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News

 

Teach-in on University e-Services Outsourcing to U.S. Corporations

Saturday November 16, 2013, 9AM - 4PM
Faculty of Information, 140 St. George Street, University of Toronto

This teach-in aims to help affected users, and Canadians more generally, understand the issues at stake as well as contribute to better informed decisions around university e-service outsourcing. The one day event seeks to bring together privacy, security, surveillance and outsourcing experts with representatives of various stakeholders in an open and stimulating exchange of views.


IPSI SmartData International Symposium

May 14-16, 2012
University of Toronto

SmartData is a vision to create Internet-based virtual agents which will act as an individual's online proxy to securely store their personal information and disclose it based upon the context of the data request and instructions authorized by the data subject.

Join us, as we feature a group of renowned international and local experts from a wide range of disciplines, discussing topics such as evolutionary robotics/computing, cognitive science, dynamical systems, neuroscience/brain imaging, philosophy of science, high performance reconfigurable computer systems and disruptive technical innovation.


IPSI Public Lecture: Indian National ID Card Project

Speaker: Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Indian Legal Expert
Title: The many ambitions of an ID project
Time: Thursday, May 17, 4-5:30PM
Place: Faculty of Information, 140 St George St, Room 728

Abstract:
India launched a biometric-based ID project in 2009. In the beginning, it was said that enrolment would be voluntary, minimum data gathered and the data not shared. It was about enrolment, de-duplication and authentication. Soon, this was to change. Many ambitions surfaced. Surveillance, social control, tracking and tagging of political dissent; state as committed consumer of technology; reversing the transparency introduced by the Right to Information law in 2005, and introducing the transparent citizen/resident; managerial and administrative pragmatism - - the logic for the project lies in these diverse possibilities. Convergence of data bases, function creep, profiling, and attempts at ubiquity are concerns that resonate in many political climates. Inclusion becomes the threat of exclusion. The relationship between the state and the citizen is altered, with the threat of the citizen becoming subject. Axioms emerge: `the poor have no use for privacy', and `privacy is an elite concept'. The poor provide a legitimising platform for this country-scale experimentation, as does national security, as does corruption, and as does plain pragmatism. States of exception begin to unfold.

Bio:
Dr Usha Ramanathan is an internationally recognized expert on law and poverty. She is an Honorary Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi. She guest lectures at many universities around the world. She is a frequent adviser to non-governmental organisations and international organizations. She was, for instance, a member of Amnesty International's Advisory Panel on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Ramanathan's research interests include human rights, displacement, torts and environment. She has been tracking, and engaging with, the Unique Identification project in India and has written, and debated extensively, on the subject. Her work draws heavily upon non- governmental experience in its encounters with the state, a 6 year stint with a law journal as reporter from the Supreme Court, and engaging with matters of public policy. Some of her writings can be found at http://www.ielrc.org/.


IPSI Research Day - Proportionate Digital ID + Video Surveillance

Monday, June 20
9:30am - 4:30pm

Faculty of Information at U of Toronto
140 St. George Street, Room 728
Toronto, ON

Sponsor: Identity Privacy and Security Institute (IPSI)

This is a free, open, public workshop. Lunch is provided for registrants. To register, contact the local organizer, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, confirming lunchtime attendance by noon, Friday, June 17.

The focus of this year's IPSI Research Day is on two research projects dealing respectively with:

  • an experimental, minimally disclosing digital ID wallet we refer to as Proportionate ID
  • a study of private sector video surveillance installations and signage in relation to PIPEDA compliance we refer to as Smart Private Eyes

Both projects have been funded by the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner. For further details, see the links below.

This workshop is intended to present provocative works in progress and promote lively discussion reflecting a variety of perspectives around contemporary technological design and policy development issues.

Program for the day:

10:00 Welcome
Introduction to the Proportionate ID project
The challenge of smartphones for ID transactions
Video presentation on Proportionate ID prototypes
Privacy protective ID card overlays
Digital ID Wallet prototype demonstration

11:00 Break

11:15 Expert Discussant comments
Open discussion

12:30 Lunch (provided for registrants)

1:30 Introduction to the Smart Private Eyes project
Field survey of private sector video surveillance installations in the GTA
PIPEDA compliance of video surveillance operations and signage
Video analytics and facial de-identification/anonymization
Innovative private sector developments

2:45 Break

3:00 Expert Discussant comments
Open discussion

4:15 Close
Presenters: Andrew Clement, Roxanna Dehghan, Joseph Ferenbok, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Laura Kaminker, Brenda McPhail, Grant Patten, Gabriel Resch, Alex Tichine, Silvia Valdman, Jennette Weber.

Links:

Proportionate ID
Smart Private Eyes


EDITORIAL: Scanners a Good Move to Block Problem Gamblers

A plan by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to install facial recognition scanners at the province's 27 gaming facilities, including the two casinos in Niagara Falls and the slots at the Fort Erie Race Track, makes sense. The scanners will boost efforts to keep problem gamblers out of casinos.

Key to the effort is that Ontario's privacy commissioner's office has been a partner in the project since the beginning. Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian says the project is the most privacy-protected system using biometric encryption and has a 91% accuracy rate.

"It delivers two positives," she told The Review this week. "It protects self-excluded individuals who want to be excluded from casinos and it also protects the privacy of regular patrons, as their information will not be captured."

Read more: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2929306

Breach Avoidance: 4 Tips

Hackers Can't be Stopped, But They Can be Contained

The breaches of computer systems at the U.S. Senate and the International Monetary Fund have solidified industry concerns about corporate complacency and cybersecurity gaps. Josh Corman, research director of the Enterprise Security Practice at The 451 Group, says cyberattacks have taken a targeted tone, whether to prove a point or infiltrate seemingly highly secure systems. "We've been caught with our pants down," he says. "Our arrogance about thinking these things were unbreakable, those chickens have come home to roost."

Read more: http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3748

White House unveils smart grid strategy, $250 million in loans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — If Thomas Edison could drop into 2011 and take a look at our progress, he would likely be dazzled by the smartphone, high definition video, and digital storage for music and movies — all decedents of technologies that he pioneered and championed. However, something Edison would recognize all-too-well and would likely be puzzled at how little his creation had changed would be our electrical grid.

That’s the narrative that White House officials used to help sell the idea of revolutionizing the U.S. electrical grid at an event for the press, energy industry leaders, and technology industry executives on Monday in Washington.

Read more: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/white-house-unveils-smart-grid-strategy-250-million-in-loans/17078

Holes Remain in Smart Grid’s Cyber-Security Standards

Key security issues still need to be addressed as IT is integrated into the nation’s electricity infrastructure, according to a recent report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). If done right, proponents say the interconnected system — commonly referred to as the smart grid — would provide a range of benefits, such as provide operators with more information about the condition of the electricity system, and allow consumers to receive real-time information about pricing and demand.

Read more: http://www.govtech.com/technology/Smart-Grid-Cyber-Security-Standards.html