Information Policy

EU: Data Protection Day

The 28th of January 2008 marks the second European Data Protection Day. An occasion where we once again acknowledge and highlight the importance to citizens of protection of their privacy, including, in particular, their personal data. The internet, travel arrangements, health treatment, credit cards - the protection of personal data is important on every step of our daily lives. Each year advances in technology allow for increases in data sharing, which can assist in improving the lives of citizens including enhancing their security. In line with this, it is our resolve to ensure the sharing of data is harnessed in conformity with rules and laws laid down to ensure respect for the confidence of personal data. We therefore take this opportunity to highlight to all data handlers, data controllers and data providers the importance to all of us of data protection.

Following the inaugural Data Protection Day last year we undertook a survey of citizens'''' views in this area to inform our initiatives and policies this year. Therefore, as I announced last year on this day, a Eurobarometer survey was conducted to measure the awareness of individuals regarding data protection issues.

The very preliminary results indicate that just over a half of people interviewed (52%) considered that personal data in their country was properly protected while the majority of respondents (82%) thought that the level of people''''s awareness about personal data protection in their country was low.

The results also show that individuals are concerned about the security of the processing of their personal data, and what they can do themselves to protect it.

Almost 75% of respondents said they were worried about leaving personal information on the Internet.

Interestingly, more than 50% of respondents said they trusted medical services and doctors, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions, employers, police, social security, tax authorities and local authorities when handling data. On the other hand, less than 50% of respondents said they trusted market and opinion research companies, non-profit organisations, mail order companies, credit reference agencies, credit card agencies and travel companies.

Citizens also appreciate the need to share data to enhance their protection against illegal activity. Almost 75% of those questioned agreed to monitoring of telephone calls in certain circumstances or on certain conditions. As far as credit card use is concerned, almost 70% agreed with monitoring in certain circumstances or on certain conditions. Similarly, only 15% of respondents were against the monitoring of air traveller data in all cases.

It is our intention to fully analyse and understand the feedback we have been given by Europe''''s citizens in this survey. We will ensure these comments inform the work we are doing in this area this year. It will also be a salutary lesson for all stakeholders involved in handling personal data and maintaining data protection.

Data protection laws are designed to ensure that personal data is treated with the respect and care it deserves. But legal rights and protections are only useful if people know that they exist, and how they can invoke their rights.

We are determined to make sure that the existing legal framework is properly applied, and that everyone, and in particular those that are handling data, are aware of their rights and obligations. To that end we also urge Member States to make every effort at national level to respond to concerns of their citizens in this context. We must work together to inform, protect and, where necessary, respond.

http://www.eurocomms.com/features/112064/MOBILE_SECURITY_-_On_to_the_next_level.html

Global research community bridges digital divide between Africa and Europe through high speed network lin

African research capacity is to be boosted through a high speed network link connecting the UbuntuNet Alliance to the international research community via the GÉANT2 network. The connection between the UbuntuNet Alliance’s network hub in London and the GÉANT2 network enables researchers and scholars in Sub-Saharan African universities and research institutions to share information and data and to collaborate through a 1 Gbp/s link with their peers in Europe and the rest of the world. The UbuntuNet Alliance was founded in 2005 by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa with the aim of establishing a research and education network backbone for Sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.geant2.net/server/show/ConWebDoc.2677

Telekom Austria 'gains 1,000 IPTV users a week'

Telekom Austria has released the latest details of its continued IP television (IPTV) rollout. Its aonTV service is gaining 1,000 new customers a week, it says, and there are now almost 100 channels available. It expects to be able to offer aonTV to around half of all households in Austria by the end of this year. Hannes Ametsreiter, chief marketing officer at Telekom Austria, states: ‘An important milestone for 2008 is the expansion of aonTV coverage to rural areas.’ He adds: ‘Our goal is to become Austria’s major digital cable network provider by the end of the year.’

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=21541&email=text

U2 manager takes Internet providers to task

Paul McGuinness, longtime manager of rock band U2, has called on Internet service providers to immediately introduce disconnection policies to end illegal music downloads and urged governments to make sure they do.

In a passionate keynote speech delivered Monday during the International Managers Summit at the MIDEM music conference, McGuinness said it was time for artists to stand up against what he called the "shoddy, careless and downright dishonest way they have been treated in the digital age."

http://www.news.com/2100-1027_3-6228308.html

e-Census Unplugged – Why Americans Should Be Able to Fill Out the Census Online

Given the increasingly digital world that we live in, most Americans will be surprised to learn that they will be unable to complete the 2010 Census online. In a new report, ITIF analyzes the decision made by the U.S. Census Bureau to eliminate the Internet response option and concludes that allowing respondents to submit their survey online would have saved the Census Bureau and taxpayers money. In addition, ITIF challenges the conventional wisdom that using the Internet for such an application poses a security risk, and outlines how other countries have met this challenge.

http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=120

Bandwidth Management for the Masses

Believing that individuals will take to bandwidth management as eagerly as major enterprises have, software vendor Propel has developed Propel PBM. The company's personal bandwidth management tool is designed to let users optimize the performance of PC-based Internet telecom applications by automatically prioritizing both inbound and outbound traffic.

The software-service combo enables users to see the bandwidth usage of applications in real time. The tool also gives bandwidth utilization precedence to time-sensitive applications, including VoIP and video calls. Lower-priority applications, such as file transfers, run in background.

A Propel PBM subscription provides updated traffic shaping policies, protecting high-priority network applications, such as Skype, against current and new software applications. Propel PBM also includes a network traffic monitor that displays bandwidth utilization in real-time, enabling users to monitor their bandwidth usage, as well as to detect potential malware.

For example, a Skype call taken during a file upload can result in outgoing voice traffic suffering significant time delays or blockages as the two tasks compete for outgoing network bandwidth. The Skype traffic is higher priority because interfering with its packets can degrade the call quality. In contrast, the file upload is lower priority, since the file transfer will not break if preference is given to the Skype traffic. While an individual can attempt to protect high-priority networking applications, such as Skype, from low-priority traffic by turning them off manually, this is often inconvenient and time wasting.

A typical PC has dozens of programs that access the network. Propel PBM aims to prioritize all of this traffic automatically so that time-sensitive packets get higher priority than other traffic. The company states that Propel PBM's automatic behavior is based on policy definitions that are updated automatically, much in the way a virus protection program periodically downloads new virus definitions.

Propel PBM is targeted at the rapidly growing market of individuals who use network-intensive, time-sensitive applications, says David Murray, president and CEO of Propel, which is based in San Jose, Calif. "We've developed an easy-to-use, powerful application for helping individual PC users get the most from their network connection," he notes. "By using Propel PBM, PC users for the first time can be assured their high-priority, time-sensitive applications will run simultaneously with low-priority applications and maintain optimal performance in any given network condition."

Propel is privately funded and claims to be profitable. The company has raised three rounds of financing since its 1999 founding by a team led by Murray and Steve Kirsch, the company's chairman.

http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/28878?7649

French Police Move To Open Source

The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest administrations in the world to make the break. The move completes the gendarmerie's severance from Microsoft which began in 2005 when it moved to open sourcing for office applications such as word processing. It switched to open source Internet browsers in 2006.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080130/ttc-france-internet-police-0de2eff_1.html

Albania Boosts e-Government Scheme

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said his government is giving top priority this year to making government services available on the internet.

Dubbing 2008 as "the year of the digital age", Berisha pointed to the implementation of electronic information technology in three new projects as steps in the right direction.

The examples to follow, according to him, were the introduction of a criminal records register, internet access in secondary schools and the newly opened credit registry for Albania’s Central Bank.

Albania remains one of the countries with the lowest penetration of internet usage in Europe, with only 13.1% of the population regularly logging on.

http://www.egovnews.org/?p=3239

How To Get Around Web 2.0 Censorship

Is YouTube censored in your country? Having trouble getting onto Flickr to post your photos?

MohammedR, an Iranian developer tired of not being able to access social networking websites in his country, came up with "FreeAccess Plus!", which bloggers say is "making miracles" happen in Iran.

FreeAccess Plus! is an extension that turns web browser Mozilla Firefox into a proxy that bypasses censors on these social networking websites and others that use Web 2.0 technology, like del.icio.us, MySpace and Friendster.com.

MohammedR told anti-censorship network Global Voices Advocacy that FreeAccess Plus! has already been downloaded more than 3,500 times since its launch more than a month ago.

To install FreeAccess Plus!, go to: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6139 and click "Install Now" at the bottom of the page, which will open a new window where you will be asked to confirm the installation. Again, click "Install Now". You will need to restart Firefox before the extension works.

The current version of "FreeAccess Plus!" allows you to access all the websites listed on the install page. MohammedR is currently working on making this feature an editable and configurable list.

For more information about the battle being waged between Web 2.0 censors and anti-censorship groups, check out Global Voices Advocacy's Access Denied map at: http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/maps/

Ghana: Italy to Assist Country Implement E-Governance Project

Italy is to assist Ghana implement its electronic governance programme to improve upon information flow leading to the creation of a national data centre in public administration.Mr Samuel Owusu-Agyei, Public Sector Reforms Minister, under whose ministry the e-governance is being spearheaded, said on Friday a proposal to set up a bilateral working group to work on the blue print for the pilot phase had been agreed upon by both countries.

Interacting with the Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Fabrizio De Agostini, Mr Owusu-Agyei said President John Agyekum Kufuor and the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano were both very much interested to seeing the successful implementation of the project, which would soon take off.

“The support from the Italian government would put in place a certified e-mail infrastructure including digital signature and electronic document work flow that would improve among other things, the quality of work in the public service.”

He said ministries such as Communication, Finance, Attorney General and Justice, and Foreign Affairs were involved in the project.

Mr Agostini said his call on the Minister was to speed up the process and reiterate the Italian government’s commitment to the project.

He said the working group, currently in place were expected to work out the detailed modalities and practicalities for implementation to start, noting that the Italian government was prepared to share its experience on e-governance experience with Ghana.

Mr Agostini said benefits of e-governance were enormous, adding that even citizens would have the opportunity to directly dialogue with public institutions.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801280195.html