The Register: Cost of ID Cards could triple, plan could breach DRA
“The UK government has dismissed a report from the London School of Economics (LSE) which suggests ID cards could cost as much as three times as planned.
The LSE’s analysis comes as the UK’s plan faces a fresh challenge from human rights organisation Privacy International, […]

V.P.M.: Tor Desktop
“A new company promises anonymity online in the form of a 128MB USB memory stick. The stick holds a fully featured Linux desktop with many popular applications. Using an included open source PC emulator, Qemu, it is possible to run it as a virtual desktop inside of Windows or even Linux. However, the […]

Wired News: Big Brother Tries to Muscle ISPs
“WASHINGTON — The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to restore its ability to compel Internet service providers to turn over information about their customers or subscribers as part of its fight against terrorism.
The legal filing with the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New […]

Wired News: Blog Spring
“Hossein Derakhshan is on tour. In the past few years, he has become the public face of Iran’s beleaguered bloggers, more than a dozen of whom have been arrested for their politics. The crackdown has stifled Iran’s exploding Web culture, and Derakhshan is making a swing along the Eastern Seaboard to drum […]

BBC News: Afghan women ’still suffer abuse’
“Women all over Afghanistan are still being murdered, raped and imprisoned with impunity, the human rights group Amnesty International has said.
It says entrenched feudal customs mean Afghan men often treat women as chattels and abuse them without any official retribution.
“Throughout the country, few women are exempt from violence […]

Internetnews: Wi-Fi Still A Corporate Risk
“As the speed of business continues to accelerate all over the world, the strategic advantages of constantly connected employees also present some high-risk problems for corporate America.
Experts say the risks are growing because computer networks are increasingly being patched together through the Internet, with more entry points into the system […]

Wired News: Federal report warns of RFID misuses
“Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said.
In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. […]

BBC News: Nepal reporters in protest march
“Up to 200 journalists have marched through Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, to protest against the government’s closure of a radio production company.
The journalists demanded the lifting of Saturday’s closure order on the Communication Corner company and vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
Police did not intervene and […]

Wired News: CIA: Take That, Cyberterrorism!
“WASHINGTON — The CIA is conducting a war game this week to simulate an unprecedented, Sept. 11-like electronic assault against the United States. The three-day exercise, known as “Silent Horizon,” is meant to test the ability of government and industry to respond to escalating internet disruptions over many months, according […]

The Register: Sun sets on UK encryption regulation powers
“Digital rights activists are celebrating this week with the expiry of powers in the UK’s Electronic Communications Act of 2000 that gave the Government the right to regulate companies selling encryption services.
The Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), an independent body that studies the interaction between IT […]

BBC News: FBI records detail Koran claims
“An inmate at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp accused US guards of flushing a Koran down the toilet in 2002, newly declassified FBI documents reveal.
The disclosure follows a row over a similar claim made in Newsweek, which the magazine was forced to retract.
The Newsweek report sparked protests across the […]

Wired News: Database Hackers Reveal Tactics
“Three young hackers under investigation for unlawfully accessing personal information on thousands of people in a LexisNexis database have characterized their act as a cyberjoyride that got out of hand.
The hackers, ages 16, 19 and 20, spoke with Wired News by phone Monday and said that in January and February […]

The Register: EU biometric visa trial opts for the tinfoil sleeve
“The US-inspired wet dream of a single, global identity document isn’t quite dead, but with the announcement of Europe’s biometric visa trial this week it doesn’t look well. Smartcard specialist Gemplus has got the gig, working with prime contractor Sagem, for an initial trial in […]

Guardian Unlimited: Parliament to see ID card bill anew
“The government will today reintroduce its controversial bill for identity cards, which could see compulsory cards as early as 2010.
Charles Clarke, the home secretary, will reintroduce the measures, which were first proposed in the last parliament and would see voluntary cards phased in alongside passports from 2007-8.
As […]

BBC News: Egypt votes on election changes
“Egyptians are voting on possible changes to the constitution that would allow presidential elections to be contested for the first time.
President Hosni Mubarak says the plan is an important step towards democracy.
Observers say it is too early to judge whether voters have heeded opposition calls for a boycott […]

BBC News: Amnesty accuses US over ‘torture’
“Governments around the world betrayed their commitment to human rights in 2004, Amnesty International says.
In a 300-page annual report, the group accused the US government of damaging human rights with its attitude to torture and treatment of detainees.
This granted “a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity”, the […]

CNN: Proposed FBI powers worry Democrats
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic senators expressed skepticism of new powers the Bush administration is seeking in federal terrorism investigations, including authority to read the outside of mailed envelopes and to subpoena records without judicial approval.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday about renewing and expanding the 2001 Patriot Act, FBI […]

Wired News: Uh, Folks, Your Data Was Swiped
“CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — More than 100,000 customers of Wachovia and Bank of America have been notified that their financial records may have been stolen by bank employees and sold to collection agencies.
In all, nearly 700,000 customers of four banks may be affected, according to police in Hackensack, […]

The Register: UK court bans online porn sales
“Pornmongers in the UK can no longer send videos or DVDs through the post or sell them online.
Sex shops in the UK cannot sell adult material except to people who visit their premises. The High Court ruled yesterday that such restrictions are legal because they help prevent pornography […]

BBC News: Fears for Uzbek rights activist
“Human Rights Watch has called on the Uzbek government to free an activist who drew attention to a bloody crackdown in Andijan 10 days ago.
Saidjahan Zainabiddinov is being held in Andijan jail and relatives and friends are concerned for his safety.
Mr Zainabiddinov, a well known human rights activist, tried […]