"A U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday struck down a portion of a California law that restricts banks from selling consumers' private information to their affiliates, ruling that the state law is pre-empted by federal rules."

"Major labels Sony BMG and EMI are releasing more and more new CDs that block fans from dragging their tunes to iPods. Now, in the most bizarre turn yet in the record industry's piracy struggles, stars Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters and Switchfoot - and even Sony BMG, when the label gets complaints - are telling fans how they can beat the system."

"Lists of confidential personal information have been up for grabs to the highest bidder for many years but one Cape Town man has had enough. Alexus Basson, a retired bank employee from Fish Hoek, cancelled his 37-year-old subscription to Reader's Digest when the organisation gave his details to a cellphone company which then contacted him with a "special deal". Basson slated the practice as immoral and an invasion of privacy."

"... The breach affected about 600,000 people - current and former Time Warner employees (including the girl's father, Charles Bartlett), some of their dependents and beneficiaries (including his daughter and her 14-year-old brother), and certain individuals who provided services to the company."

"Lapses in the Interior Department's oversight allowed government-hired hackers to infiltrate the agency's systems, according to a Sept. 6 Interior memo."

"... Ponemon says that GE faces a growing list of privacy issues, especially as it continues to diversify. The company now owns health-care and life-insurance firms, and laws prohibit consumer data from being mixed between those two businesses. It also has a growing presence in Europe, where privacy laws prevent American firms from allowing personal data on their European employees from crossing international borders."

"Spiros Simitis has stated in an interview with the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung that "Data protection cannot exist without awareness of privacy.""

"A new phishing method is targeting Yahoo users by recording their user name and password while logging them into a legitimate area of the portal, according to Websense, a Web security software firm."

"Victims of personal data security breaches are showing their displeasure by terminating relationships with the companies that maintained their data, a survey finds."

"The European Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal by European Union governments to retain telephone and e-mail data for up to three years for use in anti-terrorism investigations, raising concerns about civil liberties."

"While fighting in Iraq, Army Sgt. Steven Behr suddenly found himself vulnerable at home. Four computer hard drives containing soldiers' Social Security numbers and other personal records were stolen from Fort Carson - a crime that could expose Behr to identity theft."

"Saanich School District officials were breathing a little easier Friday after police recovered stolen computer data containing sensitive information on thousands of employees and students."

"Thousands of tax payments and other correspondence sent to the Internal Revenue Service, possibly from Montana and at least 12 other states, were dumped into San Francisco Bay following an automobile accident."

"Credit card companies don't have to notify customers their personal information has been stolen, a California Judge ruled today. The Rothken law firm in Marin County, Ca had brought a class action suit on behalf of cardholders and merchants against CardSystems Solutions, Visa and MasterCard following a high profile data ID heist in June."

"NOBODY SHOULD be put in the position of having to choose between doing the right thing and abiding by the law. But that's what was happening under a law that prevented bank tellers from reporting suspicious activity when they thought their elderly customers were getting ripped off."

"The three major US credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, yesterday announced that they would protect sensitive consumer data by using a single encryption standard for data being transferred to and from the firms."

"The European Commission proposal for data retention by communication companies is running into considerable opposition... "Data retention is an invasive tool that interferes with the private lives of everyone in Europe," European Digital Rights, a non-profit association of 17 digital civil rights organisations, Privacy International, an international non-governmental organisation, and Statewatch, a group that monitors civil liberties in Europe said in an open letter to the European Parliament in June."

"The top three U.S. credit reporting companies said on Thursday they would adopt a single, shared encryption standard to better protect the huge amounts of sensitive electronic data they receive every day from banks, retailers and credit-card companies."

"... Software that says it's completely secure, but without a good way to verify that claim, now owned by a company that will basically give up an astonishing amount of personal information about you at the slightest peep from the authorities. This looks and smells bad."

"Testing the bounds of consumer protection laws, Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International Inc. are headed for court to determine whether they are obliged to notify 264,000 customers that a computer hacker stole their account information."

"The European Commission's plan to store details of e-mails and telephone calls to combat terrorism does not respect the fundamental right to privacy, the EU's top adviser on data protection said on Thursday."

"... a better data protection technique is being perfected to counter the faster computers and new tools that threaten to crack today's encryption techniques. And ironically, the threat and the possible answer are related."

"The European Commission has adopted today a proposal for a Directive on the retention of communications traffic data that would see internet data held for six months, phone data held for one year, and ISPs and telcos compensated for their compliance costs."

"The European Commission adopted proposals on Wednesday to log details of all telephone, Internet and e-mail traffic to combat terror and serious crime, throwing down the gauntlet to European Union member states who are negotiating a rival plan."

"... What technologies must agencies deploy to sustain confidentiality as they collaborate across organizational boundaries during emergencies? Virtual private networks (VPNs) and IP communications tools are critical, and agencies must deploy multilayered, integrated security capabilities across networks end to end."

"If spyware and key-logging software weren't a big enough threat to privacy, researchers have figured out a way to eavesdrop on your computer simply by listening to the clicks and clacks of the keyboard."

"European Union member states are still working on a plan to store Internet and telephone data to combat terror despite a rival proposal due from the European Commission on Wednesday."

"The European Commission will propose on Wednesday that telecommunications operators and Internet service providers should be compensated for the extra costs of collecting and storing call data to help law enforcement officers track terrorists."

"Privacy chiefs from 40 countries have called upon the United Nations to prepare a legally binding instrument which clearly sets out in detail the rights to data protection and privacy as enforceable human rights."

"... The survey indicates 30 percent of consumers would close all accounts and move their business to another financial institution if their personal information was compromised and a further 10 percent would close some of their accounts and use another bank."

"... The Symantec findings -- including a significant jump in malicious code that exposed confidential information -- showed that attackers, now motivated by profit rather than notoriety, are setting their sights on individuals and commonly used applications instead of larger, corporate networks."

"At the same time the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is busy attempting to combat identity theft; many other federal agencies like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Defense Department continue to use Social Security numbers for identification purposes."

"A backup tape containing the names, Social Security numbers and detailed health information of as many as 6,000 current and former clients of the Children's Health Council was stolen from the nonprofit agency's offices, officials confirmed Sunday."