Monthly Archives: February 2015

What’s in Your Wallet? Coming Soon: a National ID Card

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“An interlinked system is a far greater security risk than a decentralized one, with each state issuing ID cards according to its own rules. That’s because if hackers manage to penetrate it, they’ll have access to identity documents in all 50 states – not just one. That means hackers will be able to copy your birth certificate, your passport, your Social Security card, and any other document you submitted to get your ‘secure’ driver’s license.  Moreover, since there’s no requirement that the data on your Real ID be protected in any way, private companies can use the information in it at will. Every retailer that requires identification will swipe your Real ID and then sell the data.”

http://www.nestmann.com/whats-in-your-wallet-coming-soon-a-national-id-card

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‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Calls Rich to Tax-Free Tropical Paradise [2014]

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“The ever-expanding universe of what you can buy with bitcoins includes a hotel stay in Rome, a kimono in Tokyo, and cable TV in the U.S. Ver, a pioneer investor in bitcoin startups, now says he can add citizenship to the list.  Specifically, that’s the right to live in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, two sun-kissed islands a three-hour flight from Miami. St. Kitts has run an invest-and-become-a-citizen program since 1984, making it the oldest of its kind. Plunk down $400,000 for real estate and you get a passport that allows visa-free travel to 120 countries. There are no taxes on personal income or capital gains and the islands’ restrictive disclosure laws offer shelter from outside scrutiny.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-06-15/-bitcoin-jesus-calls-rich-to-tax-free-tropical-paradise

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The World’s Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy

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“Werner Koch wrote the software, known as Gnu Privacy Guard, in 1997, and since then has been almost single-handedly keeping it alive with patches and updates from his home in Erkrath, Germany. Now 53, he is running out of money and patience with being underfunded.  Like many people who build security software, Koch believes that offering the underlying software code for free is the best way to demonstrate that there are no hidden backdoors in it giving access to spy agencies or others. However, this means that many important computer security tools are built and maintained by volunteers.”

http://www.propublica.org/article/the-worlds-email-encryption-software-relies-on-one-guy-who-is-going-broke

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Google’s Vint Cerf warns of ‘digital Dark Age’

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“Vint Cerf, a ‘father of the internet’, says he is worried that all the images and documents we have been saving on computers will eventually be lost.  Currently a Google vice-president, he believes this could occur as hardware and software become obsolete.  He fears that future generations will have little or no record of the 21st Century as we enter what he describes as a ‘digital Dark Age’.  Vint Cerf is promoting an idea to preserve every piece of software and hardware so that it never becomes obsolete – just like what happens in a museum – but in digital form, in servers in the cloud.  If his idea works, the memories we hold so dear could be accessible for generations to come.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31450389

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Travel Surveillance, Traveler Intrusion [2013]

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“The United States government practices surprisingly comprehensive surveillance of air travel, amassing data about the comings and goings of all Americans who fly. Travel expert Edward Hasbrouck has been researching travel surveillance for many years. His findings reveal a stunning level of government surveillance, control of the traveler, and intrusion into commercial travel IT systems.  By April 2, the Transportation Security Administration will either have begun a public comment process on its policy of putting travelers through imaging machines that can see under their clothes, or it will be in clear violation of a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling requiring it to do so.”

http://www.cato.org/events/travel-surveillance-traveler-intrusion

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TSA Demands Internal Passport for Domestic Travel

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“Precedents exist for requiring citizens to produce special ID for domestic travel; they include Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa and Russia (both Imperial and Soviet). Over the Christmas season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly announced that America was walking down that path. By 2016, all domestic air travel will require either a traditional passport or a federally-compliant ID card called ‘Real ID.’  State driver’s licenses will no longer allow Americans access to domestic flights, as they do now. Real ID will constitute an internal passport.”

https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2015/2/9/tsa-demands-internal-passport-for-domestic-travel.html

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‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Visa Application Refused After Renouncing Citizenship

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“Roger Ver, a high-profile member of the Bitcoin community who is commonly known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ has been denied a US visa — despite having been born in the country.  Ver is well known in the Bitcoin community as an entrepreneur and angel investor, having funded products including Blockchain, Ripple, and Blockpay. He became known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ after giving thousands of coins of the virtual currency away for free. Ver complains that the decision has forced him to miss speaking appointments at conferences and that the US embassy in Barbados refused to even consider the evidence for his application.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-jesus-visa-application-denied-2015-1

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Feinstein: American Visa Waiver Program Is a Security Threat

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“In what could be a huge blow to American tourism economy, the still-nascent visa-waiver program — that helps travelers from 38 countries to travel to the U.S. visa-free for fewer than 90 days — may come under increasing scrutiny and could potentially be dialed back, following increasing terrorist threats and latest attacks in Paris. Meanwhile, other more hawkish members of our Congress have already latched on to the program and need to dial it back, especially for European citizens. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), have talked out against the waiver. Ironically, Rep. King himself has been condemned by the Irish government as a supporter of terrorism by the IRA.”

http://skift.com/2015/01/12/american-visa-waiver-program-is-a-security-threat-says-influential-senator/

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Virginia lawmaker re-elected despite jail term for sex with 17-year-old

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“It’s not every day that a politician with a county jail-issued ankle monitor — accused of having sex with his 17-year-old secretary — campaigns for re-election, and wins.  But that’s exactly what happened Tuesday in the Richmond, Virginia, suburb of Henrico County, where Joseph Morrissey snagged 42% of the vote to win re-election to the state’s House of Delegates, all while serving out a six-month jail sentence, the Richmond-Times Dispatch reported. And he did it while running as an independent. The election was a special one, called to fill Morrissey’s seat after he resigned from office after pleading guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the Washington Post.”

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/14/politics/lawmaker-jailed-wins-reelection/index.html

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Taiwanese parents required to stop kids spending time on computers

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“Lawmakers have expanded existing legislation to say that children under 18 on the island “may not constantly use electronic products for a period of time that is not reasonable.” The law now equates spending excess time on electronic devices with other more commonly-accepted vices, such as smoking, drinking, drugs, watching sexual or violent imagery, and chewing betel nuts.  Parents who expose their kids to electronic products to the point where become ‘physically or mentally’ ill are liable for a $1,600 fine. Of course, the law doesn’t say exactly how much time is unreasonable, which will no doubt complicate enforcement.”

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/01/26/parents-country-legally-obliged-stop-their-kids-spending-time-computers

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