When large companies first began appointing chief privacy officers last year, Sally Cowan found herself pioneering a new position at AmEx that upheld the firm's long-standing information practices.
Companies can learn valuable lessons from three recent online privacy controversies.
Hackers discovered another path into Microsoft's IIS server - one they revealed to the company nearly a week after discussing it among themselves. After learning that a security hole in its Internet Information Server software was being openly discussed online, Microsoft is recommending that users immediately install a patch that's supposed to fix the problem. It's expected to be adopted widely by the private sector, especially among financial services firms. The Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington charged that the FBI's first release last week of documents on its Carnivore Internet surveillance system doesn't include enough information to evaluate the technology for possible privacy violations. ACLU, Congress members object to review team made up largely of ex-government security people.