Saturday, September 10, 2005

US Panel agrees that government needs new rules and guidelines for use of private data resources

The US Department of Homeland Security convened a two-day workshop on privacy, which wrapped up yesterday. Among the outcomes was an apparent consensus among panelists that new rules and guidelines are required for US government use of personal information, particularly the government's use of private sector information providers like ChoicePoint and Acxiom. See: Panel: New rules, tech needed for data privacy | CNET News.com.

More from Government Computer News:

Task force: IT systems' design should incorporate privacy safeguards:

"By Alice Lipowicz

Contributing Staff Writer

New IT tools such as data mining ought to be used for homeland security only if their intrusiveness on privacy and infringement of due process rights can be adequately addressed in advance, according to a new report from a task force sponsored by the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

The task force of academics examined technologies including data mining, link analysis, data integration and biometrics, and recommended that they be deployed in efforts to counteract terrorism “if and only if” privacy protections are in place. It also suggested principles to follow to ensure the protections...."

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