and integration. Genetec solutions are designed to help customers enhance cyber hygiene and respect privacy.
Trust Issues: New Survey Sheds Light on Americans? Biggest Security Concerns
Lots of homeowners are investing in modern technologies like smart assistants, smart speakers, and internet-connected security cameras. And while all this technology makes life easier at home, it also raises concerns as more people worry about things like getting hacked, being spied on, and having their identity stolen. ASecureLife.com surveyed hundreds of Americans across the country to get a sense for how much people trust the new-age technology filling their homes
Indian Supreme Court Landmark Ruling On Privacy
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy. The judges ruled the right to privacy was “an intrinsic part of [Indian Constitution] Article 21 that protects life and liberty.” The ruling has implications for the government’s vast biometric ID scheme, covering access to benefits, bank accounts, and payment of taxes. Rights groups are concerned personal data could be misused. The authorities want registration to be compulsory.
Miami-Dade Police Abandon Aerial Surveillance Plans
The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) is scrapping plans to test persistent aerial surveillance technology following criticism from privacy advocates. This kind of technology has prompted privacy concerns in others cities, with Baltimore being perhaps the most notable. One of the best-known aerial surveillance companies allows users to keep a roughly 25 square mile area under surveillance and comes with ?Google Earth with TiVo? capability, The news from Miami-Dade county. while reassuring, underlines a number of issues concerning federalism, privacy, and transparency that lawmakers must tackle as aerial surveillance tools improve and proliferate.
?Smart Cities,? Surveillance, And New Streetlights In San Jose: An EFF Response
The San Jose City Council is considering a proposal to install over 39,000 ?smart streetlights.? A pilot program is already underway. These smart streetlights are not themselves a surveillance technology. But they have ports on top that, in the future, could accommodate surveillance technology, such as video cameras and microphones. EFF and our allies sent a letter to the San Jose City Council urging them to adopt an ordinance to ensure democratic control of all of that community?s surveillance technology decisions?including whether to plug spy cameras into the ports of smart streetlights.
Privacy Advocates Warn of Potential Surveillance Through Listening Devices Like Amazon Echo, Google Home
Privacy experts are keeping a close watch on the case of a Bentonville, Arkansas, man who was charged with murder after prosecutors obtained a warrant to receive data from his Amazon Echo, a voice-activated device that is always listening and often recording. James Andrew Bates says he?s innocent of the murder of Victor Collins, who was found strangled in Bates?s hot tub. Prosecutors hope to search audio recordings on Bates?s Amazon Echo for clues. So far, lawyers for Amazon have refused to comply with the warrant, but the case has drawn national attention and alarmed civil liberties groups. We speak with Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
New England Town Councilor Proposes Drones Watch For Crime; ACLU Objects
A city councilor wants to deploy drones to monitor high-crime neighborhoods and provide an extra measure of security at major community events – an idea that raises privacy concerns with the ACLU of Massachusetts. Brian K. Gomes’ proposal, which is not expected to be heard until next month or possibly January, calls for a meeting between the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhoods and Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro to discuss the use of drones. “I think it can be a crime fighter, undercover surveillance in neighborhoods across the city where we have problems,” Gomes said. “It’s another tool for the Police Department to fight crime.”
FAA Deputy Administrator Says Privacy, Preemption Are Two Biggest UAS Issues
Marke ?Hoot? Gibson, the deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, said two of the biggest issues facing the FAA related to unmanned aviation systems, or drones, are privacy and preemption. Gibson said the FAA is not in the business of dealing with privacy, but there is a long history of case law dealing with traditional aviation. ?However, it has generally dealt with noise and airports —this is personal use— it comes right in your back yard,? he said, referring to unmanned aircraft.
‘Predictive Policing’ Isn’t In Science Fiction, It’s In Sacramento
Sacramento —like New York, Houston, Miami, St. Louis, and other cities before it— is looking at the next step: the launch in October of a ?real-time crime center,? a central location from which officers could monitor all their existing surveillance technologies, PODs included. The idea is that consolidating information about criminal activity —from stalking complaints to potential lone wolf terrorist attacks— would make law enforcement more effective at investigating and perhaps preventing some incidents. The process would also promote accountability and transparency at a time of rising tension between police and the black community, providing evidence of both police and suspect behavior during tense encounters, proponents say.
Massena NY Teamsters Agree on Language for Security Cameras
A dispute in Massena, NY, going back to August over the installation of cameras in the Town Hall has been settled. Town Supervisor Joseph D. Gray said that officials wanted to install cameras in public buildings to ensure the safety of employees as well as visitors. But Mickey S. Smith, business agent for the Teamsters Union Local 687, questioned why cameras would be put in areas not accessible to members of the public.
Federal Court Agrees With EFF, Throws Out Six Weeks of Warrantless Video Surveillance
As we have been following on SecurityHive.com, the use as evidence of video surveillance of a camera pointed at the front of a home (or business) from a "public vantage point" is working its way through the courts. Where an Appeals Court had previous allowed such evidence, now a judge has ruled that such evidence gathering activities violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As posted on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s website: The public got an early holiday gift today when a federal court agreed with us that six weeks of continually video recording the frontyard of someone’s home without a search warrant violates the Fourth Amendment.
ACLU Urges More Public Debate on Surveillance Technologies
The ACLU recently released a report regarding how security and surveillance cameras and recordings are beginning to erode at civil liberties. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California recently launched a statewide campaign to ensure that public debate, oversight, and accountability precede the acquisition of surveillance technologies by law enforcement agencies. Counties and cities across California have spent in excess of $60 million on invasive surveillance technology, and only five of 90 communities studied held a public debate each time they introduced a new element, according to the ACLU report released Nov. 12.
Website Views Over 70,000 Unsecured Security Cameras via Default Passwords
One of the major vulnerabilities of these network IP-cameras is that unless the purchaser of said network IP-caemra changes the default username and password of the camera, it can be viewed by anyone in the world. SecurityHive.com has come across a website that streams video from unsecured video cameras that employ default usernames and passwords.
Privacy Rights Group Opposing FBI?s Biometric Database Wins Court Ruling
A privacy rights group concerned about the implications of the FBI?s nationwide biometric database has won a lawsuit against the FBI for the legal costs that led to the disclosure of hundreds of pages detailing the FBI?s Next Generation Identification (NGI) database, which includes biometrics such as iris scans, palm prints, and facial recognition.
Natural Security Alliance Unveils New Privacy Rules Around Biometric Security
According to its announcement, the Natural Security Alliance’s new Privacy Rules help biometric authentication systems dictate an organization’s obligations when collecting and handling personal data. Essentially the new Privacy Rules helps ensure that biometric data is secure and confidential, minimizing the risk of misuse, and that the data subject (ie. the person whose data is stored) has consented to the data collection and that they have some control over their data and its use.
State Lawmakers Continue to Place Restrictions on Biometrics in Schools
Several U.S. states have implemented bans or restrictions on the use of biometric technologies in schools as concerns over student privacy have increased in response to recent breaches of government and commercial databases, according to a report by The PEW Charitable Trusts. Earlier this year, Florida became the first state in the nation to ban the use of biometric identification in its schools.
Biometrics Institute Proposes Biometric Trust Mark
The Biometrics Institute has unveiled its proposals for a ‘trust mark’ system to boost consumer and public confidence in systems using biometric technology. The Institute made its announcement at this week’s Biometrics 2014 conference in London. According to the Institute early support for the scheme has been received by a major US as well as several Australian government agencies – including Australia’s largest welfare provider.
Could Police Drones Be an Unexpected Guest in Your Yard?
Legislation passed by the N.C. General Assembly would allow drones to take pictures of an open-invitation gathering, even if it’s on private property, without a warrant. North Carolina is figuring out the boundary between expectations of privacy and the use of surveillance drones by law enforcement agencies.
Surprise! Retailers Can No Longer Track iPhone Users by Wi-Fi in Stores
Well, the retailer could, once. But the merchant would never know if the shopper returns because iOS 8 randomizes the device ID every time it connects to a Wi-Fi network. The solution? No surprise! Beacons. When Apple Inc. made the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 8, available last week, CEO Tim Cook launched a new section of the Apple site devoted to mobile privacy.