Posted in Government, Privacy, Technology, Transit on Jul 29th, 2009
Bobby Dominguez wrote in to report on how the DHS is automatically collecting full travel itineraries, including hotel reservations, from electronic booking systems. He writes: “I recently requested my “file” from the Dept of Homeland Security – Customs. It was interesting to see that they not only knew every flight I took, but also all [...]
Posted in Government, Security, Transit on Jul 15th, 2009
TSA works to create “international harmonization of security” (I did not make that up). Snapped this photo last week in Japan’s Kansai International Airport.
Posted in Government, Technology, Transit on Jul 14th, 2009
7/15 – Updated with more details, and a shiny new photo. The Bush Turnpike in Texas no longer accepts cash as of July 1, 2009. Based on the federal Coinage Act of 1965, I believe this is illegal. The Coinage Act (31 U.S.C. 5103) states: “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and [...]
Posted in Privacy, Technology on Jul 13th, 2009
This week I’m trying to think positively about mass surveillance. It seems inevitable, after all. “Iran’s Web Spying Aided By Western Technology,” read the front page of the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago. “European Gear Used in Vast Effort to Monitor Communications.” Judging by the Intelligence Support Systems industry marketing brochures, Iran’s “monitoring [...]
Posted in Memory, Privacy, Security, Technology on Jul 8th, 2009
Josh Wright recently purchased a new Kindle. Surprisingly, when he downloaded one of his books onto the new Kindle, it offered to open it to the page where he had left off on his old Kindle. In other words, Amazon tracked not just the books he was reading, but specifically which sections of the book [...]
Posted in Credit Cards, Security on Jul 1st, 2009
This week I discovered that someone had opened up a new Chase card in my name. Scouring the Chase site for the appropriate number to report fraud, I stumbled onto their “Identity Protection” page and received this rather ironic pop-up. (Click to enlarge) Sherri Davidoff PGP-signed text: 2009-07-02 (current)
