At the semi-annual meeting of Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial privacy commissioners and ombudsmen, the officials released a resolution on children’s online privacy. The officials noted that, “The vast majority of Canadian children and young people are online […] They are predominantly using the Internet for social interaction […] In addition to the safety risks inherent in posting personal information online, many popular kids’ sites collect personal information and use it for marketing purposes.” The officials seek to educate children about the dangers of online interactions and defenses available to protect their privacy. Read more »

The International Herald Tribune reports that the German government has drafted a law to expand police powers to monitor individuals’ homes, Internet use, and phone calls. This comes in the midst of a privacy scandal concerning one of the country’s phone providers. Once again, the reason for the expansion is terrorism. “The threat to our country has made it necessary to give the [Federal Crime Office] such rights to counter threats,” said Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The law must be passed by the German Parliament. Read more »

A diverse coalition of 112 religious, scientific, consumer, civil liberties, environmental, and other organizations sent a letter (pdf) to U.S. Senate and House negotiators urging them “to agree to the strongest possible federal employee whistleblower protections and to deliver a bill this year to President Bush.” The coalition was led by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), Public Citizen, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Read more »