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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 Privacy Protection Bill Clears House Committee Government Agencies Face Challenges in Sharing Information Survey Shows Increase in Corporate Security Budgets AND EPIC Asks for Increased Restrictions on Passport Report Says Government Failed to Protect Sensitive Technology AMD Says New Transistors Are Smallest Ever PRIVACY PROTECTION BILL CLEARS HOUSE COMMITTEE A bill that would require federal agencies to consider the impacts on personal privacy of new legislation cleared the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this week. The bill, written by Bob Barr (R-Ga.), would require agencies to conduct and publish a privacy analysis--including details about what personal information will be collected, how it will be used, and how it will be kept secure--for each piece of new legislation. Barr said the bill would "slow the growing erosion of citizens' privacy rights" in this country. Although the bill would afford citizens a clearer picture of how rules and laws affect their personal information, it would not prevent any laws from taking effect. The bill can now be discussed by the full House of Representatives. IDG, 11 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_946696_1794_9-10000.html GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FACE CHALLENGES IN SHARING INFORMATION According to Bill Dawson, CIO of the nation's intelligence community, government agencies face a range of hurdles in their mandate to share information with each other. Significant investments have been made over the past 10 years in the IT infrastructure for the 14 agencies that compose the intelligence community. In pursuit of homeland security, however, those agencies are now being asked to share information with agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture, said Dawson. At the heart of the new sharing arrangements is the Intelligence Community System for Information Sharing (ICSIS), a Web-based system that developers hope will allow appropriate sharing while protecting classified information. Development of phase one of ICSIS is under way, but Dawson said many challenges remain. He pointed out that the public should understand that "we don't have some magical box out there that we're not telling them about." ComputerWorld, 9 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_946344_1794_9-10000.html SURVEY SHOWS INCREASE IN CORPORATE SECURITY BUDGETS An IT security survey conducted by Vista Research and Harris Interactive showed that of the companies surveyed, more than 12 percent had had a major security breach in the past year and more than half have increased security budgets. In addition, almost half of the companies surveyed reported plans to increase security budgets in the coming year, often at the expense of other IT projects. Most of the spending on IT security, however, is going to large vendors that are not specifically focused on security, such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Symantec. Companies dedicated to IT security, such as Check Point Software and Watchguard, are seeing only a small portion of the increased security expenditures. CNET, 10 September 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-957364.html AND ***************************************************** EPIC ASKS FOR INCREASED RESTRICTIONS ON PASSPORT The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington, D.C.-based civil liberties group, this week asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for increased restrictions on Microsoft's Passport service, despite recent actions the agency has taken against the software company. The FTC recently signed an agreement with Microsoft that provides for oversight of Passport and requires Microsoft to undergo regular audits to guarantee the Passport service does not violate rules concerning the use of personal information it collects. EPIC hailed the agreement as a good step, but said the action does not go far enough in addressing the potential for abuse of consumers' data. In its letter to the FTC, EPIC called for more transparency in the regulation of Passport and for oversight of similar programs from America Online and the Liberty Alliance. IDG, 10 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_946388_1794_9-10000.html REPORT SAYS GOVERNMENT FAILED TO PROTECT SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY A report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) blasted the government for failing to take adequate steps to prevent sensitive technology from being exported. Keeping advanced technology out of the hands of potentially hostile individuals or nations is seen as a vital component of national security, and new restrictions have been put in place to safeguard that technology since September 11 of last year. The GAO report says that the Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the Commerce Department, failed to adequately check backgrounds of 15,000 individuals seeking visas to work with sensitive technologies and in other jobs. This report follows another from the GAO that criticized the Bush Administration's decision to allow increased export of powerful computers. An official at the Commerce Department said a better system for tracking visa applications has been developed and would be implemented this year. Associated Press, 10 September 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/530413p-4200449c.html AMD SAYS NEW TRANSISTORS ARE SMALLEST EVER Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said it has developed the smallest double-gate transistor that uses industry-standard manufacturing processes. Transistors relay data in a binary mode as electrical currents are switched on and off, and the gate is the point on the transistor through which the current passes. Double-gate transistors can transmit twice the electrical current of a single-gate transistor. The size of the new transistor, according to AMD, could allow chips that currently hold 100 million transistors to hold as many as 1 billion. AMD said that the new transistors, which were developed in cooperation with researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation, are not yet ready for the market but that details of the research will be presented in December at the International Electron Devices Meeting. NewsFactor Network, 11 September 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19370.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EDUCAUSE Quarterly" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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