Data brokering needs to be curbed, and fast.

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According to Computer World, we could be getting some strong privacy protections similar to what the European Union has now.

From the EU's privacy directive:

Only the minimum personal data needed should be collected, and it should be retained for the minimum time necessary. ... The subject has the right to know whom is keeping and accessing their personal data, and the right to examine the data and to have the data removed or changed.

Those would go a long way towards ending data brokering issues.

They dropped their "don't be evil" motto for a reason

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Privacy International has released a report of privacy scores for top Internet companies and Google was notably the only one to receive the lowest ranking.

Not everyone agrees with this assessment, but I personally tend to side with Privacy International.

I like Google and use it constantly because of it's clean, simple interface and solid dependable results. However, when it comes to privacy, I don't think they're where they should be. They recently announced they'd annonymize all search records after 2 years, but that only announced to the world that they track searches to individual people and store that information for 2 years!

They say they need it for optimization, but I still haven't heard of anything they do that actually needs personally identifiable information to be optimized other than revenue streams from selling the data.

Keeping to yourself is not a crime.

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I don't support criminals, but evading forensics is also about privacy, not just breaking the law. For those with the interest and skill, check out the article for some tools used to evade detection of things you'd rather keep hidden. Here are some of them:

• Timestomp – Destroys the timestamp evidence of files on your computer. Probably not something you'd want to run willy-nilly.
• Transmogrify – Hide files by making them seem like other file types. For example, you have that picture of you in Tahiti, but you don't want someone who steals your computer to know it's there. Make it look like a text document.
• Slacker – Breaks a file up and hides it in the free space at the end of other files. This could be very dangerous to use because if those files change, your hidden file could be destroyed. I'd be curious to see how this works in practice.
• KY – Puts files into null directories. Most tools won't know the directory is there so your files will be hidden. This one has potential for home use. If I try it and it's good, I'll post it in my tools section.

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Wired.com recently did a survey among major Internet providers to see how well they support privacy. Of the few that responded at all, many of the answers were vague or evasive. Some of the questions included:

• How long the ISP stores the unique IP address that the customer used (which can be used to track actions to you individually).
• Whether they keep information on all the URLs (web sites) that customers visit).
• Whether they sell customer data to third parties.

Out of the companies, only Cox was forthcoming and actually had policies that were close to good.

Apple Corp.

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Apple music files can now be purchased without DRM, but it seems that they hide information in the file with your name and account information.

Now the question becomes, what do they do with the information? Ars Technica theorizes that this might be a new form of identifying file sharers since the file itself will blab who the original owner was.

REAL ID

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In a move that is satisfying and liberating, the state of NH has proposed the strongest anti-REAL ID bill to date.

I. The general court finds that the public policy established by Congress in the Real ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, is contrary and repugnant to Articles 1 through 10 of the New Hampshire constitution as well as Amendments 4 though 10 of the Constitution for the United States of America. Therefore, the state of New Hampshire shall not participate in any driver's license program pursuant to the Real ID Act of 2005 or in any national identification card system that may follow therefrom.

Or any that will follow? Right on NH! That's some guts.

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While many applauded this (because at least they were going to anonymize it), many others say it doesn't go far enough.

When asked why they need personally identifiable information in the first place, their answer is for service optimization. I, as others, question what identifying someone has to do with search engine optimization at all.

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Seattle pediatrician Rupin Thakkar's first inkling that the pharmaceutical industry was peering over his shoulder and into his prescription pad came in a letter from a drug representative about the generic drops Thakkar prescribes to treat infectious pinkeye. In the letter, the salesperson wrote that Thakkar was causing his patients to miss more days of school than they would if he put them on Vigamox, a more expensive brand-name medicine made by Alcon Laboratories. "My initial thought was 'How does she know what I'm prescribing?' " Thakkar said. "It feels intrusive. . . . I just feel strongly that medical encounters need to be private."

It appears that several drug marketers have been tracking what physicians have been prescribing in order to custom tailor their marketing pitches.

Data brokering is dangerous and uncontrolled

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You know all those times I've complained about data brokering and how companies are able to hit us where we are weakest because of all they learn and profile about us? I'm not just making this stuff up.

Mr. Guthrie, who lives in Iowa, had entered a few sweepstakes that caused his name to appear in a database advertised by infoUSA, one of the largest compilers of consumer information. InfoUSA sold his name, and data on scores of other elderly Americans, to known lawbreakers, regulators say. InfoUSA advertised lists of "Elderly Opportunity Seekers," 3.3 million older people "looking for ways to make money," and "Suffering Seniors," 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. "Oldies but Goodies" contained 500,000 gamblers over 55 years old, for 8.5 cents apiece. One list said: "These people are gullible. They want to believe that their luck can change."