Ground has been broken on a new $12-million state crime lab in Waterbury. One of the main reasons for its construction is to provide vastly larger space for DNA collection.
More space is urgently needed because of a provision in a sex offender bill passed this year. S. 13 mandates that DNA be collected from anyone arraigned on felony (and some misdemeanor) charges.
The provision was controversial, for two reasons. (more…)
What you choose to read says a lot about who you are, what you value, and what you believe. That’s why libraries and the ACLU have long defended the privacy of readers.
But protecting reader privacy rights in the digital era is tough.
Social Security Numbers are thought by many to be secure IDs. We’re often asked to provide them, even sometimes for fairly routine purchases or services such as contracting for cell phone service.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, though, have shown it’s easy to guess many people’s SSN — simply by knowing a person’s place and date of birth.
(more…)