Very Handy Privacy Calendar

Kudos and thanks to PogoWasRight.org for maintaining this very handy calendar of privacy-related events.

Get Your Privacy News Here!

Looking to stay current with privacy news? I thought it might be useful to list some of the sources I find helpful:

Privacy.org
Privacy Digest
Privacy section of Network World
ComputerWorld's privacy section
Ray Everett-Church's Privacy Clue
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
DM News

Yes, the DM in the last entry does stand for Direct Marketing and I am aware that some privacy purists consider direct marketing people to be the enemy, but even if you think that way--which I don't--doesn't it make sense to know how the enemy sees things?

p.s. You can also get daily privacy headlines at PrivacyForBusiness.com.

Happy New Year! Get your free privacy e-book here

No catches, no gimmicks, no kidding...I have made the electronic version of my privacy book available at no charge. You can download it in Adobe Acrobat format from this page, no registration required, then read it on your computer (or PDA if your PDA does Acrobat documents).

You can distribute it within your company to enlighten your employees. Use it to train them on privacy. Send a copy to the head of marketing to help him get a clue about privacy. About the only things you can't do with it are:

1. sell copies of it,
2. change it,
   
3. claim you wrote it,
4. print it out.

Why am I doing this? Well, there is going to be a new edition of the book some time this year (late this year in all likelihood). Any feedback or suggestions I get from people who read the current edition will be helpful in that project. Besides, if people find the electronic version useful they may order physical copies (from Atlas Books or on Amazon).

Happy New Year!

Privacy Essentials: The Politech Connection

If you're serious about privacy in general, and privacy-as-impacted-by-technology in particular, I highly recommend subscribing to Declan McCullagh's Politech:

"the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994, the Politech mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of law, culture, technology, and politics."

I still meet privacy professionals who haven't found Politech yet, possibly because it is not purely about privacy, but it is well worth subscribing, for Declan's even-handed reporting, and for that early "heads-up" you sometimes get from insiders (e.g. it is where I first heard about the UCLA taser incident).