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Obama Administration Targets Online Privacy

June 26, 2023 by noemi

Protecting one’s privacy is perhaps one of the biggest issues that “online dwellers” face today. With everyone and their mom spending a considerable amount of time online on a daily basis, it is inevitable for privacy issues to crop up left and right. We don’t even have to talk about Facebook, and privacy is already a big issue.

Naturally, a problem that exists on such a large scale is bound to catch the attention of the big wigs. So now, the Obama administration is embarking on a project to regulate Internet privacy. There are no concrete details as of yet, but The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Commerce Department is due to release a report soon. More than spewing out a report, though, the government has already created a task force that will ensure that the recommendations from the report will be converted into policy.

The United States is rather a late comer in this regard. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada have had systems in place to protect the online privacy of their citizens. Surprisingly, there is a serious lack of a comprehensive system in the U.S. – well, until now.

Naturally, there are opposing views on this move. On the one hand, we have people like Rep. Joe Barton who says: “Better late than never. I am glad more and more folks, in the government and otherwise, are beginning to realize that there is a war against privacy.”

On the other hand, entities such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau are not too happy with the idea of having new laws as they believe that they already employ sufficient measures to ensure the privacy of consumers.

Let me ask you – do you think new laws are necessary to address privacy issues in America?

Cyber Security Bill Approved, Feared By Many

May 30, 2023 by noemi

The Internet has become so big that the government just can’t seem to “ignore” it. In fact, laws have been cropping up left and right, so as to impose some measure of control over activities online. The most recent one is the Cyber Security Bill which the Senate Committee has just approved.

If you’re unaware of what the bill is all about, here’s a short description, courtesy of Politic365:

• Would establish a White House office for cyberspace policy and a national center for cybersecurity and communications, which would work with private U.S. companies to create cybersecurity requirements for the electrical grid, telecommunication networks and other critical “infrastructure” (water, electricity, banking, traffic lights and electronic health records)
• Allow the U.S. president to take emergency action to protect critical parts of the Internet, including ordering owners of critical infrastructure to implement emergency response plans during a cyber emergency
• The president would need congressional approval to extend a national cyber emergency beyond 120 days under an amendment to the legislation approved by the committee

Naturally, controversy has arisen, primarily because of the fear of the creation of an “Internet kill switch.” Imagine the power that any one person has if he has access to this kill switch. You can read through the Myth versus Reality document that Homeland Security has created, though, and decide for yourself if your fears are unfounded or not.

On the one hand, the concept seems sound – an attack is bound to happen one of these days and the government is being proactive in passing this bill. On the other hand, we know that it is open to abuse, and there are so many loopholes.

What are your thoughts and sentiments on the Cyber Security Bill?