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What limitations should be imposed on datamining of email traffic patterns?

E-mail traffic is one of the main target of intelligence surveillance to detect terrorist and other malicious activities. Its rather easy and result oriented when compared to wiretapping of other data streams. This is because mails send or received can be easily linked to a chain that it belongs to. It can be used to [...]

Should wiretapping of US citizen internet usage require a warrant?

First of all, I don’t think a search warrant is surely required in such a case as it is against Fourth Amendment. Now after 9/11, the issue of national security became top priority and CALEA was passed with the motive of intelligence gathering and interception of terrorist activities via electronic surveillance. Considering the terrorist’s strength [...]

Will intelligence add-ons to the internet make it easier for hackers to penetrate the internet for criminal purposes?

Here’s a special report that analyzes how the Internet can facilitate terrorist operations – http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr116.html . It reveals the ways in which terrorists exploit Internet resources for various activities. It’s shocking to read how they have been so Internet savvy and have been utilizing it for psychological warfare to recruitment, networking to fundraising and data-mining [...]

Using Technology to combat terorrism?

Here’s a special report that analyzes how the Internet can facilitate terrorist operations – http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr116.html . It reveals the ways in which terrorists exploit Internet resources for various activities. It’s shocking to read how they have been so Internet savvy and have been utilizing it for psychological warfare to recruitment, networking to fundraising and data-mining [...]

Can federal legislation prohibit certain types of computer usage in schools without violating students’ free speech rights?

Children’s legitimate free speech as applicable to them should not be barred in any case. I have little support for the free speech advocates out there in the current issues that we face in the case of minors. If MySpace leads to minors having being lead to unrestricted content and practices, then there should strictly [...]

Can filtering protect children from harmful material in chatrooms, blogs, and social networks?

I don’t think there is any explicit filtering technology available that can completely avoid harmful material from chartroom, social networking and blogs. There should be manual and AI based monitoring available that checks for content periodically and raise alarms when it detect something bad going on. All such sites should be personalized services so that [...]

Should legislation focus just on spyware, on undesireable practices (with spyware being just one example), or should legislation focus on protecting privacy and security of personal information?

Spyware is an explicit program that is written with the intention of collecting and using personal info, illegally. Of course its one other way to invade privacy. From the text, literature and real world experience, we know how vast is the world of privacy invasion and techniques that leads to it.

Unless we have clear definitions [...]

Should spyware be allowed for digital rights management, as exemplified by Sony and Microsoft practices?

Not at all. Firstly there is no relation between the terminology (Spyware) and what the DRM is intended to do. Something which is Spyware is deemed illegal under the law cannot be used for regulation digital rights. The problem that Microsoft is facing is that the license tracking software that it developed is tagged under [...]

Should parents, employers, and government be allowed to use spyware to monitor for bad behavior?

Interesting topic isn’t it! Usage of Spyware by itself should be made illegal in any case, as it invades privacy. Should a software is used for tracking bad behavior, it should be defined clearly in the user agreement that the user will accept as binding.

I am not sure whether we can compare monitoring softwares that an [...]

What non-regulatory practices can users follow to reduce the incidence of spyware on their computers?

Some tips will be -

1. Make a point that one would not visit web sites such as mass advertising web sites as they are usually infectious with ad-wares and browser hijackers

2. Switching on those pop-up blockers. This would reduce the chances of a malicious ad-ware/spyware process getting run. most of the web sites (not the [...]