Category: Notes From The Electronic Cottage

A weekly feature on electronic technology as it affects everyday life with Jim Campbell. Broadcast on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, ME every Thursday at 7:30 AM.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 11/30/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

This is not a happy time in Washington as Congress and federal agencies like the FCC are in a big hurry to make laws and regulations before the end of the year. That means a lot of important things that will affect our digital lives don’t make it to the front page or, often, any page. Renewal of Section 702 of the FISA is one of them. A new book, “Beyond Snowden,” offers some suggestions that Congresspeople ought to consider – it offers ways to make our out of control government surveillance of Americans both more effective and more consistent with our Bill of Rights. Here’s how.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 11/23/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

There are lots of things in the digital world to be grateful for so today we offer a few.
And not to put a pallor over those good things, there is one that is not so good that we need to pay attention to right now: Congress’s proposed renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Here are links to some background materials for those who are interested. Review them, form an opinion, and let your congress people know what you think – right away.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/24 congress_pushes_competing_laws_in_spy_program_battle/
https://na-production.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Opposition_Ltr_to_SSCI_702_Bill_45.pdf
https://s3.amazonaws.com/demandprogress/letters/Coalition_Supports_Poe-Lofgren_-Shut_the_Backdoor-_Amdt_to_USA_Liberty.pdf
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171111/09282938590/with-congressional-leaders-blocking-serious-reform-tepid-section-702-reform-bill-moves-forward.shtml
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/11/house-judiciary-committee-forced-difficult-compromise-surveillance-reform
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/civil-wars/articles/2017-11-06/the-usa-liberty-act-is-a-bad-compromise-on-american-privacy

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 11/16/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Cars with whizbang technology are much in the news these days, and while the tech is pretty amazing and getting lots of attention, what isn’t getting nearly as much attention is how these new digital cars are going to affect our relationship to them. It’s another case of tech outstripping law and culture. Here are some reasons why.

We also mentioned in passing how many photos from drivers licenses, as well as other unexpected sources, have found their way into a huge facial recognition database- “really huge,” as someone might say on Twiter. More info at www.perpetuallineup.org.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/26/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

In the wake of years of huge data breaches, there is increasing talk of replacing vulnerable and increasingly ineffective Social Security numbers as a means of identification both online and off. It’s a hard problem, and the underlying questions that a Committee of the National Research Council asked 15 years ago about national identity systems are questions that we should still all be asking today.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/19/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Identity theft has been in the news lately due to huge data breaches like the one at Equifax. But at the center of that concern is a number, a number that serves as a universal identifier and thus is the key to stealing an identity and causing innocent people a world of hurt. That number, of course, is a Social Security Number, a number that was never meant to serve as a universal personal identifier. Now many want to see it replaced as a way to prove identity. But proving identity online is no simple task. In fact, it is probably the biggest challenge facing the digital world today.

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/12/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Free Speech Week is October 16-22, a good opportunity for us to reflect on what we think about free speech in this country in the age of the Web. Does the Internet change everything and requires a new approach the free speech ideas of the Founders to deal with things like “hate speech”? Let’s think about it…

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 10/5/17

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

The 18th Century philosopher Jeremy Bentham knew that people change their behavior if they think they are being watched. George Orwell in 1984 drew on the same realization but neither had any inkling of how watched some people feel on the web. There is recent data that they were both right, and how people might change their behavior is not always the way that either politicians or corporations like.