Google transparency tool shows gov requests, blocked traffic

When you live in a country where Google’s services might be blocked or simply go down at any moment, it’s sometimes hard to know what’s going on. Similarly, perhaps you’d like to know if your local government has been making requests of Google for the removal of your content. On Tuesday, Google rolled out its Transparency Report to address both of these needs: users can now go to the site and find out where and when Google’s services have been inaccessible, as well as which countries have made how many requests for content removal.

The traffic tool is meant to help users determine whether service interruptions are thanks to regular mechanical or server issues, or whether they are—as Google describes it—"government-induced." The tool works globally and includes China, thereby replacing Google’s previously available Mainland China service availability chart—essentially, it’s the China chart, but blown up to cover the entire world. There are drop-downs to cover each of Google’s individual services, as well.

Details Here

first published week of:   09/20/2010

Google will need to publicize routes of its Italian Street View cars three days in advance.

Italy’s privacy regulator has told Google Inc it will have to make sure its “Street View” photo-collecting cars are clearly marked and their itinerary is publicized, a daily newspaper reported on Saturday.

Under the regulator’s decision, Google has to publish three days in advance on its website, in local newspapers and on radio in which locality, including which area of a large city, the cars will be operating, La Stampa said.

“There has been strong alarm and also hostility in a lot of European countries against Google taking photos. We have received protests even from local administrations,” Privacy Authority President Francesco Pizzetti was quoted as saying.

In September, the authority ordered a block on Google processing "payload data" collected by the cars from wi-fi radio networks after launching an investigation in May.

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first published week of:   10/25/2010

Google's LA cloud turns into a summer squall

The city of Los Angeles’ attempt to upgrade its municipal agencies with a communications cloud has hit a rain delay.

As Washington Technology reported in May, the city awarded Computer Sciences Corp. and Google a $7.25 million contract to build a cloud e-mail system to replace the existing Novell GroupWise service for the city’s municipal agencies using Google’s suite of Web-based productivity tools.

But Google missed a June 30 deadline to fully implement Google Apps into the various departments, according to a July 23 MarketWatch report.

“The delay is a setback for one of Google’s most strategic businesses, and an illustration of troubles that large organizations can encounter as they shift to a so-called ‘cloud computing’ model, in which data and applications are stored and accessed online,” MarketWatch’s John Letzing wrote.

He said the Los Angeles Police Department's security concerns about Google Apps was the primary culprit for the delay.

“We’ve had a lot of technical issues, some we’ve created and some we haven’t,” Los Angeles Chief Technology Officer Randi Levin told MarketWatch. “We underestimated the amount of time it was going to take.”

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first published week of:   08/16/2010

Government Officials, worldwide, grill Google over Steet View

Connecticut’s attorney general June 7 became the latest law enforcement official to order Google to give a detailed accounting of the information its Street View cars surreptitiously sniffed from unsecured Wi-Fi networks over a three-year period. In a letter to Google officials, the attorney general demanded they provide additional details about the data collection, including what type of information was intercepted, the duration and location of the snooping operation, and where the data is stored now. He joins officials in Missouri, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Australia in ordering the search giant to be more forthcoming about the privacy violation. Google has said it was the result of beta software that was accidentally installed in Street View cars as they snapped pictures in more than 30 countries from 2007 until earlier this year. At least seven civil lawsuits have been filed against Google, and agencies in Canada, Australia and throughout Europe have opened investigations. U.S. lawmakers have called on the Federal Trade Commission to conduct its own inquiry. A Google spokeswoman said company officials are cooperating. “We’re working with the relevant authorities to answer their questions and concerns,” she wrote in an e-mail. Law enforcement officials, meanwhile, have indicated they are investigating whether Google has broken any criminal laws.

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first published week of:   06/14/2010

Government-wide security certification could bolster cloud
This is according to Symantic- good advice or self-serving?

A government-wide certification and accreditation process for securing cloud computing infrastructures could accelerate adoption of the computing model among agencies, but barriers include management and oversight issues, according to a report from Symantec on security and the cloud. Eight-three percent of the 202 federal information technology decisionmakers surveyed for the report, “Symantec 2010 Break in the Cloud,” said it will take three or more years for the government to implement a comprehensive C&A process. A survey of the federal IT managers and systems integrators was conducted by O’Keeffe and Company at the 2010 Symantec Government Symposium in June. About 22 percent of respondents are tracking government efforts in this area. Forty-six percent of those tracking government initiatives are closely monitoring the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). However, many respondents were unaware of FedRAMP, which means the Office of Management and Budget should increase efforts to educate agencies, the report stated. Announced in May, FedRAMP is an interagency effort aimed at reducing duplicate efforts and security compliance expenditures, as well as encouraging rapid acquisition timeframes, security oversight, and consistent integration with Federal governmentwide security efforts. FedRAMP, which is still in the development stage, also will provide security authorizations and continuous monitoring of shared systems.

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first published week of:   08/02/2010

Greenprint Maryland: Web-enabled Map Shows the Relative Ecological Importance of Every Parcel of Land in the State

Greenprint Maryland is a first in the nation web-enabled map showing the relative ecological importance of every parcel of land in the State.

Combining color-coded maps, information layers, and ariel photography with public openness and transparency, Greenprint Maryland applies the best environmental science and geographic information systems to the urgent work of preserving and protecting environmentally critical lands.

A valuable new tool not only for making land conservation decisions today, but for building a broader and better informed public consensus for sustainable growth and land preservation decisions into the future..

Details Here

first published week of:   04/12/2010

Volume 31

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