Entries from June 2007

Here’s another case that demonstrates just how easy it is to violate someone’s privacy with a cell phone camera. While the devices are generally banned from locker rooms and other areas where people may be undressing, these enterprising high school students in San Diego demonstrated that anyone wearing a skirt is susceptible to the video voyeurism exploit known as “upskirting”.

A group of Hoover High School students is getting expelled because they used a cell phone to record underneath a teacher’s skirt and then shared the video among students, said the president of the San Diego Education Association, which represents teachers.

Not sure if this was a “hot for teacher” situation or these kids just wanted to humiliate the woman, but I’m sure they accomplished the latter. The ironic thing is the district would not discuss the incident or the punishment meted to the students, citing privacy concerns. How nice for them.

EFF privacy advocate and unhappy Street View model Kevin Bankston made good on his vow to try out Google’s take-down policy after THREAT LEVEL found a picture of his unwitting mug stalking the sidewalks near EFF’s offices. What he learned: Google is happy to remove you from Street View … provided you give them a wealth of additional information, including a photo of your driver’s license.

The State of Utah has a huge data security problem. They’ve somehow allowed the social security numbers of up to 20,000 children to be stolen by illegal immigrants who use them to get jobs in the United States and obtain credit cards. Kirk Torgensen, the Utah Attorney General’s Office Chief Investigator, seems to be at a loss on how to stop the practice.

Torgensen said the high number of illegal immigrants coming into Utah helped create a lucrative underground counterfeiting business where crooks can sell a fake Social Security card for $150 each.

“It’s hard to catch them, they move around a lot, as soon as you get some information on they move,” Torgensen said. “There are more of them than you probably think.”

Of course you know that the Social Security number was never intended to be a personal identifier, but we’re well down the road on that issue. Most of these kids won’t know they’re screwed until they are 18, and try to get a loan or a job. Parents should consider keeping an eye on their child’s accounts by going to the Social Security Administration web page at www.ssa.gov.