Privacy and Security Law Blog : Privacy & Security Law Blog : Davis Wright Tremaine LLP : Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Portland and Anchorage Law Firm

Several months ago, Lance Koonce commented on the security problem caused by modern technology forcing us to remember too many passwords, which leads to many of us to collect all the passwords and post them in an accessible location, thus defeating the security requirements. 

Some of these passwords (for credit card and bank accounts) are very important; others (such as those gaining access to a listserv or reading the online New York Times) much less so. And yet they all accumulate, with nobody providing advice on prioritizing the password mess.

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Posted by Joe Addiego

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that there has been an up tick of Craigslist users around the country who have been robbed in recent months when meeting prospective buyers to complete a transaction initiated online. Apparently, the would be robbers locate their targets online and arrange for the meeting in less than busy areas, thereby maximizing their ability to execute the robberies without being caught.

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Posted by Ronald London

This week’s output at the Federal Communications Commission included several outgrowths of concerns that started to evolve last year (as reported on DWT's Privacy & Security Law Blog) regarding the apparent availability to third parties of sensitive phone records and other related data online and elsewhere. The records at issue often involve “customer proprietary information” (or “CPNI”) such as data relating to the quantity, type, destination, location and/or amount of use of telecommunications services by subscribers, which becomes available to the subscriber’s carrier solely by virtue of their status as customer. The data also can include potentially identifying information such as phone numbers, addresses, and other data. The Commission began looking into the matter late last year. In early 2006 it issued subpoenas to a number of online data brokers, and it investigated and/or issued notices of apparent liability (“NALs”) proposing fines against several telecommunications providers with respect to their submission to the FCC – or lack thereof – of certifications of compliance with federal CPNI rules and statutes.

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