Modernization
Vermont issues IT-enhanced driver's licenses
Vermont is the third state to issue enhanced driver's licenses with RFID tags that can be used instead of passports at border crossings.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity recommendations make progress
The administration said today that its review of cybersecurity efforts will result in an action plan.
Cybersecurity
Lieberman questions courts on information-sharing law
Sen. Joseph Lieberman asks federal court officials if they are adequately complying with the E-Government Act that oversees release of electronic court documents to the public.
Digital Government
Law requires health data breach notifications
The economic stimulus law requires companies to notify people whose unsecured medical data has been breached.
Cybersecurity
DHS gets new privacy chief
Mary Ellen Callahan, the Homeland Security Department's new chief privacy officer, is an attorney who has specialized in privacy, security, data protection, consumer protection and e-commerce law.
Cybersecurity
FAA data breach irks readers
Numerous readers take issue with the Federal Aviation Administration's handling of its recent data breach.
Cybersecurity
Recommended reading: More on the FAA data breach
Check out what other pubs are saying about the FAA data breach.
Modernization
Stimulus bills excite IT community
The $900 billion economic stimulus package moving through Congress includes as much as $100 billion in IT initiatives and infrastructure investments – more than the federal government spent on all of its IT needs last year.
People
Treasury still working on privacy policies
The Treasury Department has consolidated its privacy enforcement into a single office, but it is taking a long time to finalize policies.
People
VA agrees to pay $20M in laptop theft case
The theft of a VA laptop and its aftermath in 2006 led to national headlines and stronger computer and data security policies and processes across the government.
Cybersecurity
Government told to lead in stopping medical data breaches
Identity theft continues to be a problem for organizations that retain personal information on customers; and a new report suggests the Obama administration’s ambitious health care reform effort could be another area that poses risks.
Cybersecurity
Administration to establish major office for cyber matters
A national cyber adviser who would report directly to the president would be chosen under the White House's 44-point agenda for homeland security.
Cybersecurity
In the News: Obama to keep BlackBerry
President Barack Obama will keep his BlackBerry for personal use, making him the first sitting president to use e-mail, the Associated Press reports.
Cybersecurity
President-elect Barack Obama names a chief performance officer? Yawn.
The move generated a fair amount of buzz last week, but nothing compared with the ongoing speculation and debates about Obama’s eventual appointment of a governmentwide chief technology officer.
Cybersecurity
FEMA investigates breach of Katrina victims’ private information
The Federal Emergency Management Agency suspects that a recent data breach originated at a state agency that was authorized to receive the data but was not authorized to release it.
Digital Government
Treasury must finalize privacy policies, auditors say
The recently established privacy office consolidates data protection functions and should help the agency fulfill its requirements.
Cybersecurity
DHS Privacy Office: Fusion centers endanger privacy
Unclear chains of authority, excessive secrecy, military and private-sector involvement, and the use of personally identifiable information raise concerns.
Cybersecurity