Nebraskans Asked to Help Gauge Nebraska's Internet Speed

By: Jeffrey Lapin

Nebraska's Public Service Commission (PSC) is asking Nebraskans to take a simple, fast online test that will capture their current Internet speed, which will feed into a statewide database. The information collected could help both policymakers and Internet consumers improve service.

As part of the Nebraska Broadband Initiative, which aims to increase broadband access and adoption, especially in unserved or underserved areas of Nebraska, a new website was launched: Nebraska Broadband (broadbandmap.nebraska.gov). 

To take the test, go to: Nebraska Broadband Mapping Project  (http://nebb.broadmap.com/StateMap/). Instructions for taking the speed test are available. In addition to testing, site visitors can provide feedback on their Internet access.

Source: Nebraskans Urged to Take Online Test to Capture Internet Speed

Lapin Law Offices would urge all Nebraskans to take this simple online test. The results of the test should benefit all of us.

Study Finds Increase in Younger Drivers Texting While Driving

By: Jeffrey Lapin 

New annual survey by State Farm Insurance Company about teen drivers and cellphones:

• 68% of drivers ages 18-29 reported engaging in texting while driving (up from 64% last year);
• 34% of all drivers reported texting while driving (up from 32% a year ago); and 
• 48% of young drivers reported accessing the Web behind the wheel (up from 43% last year)

Source: USA Today: Young drivers still texting, surfing the Web

Despite all of the media (TV, social, online, etc.) about the dangers of texting and driving this study shows that the message is not sinking in. We need to do a better job educating all drivers of the dangers of distracted driving, whether texting, internet access, eating, etc.

Lincoln-Lancaster County Creates Food Establishment Inspection Webpage

By: Jeffrey Lapin (Attorney-Owner of Lapin Law Offices)

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department has created a food establishment inspection information web page, which provides information regarding establishment inspections, definitions and violations. 

On November 8, 2012, Lincoln, Nebraska, Mayor Chris Beutler announced two new initiatives to improve food safety in Lincoln-Lancaster County, Nebraska (New Food Safety Initiatives to Benefit Food Establishments and Public- issued November 8, 2012). These initiatives are:

• The public now has online access to current food inspection reports for those local establishments that have been issued Food Enforcement Notices for high-risk violations.
• The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) has received a five-year, $350,000 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce foodborne illness originating from retail food establishments.

In his announcement, Mayor Beutler added:

The vast majority of our local food establishments do an outstanding job of serving our community, but when enforcement actions are necessary, it's important that the public have access to this information. This is an excellent use of technology to help protect the health of our residents and visitors.

The new webpage is live: Food Establishment Inspections. The site notes:

Only inspections that have resulted in the issuance of a Food Enforcement Notice (FEN) are listed. If you search for a food establishment and no inspection is listed, it has not been issued a Food Enforcement Notice in the past three years. 

An FEN may be issued as a warning, suspension, or closure depending on the severity of the risks posed to the public’s health. FENs may be appealed.

Please remember that any inspection report is a “snapshot” of the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, an establishment could have more or fewer violations than noted here. Thus, the inspection results may not be representative of the overall food safety of an establishment. Also, at the time of the inspection, violations are recorded but are often corrected on-the-spot prior to the inspector leaving the establishment.

Lapin Law Offices represents injured, abused and disabled persons in Lincoln, Lancaster County and throughout Nebraska. Contact us at 402-421-8033 or through our website, lapinlawoffices.com, to learn more about us and what we can do for you. We offer a free initial consultation twenty-four hours a day seven days a week (24/7).

Guard Your Debit Card and PIN

Since companies have increased their network security following breaches of debit card and other credit information data thieves have shifted their focus to "that moment in time debit card data remains unprotected in a public setting — during the swipe and PIN-entry process."

From USA Today article: Data thieves target debit cards, PINs at point of sale:

Debit card account numbers and PINs are highly sought because they can be converted quickly into cash. A device called a mag stripe encoder can be purchased legally on the Internet. For about $200, anyone can embed a stolen payment card number onto a blank magnetic striped card. With the associated PIN, free cash is only an ATM away. . . .

Cynthia Larose (who chairs the privacy and security practice at the 500-attorney firm, Mintz LevinLarose) says:

"Debit card users should be mindful of the heightened risks,  Financial institutions generally will act quickly to make a victim whole in cases of fraud involving use of a credit card or an ATM machine. However, banks are not obligated to work with a victim in fraud cases involving use of a debit card at a POS terminal.

"Other than avoiding the use of debit cards at POS terminals, there probably is little a consumer can do," 

A final piece of advice: "Use cash."

From USA Today article: Why you should use your debit card sparingly:

Excerpts from USA Today interview with Jeff Hall, who directs the information-security practice at tax and risk consultancy McGladrey:

Criminals are scouting vulnerable venues. . . . All electronic devices today run some sort of operating system. As such, they can all be misused if the right person can insert themselves into the process at the right point.

Debit cards are tied directly to someone's bank account. As a result, there is typically a high likelihood of tapping into a large amount of cash quickly. Mag stripe data is fairly easy to come by. If you have complete mag stripe data with a PIN, you can completely impersonate the real card.

Consumers should use credit cards and stop using debit cards. However, that means consumers will need to be diligent in paying off the balance of their cards every month. Debit cards are risky because the government has not put the same loss restrictions on them that they have for credit cards. Consumer groups have been lobbying for these types of restrictions for the last few years, but that is likely to come to an end in the next year or two as state governments and/or the federal government respond.

FTC releases facial recognition technology guidelines

On October 22, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a staff report "Facing Facts: Best Practices for Common Uses of Facial Recognition Technologies" to provide guidance to the increasing number of companies using facial recognition technologies to help protect consumers’ privacy as they use the technologies to create innovative new commercial products and services.

FTC Press Release: FTC Recommends Best Practices for Companies That Use Facial Recognition Technologies:

Facial recognition technologies have been adopted in a variety of contexts, ranging from online social networks and mobile apps to digital signs, the FTC staff report states. They have a number of potential uses, such as determining an individual’s age range and gender in order to deliver targeted advertising; assessing viewers’ emotions to see if they are engaged in a video game or a movie; or matching faces and identifying anonymous individuals in images.

Facial recognition also has raised a variety of privacy concerns because – for example – it holds the prospect of identifying anonymous individuals in public, and because the data collected may be susceptible to security breaches and hacking.

The FTC staff report recommends that companies using facial recognition technologies:

• design their services with consumer privacy in mind;
• develop reasonable security protections for the information they collect, and sound methods for determining when to keep information and when to dispose of it;
• consider the sensitivity of information when developing their facial recognition products and services – for example, digital signs using facial recognition technologies should not be set up in places where children congregate.

The staff report also recommends that companies take steps to make sure consumers are aware of facial recognition technologies when they come in contact with them, and that they have a choice as to whether data about them is collected. So, for example, if a company is using digital signs to determine the demographic features of passersby, such as age or gender, they should provide clear notice to consumers that the technology is in use before consumers come into contact with the signs.

FTC Staff Report: Facing Facts: Best Practices for Common Uses of Facial Recognition Technologies:

In the 2002 film Minority Report, Steven Spielberg imagined a world in which companies use biometric technology to identify us and serve us targeted ads. Ten years later, that vision is coming closer to reality. Having overcome the high costs and poor accuracy that once stunted its growth, one form of biometric technology – facial recognition – is quickly moving out of the realm of science fiction and into the commercial marketplace. . . .

The recent technological advances in the field of facial recognition undoubtedly provide a variety of benefits to consumers in the form of interesting products and services. However, as we have seen with other technologies, technological advances and the attendant business models they create often move faster than consumers’ awareness or comfort. The best practices recommended in this report can guide companies as they develop new products and services and craft the processes and systems that will govern their operations. Moreover, because implementing these practices will promote consumer trust and ensure the continued growth of this industry, companies currently have incentives to engage in them. Fortunately, the commercial use of facial recognition technologies is still young. This creates a unique opportunity to ensure that as this industry grows, it does so in a way that respects the privacy interests of consumers while preserving the beneficial uses the technology has to offer. The FTC will continue to monitor this area and explore ways to work with industry, and educate and protect consumers.

Study Finds 'Parasite' Porn Sites Reposted 88% Of Teens’ Sexual Pictures

Very scary stuff. Parents need to constantly remind their children (and themselves as well) that once they share something digitally they lose control over what happens it. This can have dangerous and and lifelong consequences.

Read more:

• The Guardian: 'Parasite' porn websites stealing images and videos posted by young people
  
• Internet Watch Foundation: Young people are warned they may lose control over their images and videos once they are uploaded online
  
• TechCrunch: 88% Of Teens’ Sexual Pics Reposted By ‘Parasite Websites’

Motions Unlikely to Be Granted (Legal Humor)

Two funny motions that are unlikely to be granted:

• Notice of Motion and Motion to Release the Hounds of Hell Upon Plaintiff and His Counsel
  
  
• Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Claims Because Plaintiff Could Not Tell the Truth if His Life Depended on It

Source: Motions Unlikely to Be Granted — Bitter Lawyer