Legal Resources: “UNODC Launches First Global Database of Human Trafficking Cases”
From the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:
UNODC has developed a human trafficking case law database to provide immediate, public access to officially documented instances of this crime. The database contains details on victims' and perpetrators' nationalities, trafficking routes, verdicts and other information related to prosecuted cases from across the world. In doing so, it provides not only mere statistics on numbers of prosecutions and convictions, but also the real-life stories of trafficked persons as documented by the courts. The database aims to assist judges, prosecutors, policy-makers, media researchers and other interested parties by making available details of real cases with examples of how the respective national laws in place can be used to prosecute human trafficking. At its launch, more than 150 selected cases from over 30 countries and two regional courts have been uploaded, with an additional 100 cases from over a dozen states to be added in the coming months. By creating the database, UNODC is working to increase the visibility of successful prosecutions and at the same time promote awareness of the realities of this devastating crime. Such a database of human trafficking cases enables users to take experiences and court decisions from other countries into account when dealing with human trafficking issues, consult on practices in different jurisdictions and broaden their knowledge of human trafficking crimes.Direct to Human Trafficking Case Law Database Much More in the Complete UNODC Announcement (via INFOdocket) Continue reading
AIRNow for iOS Now Available (Real-Time Air Quality From the EPA)
Note: At the present time the app listed below is only available for iOS devices. However, a web version of the resource is also available. Via INFOdocket From the iTunes App Store:
The AIRNow iPhone application will provide an increasingly mobile public with real-time air quality information that people can use to protect their health when planning their daily activities The app will allow users to get location-specific reports on current air quality and air quality forecasts for both ozone and fine particle pollution (PM2.5). Air quality maps from the AIRNow website provide visual depictions of current and forecast air quality nationwide, and a page on air quality-related health effects explains what actions people can take to protect their health at different AQI levels, such as “code orange.”The AIRNow app is free. Direct to App Store See Also: AIRNow is Also Available on the Web See Also: U.S. Air Quality Summary (text) See Also: EnviroFlash (Air Quality Alerts)
Air quality affects how you live and breathe. Like the weather, it can change from day to day, or even hour to hour. Up-to-date information allows you to make decisions based on air quality forecasts. EnviroFlash comes to you through a partnership between the US EPA and your state or local air quality agency - notifying you about air quality so you don't have to go searching for it!Continue reading
House Floor Now Streams to Your Mobile Device
The Speaker announced live streaming is in beta and asked users to let the House know of difficulties.
- House Floor Now Streams to Your Mobile Device via HouseLive.gov, by Don Seymour, Speaker of the House John Boehner. Blog (October 11, 2011). You can now visit HouseLive.gov from your mobile phone or tablet for live video streaming from the House of Representatives. ...Anyone with a mobile device that has streaming capabilities now has access to video of what’s happening in Congress, as it happens.
Presidential Directives Withheld From White House Website
Presidential Directives Withheld From White House Website, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News (October 11th, 2011).
Last Friday, White House officials made at least two public references to Presidential Policy Directives (PPDs). PPD 1 was cited in a new executive order on computer security and PPD 8 was cited in a White House blog posting on disaster preparedness. Each Directive is a significant expression of national policy. Neither one is classified. And yet neither of them -- nor any other Obama Presidential Policy Directive -- can be found on the White House website. The White House decision not to make these documents available is a stark reminder of the incoherence of the Obama Administration's transparency policy, and its inconsistent implementation.Continue reading
DHS, White House, Privacy, Secrecy
Two stories in the news describe different approaches to government secrecy and citizen privacy:
- White House Orders New Computer Security Rules, By ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times (October 6, 2011) "The White House plans to issue an executive order on Friday to replace a flawed patchwork of computer security safeguards exposed by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks last year. "...In addition to these immediate measures, Mr. Obama’s order creates a task force led by the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to combat leaks from government workers, or what the White House calls an “insider threat.” "The directive also establishes a special government committee that must submit a report to the president within 90 days, and then at least once a year after that, assessing federal successes and failures in protecting classified information on government computer networks. "...[Pentagon issued cyber identity] credentials allow supervisors to track what users are working on."
- Data Mining: DHS Needs to Improve Executive Oversight of Systems Supporting Counterterrorism, Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-742 (September 7, 2011). The report says that, until needed reforms are put in place the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies "may not be able to ensure that critical data mining systems used in support of counterterrorism are both effective and that they protect personal privacy." "By not consistently performing necessary evaluations and reviews of these systems, DHS and its component agencies risk developing and acquiring systems that do not effectively support their agencies' missions and do not adequately ensure the protection of privacy-related information."