Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario

The role of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (IPC) is set out in three statutes: the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (the Acts). The IPC acts independently of government to uphold and promote open government and the protection of personal privacy.

Under its statutory mandate, the IPC is responsible for:

1. resolving appeals from refusals to provide access to information;
2. investigating privacy complaints about information held by government organizations;
3. ensuring that the government organizations comply with the access and privacy provisions of the Acts;
4. educating the public about Ontario's access and privacy laws;
5. and conducting research on access and privacy issues, and providing advice and comment on proposed government legislation and programs.

Privacy at Technische Universität Dresden

The Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) founded in 1828 does not only rank among the oldest technical universities in Germany but also among the most important ones as far as research is concerned.

With its 34.575 students and almost 4.000 employees, among them 438 professors, it is the largest university in Saxony, today ( not counting the Faculty of Medicine).

One of university’s department is the Department of Computer Science and Institute for Sistem Architecture , where professor Andreas Pfitzmann works on privacy & security.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pfitzmann is head of the privacy and security group at Dresden University of Technology. For more than 20 years, his research interests include privacy and multilateral security, mainly in communication networks, mobile computing, and distributed applications. Current research projects are on "anonymous web surfing" (JAP), "privacy enhancing identity management" (PRIME), and "steganography". Andreas Pfitzmann received diploma and doctoral degrees in computer science from the University of Karlsruhe. He is a member of ACM, IEEE, and GI, where he served as chairman of the Special Interest Group on Dependable IT-Systems for ten years.

Institute for Pervasive Computing

Image source: Institute for Pervasive Computing

There is a new edition of Pictures of Future (Fall 2005) by Siemens with three special issues:

Intelligent networking, Auto electronics and Digital Health.

There is an interesting interview to Friedemann Mattern, who is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and is Director of its Institute for Pervasive Computing.
(page 22)

And at the Institute for Pervasive Computing, works in these research topics:

1. Smart Cooperative Objects

2. Sensor Networks

3. Privacy

The massive deployment of smart cooperating objects with fine-grained sensing and large-scale communication capabilities has potentially large consequences for our personal privacy. We are investigating how future ubiquitous computing systems can support a sufficient level of privacy awareness.

Privacy-Aware Ubiquitous-Computing Systems, and Marc Langheinrich, who has Published his PhD thesis “Personal Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing. Tools and System Support” and we have to read it. No excuses

another paper to read:
Jürgen Bohn, Vlad Coroama, Marc Langheinrich, Friedemann Mattern, Michael Rohs
Living in a World of Smart Everyday Objects – Social, Economic, and Ethical Implications.
Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 763-786, October 2004Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)


4. Social Implications Privacy is but one aspect of our everyday that might substantially be altered by the deployment of ubiquitous computing environments. In order to better understand the non-technical requirements of such systems, we are investigating the social, economic, and ethical implications of ubiquitous computing.

another paper:

Vlad Coroama, Jürgen Bohn, Friedemann MatternLiving in a Smart Environment – Implications for the Coming Ubiquitous Information Society.Proceedings of the International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics 2004 (IEEE SMC 2004), pp. 5633-5638, The Hague, The Netherlands, October 10-13, 2004Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)

If the IBM Privacy Faculty Award 2005 was to Carnegie Mellon University, in 2006.....the Institute for Pervasive Computing?

The Hot List by Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur.com, the business magazine, publishs " The Hot List " December 2005 By the staff of Entrepreneur magazine .

Hot List on security business:

ID-Theft Prevention and Recovery

Identity theft has become a clear and present danger to consumers, and now they're looking for ways to fight back. A June survey by Privacy & American Business and Deloitte & Touche estimates that 44 million American adults have been victims of identity fraud or theft, up from 33 million victims in 2003.

One of the first companies to take a proactive approach to identity theft is Identity Cops Inc. in Westbrook, Maine. The startup offers automated recovery services as well as proprietary web-based software that alerts subscribers to any suspicious activity. "This is not only a market that is ripe, but there are [also] a lot of people that need our help," says co-founder and vice president of technology Justin Page, 38. The company just launched its initial offering, a subscription service starting at $10 per month.

This market is still very young, but the demand is there, so expect it to grow quickly. Rebecca Weinstein, 38, president and co-founder of Identity Cops, says of the company's reception, "People are anxious to get their hands on a subscription because there has been so much publicity around the issue." Now's the time to get in on this untapped market.--Amanda C. Kooser

Surveillance Cameras

With recent events like 9/11 and the London bombings fueling terrorism fears nationwide, we're seeing an increased interest in security and surveillance products. Video surveillance cameras are a huge part of that trend: Consulting firm Frost & Sullivan estimates surveillance cameras will be a $4.09 billion market by 2010.

Simon Harris, senior analyst at IMS Research in Wellingborough, England, believes much of the opportunity lies in software, particularly video content analysis software, a projected $839 million market by 2009. The applications, while widespread, include the ability to analyze live or recorded video streams to detect suspicious activities, events or behavior patterns. One market leader is ObjectVideo in Reston, Virginia. The multimillion-dollar firm creates security software products currently in use by several airports, the Marine Corps in Fallujah, and at U.S./Canada and U.S./Mexico border checkpoints.

IMS Research predicts that residential users, too, will be a huge market. Paul Brewer, co-founder of ObjectVideo, concurs, adding that installation and maintenance of the systems will be a hot opportunity. "As the technology gets out into the mass market, the opportunity is there for somebody to act as a channel for [manufacturers]," says Brewer, 38. Learn more by visiting the Securities Industry Association website.--April Y. Pennington

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.