Looking back, 2007 has been the worst year ever for privacy breaches. This may only be the case because of mandatory breach reporting in many US jurisdictions, but the numbers are pretty staggering. See: Personal data theft reaches all-time high Chron.com - Houston Chronicle, which includes:

Major 2007 breaches

Some major data breaches disclosed in 2007:

• Discount retailer TJX Cos. reports hackers broke into its computer systems and accessed at least 46 million customer records, primarily credit card data. Banks later sue TJX and estimate the breach involved at least 94 million records.
• Britain's tax and customs department loses two computer disks containing personal information such as addresses and bank account numbers for about 25 million people. The disks were sent via internal government mail to the government's audit agency, but never arrived.
• Dai Nippon Printing Co., a Japanese commercial printing company, says a former contract worker stole nearly 9 million pieces of private data on customers from 43 clients.
• A check-authorizing subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services says information on 8.5 million consumers was stolen, allegedly by a former employee.
• Online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. said one of its databases was hacked and contact information for its more than 6.3 million customers was stolen.
• The online job site Monster Worldwide Inc. discovered that con artists had grabbed contact information from resumes of 1.3 million people.

Source: Associated Press research

Labels: 2007 in review, privacy, retail

Continuing the "year in review" trend, Michael Geist's annual A to Z of techlaw in Canada is heavy on privacy content. See: Michael Geist - The Letters of the Law: The Year in Law and Technology from A to Z.

Labels: 2007 in review, privacy

More "year in review" content, this time the worst privacy quotes of the year from CSO Magazine:

Privacy: The Worst Quotes of the Year - Web Exclusives - Online Column - CSO Magazine

...And the Privvy for Doubleplusgood Newspeak of the Year goes to... Deputy Director of National Intelligence Donald Kerr

"Too often, privacy has been equated with anonymity; and it’s an idea that is deeply rooted in American culture.... But in our interconnected and wireless world, anonymity—or the appearance of anonymity—is quickly becoming a thing of the past.... We need to move beyond the construct that equates anonymity with privacy and focus more on how we can protect essential privacy in this interconnected environment. Protecting anonymity isn’t a fight that can be won. Anyone that’s typed in their name on Google understands that."

Privacy advocates seized on Kerr’s Orwellian attempt to singlehandedly change the definition of privacy because, hey, it’s really hard. (Source: Office of the Director of Naval Intelligence.)

Thanks to Pogo for the link.

Labels: 2007 in review, google, privacy

Another "year in review" ... this time the Computerworld nominees to the security hall of shame:

The 2007 Security Hall of Shame

A brace of breaches: 2007's five worst

In a league of its own: The TJX Companies Inc.

The U.K.'s VA: HMRC misplaces records on 25 million kids In November

The system was broken brokered: Fidelity National Information Services

Some honor among thieves: TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. Brokerage firm Ameritrade

Creatures from the hack lagoon: Monster.com

Ummm ... oops?

Notable meltdowns

Do you copy?: DHS's self-created DDoS attack

Bag that: Supervalu gets phished

Undiplomatic relations: Symantec in China

Hear me, see me: House outs whistle-blowers

Arrrrr! WGA sees pirate people

... and your 2007 poster boys

Consultant turns bot herder: John Schiefer

Exit strategy: Gary Min

Don't drop the soap: Ivory Dickerson

Unbirthday boy: Yung-Hsun Lin

Pick a hat already: Maxwell Butler

Labels: 2007 in review, homeland security, privacy, tjx

'Tis the season for the year in review. Slate kicks it off with the The top science-and-tech privacy threats of 2007. The list includes:

1. Surveillance cameras.
2. The war on smoking.
3. The war on junk food.
4. The war on salt.
5. Pedestrian cell-phone use.
6. Naked body scanners.
7. Phone-surveillance ads.
8. Human chip implants.
9. Mind-reading.
10. Manipulating sexual orientation.

Labels: 2007 in review, privacy, surveillance