Caron Carlson

Imagine a small, portable device that would allow you to buy, store and use items like airline boarding passes and subway tickets without ever having to print anything out. Or imagine a cell phone-sized device with a simple interface that serves as a PC, camera and music/movie/TV player, without any visible buttons. These are examples […]

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has approved an identity theft bill that would set a national standard for data brokers efforts to protect personal information. The Data Accountability and Trust Act was nearly one year in the making, following a series of high-profile data security breaches last year. According to the act, data […]

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on legislation March 30 that would direct the Bush administration to submit the details of the National Security Agencys warrantless domestic spying program to the secret foreign intelligence surveillance court for review. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the committee and author of the legislation, said that only the […]

As Congress debates immigration reform, largely with an eye to protecting national security, the tech industry is lobbying to prevent companies from being left at a disadvantage by entry restrictions on foreign workers and foreign customers. The presidents of 10 of the industrys largest trade associations called on President Bush to take action where possible […]

In cracking down on data security breaches, the government has targeted very large corporations so far, but small businesses are subject to the same network security standard. The Federal Trade Commission, which has brought several lawsuits against large companies where sensitive customer data was exposed, holds small businesses to the same standard of reasonableness, said […]

Taxpayer information held by the Internal Revenue Service is at risk of being tampered with or obliterated because of weaknesses in the agencys information security systems, according to the Government Accountability Office. The GAO found dozens of new security weaknesses in its latest review of the IRS, adding to a list of dozens of other […]

Lawmakers charged with overseeing business and commerce said they plan to approve legislation the week of March 27 with the hope of pushing a bill through Congress this year. Leadership in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce said they intend to bring an amended version of the DATA (Data Accountability and Trust Act) to […]

AT&T plans to ask the government to relieve it of rules governing its enterprise broadband services, following a decision by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this week to grant Verizon Communications such relief. The FCCs decision came by default this week when the politically split agency (two Republicans and two Democrats) failed to act on […]

Key federal agencies are receiving low or failing grades on the security of their IT infrastructures, fueling criticism of the departments charged with keeping the nation safe. In a report card issued March 16 by the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, the government last year earned a D+. Both the Department of Homeland Security […]

In preparation for what is expected to be the largest and most complex federal government hearing ever, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is upgrading its hearing rooms in Las Vegas and greater Washington to make the proceedings available online. The hearing involves the U.S. Department of Energys application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license […]

The FBI awarded Lockheed Martin a $305 million, six-year contract to oversee the development of the planned electronic case management system dubbed Sentinel. “Sentinel will strengthen the FBIs capabilities by replacing its primarily paper-based reporting system with an electronic system designed for information sharing,” said Robert Mueller, FBI director. “Sentinel will support our current priorities, […]

Seeking to encourage the health care industry to better use IT to improve care and reduce costs, lawmakers heard ideas from industry representatives and consumer advocates on March 16. At a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Health, Ivo Nelson, who leads IBMs health care business consulting services group, said that any legislation Congress considers […]