Cato Daily Dispatch for December 29, 2005
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Data Breaches on the RiseU.S.: The World's Biggest Gated Community?
Iran and Russia Come to the Table
Data Breaches on the Rise
"Data breaches disclosed at Marriott International, Ford Motor, ABN Amro Mortgage Group and Sam's Club this month capped what computer experts call the worst year ever for known computer-security breaches," USA Today reports.
"At least 130 reported breaches have exposed more than 55 million Americans to potential ID theft this year. Security experts warn that wayward personal data, such as Social Security and credit card numbers, could end up in the hands of criminals and feed a growing problem."
In "When Data Security Regulations Fail, There Is an Alternative," Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, writes: "[P]oliticians' calls for 'stronger' regulation are predictable because 'stronger' regulation is 'better' -- in a press conference. In the real world, however, regulation is no more capable of divining threats to data security than, say, a common law liability regime, or even businesses' natural interest in maintaining their operations, integrity, image, brand, and assets.
"Rather than hurried, one-size-fits-all federal regulation, imagine a rule where negligent holders of sensitive data suffer liability for damage caused by breaches. Imagine they have to pay injured parties for the consequences. Ten thousand breaches causing $1,000 damage would cost a negligent data holder $10 million, along with adverse publicity and all the rest. Under such a rule, breached companies would race to shore up the damage because further damage would create further liability."
U.S.: The World's Biggest Gated Community?
"[U.S. Representative] Tom Tancredo [ R-Co.] has done everyone a favor by stating plainly the immigration rejectionists' endgame -- turn the United States into the world's largest gated community. The House took a step in that direction this month by passing another immigration 'reform' bill heavy with border control and business harassment and light on anything that will work in the real world," The Wall Street Journal's lead editorial reports.
In "Backfire at the Border: Why Enforcement without Legalization Cannot Stop Illegal Immigration," Princeton professor and Mexican migration expert, Douglas S. Massey, writes for the Cato Institute: "Increased border enforcement has only succeeded in pushing immigration flows into more remote regions. That has resulted in a tripling of the death rate at the border and, at the same time, a dramatic fall in the rate of apprehension. As a result, the cost to U.S. taxpayers of making one arrest along the border increased from $300 in 1992 to $1,700 in 2002, an increase of 467 percent in just a decade."
Iran and Russia Come to the Table
Reuters reports: "Top Iranian and Russian officials agreed on Thursday to hold talks on a Russian proposal aimed at resolving Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West, an Iranian diplomat close to the talks said. The proposal, which is backed by Washington and the European Union, involves the creation of a joint Iranian-Russian company to enrich uranium in Russia."
In "Iran: Isolation or Engagement?" Cato's former director of defense policy studies, Charles Pena, writes: "Ultimately, the U.S. is left with having to choose from a menu of less than savory options in response to Iran's nuclear weapons program. Efforts to convince the Iranians to give up their quest for nuclear weapons should not be abandoned, but success in that long-shot strategy cannot be the only acceptable outcome. Other options must be explored, such as how to limit the size and scope of Iran's nuclear weapons program and arsenal so that it is not a direct threat to the U.S., and ensuring that weapons, materials, and technology are not transferred to terrorists."
Kristen Kestner, editor, kkestner@cato.org