[IP] One Subpoena Is All It Takes to Reveal Your Online Life

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

________________________________________
From: lynn [lynn@ecgincc.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 11:03 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: One Subpoena Is All It Takes to Reveal Your Online Life

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/the-privacy-risk-from-the-courts/index.html?partner=MOREOVERNEWS&ei=5040


One Subpoena Is All It Takes to Reveal Your Online Life

By Saul Hansell
online privacy

Whenever questions are raised about privacy, big online companies talk
about how benign their plans are for using data about their customers:
Much data is anonymous, they say, and even the information that is linked
to individuals is only meant to offer users a more personal experience
tailored to their interests.

They never talk about subpoenas.

snip

All this raises questions that I think Internet companies, privacy
regulators and Congress would be wise to take stock of:

    * How much data should be retained by Internet companies and for how
long?
    * What should Internet users be told about what sort of information
could be disclosed about them in response to a legal action or
government request?
    * Should there be new laws that define more clearly what the standards
are for disclosing online surfing and searching activity?

There is certainly a history of laws that create special privacy regimes
for various domains, such as financial and medical records. Congress even
protected records about what movies you rent and television channels you
watch.

Aren’t the records of where you surf, and for that matter, the videos you
choose to upload to YouTube, worth at least as much protection?





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