Privacy Issues Featured in Stories from the World Press
Mar 24th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsU.S. State Department probes computer breach of presidential candidates’ passport files; a story on a French website leads that nation’s first lady to castigate the media; and a New York State assemblyman makes waves in the online advertising industry with a bill requiring explicit consent before a surfer’s habits are tracked
VARIOUS DATELINES
Privacy issues were raised in several stories dealing with the intersection of technology, media, and public figures last week. Among the items:
- The U.S. Department of State is investigating who snooped into the passport files of the three leading presidential candidates. Newsweek reports that sources close to the probe say two private contracting firms were involved in a series of breaches — three unauthorized peeks at Barack Obama’s file, and one each at Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s. Electronic passport files typically contain a scan of the paper application form as well as birth dates, Social Security numbers, family information, and in some cases information on travel destinations, according to Newsweek. It is unclear whether such confidential information could have any value in the realm of political dirty tricks, and investigators say misguided curiosity could have triggered the unauthorized entries into the databases, which were detected by security software.
- The website of a popular French magazine was the focus of an ethical and legal controversy involving a gossipy story about French president Nicolas Sarkozy. UPI reports that Sarkozy last week finally dropped a lawsuit against the publication Nouvel Observateur, which claimed that Sarkozy had sent his former wife a text message offering to take her back. The legal action was dropped after the reporter recanted and apologized, but Sarkozy’s new wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was not appeased, unleashing a blistering critique of the media, reports the Reuters news agency. The current French first lady blasted the media in an editorial in a national newspaper: “What is dishonest and worrying about this whole incident is that at no moment was the ‘information’ checked, corroborated, or confirmed…. If rumor now serves as information, if fantasy fuels a scoop, where will we end up? If major newspapers fail to sift out the gossip from the facts, who will?”
- In a measure that many industry observers say could have national implications, a New York State assemblyman is sponsoring a bill that would ban online advertisers from tracking a user’s surfing history in order to serve up targeted ads. PC World reports that assemblyman Richard Brodksy’s proposal would require companies such as AOL, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to get a surfer’s explicit permission before tracking Web movements. According to PC World, the measure, if enacted, would have a broad impact on all online advertisers because there would be no other way to avoid the wrath of New York authorities than to comply with the state’s laws, regardless of the origin of the ad.
Sources: Newsweek, Mar. 21 — Reuters, Mar. 21 — UPI, Mar. 19 — PC World, Mar. 19.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Mar. 10 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 10 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 3 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 28.
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