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Former DoubleClick Exec Named Privacy Czar
tsu doh nimh writes "A former executive for banner ad giant DoubleClick has been selected to be the first ever privacy czar for the Department of Homeland Security, says this Washingtonpost.com story." Just leaves you speechless ....
Will we start getting Homeland Security updates through banner ads? Will popup banner ads now be government endorsed? ;-)
Surely they could find someone with a better resume than that? Surely?
In a related move Osama Bin Laden has been appointed as the
first ever Terror Czar. Bin Laden was not immediately available
for comment.
From the article it sounds like this post will be more of a
public relations position than anything. Rather than appointing
someone who worked for a company notorious for trampling
people's privacy rights, IMO they should have appointed someone
who has a record of protecting an upholding our right to
privacy. Had they appointed someone with that type of track
record maybe the cabinet could have had an honest dialogue about
privacy rights in general, rather than simply a discussion about
how to phrase the wording of a news release so it doesn't freak
out the privacy rights groups.
Doug Tolton
"The destruction of a value which is, will not bring value to that which isn't." -John Galt
This whole presidency is like opposite day.
O'Connor Kelly came in after DoubleClick was shown to be, well, evil when it came to privacy, to clean things up. Many changes have occured at DoubleClick to fix some of the problems. Given the amount of data DoubleClick had and what they did with it, O'Connor Kelly should have an excellent idea of what abuses you can do when you have that sort of information.
Hopefully she can step in and help prevent that sort of thing from happening at this level too.
For april fools jokes...
Oh.
And Richard Nixon made Elvis a special narcotics officer. Gave him a badge, too.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Shouldn't this be "from the-foxes-guarding-the-henhouse dept." -- ?
Ron Jeremy has just been named as successor to the pope. Unbelievable.
Trolling is a art,
And now, the new head of the avian agriculture department... the big bad wolf!
--
Vote for your hopes, not for your fears - Vote Third Party
Click on this banner for information on protecting your privacy!
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
... or like hiring Kevin Mitnick as a security
consultant - ha ha. Oh wait that's not a joke.
since slashdot subscribes to doubleclick!
sulli
RTFJ.
Before the huge storm of criticism starts, let's ask ourselves:
How would this be different from hiring Kevin Mitnick to handle security issues?
The we like Kevin Mitnick more than we like ad agencies is not sufficient grounds for an objection. What I want to know is, why shouldn't we hire knowledgable people away from doing what we don't want, and into doing what we do want?
Philip Sandifer's academic website
Hoffa named Organized Crime Prevention Czar, and Hose, the neighborhood crack dealer has been dubbed War on Drugs Czar.
That is all.
From the article:
Why would this leave you any more speechless than hiring Kevin Mitnick to do security for a large corporation?
Get some balance in your outlook.
John.
Well It depends on what the meaning of word "privacy" is..
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
Alan Ralsky has been appointed Postmaster General.
Alright, let it be known in advance that I think is is a bad idea, however, just to play angel's advocate for a moment...
Who better to protect our privacy than those who know how to completely decimate it?
blink, blink
Okay, so you don't buy it, neither do I. :)
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
From the article:
"She joined DoubleClick in February 2000 after the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into complaints that the company was improperly storing and sharing private user data. DoubleClick also was embroiled in similar investigations by 12 state attorneys general and several class-action lawsuits.
DoubleClick settled most of those lawsuits, and created a division specializing in privacy compliance, which O'Connor Kelly ran. "
Sounds to me like some changes were make by O'Connor Kelly and privacy was improved. I'd say it takes a pretty strong person to go into a company as deep in it as Double Click and improve it.
----- "Blame the guy who doesn't speak English." -- Homer J. Simpson
The title of Czar seems lately to have taken on some of the same connotations as buffoon.
--
BitTorrent in C -- LibBT
http://www.sf.net/projects/libbt
It was accounced today that Bill Gates stepped down as head of Microsoft to become the new Cyberspace Security Czar.
Somehow, I'm really not comforted by this choice for "Privacy Czar".
Next thing you know, Jeff Bezos will be running the Patent Office and Bill Gates will be in charge of the DoJ case against Microsoft.
-merlyn
Should be pretty damn obvious at this point that the Bushies don't give a hoot about your personal rights or privacy. Unfortunately most people are too stupid and/or uninformed to care.
Thanks again to all those nice folks who voted for Nader. You sure made a huge difference.
In other words, nobody can say we weren't warned. We have been informed as to what to expect. They are being honest for a change.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Quoth the parent: There MUST be people out there who can make good decisions?
I'm sure this is a great decision, depending on whose point of view you're using. I mean, I'm sure the politicians' wallets are very happy now....
"For success, it is essential you have Thunderball Fists." "I can have such a thing?" "That's right. Thunderball Fists."
Of course they didn't.
But hey, it's the /. editor's professional duty to not pay attention to any positive side of the story.
The story later mentions the infamous Total Awareness Office, and notes that "Congress said it will suspend funding for the Defense Department project unless the administration can demonstrate that it will not violate constitutional privacy rights." Naturally, that runs counter to the /. rule that "every privacy-related story must be in alarmist mode" so the editors always reject my submissions regarding Congress' threat to put TIA on hold.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
L. Ron Hubbard was put in charge of Department of Free Speech and Bill Gates for Department of Information Technology Purchases.
The problem in the world today is communication. Too much communication - Homer Simpson
First paragraph of article reads: The former privacy officer of Internet advertising giant DoubleClick will be the Department of Homeland Security's first privacy czar, Bush administration officials said. Seems to me like the person held a position before that upheld privacy.....
Thanks for answers!
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
Even the title of Privacy Czar for the Homeland Security department seems oxymoronic. Isn't the direction the USA is taking with Homeland Security towards giving up your privacy rights, with all these new laws passed?
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
He's the new Lack of Privacy Czar
"Dogs and cats, living together...it's mass hysteria!"
In the article in the Post, a guy from the CDT gives her a pretty positive review. I don't think this is worthy of a Chicken Little-style panic attack.
When is Cheech Marin going to be named drug czar again?
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
I dont see the problem with this... lots of "reformed" hax0rs come over to the net security business... This is the exact same thing only on a political playing field.
Once again, we have another /. double standard. How many times have I watched people here applaud when a former cracker gets appointed to a top position in security?
But God Forbid someone who knows the ins and outs of privacy abuses, a person who would know BEST how to protect against them, gets the chance to do so. They're evil and will always be evil!
She'll be moving to Russia, and time-traveling back a hundred years, so she can coincide in a time where people actually used the word 'Tzar'.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
where down is up, up is down, right is wrong, wrong is right.
You are now entering the Twilight Zone
...ministry of peace,...ministry of truth...ministry of love...ministry of privacy...
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
This seems like Grandma asking the wolf to babysit Little Red Riding Hood.
As long as there is a Second Amendment, there will always be a First Amendment.
You didn't bother to read the article, did you? Go ahead, admit it: you're a fucking moron.
Hysteria and hot air...Oh, the irony!
*sarcasm OFF*
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
after all, the Bush administration is known for such brilliant ironic humor, like when they appointed a lawyer for a lead paint manufacturer to be secretary of the interior or when they picked a dude with close ties to Philip Morris and no particular health knowledge to be Health Secretary.
Making Christie Todd Whitman head of the EPA was a tough act to follow... they had to do something to top it.
What, everyone at the EFF has the grip? I know JP wouldn't be caught dead as a government agent, but there's gotta be SOMEONE who could at least bridge the sides...
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
She has already suffered because of her affiliation with DoubleClick:
"DoubleClick's appointment in particular tends to make privacy advocates suspicious, since the company's selling point is using logging data generated as users wander around the Net, to serve ads targeted to their interests.
The company's new chief privacy officer, Nuala O'Connor, appearing at the same conference, found herself bearing the brunt of years of resentment against her company. The logical question: what do these people actually do?"
and she deserves more...
Ad- and Spy-ware are the worst thing to happen online in the last 2 years and it just keeps getting worse...
Why do I h8 apple?
Whoops...the exec is O'Connor Kelly. She may not be so bad after all then as she came to "clean" things up at DoubleClick.
In the cutting and pasting, the submitter clipped an important word from the opening paragraph...
"The former privacy officer of Internet advertising giant DoubleClick will be the Department of Homeland Security's first privacy czar, Bush administration officials said. "
Yes, she once worked for DoubleClick, but she only started AFTER the FTC sited them for privacy abuses. So she went in, cleaned them up, settled their lawsuits, and moved on. She now works for the Department of Commerce.
So, she ran the privacy clean-up for DoubleClick, and now she's picked to do the same thing, monitoring privacy for the government's latest fad, Homeland Security. Is this a problem? Or is it only a problem because she was picked by a conservative?
First, he's a she.
And she's the he who came into doubleclick and made peace with the privacy community by changing operations there to protect privacy.
But of course, you have to read the article and generally have a clue what you're talking about to know that. I realize this is slashdot, so carry on ranting.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
This makes sense. The government has been trying to gain access to any and all information about citizens as part of anti-terrorism initiatives. As well as build national databases.
Who better to protect the administrations privacy (or lack thereof) initiatives than the expert at a company with similar privacy philosophies that has been at the forefront of these issues for so many years.
From the article "O'Connor Kelly is well acquainted with the often bitter debate over balancing privacy rights with other interests." (Emphasis added)
Watch Ad-Aware be ruled illegal under Patriot Act in the first month. Steve Gibson will need to watch is back. Mandatory Spyware in the name of national 'defense'.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
that when you go the story, the second cookie that your browser warns you about ( if you choose to be asked about cookies ) is from .doubleclick.net
will Galeon be telling me about cookies like ".pornwatch.bigbrother.gov" and ".findtheheathens.ashnet.usdoj.gov"?
PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
Well, considering the Bush Administration appointed Gale Norton (whose environmental record is questionable, at best) to head the EPA, is it any surprise that they would appoint a 'privacy' executive from the web's largest spam-ad agency to head their privacy office in the Homeland Security Dept.?
Norton was appointed to help the administration push development in ANWR (& other anti-environmental causes), not to protect the environment; likewise, OConnor Kelly was appointed to help push Total Information Awareness, not to protect privacy.
Attention Citizens:
All citizens will be issued an opaque identifier known as a cookie. You will be responsible for maintaining your cookie. Your cookie must be relinquished to a government official for inspection on demand. Loss or altering of your cookie is a felony offense.
That is all.
"Consensus" is what got us into the current privacy mess! The current "compromise" on most personal financial data is that data holders have to tell you what their sharing policy is (in dense legalese text which usually has "we will share with basically anybody who will pay us for it" buried in it) and give you the chance to "opt out".
If the regulations had been made with consumers in mind at all, the default would have been to not share data and to only allow sharing when people opt-in. This would make private data a liability rather than an asset.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Yes, I admit that at first look this sounds like the dumbest of all decisions. However, take a look at history. In 1934, President Roosevelt appointed Joseph P. Kennedy (JFK's old man) as the first chairman of a new regulatory agency to tidy up the nation's stock market: the Securities and Exchange Commission. The most notorious stock market player ended up reforming the exchange with regulations that stopped his own actions. I hope that Kelly will be able to fill the privacy roll in the same kind of way.
The Dept. of Homeland Security has the power to really advance the fight against domestic terrorism, but it's going to need experts in the malicious activities it's trying to block in order to effectively (in this case) make sure the job is done right. Kudos to the Dept. for choosing an expert in the field of Privacy Compliance.
Looks like something she did broke the ads...
k wh oops.gif
ftp://andersonfamily.ath.cx/incoming/doubleclic
"You get what you pay for after all." --
A company like DoubleClick makes its money by leveraging personal information, which means compromising your privacy. You can bet that they didn't install someone to obstruct their core business, which means you can assume that a privacy assurance position is another nicely titled PR position. This gal is going to be someone who's good at deflecting arguments with ambiguities and word games, reframing situations in a positive light and altering vocabularies in ways that make it impossible to express concise complaints such that popular media can digest them.
So what was the government looking for if she got the job? You can be pretty sure that they didn't hire her because she was good at stopping DoubleClick from watching you. The found someone who's very good at spinning privacy violation to look like something else. Be prepared to hear a lot of Orwellian doublespeak and creative twists of the tongue.
Actually he would be perfect for the job. Imagine a slime ball that knows all the tricks. Fight fire with fire and all that..
particularly, that it's not the submit button.
doh... I think everyone knows what I meant, despite the mistakes I accidently left in...
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
After all:
A drugs Czar is charged with reducing drugs,
A terrorism Czar is charged with reducing terror,
So a privacy Czar is presumably charged with reducing privacy.
I'm guessing the DoubleClick director was an obvious choice.
Read "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore. He goes on to enumerate Bush's cabinet. It's loaded with picks like this.
For example, Christie Todd Whitman was named Environment Czar. In case you were wondering, she's the former Govener on New Jersey, the toxic waste capital of the US.
All your base are belong to us!
1)this is a sham and will not provide any privacy due to the fact he was a double click executive
2)he knows how to thwart companies and individuals who try to invade people's privacy becasue he was an executive at a company that did this.
wait and see is all I can say.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
The "Department of Homeland Security" always did remind me of McCarthy. . .
Mock trials, anyone?
Keith Richards to be appointed new drug czar.
--
"I'm don't know exactly what an AS/400 is, but I'm pretty certain I wouldn't want one up my ass" --Lou
Declares that all server operating system source code must be private... oh wait... client operating system source code... oh wait... thanks for coming out!
You will have to pry my proprietary software $$$ from my cold dead hands!
I think the reason why she was chosen is because she knows how to tread the line between legal privacy and illegal privacy. However, this is not what I would want in my government. Because it means, yet again I cannot trust the government....
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
You keep making the property value of my land in Canada just keep going UP and UP. Keep up the good work!
I have to admit, my first instinct was to make a joke about it until I went through a few of the replies.
She joined DoubleClick in February 2000 after the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into complaints that the company was improperly storing and sharing private user data. DoubleClick also was embroiled in similar investigations by 12 state attorneys general and several class-action lawsuits.
Maybe they think that a magical "privacy invasion" aura will radiate off of her and help the Department of Homeland Propaganda... errr I mean Security.
My actual worry is that this will be nothing more than an "honorary" posting; something that Ashcroft can point to and say "See? We've got someone working on privacy issues," while carefully not pointing out that she's not allowed to actually do anything about privacy protection. Although, the mention that the "Total Information Awareness" program has been - at least temporarily - derailed has me breathing a little easier.
Of course, if it does come down to a worse-case scenario, I'm going to have to unblock DoubleClick's cookies, or I'll be in big trouble!
Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
... we'd be all set.
Is it any accident that the new "privacy" czar made it his business to intrude on your privacy in order to sell you stuff or sell this information to others for "other" purposes? What would Orwell have called this bureaucracy? The Ministry of Freedom?
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
"Yes, congress, not michigan. "
I've heard a couple of references to Michigan lately, but not clear on what I missed. What's the story?
"Derp de derp."
A convicted cracker of computer systems was appointed Chief Security Officer of Acme Inc.
Double standards are a terrible thing ain't they.
re-invent wheels
I guess it takes a privacy evasion expert to catch privacy evaders.
Wolves protecting sheep?
Well this is obvious. Having a huge privacy violator take on other privacy violators is probably the best thing. The DoubleClick guy should know all the tricks of the trade of privacy violations.
.smell my feet.
At least "the Hedgehog" wouldn't tell poor people with 10 kids in countries with 40% HIV infection that using condoms is a sin.
Freedom: "I won't!"
I agree that this person is probably not the best choice for the job, but why don't we all whine and complain when stories about Kevin Mitnick's new IT security company, or Cap'n Crunch's Telecom consulting firm come out?
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
I'm really glad I read the article on this post, because after only reading the slashdot version I had a very different opinion on the matter than I do now!
__
Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem. - Larry Wall
We will make Marion Barry in charge of the "War on Drugs". What a fox in the hen house this is.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I was mostly thinking about this , but in searching for it I found this
too. I also remember hearing some stuff a couple months back that was related to the first link. It seems that michigan is becoming a pretty scary place for geeks, or most computer users, really.
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
Right......
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
He? C'mon I can understand making that mistake when Hillary Rosen is the subject, but clearly your just shouting the ./ party line instead of reading the article.
By the way SHE is credited for turning Doubleclick from a reprehensible company to a . . . well . . . ok they're still reprehensible but not as reprehensible.
>
Or like having somebody from MS in charge of Software security. Oh, wait, that is the case.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Gale Norton is the Secretary of the Department of the Interior.
The EPA Administrator is Christine Todd Whitman, past Governor of New Jersey.
Where did you get all that information about Norton pushing ANWR and such? At best, Norton would have influence on the rights of Native American tribes to ANWR through the BEA. (Bureau Indian Affairs)
You see, fellow geeks, the best way to ensure privacy and security is to collect as much information about as many people as possible. That way, the government has all your vital information, and can keep it safe for you.
... Off to clear my cookie cache before Big Brother uploads it to some database...
Yeah. Right.
This is the dumbest thing I have seen in a while from the Shrub administration, and that says a lot. Bush seems to have a real nack for grabbinb up the facists and losers out there and making them important figureheads in his administration. Then again, there's that old saying about birds of a feather... perhaps that should be revised to vultures...
Bill Gates named Open Source Czar, Jack Valenti named VP of Consumer Fair-Use, and John Wayne Gacy named Director of Child-Protective Services.
Maybe we could get David Duke out of jail and assigned to the Justice Department to work on Civil Rights cases. Sometimes I feel like Bush is trying his damndest to not get re-elected. Poindexter, Kissinger and now this? Incredible.
F.O. Dobbs
...on how backwards you happen to be.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Maybe you didn't read it. But since you didn't give any detailis against why your parent is incorrect, uninformed, etc.. then you look even stupider.
The facts are that a person from doubleclick, the worst privacy company in all of internet history, is being put in charge of privacy for the department of homeland security. In other words, someone who was brought into doubleclick to PR their customers into thinking privacy was improving significantly, is now the person who will try to PR the US population into thinking the homeland security database won't be used for privacy invasion.
No, I think it is YOU who didn't read the fucking article. Moron.
Two infinite things: your stupidity and mine. But I'm not sure about the latter. If my sig offends you, I'm sorry.
Every teddy bear who's been good, is sure of a treat today.
There's lots of marvelous things to eat and wonderful games to play.
Beneath the trees where nobody sees,
They'll hide and seek as long as they please.
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
What? You'd rather read more about GW & Co dismantling our citizens rights?
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
Yeah. Just what we need. It's not enough that we have the PATRIOT act, Microsoft, the RIAA, MPAA and DMCA, Microsoft, a bunch of stupid old executives who want nothing more than to increase their bottom line at the expense of all the little guys because they also enjoy screwing people over because it gives them a power trip, and Microsoft... all we need now is to have an advertising mogul put our private information all over the Internet in order to screw us up some more. BIG COMPANIES SUCK!!!
A hacker will be the first to say "who better to defend angainst computer intrusion than a hacker?" Hello, white hat system analyst.
Well, who better to be named Privacy Czar than someone who has a specialty in breaking away privacy?
the best rapper is white
the best golfer is black
the tallest NBA player is chinese
the swiss hold the america's cup
france is accusing the u.s. of arrogance
germany doesn't want to go to war
and the three most powerful men in america are named "bush", "dick", and "colon".
But then again, why not? Former prosecutors actually tend to make the best defense lawyers... and if anybody is going to know anything about how privacy abuses work, it's someone who worked for a noted abuser.
If you look at the article, it's pretty obvious that her job is all about defusing criticism due to privacy concerns without actually doing anything to stop the march towards an Orwellian society. For that, she's perfect... she successfully defused public criticism about DoubleClick without significantly hampering their effort to collect every little bit of information about you.
I will automatically assume that she does not (or soon will not) have the public's best interests at heart, and it has nothing to do with DoubleClick.
It has to do with the current Administration. I know, flame away, but the cronyism I've seen on display is... staggering. Absolutely staggering.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
The reasoning behind this is the same as a company hiring a black-hat h/cracker to secure their systems. A person that knows how cause a problem is the best person to fight the problem.
and what about Kevin Mitnick being a security expert? rings a bell?
THEN bitch about who's there any why.
Computer Science is Applied Philosophy
Judging from many of the comments so far, most slashdot readers seem to think she was responsible for the evil things that DoubleClick did. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. She joined DoubleClick when it was already being investigated, and cleaned up DoubleClick's act.
Talk about getting the wolf to take care of the sheep...
How would this be different from hiring Kevin Mitnick to handle security issues?
Very different. Hacking and security is all about an *expertise*, which ultimately defines the quality of the work at the end of the day. In the privacy domain though the foundation is different - it's all about a *position*, the position of unconditional respect for individual privacy.
I seriously doubt one can suddenly develop such a respect if she was knowingly affiliated with doubleclick in the past. Too bad.
3.243F6A8885A308D313
Who says Americans don't have a sense of irony.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
- what you see when you're working from a temporary box (not your regular system) that's going to be upgraded in the next few hours
... :-)
- an insidious method to improve hand-eye coordination and get all those net-potatoes to burn off extra calories despite themselves
- a way to convince people to avoid your product like the plague
- browser-based spam
In this case, it's reason #1Here is a quick bio. She's 34, so she's a young woman in what is still seems very much an old white man's game. Given her acedemic credentials, and where she is today, she's an overachiever. This may be a very good thing if she is has enough moral backbone to stave off corrupting special interests.
Call me cynical and sterotyping, but I think this is better than having yet another old, corrupt white guy in someones pocket.
SCO to Hell
This is a step up, in the notion that they actually have someone there whose job it is to protect people's privacy. The major concerns, however, are:
a) Will she be aggressive enough to actually make a difference?
b) Will the Bush administration kick her out for doing her job "too well"?
It's a step in the right direction, but I'm not sure it will mean much unless those in power actually believe privacy is a good thing and not just something they need to get around.
Remember 1993, just a decade ago politicians had no idea what the internet was and only one in 20 business cards had email. The "information superhighway" was going to bring us five hundred channels on TV.
Okay /.ers its time to put our efforts to wkr..
Lets ee how long it takes to find this guys postal address and physical location..
Post your results in this thread..
I bet we wil have it done bofre 3 hours is up..
Seems like a safe bet since you don't know that the target is female and your spelling would render a google search meaningless....
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
"Yet another example of the Bush doubleplusgood government in action! Of course this is right in line with an administration that fakes 'popular' Iraqi support of the American 'liberation' of Baghdad yahoo.com [yahoo.com].
Now watch as the Bush apologists leap out of the closet to support his choice, citing her 'community building' with privacy groups and whatnot. Right...as if they couldn't find thousands of more qualified choices who actually work with real, honest-to-god privacy advocacy groups.... "
The beauty of having a karma score far beyond anything you could ever actually need is that you can take a post that's been marked as a 'troll' by some ignorant right-wing looney Bush boot-licker and repost it - with a score of '2'.
Sometimes, enraging the conservative pricks who prowl Slashdot is enough to put a big ol' grin on your face....
Check out the article, though. The 'popular' Iraqi demonstration was actually staged by the Bush government, apparently because the Iraqis themselves are in no way celebrating the fact that they've been conquered. Imagine that!
And this is the government we entrust to watch over our privacy? Lying sacks of shit, scum of the Earth fuckwits who pull crap like this? And then appoint a Doubleclick lackey to 'watch over' our privacy? Wake up, shitheads - our privacy is *already guarranteed* by the Constitution. The only thing an ad company executive can do is find ways to circumvent protections that are more than 200 years old.
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
That's absolutely correct. You will be judged by the company you "keep" (in fact that's what Slashdot just did), but that doesn't mean it's fair or accurate.
Anyway, I'm guessing the Doubleclick brought her on because of her credibilty and if nothing happened at Doubleclick during her tenure, she should keep the credibility.
In other words, give me evidence, not FUD.
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
...on my drive? Spybot S&D found three from just today's browsing. (Also Avenue A, courtesy of /.)
Bang-up job with the clean up.
If you're all about the privacy rights, get your damn cookies off my drive.
What were you expecting?
I read the exact same paragraph and it *confirmed* my concerns.
Look at this in perspective: DoubleClick is a huge organization that is having serious problems with lawsuits because it's trampling all over people's privacy. They bring in O'Connor Kelly, who does a good job settling *most* of the lawsuits (note: settling != defeating) and starts a new division to help keep DoubleClick safe from future lawsuits. DoubleClick continues to do as much data-mining and collection as it possibly can (because that's STILL the core of its business) but now it avoids most of the unpleasant and costly public lawsuits.
Now substitute "the US Govt" for "DoubleClick". Fits pretty well, doesn't it? It doesn't sound *too* bad... until you consider that they're still planning on doing as much privacy invasion as they can possibly get away with... she'll just help them walk that wavy line.
Think about the difference if the new privacy advisor were, say, one of the "12 state attorneys general" who were prosecuting DoubleClick, or someone involved in the "several class-action lawsuits" from the other side. Or ANYONE who had privacy advocacy experience from the victims' side.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
Bush could name the former chief of security of Microsoft as the Cyber Security Czar... oh wait, he did.
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
With misleading headlines like that, it's really easy to tell who RTFA...keep up the good work, chrisd!
Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
All the well-taken comments about her being the 2xclick reformer aside...
If the drug czar's job is to win the war on drugs, what do you think they're looking for in a privacy czar?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Why spend so much time coming up with absurd possibilities when the UN provides better examples. Libya 'right for human rights job' and Iraq to chair U.N. disarmament conference. Face it, the Dead Milkmen were right, we're all veterans of a f@#%ed up world.
If you RTFA you will conclude that the tripple named lady is a pretty face for a nasty company. Doubleclick bought it's way out of the 12 lawsuits and she did her best to sooth everyone. It's not like doubleclick changed what they were doing any more than "real" coke is made with cane sugar. So, yes, she is good for the job but we might not like the job she does. It's like the feds hired a professional liar to run minitruth or Al Capone to run the local liquor licensing office or Kenedy senior to run the SEC.
Doggie brains might like that kind of talk, so long as they have something to eat. The rest of us should demand a little more.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I wouldn't say she was evil, and there could be worse choices... but still, the point remains that she did a very good job helping DoubleClick stay *just barely* on this side of illegal. She spoke with privacy groups because she needed to know which abuses would result in costly and public lawsuits, and which wouldn't. DoubleClick's business *still* depends on getting as much personal info as possible, so it's clear that she would not be able to push them farther than they needed to go.
Look, it's possible that she'd be a good privacy advocate, but she's never done that before... she's moving from helping one massive organization avoid privacy abuse lawsuits to helping another one.
If she's been the one prosecuting the lawsuits, just once, I'd be happier.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
How is this any different from AT&T hiring someone who hacks their network to be in charge of their security?
It seems that hiring someone who is good at compromising the system that is protecting you to make that system better is one of the things that the "geek" community recommends. How does this differ? The company she ran was good at compromising peoples privacy so who would better know how to protect that privacy?
Any argument you use against her can equally be applied to someone who compromises the network security of a business and is then hired by them.
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
Popular "news for nerds" site Slashdot has been recategorized as "entertainment / opinion" by online directory maintainers. Reason for the demotion from the "news" category was given as "rampant, unmitigated disregard for the facts at hand."
Slashdot editors would only comment that they were too busy watching anime and supermodifying computer gear to comment. Presumably, given the site's history, the same story will be reposted until they get it right.
You know, why do we call these positions "czar" whatever? What, are we living in pre-revolutionary Russia? Who started the whole czar title thing? Wasn't there just one czar in Russia too? Or maybe that's Czar with a capital C? Hmmm....
Keep in mind that yesterdays hackers are todays security experts... knowing the best ways to invade privacy is to know the best way to stop invasion of privacy.
Stupid sig of the week: Perl Hackers DIIMTOW
....would she be czarinna?
Johnny Cochran named murder czar.
..naming James Watt as secretary of the interior. Oh wait, that's been done. how about...
..having Kissinger head a probe about Intelligence failures. Oh yeah. Ok, let's try
..having John Ashcroft head the Deparment of Justice.
Ok, that's it. I give up.
nothin' to see here, move along.
Excellent! After smashing someone for daring to guese the intentions of others, you state them yourself. Did you ever consider alternate ideas?
How do you know that Doubleclick cares about privacy? The indications are that they did not, you know 12 state investigations, a federal investigation and a private class action suit. They settled those suits, but we don't have any real indication they changed what they were doing do we?
Now what would a company that does not care about privacy have to hire someone for? Perhaps to lie for them? We don't know that, all we know from the article is that she was a "consesus builder". What the hell is that? Someone that convinces me that it's OK for double click to sell my credit history if they keep quiet about my dental records? Hmm. Yes indeed, I suspect someone who could work for a company like Double Click is dishonest. Dishonest or a 34 year old puppet.
Now what do the Feds want her for? To advocate the Total Information Rape Act? CAPUT? No thanks, I've got better use for my money than another liar.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Sorry troll. Clinton had one person convicted of anything. Try Reagan. His administration produced 17 convicted felons.
President Bush started receiving email to earn $1,000,000 in 10 mins and receive your High School diploma with no work required.
mprindle
come on, that's FUNNY
take your sig and shove it
It's a logical assumption that she will bring her DoubleClick experience to the 'Homeland Security' table. Instead of having guys sitting around trying to figure out how to track/spy on criminals, and not thinking about how it might affect the average joe, there's now somebody there to essentailly speak for the privacy advocates before privacy altering laws are drafted.
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
How do you "clean up" acts that have not been implemented? How do you know that her work at Double Click was anthing more than "Cheif Bullshitter"? The lady is not there to protect but to put a nice face on your rape. It's very wishful thinking to expect otherwise. The Department of Homeland Security is working fast and furious to get TIA. They are not hiring someone to tell them not to do it. Get real please.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
You're right, I didn't read the fucking article. As I'm a fairly busy person, I rely on pompous asses such as yourself to fill me in with the summary info. But you couldn't even take the time to do that for me. Certainly, this a break in /. etiquette.
It was a joke, jerk. Turn on your sarcasm filter.
If you think DHS is hiring someone to keep them from implementing Carnivore, CAPPS and TIA, you might also believe that Doublclick cleaned up their act. Why are people making excuses for that nasty company and the DHS?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
This is a perfect example of what's known as "the revolving door" between industry and government. Traditionally, the big problems have been in the defense and heavy construction industries, so many computer people probably don't understand it.
Here's how it goes -- an industry bigwig is selected for a regulatory post because of "expertise" in a certain area. After all, they have all this experience, and have risen to prominence, so they must be well-qualified, no? They work for the government for awhile. They make contacts. And if they "play ball" while in their government position, they get a great job offers from private industry when their term expires. Sometimes these offers are innocent and genuine, but sometimes they're outrageous, obvious, and blatant rewards for having done someone's bidding while in office. And there's every shade of gray in between.
As I mentioned, the most common industry for this is heavy construction. It's most common at the local level -- particularly with construction managers who work as city/county inspectors, and then construction managers, or consultants, again. This is actually illegal in many places, but there are many ways to get around the letter of the law -- shell companies, etc. Sometimes it's so bad that when an inspector gets fired for obvious, intentional lack of diligence, he shows up the very next day on the same jobsite, on the contractor's payroll, making three times what the position would normally pay -- thumbing his nose at his former bosses. Nice "reward," eh, without having to take an actual bribe!
Of course, construction is an extreme example, being a somwhat bare-knuckle industry anyway. But the same conflict of interest exists everywhere else. And no matter how subtle the conflict of interest may be, the effects of it are felt by us all, and our society suffers.
Other areas of our society which could be very easily ruined by such conflict of interest are adversarial by design. Our courts, for example -- lawyers don't flip-flop between representing one side then the other. Good journalists aren't supposed to get too chummy with the people they're reporting on. Economist Milton Friedman has often commented on staying out of industry, worrying that it might corrupt his science, or give the appearance of doing so. Likwise, regulators should maintain the same distance from the industries they're regulating.
Her job was posted right? Federal law right requires the job to be posted. What GS level was her job posted at?
Also, While we are at it. This is Homeland security, they should have an oversight committee, not a self serving privacy group. (IMHO)
-
We are born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy. - Author Unknown
Everyone remembers the Rockford Files, right? Ok, maybe not, but I digress...
This show appeared in the later 70's and it concerned a group of business men that wanted to create a "super database" of everyone in this computer system located next to an airport. Rockford busts the case and captures the "criminals" in the end, of course. The show ends with a quick blurb about the dangers of computers and privacy.
What I find absolutely astounding is something that was considered criminal a generation ago is now accepted as common practice. "Companies and governments keep databases, big deal", is the common attitude now, but in the 70's even the CONCEPT of maintaining a database of personal information was considered criminal, never mind how it was used.
..collecting information about me?
~4.2million reference URLs snipped.
Searching the net for references to this is like poking your head in a tigers mount, every where you look teeth.
---
96 superpercomputers can't be wrong! Fincen motto
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
If they wanted to inspire trust they would have hired someone from the EFF or FSF rather than one of the worst database violators ever who spent her time bullshiting everyone. What do you call someone who takes money to do things they don't believe in? Whore. If there was a single redeeming thing Doubleclick had ever done we might forgive Kelly for working there. Anyone know of such a thing?
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
A google search of "united states new czar -russia" turns up some strange results like "IT Czar", "World Trade Czar" and "Federal Homeless Czar" (king without a castle?).
Can I be the "Stupid Czar Title Czar"? I could work for the "National Office of We Don't Have a Homeland Title for You".
Does being a Czar mean I get to have people executed?
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
The national drug Czar is anti-drugs... The privacy Czar is anti-privacy...
--CJT
I had a flame... but she had a fire.
Thats like making snoop-dog the drug czar!
... like the narcotics squad is actually the anti-narcotics squad, the vice squad is really the anti-vice squad, and the privacy czar, well...
Just what we need in our democratic government. Another Czar.
It's good that she's from industry too, but not one of those irritating people who in addition to working in industry, also dedicate personal efforts to changing public policy, like Schneier or Lessig.
Industry is under-represented in our government. Besides, those people must be fools, since nothing worthwhile is done for free.
Oh, a sarcasm detector; that's a real useful invention.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
of life....the correct answer is US, and our lack of awareness and general apathy. We've allowed idiots to take control, not because we don't see what's going on, but because it doesn't directly affect me....
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer announced today that President Bush has, after consulting with VP Dick Cheney, other members of his cabinet and unidentified experts from the poultry industry that The Fox would be put in charge of The Henhouse.
"We think The Fox will lend invaluable experience to the management of The Henhouse," said Fleischer. "He has decades of experience with both eggs and with chickens, a breadth of experience that most other candidates just don't have."
"Provided by the management for your protection."
I'd like to choose the European or Canadian version instead ...
What do you mean it's got a region code?
> --- All Of The Above --- >
Conspiracy theories aside...
Improvements were made, this person made them.
----- "Blame the guy who doesn't speak English." -- Homer J. Simpson
Our new Privacy Czar, recently appointed, has been getting a lot done. First, all flashing banner ads will flash the terror alert color of the day. Second, all pop-up ads will individually be opt-out - just click on the 2-point text that says Opt Me Out I'm A Traitor and you'll be opted out and your Intel chip UID will be forwarded to John Ashcroft to be put on the official Enemies List. Third, all pop-under ads will not contain any pr0n, since kids never look under there anyway and it would be a waste. Fourth, every time you take a book out of the library, you can now opt out of the Totally Insane Prussian Security (TIPS) Act by filling out a 500-page opt-out form. Your name and address will then be forwarded to John Ashcroft to be put on the Suspected Terrorist List and order you a special commemorative American Terrorist pin with a microtransmitter. Thank you for your cooperation, citizen!
> --- All Of The Above --- >
This, people, is the absolute definition of irony.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
If you're a wealthy northerner playing cowboy for votes or his wealthy northerner son playing cowboy for votes, it's SAD-dim.
Hey it's April 16th isn't it?
This reminds me of the administration hiring people from the accounting, banking, and stock trading industrys to as regulators. Don't believe me check the resumes of some of the appointments to the SEC, FDIC, and the new accounting regulatory board.
I know the new privacy czar comes reccomended by many in the privacy community but this is a tad too "Fox guarding the henhouse" for my taste.
Happy Fun Ball is for external use only.
Well, that actually makes sense. Lexis-Nexis is a company that successfully created an advanced database system (or technical infrastructure or whatever.) Unless I'm missing some bit of the picture.
That this just *must* have been a story left over from the April 1st bin!
Clearly, the strategy of this administration is to pile it up so high that no one can even see the hypocrisy anymore let alone complain about it!
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
This isn't a "accounting" issue like whitewater, or a "technical purgury" issue like monica. Most of those things for most people with any money would go away with a phone call or two--those were specifically political. Poindexter on the other hand, was specifically banned [by a law just for him!] from helping contras [I believe]. He not only performed the acts, but covered up for the president and vice who ordered it insite of Congress! Again, we're still paying the price for that whole arms-for-hostages thing because at the time much of that money went to people like Saddam! If his testimony was subject to the scrutiny of Clinton's he'd still be rotting in prison!
Several high-level appointees have specifically broken the law for the white house in the past. These are people that have broken the law and thrown it in the face of congress, specifically after being told what to do! This isn't missed taxes, or an epa fine, it's willful and deliberate. For starts, congress has no place confirming them at all, but these may not be confirmed seats--funny how that works.
I think that's already been done.
Tech Public Policy stuff
And we'll consider not whoring out your personal information to the highest bidder!
-----Buy the ticket, take the ride.-----
The truth is a lie. War is peace. And this man will bring us privacy.
I hope the title is the way it will work, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm afraid everyone else may be right.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Is anyone else concerned about the increasing number of government sanctioned Czars in America? At what point did we become a Czarist nation?
So this Chinese "Mata Hari" was a Clinton appointee? Or wait, it seems like she might have had some high-ranking position in the Gore administration? Oh wait, Gore didn't have an administration. Wait, I get it, there's some sort of connection between the FBI agent and the Buddhist Republican fundraisers that the Bubba administration held. Wait, they weren't Republicans. Darn! I just don't get it. Maybe there isn't anything here. Maybe there's just some rote regurgitation of fictitious character creation so we can topple them (straw dog, I think it's called), as well as some slightly racist casting of aspersions on the former administration, and an arrested FBI agent (who was arrested for what?). Hmmmmmm. Does the FBI agent constitute a "high ranking" Clinton Administration official? Is sleeping with Mata Hari a felony? Does this sound like some closely argued Rush Limbaugh argument? WTF? I am dirty. I responded to an AC.
Everything I've ever learned the hard way was based on a statistically invalid sample.
Maybe it's time to retire that 486 on which you're still running Win95 (original, not OSR2).
If webmasters properly checked their sites, that would be a non-issue.
Again, it sounds more like an ID-10-T error on the part of the webmaster if you click a link for some semi-obscure filetype and the correct behavior doesn't happen.
I don't notice the speed difference between IE and Mozilla, on anything from a dual Athlon MP down to an old Power Mac G3. That Mozilla has had fewer major security blunders that could lead to your getting 0wn3d is, IMHO, a Good Thing.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
The story mentions that EPIC was the one to file suit against DoubleClick. Now would be a good time to send them some money.
as the former head of the KGB heading up Homeland "security"
s /USSA.htm
http://www.impeach-bush-now.org/Articles/American
"(March 17) You will be happy to learn that the former head of the KGB (the secret police of the former Soviet Union), General Yevgeni Primakov, has been hired as a consultant by the US Department of Homeland Security. Do you think he will share his expertise in "security" to prepare US citizens for domestic internal passports under the pretense of fighting the never-ending "War on Terrorism"?"
why do we always use a RUSSIAN word (czar) in the title of an AMERICAN office??
Or is it AMERIKANSKI???
And use *this* story as an example of "ironic."
1. Hire "privacy expert" to "fix" your privacy issues
2. Have government sign her on as Privacy Czar
3. Collect much more data than legally possible before
4. Give that data to Doubleclick under the table
5. Sell data/use it for marketing purposes
6. you knew it was coming......PROFIT!!!!!
well, that wouldn't REALLY happen....well, maybe.....but it makes as much sense as all the other "when pigs fly" news thats been on here lately.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
How does the PR business pay?
Tech Public Policy stuff
This reminds me of when George W. Bush appointed former Michigan Senator Spencer Abraham, who lost his seat in the senate, as Secretary of Energy, a cabinate position he voted to abolish the year before. Kinda ironic, aint it?
Or maybe the 4-20 bin...
..don't like something, but have the pesky problem that the majority is for it? Thtat's OK, just put in place someone who will undermine it in the postion that's supposed to enforce it. How else does Michael Powell end up chair at FCC? Put someone in charge of EPA that doesn't believe in the environment. Put Harvey Pitt at the SEC so big companies can rob the workd blind. They couldn't get the laws repealed EVER, so they intentionally undermine their enforcement instead.
"that's not encryption - it's a new perl script that I'm working on..." - from some Matrix parody
I just found this page which lets you opt-out of doubleclick storing personal cookie info about you. Most of us probably already block doubleclick cookies but maybe someone will find it useful.
Czar=Russian, used for rulling Nobility. American = supposed freedom. Privacy = something that dissapered due to Patriot 1 and 2. End result? We are giving up on democracy and moveing to a socialist state? Now lets all join together and say... Oh thank god. What took so long..................
I am that much more enlightened and proportionally disillusioned
The more things change....
Why is it that travelocity.com won't accept my requests for flights from JFK to anywhere?
-Dae
"Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.
j00 4r3 3n73r1ng l337 w0r1d.
...this is totally consistent with the appointment of Daniel Pipes to the board of United States Institute of Peace. Recall that Pipes is the famous guy who initiated the Campus-Watch campaign not long ago, a campaign to blacklist professors who show sympathy for the Muslims. Kinda like appointing a wolf to herd the sheeps.
Beautiful, ain't it?
Cheers,
e.
You have no democracy (no democratically elected leader).
You have no morals, except that of the power of the strongest.
You have no guts to fight what is wrong, you just make it into entertainment.
Your government is doing whatever it wants and all you can do is tell jokes about it?
In an civilized nation people would already have rebelled...
You should wake up and smell the coffee.
There's only c. 270 million of you.
The rest of the world is watching and shaking their heads in disbelief.
... Osama Bin Laden the secretary for religious understanding, tolerance and freedom. ... D. Rumsfeld the commissioner for disarmament ... GWB the the minister for civilian rights and social fairness or international cooperation of equals
1984 has arrived. Actually, it arrived years ago but this administration has decided not to hide it. Instead of denying that they spy on their own people, they bring it out in the open and give it a soothing name (Homeland Security) (Total Information Awareness)(Privacy Czar). They populate these departments with the dregs of society, people you wouldn't allow in your house. None of this gets discussed openly though because the average American cannot be distracted by reality as they are too engrossed in reality TV! More people know the first and last names of the finalists on Joe Millionaire than know the Secretary General of the United Nations. One word describes this...pathetic.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act!" -- George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)