January 7, 2016
The BBC reports that Intel at the 2016 CES tech show has revealed a collision avoiding drone in CES 2016: Intel drone dodges ‘falling tree’ on stage. Having a drone that is Read the rest of this entry »
Never let it be said that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) doesn’t have a sense of humour. When it took issue with a Henry Shein Practice Solutions Inc’s claim that its software encrypted dental patients’ data its press release was FTC takes on toothless encryption claims for dental practice software. Nice.
What is more of a worry is Read the rest of this entry »
As far as data breaches go 2015 was a banner year. The list of breaches is long. The amount of personal information accessed was significant, with the breach of the Office of Personal Management being the biggest in US history, involving theft of the personally identifiable information of some 21.5 million current and former federal employees and Read the rest of this entry »
January 5, 2016
The story about the Jamie Briggs being sacked for inappropriate behaviour with a public servant in a Hong Kong Bar has segued into a story about the publication, and republication of a photograph of that public servant into the media. The issue is now being described as a breach of privacy.
And it is. As described in Jamie Briggs photo leak a ‘gross breach of privacy’. The problem is Read the rest of this entry »
January 2, 2016
Slate in 2015 Was the Year of the Drone does a very good breezy, summation of the impact of drones Read the rest of this entry »
The Privacy Act 1988 was amended by the the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Amendment Act). The changes commenced on 12 March 2014. The reforms:
For those privacy practitioners the general level of compliance with the amendments to the Privacy Act has been poor.
A recent example that came to my attention was Read the rest of this entry »
December 24, 2015
As I do every year it is time to wish all a very Merry Christmas. And as is also my mini tradition I reprint the Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus editorial from the New York Sun in 1897. It was wonderful writing, both in content and style, then and remains so.
I was impressed when I first read it at school and it still brings a smile to my dial in my considerably more wizened state.
DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.
VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
May all your Christmas wishes come to pass!
Revenge porn is one of the stories of 2015 although it has been a phenomena for a number of years now. With technological improvement, in particular smart devices become more sophisticated together with the sharing imperative that many from Gen X down seem to live by the abuse of intimate photographs and videos has been on the increase. Or at least appears to have. There has been Read the rest of this entry »
December 23, 2015
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has a long track record of taking enforcement action against companies that make misleading statements about privacy protections, data security, compliance with the recently demolished Safe Harbour Agreement and other privacy related matters.
On Monday, US time, Oracle was the latest to enter into a consent orders arising out of claims that it deceived consumers about the security provided in updates to Java. The security problems were Read the rest of this entry »
December 16, 2015
The regulation of all drones in the United States is almost a reality. To date the patchwork of regulations has either concentrated on commercially operated drones or involved State based restrictions on the less savoury and responsible use of drones. In the last 12 months the previously laconic approach Read the rest of this entry »