Computer security needs more federal regulation, says US senator
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Tag Archive for: senator
Senator to file bill requiring border agents to get a warrant before searching phones
In moments of optimism, I’d like to believe there is still some common ground upon which liberals and conservatives – even supporters of President Trump – can stand with firm resolve. One such patch should be ensuring privacy protections for the digital devices and sensitive personal information of all U.S. citizens when they pass through border checkpoints.
Toward that end, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has signaled his intention to file legislation that would require customs and law enforcement agencies to acquire a warrant before compelling access to a U.S. traveler’s electronic device and also prohibit the growing practice of demanding social media identities and passwords. In a letter to John Kelly, director of homeland security, Wyden poses the following questions:
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Illinois senator concerned about chip card rollout, asks FTC for oversight
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Last week, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a stern letter to EMVCo—an organization equally owned by six global payment networks that is responsible for providing standards for chip-based credit and debit cards in the US. Durbin took issue with EMVCo’s handling of the chip card rollout, accusing the standards organization of stalling retailers’ efforts to get certified and putting off a requirement for PIN authorization in order to line card networks’ pockets.
Durbin also sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), asking it to “examine how flaws and delays in the certification process can be addressed.”
Card networks agreed to transition the US from using magnetic stripe credit and debit cards to using chip-based cards years ago. With the backing of the US government, the card networks decided that by October 2015, all retailers in the US would have to have new terminal hardware to accept chip cards or face liability when fraud occurred on outdated machines. Many other countries in the world have been using chip-based cards for a decade or more.
Senator wants Whisper to explain how it tracks users, shares their data
Social media app Whisper, a supposedly anonymous way for users to post online confessions, is now facing privacy questions from a U.S. senator after reports that it tracks locations of users and has shared their information with other companies.
Whisper, which bills itself as the “safest place on the Internet,” has been tracking the locations of users it finds interesting and offered to share some user information with The Guardian, according to stories in the newspaper this month.
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