ISSUES TO WATCH IN 2006 by EPIC

These are the issues to watch in 2006 by EPIC:


Nomination of Samuel Alito
2006 begins with the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.But which Alito will testify?

Future of REAL ID
In 2005 Congress quietly passed a law to turn the state driverslicense into a national ID card without a hearing or a vote.

"Welcome to the US. Fingerprints, please."
The United States is dramatically expanding the collection offingerprints, particularly for visitors to the United States.

Workplace Privacy
The computer you use at work belongs to your employer; the time youspend at work belongs to your employer--who does your privacy belongto?

Student Privacy
Schools are becoming the new frontline in the battle over privacy. RFID vendors are pressing schools to mandate spychip-equipped studentIDs.

Location Tracking
Highway administrators in the US and UK are looking for new ways tomeasure traffic flow and decrease congestion, as well as collect taxeson the use of roads.

New Revelations About Government Datamining
It was not long ago that John Poindexter's Total Information Awarenesswas brought to an end. But datamining in the federal governmentdidn't stop.

Wiretapping the Internet
2006 will see a major debate over wiretapping and the Internet. TheFederal Communications Commission wants to apply a 1994 law intendedfor wiretapping the telephone network to new communication services onthe Internet.

DNA Databases and Genetic Privacy Legislation
Police are stepping up efforts to build DNA profiling databases.The hope is that these measures will allow investigators to compareDNA found at a crime scene against a database of known individuals.

Data Broker Regulation
With security breaches on the rise and the cost of identity theftpassing the $50b mark, Congress will almost certainly act in 2006 ondata broker legislation. Not only are legislators concerned withrequiring companies to disclose data breaches, many are arguing forincreased oversight of the largely unregulated data broker industry.