M3 Sweatt

Informationweek has an article this week that gives “a quick scan of recent events, which have roiled the privacy waters at AOL, at the FBI, and in Europe. Here’s a quick collection of some recent reportage on data breaches, customer-data concerns, and privacy surveys you should know about.”

1. Study: Data Breaches Becoming More Expensive
   The 2006 average was $182 per compromised record, including the cost of detection, escalation, notification, and follow-up help to victims. The Ponemon Institute’s 2005 study cited a figure of $132 per record.


2. Customer Data + Carelessness = Pink Slips At AOL And Elsewhere
   AOL IT managers are the latest to join the unemployment line after breaches to customer data. They join IT managers at the Veterans Administration and Ohio University, who lost their jobs after data breaches.


3. Privacy Worries Spur New Search Engine Tool
   The “Lost in the Crowd” tool was built in response to recent furor over AOL spilling search data on the Internet.


4. Privacy Group Seeks Federal Probe Of AOL
   The Electronic Frontier Foundation says AOL violated its own privacy policy and FTC regulations and should be ordered to notify the people affected and to stop logging search data “except where absolutely necessary.”


5. FBI Director, Police Chiefs Support Record Retention For Internet
   FBI Director Robert Mueller claims that requiring ISPs to hang on to data records will help strike a “balance between the legitimate need for privacy and law enforcement’s clear need for access.”


6. Microsoft Offers Privacy Guidelines For Developers
   The company said it would like to see the industry build a common set of privacy best practices to increase customer trust.


7. EU Seeks Tougher RFID Privacy Rules
   Some Europeans are concerned RFID tags can broadcast an individual’s personal information without their knowledge.


8. Survey: Corporate Boards Value Info Over Privacy
   Fifty-three percent of those surveyed say it’s OK to follow people outside of the company and to obtain and review phone records if pretexting is legal.


9. IT Confidential: The Government Giveth And Taketh Away In Terms Of Privacy
   The courts are finally overruling Internet access and getting practical about the obscurity of personal data contained in legal documents.


10. Six Tips To Protect Online Search Privacy
    Concerns over privacy and the use of online search are at an all-time high. Here’s how to create a strong shield for privacy.