Cybersecurity
Navy readies new policy to safeguard personal data
The service's CIO likens the loss of personally identifiable information to losing classified material.
Cybersecurity
OMB: Scrub unnecessary SSNs from systems
Agencies must develop and put in place within four months a risk-based breach notification policy, according to an Office of Management and Budget memo.
Cybersecurity
Union files suit against TSA for data breach
AFGE said TSA failed to establish adequate safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of personnel records under the Privacy and the Aviation and Transportation Security acts.
Cybersecurity
TSA suffers data loss; lawmakers watch closely
The agency is investigating the possible loss or theft of an external hard drive that contained the payroll data of about 100,000 current and former employees.
Cybersecurity
USDA will take years to clean SSNs from systems
The department is responding to last month's discovery that it had inadvertently made public the Social Security and/or employer ID numbers of 38,700 grant and loan recipients.
Cybersecurity
USDA exposes citizen data
Up to 63,000 citizens social security and tax identification numbers may be at risk, Agriculture officials said Friday.
Cybersecurity
USPS shifts to electronic personnel records
The digital system will safeguard employee records in a secure central database.
People
Finding Foreman
George Foreman named his five sons George. Will the National Health Information Network be able to pinpoint his health records? Maybe. Maybe not.
Digital Government
Feldman: Twin win: Privacy and e-health
This transformative system will reach a critical mass of acceptance by health care consumers, providers and facility-operators only when the public feels assured that privacy is priority No. 1.
Digital Government
Opelka: E-prescribing is safe and private
Critics are spreading misinformation that could prevent patients from reaping benefits.
Digital Government
Banking on privacy
States and the federal government take contrasting approaches to building large medical record repositories.
Cybersecurity
Counterspies' PCs missing, an Energy report shows
The department took another hit in a report from the inspector general’s office that states that DOE hadn’t fully met its goals in adopting a common operational environment.
Cybersecurity
Report: Lost IRS laptops put taxpayer data at risk
The agency has identified 387 data breach incidents due to lost computers having inadequate encryption of taxpayers’ personal data and weak password controls.
Cybersecurity
GAO: IRS slow to fix numerous IT security gaps
The weaknesses impair the tax agency’s ability to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of financial and sensitive information.
People
GAO, DHS disagree on need for privacy study
DHS officials say an emerging data-mining program does not require such a privacy assessment because the software itself contains no personal data.
Cybersecurity
VA gives thumbs down to thumb drives
High-profile agency is at the forefront of a trend to restrict the use of thumb drives.
People
Congress pressures agencies to improve E-FOIA compliance
House and Senate bills focus on improving the efficiency and transparency of E-FOIA.
People
Survey: Agencies fail to meet E-FOIA mandate
Only one-fifth of agencies fully comply with the law by providing access to four categories of records, according to a recent survey by the National Security Archive.
People
Bill would protect information about students from recruiters
An amendment to the No Child Left Behind Act aims to keep military recruiters from accessing students’ personal data without parental authorization.
Cybersecurity