From NPR, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq requests to access his son’s yahoo account, but is refused by Yahoo based on its privacy policy. This raises the issue whether cyber properties are tranferrable? Visit here for details.

Wired News is reporting that this year’s $388 billion spending bill includes a provision requiring all federal agencies to have a Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). The CPOs will be required to assess the impact of new technologies including database technology on the privacy of U.S. citizens. They also note that the intelligence bill included a similar provision for intelligence agencies. CNN reports the house version of the intelligence bill also includes a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board composed of private citizens appointed by the President. The senate version of the bill is expected to pass with a similar provision.

Together, these are very significant changes that will at minimum increase privacy awareness and the number of people whose main responsibility is compliance with privacy laws.