[(Key provisions of the USA patriot act)]

The provisions are:

Section 201 - Gives federal officials the authority to intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications relating to terrorism.

Section 202 - Gives federal officials the authority to intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses.

Subsection 203(b) - Permits the sharing of grand jury information that involves foreign intelligence or counterintelligence with federal law enforcement, intelligence, protective, immigration, national defense or national security officials

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Subsection 203(d) - Gives foreign intelligence or counterintelligence officers the ability to share foreign intelligence information obtained as part of a criminal investigation with law enforcement.

Section 204 - Makes clear that nothing in the law regarding pen registers - an electronic device which records all numbers dialed from a particular phone line _ stops the government's ability to obtain foreign intelligence information.

Section 206 - Allows federal officials to issue roving "John Doe" wiretaps, which allow investigators to listen in on any telephone and tap any computer they think a suspected spy or terrorist might use.

Section 207 - Increases the amount of time that federal officials may watch people they suspect are spies or terrorists.

Section 209 - Permits the seizure of voice mail messages under a warrant.

Section 212 - Permits Internet service providers and other electronic communication and remote computing service providers to hand over records and e-mails to federal officials in emergency situations.

Section 214 - Allows use of a pen register or trap and trace devices that record originating phone numbers of all incoming calls in international terrorism or spy investigations.

Section 215 - Authorizes federal officials to obtain "tangible items" like business records, including those from libraries and bookstores, for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations.

Section 217 - Makes it lawful to intercept the wire or electronic communication of a computer hacker or intruder in certain circumstances.

Section 218 - Allows federal officials to wiretap or watch suspects if foreign intelligence gathering is a "significant purpose" for seeking a Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act order. The pre-Patriot Act standard said officials could ask for the surveillance only if it was the sole or main purpose.

Section 220 - Provides for nationwide service of search warrants for electronic evidence.

Section 223 - Amends the federal criminal code to provide for administrative discipline of federal officers or employees who violate prohibitions against unauthorized disclosures of information gathered under this act.

Section 225 - Amends FISA to prohibit lawsuits against people or companies that provide information to federal officials for a terrorism investigation.


SOURCE:NewsMax.com Wires

[(What is privacy protection and the law?)]

The Privacy Protection Law protects you from the random collection of personal information by state agencies. The law enables you to access and/or correct information on file which pertains to you.

Information on this page covers all of the "other" types of Internet security and privacy products including Ad-Blocking, Browsers, Browser Clean-Up, Cookie Managers, Email Privacy, Multiple Features, Password Manager & Form Filler, Private Browsing, Web Bugs, and Privacy Resource Sites.

Basic Internet security measures including ISP online filters, firewall, and virus, Trojan, worm, spyware and spam protection are only the beginning. For families, software to protect kids is needed. If you keep sensitive personal information and/or documents on your computer, they should be password protected or encrypted. If you dislike the idea of companies tracking your surfing habits, you need software to erase your browser tracks and manage cookies. If you prefer to install fewer products with more features, take a look at our page on Internet security suites or other products with multiple features on this page.

[(What is privacy?)]

The word "privacy" has been used to describe many concerns with the modern world. It is a complex concept even before other concerns are lumped with it. The concept of "privacy" deserves to be carefully examined. It defies easy definition, and many proposals to protect privacy have gone forward without a clear articulation of what privacy really is.

Importantly, privacy is a personal, subjective condition. One person cannot decide for another what his or her sense of privacy should be.

An important conclusion flows from this latter observation. That is that government regulation of the private sector in the name of privacy can only create confidentiality or secrecy rules based on the guesses of politicians and bureaucrats. The better way to protect true privacy is to distribute decisions about how personal information is used to the people affected.

While privacy is held up as one of our highest values, people also constantly share information about themselves by allowing others to see their faces, learn their names, learn what they own, and learn what they think. In fact, it is a desirable lack of privacy that allows people to interact with one another socially and in business. This does not mean that people should lose control over the information they want to keep private. It means that generalizations about privacy are almost always wrong.

[(What is zero-day attack?)]

♦The zero-day attack is the exploitation of unpatched software vulnerabilities.It is also known as a zero hour attack, takes advantage of computer vulnerabilities that do not currently have a solution.Typically, a software company will discover a bug or problem with a piece of software after it has been released and will offer a patch another piece of software meant to fix the original issue. A zero day attack will take advantage of that problem before a patch has been created.
It is named zero day because it occurs before the first day the vulnerability is known.