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Amicrochip implantis an identifyingintegrated circuitplaced under the skin of an animal. The chip, about the size of a large grain of rice, uses passiveradio-frequency identification(RFID) technology, and is also known as a PIT (passive integrated transponder) tag. Standard pet microchips are typically 11–13 mm long (approximately1⁄2inch) and 2 mm in diameter.[1] Externally attached microchips such as RFIDear tagsare commonly used to identify farm and ranch animals, with the exception of horses. Some external microchips can be read with the same scanner used with implanted chips. Animal shelters, animal control officers and veterinarians routinely look for microchips to return lost pets quickly to their owners, avoiding expenses for housing, food, medical care, outplacing and euthanasia. Many shelters place chips in all outplaced animals. Microchips are also used bykennels, breeders, brokers, trainers, registries,rescue groups,humane societies,clinics,farms,stables, animal clubs and associations, researchers, andpet stores. Since their first use in the mid-1980s, microchips have allowed innovative investigations into numerous biological traits of animals.[2]The tiny, coded markers implanted into individual animals allow assessment of growth rates, movement patterns, and survival patterns for many species in a manner more reliable than traditional approaches of externallymarking animals for identification.[2]Microchips have also been used to confirm the identity of pets and protected species that have been illegally removed from the wild.[2] Microchips can be implanted by a veterinarian or at a shelter. After checking that the animal does not already have a chip, the vet or technician injects the chip with a syringe and records the chip's unique ID. No anesthetic is required, as it is a simple procedure and causes little discomfort; the pain is minimal and short-lived.[3]Indogsandcats, chips are usually inserted below the skin at the back of the neck between the shoulder blades on the dorsal midline. According to one reference, continental European pets get the implant in the left side of the neck.[4]The chip can often be felt under the skin. Thin layers ofconnective tissueform around the implant and hold it in place. Horsesare microchipped on the left side of the neck, halfway between the poll and withers and approximately one inch below the midline of the mane, into thenuchal ligament. Birdsare implanted in their breast muscles. Proper restraint is necessary so the operation requires either two people (an avianveterinarianand a veterinarytechnician) or generalanesthesia. Studies on horses show swelling and increased sensitivity take approximately three days to resolve.[5]Humans report swelling and bruising at the time of implant, two to four weeks for scar tissue to form and itching and pinching sensations for up to two years.[6]A test scan ensures correct operation. Some shelters and vets designate themselves as the primary contact to remain informed about possible problems with the animals they place. The form is sent to a registry, who may be the chip manufacturer, distributor or an independent entity such as apet recovery service. Some countries have a single official national database. For a fee, the registry typically provides 24-hour, toll-free telephone service for the life of the pet. Some veterinarians leave registration to the owner, usually done online, but a chip without current contact information is essentially useless. The owner receives a registration certificate with the chip ID and recovery service contact information. The information can also be imprinted on a collar tag worn by the animal. Like an automobiletitle, the certificate serves as proof of ownership and is transferred with the animal when it is sold or traded; an animal without a certificate could be stolen. There are someprivacy concernsregarding the use of microchips.[citation needed] Authorities and shelters examine strays for chips, providing one of the aforementioned recovery services with the ID number, description and location so that the recovery service may notify the owner, a contact, or veterinarians in the area. If the pet is wearing the collar tag, the finder does not need a chip reader to contact the registry because a rescuer can simply read the ID number and phone number (or website) to provide to the registry. An owner can also report a missing pet to the recovery service, as vets look for chips in new animals and check with the recovery service to see if it has been reported lost or stolen. Many veterinarians scan an animal's chip on every visit to verify correct operation. Some use the chip ID as their database index and print it on receipts, test results, vaccination certifications and other records. Some veterinary tests and procedures require positive identification of the animal, and a microchip may be acceptable for this purpose as an alternative to a tattoo. Somepet doorscan be programmed to be activated by the microchips of specific animals, allowing only certain animals to use the door.[7] There are multiple reasons for the use of the microchips on pets as a documentation device, which are also advantages of microchips regarding information collection. The three major reasons for microchip implantation aredelocalization[clarification needed], recording, domestication and showing proof of ownership. For example, with a feline microchip, delocalization shows that a registered cat is one that society is aware of and the cat has a position in the social order of animals.[8]Recording shows that the microchip helps authorized people review and monitor cats in a certain region by referring to the database; thus the registry and the implanted microchips transform cats into social objects.[8] Due to the advantages of microchips, there are many concrete applications of RFID in the agri-food sector covering the majority of usual foods, such as all kinds of meats as well as various vegetables, fruits.[9]The feature of RFID, namely its traceability, makes it possible for the increased security and confidence of customers.[9]As one of the most popular livestock around the world, the health condition of pigs is vital to farmer's income and inevitably influence customers' health. It is challenging to monitor the pigs' health condition individually by using traditional approaches. It is common for diseases to spread from a single pig to nearly all the pigs living in the same pigsty. By adopting the technology of microchips to measure the drinking behavior of individual pigs housed in a group, it is possible to identify a pig's health and productivity state. This kind of behavior is a good indicator of a pig's overall health.[10]Compared to traditional visual observations to determine the pig's health state, RFID-based monitoring of pig drinking behavior is a feasible and more efficient option.[10] Using microchips in wild animals in biology began with fisheries studies to determine the efficacy of this method for measuring fish movement.[11]Later, studies that use microchips to track wild animals expanded over the years, including researches onmammals,[12]reptiles,[13]birds,[14]andamphibians.[15]Compared with previous marking and tagging techniques used to identify wild animals before the advent of microchips, such asear tags[16]and color-codedleg bands,[17]microchips are visually less obvious and less likely to be detected by prey and predators. Due to the fact that traditional identifications are on the exterior of the animal, tags can be lost, scars can heal and tattoos can fade.[2] Other useful and significant information can be collected by microchips. Chipped wild animals that are recaptured can provide information on growth rate and change of location, as well as other valuable data such as age structure,sex ratios, andlongevityof individuals in the wild.[2]Other researches on small mammals likeratsandmicealso adopt this technology to determine body temperature of terminally ill animals.[18]As microchips are internal, permanent, durable under harsh environments, and have little influence on animals, more scholars have employed microchip implantation to collect useful data on wildlife researches. A microchip implant is a passiveRFIDdevice. Lacking an internal power source, it remains inert until it is powered by the scanner or another power source. While the chip itself only interacts with limited frequencies, the device also has an antenna that is optimized for a specific frequency, but is not selective. It may receive, generate current with, and reradiate stray electromagnetic waves.[dubious–discuss][19]The radio-waves emitted by the scanner activate the chip, making the chip transmit the identification number to the scanner, and the scanner displays the number on screen.[2]The microchip is enclosed in a biocompatible glass cylinder[2]and includes an identifyingintegrated circuitplaced under the skin of an animal. Relevant standards for the chips areISO 11784 and ISO 11785. Most implants contain three elements: a 'chip' orintegrated circuit, a coilinductor, possibly with aferritecore, and acapacitor. The chip contains unique identification data and electronic circuits to encode that information. The coil acts as the secondary winding of atransformer, receiving power inductively coupled to it from the scanner. The coil and capacitor together form a resonantLC circuittuned to the frequency of the scanner's oscillating magnetic field to produce power for the chip. The chip then transmits its data back through the coil to the scanner. The way the chip communicates with the scanner is a method called backscatter. It becomes part of the electromagnetic field and modulates it in a manner that communicates the ID number to the scanner.[20] These components are encased inbiocompatiblesoda lime or borosilicate glass and hermetically sealed. Leaded glass should not be used for pet microchips and consumers should only accept microchips from reliable sources. The glass is also sometimes coated with polymers.Parylene C(chlorinated poly-dimethylbenzene) has become a common coating. Plastic pet microchips have been registered in the international registry since 2012[21]under Datamars manufacturer code 981 and are being implanted in pets. The patent[22]suggests it is a silicone filled polyester sheath, but the manufacturer does not disclose the exact composition. Some countries require microchips in imported animals to matchvaccinationrecords. Microchip tagging may also be required forCITES-regulated international trade in certain endangered animals: for example,Asian Arowanaare tagged to limit import to captive-bred fish. Birds that are notbandedand cross international borders as pets or for trade are microchipped so that each bird is uniquely identifiable. Microchips are legally required in the state ofNew South Wales,Australia.[23] Because the ability to trace livestock from property of birth to slaughter is critical to the safety ofred meat, the Australian redmeat industryhas implemented a national system known asNational Livestock Identification Systemto ensure the quality and safety of beef, lamb, sheep meat and goat meat. There are weaknesses in the current microchipping system in Australia.[24]According to several pieces of researches in 2015, reclaim rates were significantly higher for animals with microchips than those without microchips, which is based on the statistical analysis of the raw data of dogs and cats living in Australia as well as microchipped animals.[24]To determine the character and the frequency of inaccurate microchip data used for locating owners of stray pets, the researchers also analyzed admission data for stray dogs and cats entering shelters called RSPCA-Queensland (QLD). The results show that the problem of microchip data may reduce the possibility that a pet's owner will be contacted to reclaim the animal.[24]It is necessary that the current microchipping system in Australia be perfect and that microchip owners update their data frequently. Since 1999, all dogs older than four months must be permanently identified with a microchip (or a tattoo, though the latter is not accepted if the animal is to leave the country).[25] Cats are not required to be microchipped, though 2019 recorded increased support for mandatory chipping.[26]Instead, since 1 January 2012, all cats older than seven months require mandatory registration in the European Union database.[25] Dogs and cats imported to Israel are required to be microchipped with an ISO 11784/11785 compliant 15 digit pet microchip.[27] Japanrequires an ISO 11784 and 11785 compliant microchip implant for dogs and cats handled by breeders and pet shops, as well as for all imported dogs and cats.[28][29]Additionally, microchipping is mandatory for certain invasive species that threaten Japan’s ecosystems or agriculture, as well as for special animals classified as dangerous to human life, health, or property.[30] The Act on Welfare and Management of Animals (Act No. 105 of 1973) requires owners and pet sellers to register microchipped dogs and cats with theMinistry of the Environmentdatabase and update registration details as needed. When transferring ownership of a registered dog or cat, the Registration Certificate must accompany the animal. The Act prohibits microchip removal unless it poses a risk to the animal's health or falls under other exceptional cases.[29] The ISO 11784 standard defines a 15-digit microchip code, split into a 3-digit country code and a 12-digit National ID Code. The Japan Veterinary Medical Association introduced a system in 1995 that includes Japan’snumeric country code(392), followed by a 2-digit animal code, a 2-digit distributor code, and a unique 8-digit identification number.[31] All dogs first registered after 1 July 2006 must be microchipped. Farmers protested thatfarm dogsshould be exempt, drawing a parallel to theDog Tax Warof 1898.[32]Farm dogs were exempted from microchipping in an amendment to the legislation passed in June 2006.[33]ANational Animal Identification and Tracingscheme in New Zealand is currently being developed for tracking livestock.[citation needed] In April 2012,Northern Irelandbecame the first part of the United Kingdom to require microchipping of individually licensed dogs.[34] As of 6 April 2016, all dogs in England, Scotland and Wales must be microchipped.[35][36] All pet cats in England must be microchipped by 10 June 2024. Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted, or may face a fine of up to £500.[37] Microchipping of pets and other animals is voluntary except for some legislation mandating microchipping as a means of identifying animals who have been identified as being dangerous.[clarification needed]Though, California law requires any animal control agency, shelter or rescue to only release a cat or dog, including to the owner, if they are microchipped or will be within 30 days. In 1994, theLouisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry(LDAF) issued a regulation requiring permanent identification (in the form of a brand, lip tattoo or electronic identification) of all horses tested forequine infectious anemia.[38]According to the LDAF and the state veterinarian, this requirement made contributed to better determining the owners of horses displaced duringHurricane Katrinain fall 2005.[38][39] The United States uses theNational Animal Identification Systemfor farm and ranch animals, which excludes dogs and cats. In most species, except horses, an external eartag is typically used in lieu of an implant microchip. Eartags with microchips or simply stamped with a visible number can be used. Both use ISO fifteen-digit microchip numbers with the U.S. country code of 840. In most countries, pet ID chips adhere to an international standard to promote compatibility between chips and scanners. In the United States, however, three proprietary types of chips compete along with the international standard. Scanners distributed to United States shelters and veterinarians well into 2006 could each read at most three of the four types. Scanners with quad-read capability are now available and are increasingly considered required equipment. Older scanner models will be in use for some time, so United States pet owners must still choose between a chip with good coverage by existing scanners and one compatible with the international standard. The four types include: Many references in print state that the incompatibilities between different chip types are a matter of "frequency". One may find claims that early ISO adopters in the United States endangered their customers' pets by giving them ISO chips that work at a "different frequency" from the local shelter's scanner, or that the United States government considered forcing an incompatible frequency change. These claims were little challenged by manufacturers and distributors of ISO chips, although later evidence suggests the claims were disinformation. All chips operate at the scanner's frequency. Although ISO chips are optimized for 134.2kHz, in practice they are readable at 125 kHz and the "125 kHz" chips are readable at 134.2 kHz. Confirmation comes from government filings that indicate the supposed "multi-frequency" scanners now commonly available are really single-frequency scanners operating at 125, 134.2 or 128 kHz. In particular, the United States HomeAgain scanner didn't change excitation frequency when ISO-read capability was added; it's still a single frequency, 125 kHz scanner.[49] For users requiring shelter-grade certainty, this table is not a substitute for testing the scanner with a set of specimen chips. One study[64]cites problems with certain Trovan chips on the Datamars Black Label scanner. In general, the study found none of the tested scanners to read all four standards without some deficiency, but it predates the most recent scanner models. Adverse event reporting for animal microchips has been inconsistent. RFID chips are used in animal research, and at least three studies conducted since the 1990s have reportedtumorsat the site of implantation in laboratory mice and rats.[65]The UK'sVeterinary Medicines Directorate(VMD) assumed the task of adverse event reporting for animal microchips there in April 2014. Mandatory adverse event reporting went into effect in the UK in February 2015. The first report was issued for the period of April 2014 through December 2015.[66]Mandatory microchip implant of dogs went into effect in April 2016. Data sets for 2016 through 2018 have become available. Adverse reactions to microchip implants may include infection, rejection, mass and tumor formation or death,[67][68]but the risk of adverse reactions is very low.[67]Sample sizes, in rodents and dogs in particular, have been small, and so conclusive evidence has been limited.[68] Noted veterinary associations[69]have responded with continued support for the microchip implant procedures as reasonably safe for cats and dogs, pointing to rates of serious complications on the order of one in a million in the UK, which has a system for tracking such adverse reactions and has chipped over 3.7 million pet dogs. A 2011 study found no safety concerns for microchipped animals with RFID chips undergoingMRIat oneTeslamagnetic field strength.[70]In 2011 a microchip-associatedfibrosarcomawas reported found in the neck of a 9-year old, neutered-male cat. Histological examination was consistent with postinjectionsarcoma, but all prior vaccinations occurred in the hindlegs.[71] The microchip is implanted in the subcutaneous tissues causing an inflammatory response until scar tissue develops around the microchip. Studies on horses[5]are used as the basis for short inflammatory response claims, while procedures on done on small kittens and puppies. People have reported swelling and bruising at the time of the implant with itching and pinching sensations for up to two years.[6]The broader impacts on inflammatory disorders and cancer have not been determined and most of the health risks that were defined in the FDA Guidance developed for human implants[72]should be considered. Adverse event reporting in the US can be made by the pet owner or a veterinarian to the FDA.[73] The estimate for the total cat and dog population of the UK is 16 million with 8.5 million dogs subject to mandatory microchip implant. The population of dogs implanted prior to mandatory adverse event reporting February 2015 was between 60% (February 2013)[74]and 86% (April 2016).[75]Approximately 95% are reported to be implanted as of April 2017.[76] Unauthorized reading of microchips can present a risk to privacy and can potentially provide information to identify or track packages, consumers, carriers, or even owners of different animals. Several prototype systems are being developed to combat unauthorized reading, including RFID signal interruption, as well as the possibility of legislation. Hundreds of scientific papers have been published on this matter since 2002.[77]Different countries have responded differently to these issues. As early as in 1997, some scholars believed that microchip implantation was technically possible, but it was suggested that it was the time to consider strategies for preventing potentially grievous intrusion into personal privacy.[78]It is possible that microchips implanted on animals can also lead to privacy issues or information breaches, which can lead to serious social problems. A common misconception is that the chip can be used for location tracking of the animal, which is false.[79] The widespread adoption of microchip identification may lead to ownership disputes occurring more frequently since sometimes microchip ownership information is irrelevant according to the ownership laws. This can occur when the owner is not the one to whom the microchip ownership information belongs. This is a significant problem because client confidentiality rules generally prohibit veterinarians from divulging information about a pet without the client's permission. Furthermore, veterinarians are required to get permission from the person who registered the chip to perform a surgery on a microchipped animal, even if the animal is experiencing a severe medical emergency. The problem can be more complicated if animals with microchips are abandoned or stolen. The first method of protecting microchip privacy is by regularly updating information. Stray animals with incorrect microchip details are less likely to be reclaimed and when compared to pets with correct microchip details, the time taken to retrieve the pets is longer, and sometimes reuniting is impossible.[80]Therefore, it is wise to update microchip information regularly, especially when owners move or change their phone numbers. According to research, email reminders may increase the frequency of pet owners updating their microchip information.[80]By increasing the pet owners' updating frequency of the pets' data, the reclaim percentages of stray animals will increase and reduce the number of pets euthanized in shelters every year.[80] Another method of protection is by using cryptography.Rolling codesandchallenge–response authentication(CRA) are commonly used to foil monitor-repetition of the messages between the tag and reader; as any messages that have been recorded would prove to be unsuccessful on repeat transmission. It is possible that some novel RFID authentication protocols for microchip ownership transfer can be adapted to protect users' privacy, which meets three key requirements for secure microchip ownership transfer.[81]The three requirements include: new owner privacy (only the new owner should be able to identify and control the microchip), old owner privacy (past interactions between the microchip and its previous owner should not be traceable by the new owner) as well as authorization recovery (the new owner should be able to transfer its authorization rights to the previous owner in some special cases).[81]These features can protect owners' privacy to some extent. In the United States, the history of some tag manufacturers dates back more than 30 years. Several of the major tag manufacturers are listed below:[2] Some RFID-USA Registers includes:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal)
Dangerous Things[1]is aSeattle-basedcyberneticmicrochipbiohackingimplant retailer formed in 2013 by Amal Graafstra,[2]following acrowdfundingcampaign.[3] Dangerous Things built the first personal publicly available implantableNFC compliant transponderin 2013.[4]In September 2020, Dangerous Things began another highly successful crowdfunding campaign to realize the world's first titanium encased fully bio-compatible sensing magnet, named the Titan. This United States corporation or company article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerous_Things
ISO11784andISO 11785areinternational standardsthat regulate theradio-frequency identification(RFID) of animals, which is usually accomplished by implanting, introducing or attaching a transponder containing a microchip to an animal. RF identification of animals requires that the bits transmitted by atransponderare interpretable by atransceiver. Usually, thebit streamcontains data bits, defining the identification code and a number of bits to ensure correct reception of the data bits. ISO 11784 specifies the structure of the identification code. ISO 11785 specifies how a transponder is activated and how the stored information is transferred to a transceiver (the characteristics of the transmission protocols between transponder and transceiver) These standards are updated and expanded inISO 14223which regulates "advanced"transponders for animals, andISO 24631which regulates testing procedures for conformance with ISO 11784 & 11785 as well as performance. The technical concept of animal identification described is based on the principle ofradio-frequency identification(RFID). ISO 11785 is applicable in connection with ISO 11784 which describes the structure and the information content of the codes stored in the transponder. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) draws attention to the fact that compliance with clause 6 and Annex A of this International Standard may involve the use of patents concerning methods of transmission. Thecarrier frequencyfor animal identification is 134.2 kHz. There are two ISO approved protocols in use to communicate between tag and reader: FDX-A which uses the 125kHz frequency and a 10 bit code is not ISO compliant. In DBP a1is encoded as00or11and a0is encoded as01or10, such that there is at least one transition per bit (so11is encoded as0011and not as0000or1111) ISO 11784:1996 Radio-frequency identification of animals - Code structure The first three digits of the ID are the manufacturer code. With half-duplex, the tag must store sufficient energy when the receiver's activating field is turned on to allow it to transmit when the activating field is switched off. This makes the receiver simpler, as it is not necessary to pick up the weak signal from the tag among the strong activating field. The disadvantage is that the HDX tag can not transmit when the activating field is turned on. Telegram layout: With full duplex, the tag can transmit immediately when in the presence of the receiver's activating field. The advantage is that the FDX tag can then transmit continuously and can therefore be read more quickly and more often. Telegram layout: In FDX (at least), after the 11 startbits, a framing bit ('1') is sent after every 8 data bits. Compliance with the standards may require use of techniques which are covered by (or claimed to be covered by) certain patents. ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity and scope of these patent rights. Some patent holder has assured ISO that they will not exert their patent rights concerning FDX B technology.[citation needed]Other patent holders have assured ISO that they are willing to negotiate licenses underreasonable and non-discriminatoryterms and conditions with applicants through the world. In this respect, the statement of the holders of these patent rights are registered with ISO. Attention is moreover drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this International Standard may be the subject of patent rights other than those identified above. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. In that connection, additional correspondences were received from two other companies not willing to forward pertinent declaration in accordance with the current ISO Directives.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_11784_and_ISO_11785
Ambient intelligence(AmI) refers to environments with electronic devices that are aware of and can recognize the presence of human beings and adapt accordingly. This concept encompasses various technologies inconsumer electronics, telecommunications, and computing. Its primary purpose is to enhance user interactions through context-aware systems. AmI aims to create environments where devices communicate seamlessly with users, leveraging data from interconnected systems. A common example of Aml is theInternet of things(IoT), which integrates everyday devices into networks that provide intelligent responses based on user behavior.[1] The term "ambient intelligence" was coined in the late 1990s byEli Zelkhaand his team atPalo AltoVentures. The project envisioned a future where technology would seamlessly blend with daily life.[2][3][4][5]In the early 2000s, the concept gained further attention when the Information Society and Technology Advisory Group (ISTAG) of theEuropean Commissionpublished a series of reports on the topic.[6] Ambient intelligence has been characterized as a speculative or imaginary concept.[2] The concept of ambient intelligence builds uponpervasive computing,ubiquitous computing,profiling,context awareness, andhuman-centered computerinteraction design. It is characterized by systems and technologies that are:[7][6] The implementation of ambient intelligence requires several technologies to exist. These include hidden hardware that benefit fromminiaturisation,nanotechnology, andsmart devices, along with human-centered computer interfaces (intelligent agents,multimodal interaction,context awareness, etc.). These systems and devices operate through a seamless mobile or fixed communication and computing infrastructure characterized byinteroperability, wired andwirelessnetworks, andservice-oriented architecture. Systems and devices must also be dependable and secure. This could be achieved through self-testing and self-repairing software andprivacy-ensuring technology. Ambient intelligence has a relationship with and depends on advances insensor technologyandsensor networks.[8] User experience became more important to developers in the late 1990s as a result of experiences with digital products that were difficult to understand or use. In response,user experience designemerged to create new technologies and media around the user's personal experience. Ambient intelligence is influenced byuser-centered design, in which the user is placed in the centre of design activity and gives feedback to the designer. In 1998, the management board ofPhilips Researchcommissioned a series of presentations and internal workshops organized byEli Zelkhaand Brian Epstein of Palo Alto Ventures. They investigated future scenarios and how consumer devices might advance over the next quarter-century. Zelkha and Epstein described the high-volume consumer electronics industry of the 1990s as "fragmented with features", contrasted by what they envisioned as the emergence of industry trends where user-friendly devices would support ubiquitous information, communication, and entertainment by 2020.[9]As a result, the term "ambient intelligence" was coined. While developing the ambient intelligence concept, Palo Alto Ventures created the keynote address forRoel Pieperof Philips for the Digital Living Room Conference of 1998,[10]which included Eli Zelkha, Brian Epstein,Simon Birrell, Doug Randall and Clark Dodsworth. In 2000, there were plans to construct a feasible and usable facility dedicated to ambient intelligence; these led to the opening of HomeLab on April 24, 2002. In 2005, Philips joined the Oxygen Alliance, an international consortium of industrial partners within the context ofMIT'sOxygen Project,[11]which was aimed at developing technology for the computer of the 21st century. In parallel to the development of the concept and vision of "ambient intelligence" at Philips, several other initiatives were also starting to explore the concept of ambient intelligence. Following the advice of the Information Society and Technology Advisory Group (ISTAG), theEuropean Commissionused the vision for the launch of their sixth framework (FP6) in Information, Society and Technology, with a budget of 3.7 billion euros.[12] During the first decade of the 21st century, several significant initiatives were launched. TheFraunhofer Societystarted several such activities, including multimedia,micro-systemdesign, and augmented spaces.MITstarted an ambient intelligence research group at their Media Lab.[13]Several more research projects were started in countries such as the United States, Canada, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Since 2004, the European Symposium on Ambient Intelligence (EUSAI) and many other conferences have been held that address special topics in ambient intelligence. Europe's ISTAGsuggests that society may be encouraged to use ambient intelligence if AmI projects are able to meet the following criteria:[14] A variety of technologies can be used to enable ambient intelligence environments, such as:[15] The ambient intelligence concept is subject to criticism.[16]Ambient intelligence can be immersive, personalized, context-aware, and anticipatory. These characteristics bring up societal, political, and cultural concerns about the loss ofprivacy. Proponents of AmI argue that applications of ambient intelligence can function without necessarily reducing privacy.[17][18][19] Critics also discuss the potential for concentrations of power in large organisations; a fragmented, decreasingly private society; andhyper-realenvironments where the virtual is indistinguishable from the real.[20]Several research groups and communities have investigated the socioeconomic, political, and cultural aspects of ambient intelligence.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_intelligence
Kevin Warwick(born 9 February 1954) is an English engineer and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) atCoventry University.[8]He is known for his studies ondirect interfacesbetween computer systems and the humannervous system, and has also done research concerningrobotics.[9][10] Kevin Warwick was born in 1954 inKeresley, Coventry, England,[11]and was raised in the nearby village ofRyton-on-Dunsmore,Warwickshire. His family attended a Methodist church but soon he began doubting the existence of God.[12]He attendedLawrence Sheriff SchoolinRugby, Warwickshire, where he was a contemporary of actorArthur Bostrom. He left school at the age of 16 to start anapprenticeshipwithBritish Telecom. In 1976, he was granted hisfirst degreeatAston University, followed by aPhDdegree and a research job atImperial College London. He took up positions atSomerville Collegein Oxford,Newcastle University, theUniversity of Warwick, and theUniversity of Reading, before relocating toCoventry Universityin 2014. Warwick is aChartered Engineer(CEng), aFellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology(FIET) and a Fellow of theCity and Guilds of London Institute(FCGI). He is Visiting Professor at theCzech Technical University in Prague, theUniversity of Strathclyde,Bournemouth University, and the University of Reading, and in 2004 he was SeniorBeckman Fellowat theUniversity of Illinoisin the United States. He is also on the Advisory Boards of the Instinctive Computing Laboratory atCarnegie Mellon University,[13]and the Centre for Intermedia at theUniversity of Exeter.[14] By the age of 40, Warwick had been awarded aDScdegree by both Imperial College London and theCzech Academy of Sciencesin Prague, for his research output in two entirely unrelated areas. He has received theIETAchievement Medal, theIET Mountbatten Medal, and in 2011 theEllison-Cliffe Medalfrom theRoyal Society of Medicine.[15]In 2000, Warwick presented theRoyal Institution Christmas Lectures, entitledThe Rise of Robots.[16] Warwick performs research inartificial intelligence,biomedical engineering,control systemsandrobotics. Much of Warwick's early research was in the area ofdiscrete timeadaptive control. He introduced the firststate spacebasedself-tuningcontroller[17]and unified discrete time state space representations ofARMAmodels.[18]He has also contributed to mathematics,[19]power engineering[20]andmanufacturing production machinery.[21] Warwick directed a research project funded by theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC), which investigated the use ofmachine learningand artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to suitably stimulate and translate patterns of electrical activity from livingcultured neural networksto use the networks for the control of mobile robots.[22]Hence the behaviour process for each robot was effectively provided by a biological brain. Previously, Warwick helped to develop agenetic algorithmnamed Gershwyn, which was able to exhibit creativity in producing popular songs, learning what makes a hit record by listening to examples of previous successful songs.[23]Gershwyn appeared on BBC'sTomorrow's World, having been successfully used to mix music for Manus, a group consisting of the four younger brothers ofElvis Costello. Another of Warwick's projects involving AI was the robot head, Morgui. The head, which contained five "senses" (vision,sound,infrared,ultrasoundandradar), was used to investigate sensor data fusion. It was X-rated by the University of Reading Research and Ethics Committee due to its image storage capabilities—anyone under the age of 18 who wished to interact with the robot had to obtain parental approval.[24] Warwick has very outspoken opinions about the future, particularly with respect to AI and its effect on the human species. He argues that humanity will need to use technology to enhance itself to avoid being overtaken by machines.[25]He states that many human limitations, such assensorimotorabilities, can be outperformed by machines, and he has said on record that he wants to gain these abilities: "There is no way I want to stay a mere human."[26] Warwick directed the University of Reading team in a number of European Community projects such as: FIDIS (Future of Identity in the Information Society), researching the future of identity; and ETHICBOTS and RoboLaw, both of which considered theethical aspectsof robots andcyborgs.[27] Warwick's topics of interest have many ethical implications, some due to hishuman enhancementexperiments.[28]The ethical dilemmas of his research are used by theInstitute of Physicsas a case study[29]for schoolchildren and science teachers as a part of their formal Advanced level and GCSE studies. His work has also been discussed by the USAPresident's Council on Bioethicsand the USA President's Panel on Forward Engagements.[30]He is a member of theNuffield Council on BioethicsWorking Party onNovel Neurotechnologies.[31] Along withTipu Azizand his team atJohn Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, andJohn Steinof the University of Oxford, Warwick is helping to design the next generation ofdeep brain stimulationforParkinson's disease.[32]Instead of stimulating the brain all the time, the goal is for the device to predict when stimulation is needed and to apply the signals prior to any tremors occurring, thereby stopping tremors before they start.[33]Recent results have also shown that it is possible to identify different types of Parkinson's Disease.[34] Warwick has directed a number of projects intended to interest schoolchildren in the technology with which he is involved. In 2000, he received theEPSRCMillennium Award for his Schools Robot League. In 2007, 16 school teams were involved in a project to design a humanoid robot to dance and then complete an assault course, with the final competition staged at theScience Museum, London. The project, entitled 'Androids Advance' was funded by EPSRC and was presented as a news item by Chinese television.[35] Warwick contributes significantly to thepublic understanding of scienceby giving regular public lectures, participating with radio programmes, and through popular writing. He has appeared in numerous television documentary programmes onAI, robotics and the role of science fiction in science, such asHow William Shatner Changed the World,Future FantasticandExplorations.[36][37]He also appeared in theRay Kurzweil-inspired movieTranscendent Manalong withWilliam Shatner,Colin Powell, andStevie Wonder. He has guested on several television talk shows, includingLate Night with Conan O'Brien,Først & sist,Sunday BrunchandRichard & Judy.[37]He has appeared on the cover of a number of magazines, for example the February 2000 edition ofWired.[38] In 2005, Warwick was the subject of anearly day motiontabled by members of theUK Parliament, in which he was congratulated for his work in attracting students to science and for teaching "in a way that makes the subject interesting and relevant so that more students will want to develop a career in science."[39] In 2009, Warwick was interviewed about his work in cybernetics for two documentary features on the DVD release of the 1985Doctor WhostoryAttack of the Cybermen.[40]He was also an interview subject for the televised lectureThe Science of Doctor Whoin 2013. In 2013, Warwick appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4'sThe Museum of CuriositywithRobert LlewellynandCleo Rocos.[41]In 2014, he appeared on BBC Radio 4'sMidweekwithLibby Purves,Roger BannisterandRachael Stirling.[42] Warwick's claims that robots can program themselves to avoid each other while operating in a group raise the issue ofself-organisation. In particular, the works ofFrancisco VarelaandHumberto Maturana, once purely speculative have now become immediately relevant with respect tosynthetic intelligence. Cyborg-type systems, if they are to survive, need to be not onlyhomeostatic(meaning that they are able to preserve stable internal conditions in various environments) but also adaptive. Testing the claims of Varela and Maturana using synthetic devices is the more serious concern in the discussion about Warwick and those involved in similar research. "Pulling the plug" on independent devices cannot be as simple as it appears, because if the device displays sufficient intelligence, and assumes a diagnostic and prognostic stature, we may ultimately one day be forced to decide between what it could be telling us as counterintuitive (but correct) and our impulse to disconnect because of our limited and "intuitive" perceptions. Warwick's robots seemed to exhibit behaviour not anticipated by the research, one such robot "committing suicide" because it could not cope with its environment.[43]In a more complex setting, it may be asked whether a "natural selection" might be possible, neural networks being the major operative. The 1999 edition of theGuinness Book of Recordsrecorded that Warwick performed the first robot learning experiment using the Internet.[44]One robot, with anartificial neural networkbrain at the University of Reading in the UK, learned how to move around without bumping into things. It then taught, via the Internet, another robot atSUNY BuffaloinNew York Stateto behave in the same way.[45]The robot in the US was therefore not taught or programmed by a human, but rather by another robot based on what it had itself learnt.[46] Hissing Sid was a robot cat that Warwick took on aBritish Councillecture tour of Russia, where he presented it in lectures at such places asMoscow State University. The robot was put together as a student project; its name came from the noise made by thepneumatic actuatorsused to drive its legs when walking. Hissing Sid also appeared on BBC TV'sBlue Peter, but became better known when it was refused a ticket byBritish Airwayson the grounds that they did not allow animals in the cabin.[47] Warwick was also responsible for a robotic "magic chair" (based on theSCARA-form UMI RTX arm)[48]used on BBC TV'sJim'll Fix It. The chair provided the show's hostJimmy Savilewith tea and stored Jim'll Fix It badges for him to hand out to guests.[49]Warwick appeared on the programme himself for a Fix-it involving robots.[37] Warwick was also involved in the development of the "Seven Dwarves" robots, a version of which was sold in kit form as "Cybot" on the cover ofReal Robotsmagazine in 2001. The magazine series guided its readers through the stages of building and programming Cybot, an artificially intelligent robot capable of making its own decisions and thinking for itself.[50] Probably the most famous research undertaken by Warwick—and the origin of the nickname "Captain Cyborg"[4][5][6]given to him byThe Register—is the set of experiments known as Project Cyborg, in which an array was implanted into his arm, with the goal of him "becoming acyborg".[51] The first stage of Project Cyborg, which began on 24 August 1998, involved a simpleRFIDtransmitter being implanted beneath Warwick's skin, which was used to control doors, lights, heaters, and other computer-controlled devices based on his proximity.[52]He explained that the main purpose of this experiment was to test the limits of what the body would accept, and how easy it would be to receive a meaningful signal from the microprocessor.[53] The second stage of the research involved a more complex neural interface, designed and built especially for the experiment by Dr.Mark Gassonand his team at the University of Reading. This device consisted of aBrainGatesensor, a silicon square about 3mm wide, connected to an external "gauntlet" that housed supporting electronics. It was implanted under local anaesthetic on 14 March 2002 at theRadcliffe InfirmaryinOxford, where it was interfaced directly into Warwick's nervous system via themedian nervein his left wrist. Themicroelectrode arraythat was inserted contained 100electrodes, each the width of a human hair, of which 25 could be accessed at any one time, whereas the nerve that was being monitored carries many times that number of signals. The experiment proved successful, and the output signals were detailed enough to enable arobot arm, developed by Warwick's colleague Dr.Peter Kyberd, to mimic the actions of Warwick's own arm.[51][54] By means of the implant, Warwick's nervous system was connected to the Internet atColumbia University, New York. From there he was able to control the robot arm at the University of Reading and obtain feedback from sensors in the finger tips. He also successfully connectedultrasonic sensorson a baseball cap and experienced a form of extrasensory input.[55] In a highly publicised extension to the experiment, a simpler array was implanted into the arm of Warwick's wife, with the ultimate aim of one day creating a form oftelepathyorempathyusing the Internet to communicate the signal over huge distances. This experiment resulted in the first direct and purely electronic communication between the nervous systems of two humans.[56]Finally, the effect of the implant on Warwick's hand function was measured using theUniversity of Southampton's Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP).[57]There was a fear that directly interfacing with the nervous system might cause some form of damage or interference, but no measurable side effect (nor any sign of rejection) was encountered. Warwick and his colleagues claim that the Project Cyborg research could result in new medical tools for treating patients with damage to the nervous system, as well as assisting the more ambitious enhancements Warwick advocates. Sometranshumanistseven speculate that similar technologies could be used for technology-facilitated telepathy.[58] A controversy began in August 2002, shortly after theSoham murders, when Warwick reportedly offered to implant atracking deviceinto an 11-year-old girl as an anti-abduction measure. The plan produced a mixed reaction, with endorsement from many worried parents but ethical concerns from children's societies.[59]As a result, the idea did not go ahead. Anti-theft RFID chips are common in jewellery or clothing in some Latin American countries due to a high abduction rate,[60]and the companyVeriChipannounced plans in 2001 to expand its line of available medical information implants,[61]to beGPStrackable when combined with a separate GPS device.[62][63] Warwick participated as aTuring Interrogatoron two occasions, judging machines in the 2001 and 2006Loebner Prizecompetitions, platforms for an "imitation game" as devised byAlan Turing. The 2001 Prize, held at theLondon Science Museum, featured Turing's "jury service" or one-to-oneTuring testsand was won byA.L.I.C.E.The 2006 contest staged "parallel-paired" Turing tests atUniversity College Londonand the winner wasRollo Carpenter. Warwick co-organised the 2008 Loebner Prize at the University of Reading, which also featured parallel-paired Turing tests.[64] In 2012, he co-organised with Huma Shah a series of Turing tests held atBletchley Park. According to Warwick, the tests strictly adhered to the statements made by Alan Turing in his papers. Warwick himself participated in the tests as a hidden human.[65]Results of the tests were discussed in a number of academic papers.[66][67]One paper, entitled "Human Misidentification in Turing Tests", became one of the top three most-downloaded papers in theJournal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence. In June 2014, Warwick helped Shah stage a series of Turing tests to mark the 60th anniversary of Alan Turing's death. The event was performed at theRoyal Society, London. Warwick regarded the winning chatbot, "Eugene Goostman", as having "passed the Turing test for the first time" by fooling a third of the event's judges into making an incorrect identification, and termed this a "milestone".[68]A paper containing all of the transcripts involving Eugene Goostman entitled "Can Machines Think? A Report on Turing Test Experiments at the Royal Society", has also become one of the top three most-downloaded papers in theJournal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence.[69] Warwick was criticised in the context of the 2014 Royal Society event, where he claimed that software program Eugene Goostman had passed the Turing test on the basis of its performance. The software successfully convinced over 30% of the judges who could not identify it as being a machine, on the basis of a five-minute text chat. Critics stated that the software's claim of being a young non-native English speaker weakened the spirit of the test, as any grammatical and semantic inconsistencies could be excused as a consequence of limited proficiency in the English language.[70][71][72][73]Some critics also claimed that the software's performance had been exceeded by other programs in the past.[70][71]However, the 2014 tests were entirely unrestricted in terms of discussion topics, whereas the previous tests referenced by the critics had been limited to very specific subject areas. Additionally, Warwick was criticised by editor and entrepreneurMike Masnickfor exaggerating the significance of the Eugene Goostman program to the press.[71] Warwick was a member of the 2001Higher Education Funding Council for England(unit 29)Research Assessment Exercisepanel onElectrical and Electronic Engineeringand was Deputy chairman for the same panel (unit 24) in 2008.[74]In March 2009, he was cited as being the inspiration of National Young Scientist of the Year, Peter Hatfield.[75] Warwick presented theRoyal Institution Christmas Lecturesin December 2000, entitledRise of the Robots. Although the lectures were well received by some,[76]British computer scientistSimon Coltoncomplained about the choice of Warwick prior to his appearance. He claimed that Warwick "is not a spokesman for our subject" (Artificial Intelligence) and "allowing him influence through the Christmas lectures is a danger to the public perception of science".[77]In response to Warwick's claims that computers could be creative, Colton, who is a Professor of Computational Creativity, also said: "the AI community has done real science to reclaim words such as creativity and emotion which they claim computers will never have".[78]Subsequent letters were generally positive; Ralph Rayner wrote: "With my youngest son, I attended all of the lectures and found them balanced and thought-provoking. They were not sensationalist. I applaud Warwick for his lectures".[79] Warwick received the Future Health Technology Award in 2000,[80]and was presented with theInstitution of Engineering and Technology(IET) Achievement Medal in 2004.[81]In 2008, he was awarded theMountbatten Medal.[82]In 2009 he received theMarcellin Champagnataward from Universidad MaristaGuadalajaraand theGolden Eurydice Award.[83]In 2011 he received theEllison-Cliffe Medalfrom theRoyal Society of Medicine.[84]In 2014, he was elected to the membership of theEuropean Academy of Sciences and Arts.[85]In 2018 Warwick was inducted into theInternational Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences[86]and in 2020 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of theCybernetics Society.[87] He is the recipient of tenhonorarydoctorates, these being from Aston University,[88]Coventry University,[8][89]Robert Gordon University,[93]Bradford University,[94][95]University of Bedfordshire,[89]Portsmouth University,[96]Kingston University,[97]Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje,[98]Edinburgh Napier University,[102]andGalgotias University.[103][104] Warwick has both his critics and endorsers, some of whom describe him as a "maverick".[105]Others see his work as "not very scientific" and more like "entertainment", whereas some regard him as "an extraordinarily creative experimenter", his presentations as "awesome" and his work as "profound".[106][107] Warwick has written several books, articles and papers. A selection of his books: Lectures (inaugural and keynote lectures): Warwick is a regular presenter at the annualCareers Scotland Space School,University of Strathclyde. He appeared at the 2009World Science Festival[118]withMary McDonnell,Nick Bostrom,Faith SalieandHod Lipson.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
Management Data Input/Output(MDIO), also known asSerial Management Interface(SMI) orMedia Independent Interface Management(MIIM), is aserial busdefined for theEthernetfamily ofIEEE 802.3standards for theMedia Independent Interface, orMII. The MII connectsmedia access control(MAC) devices withEthernet physical layer(PHY) circuits. The MAC device controlling the MDIO is called the Station Management Entity (SME). MII has two signal interfaces: The MDIO interface is implemented by two signals: The bus only supports a single MAC as the master, and can have up to 32 PHY slaves. The MDC can be periodic, with a minimum period of 400 ns, which corresponds to a maximum frequency of 2.5 MHz. Newer chips, however, allow faster accesses. For example, the DP83640 supports a 25 MHz maximum clock rate for MDC. The MDIO requires a specific pull-up resistor of 1.5 kΩ to 10 kΩ, taking into account the total worst-case leakage current of 32 PHYs and one MAC. Before a register access, PHY devices generally require a preamble of 32 ones to be sent by the MAC on the MDIO line. The access consists of 16 control bits, followed by 16 data bits. The control bits consist of 2 start bits, 2 access type bits (read or write), the PHY address (5 bits), the register address (5 bits), and 2 "turnaround" bits. During a write command, the MAC provides address and data. For a read command, the PHY takes over the MDIO line during the turnaround bit times, supplies the MAC with the register data requested, then releases the MDIO line. When the MAC drives the MDIO line, it has to guarantee a stable value 10 ns (setup time) before the rising edge of the clock MDC. Further, MDIO has to remain stable 10 ns (hold time) after the rising edge of MDC. When the PHY drives the MDIO line, the PHY has to provide the MDIO signal between 0 and 300 ns after the rising edge of the clock.[1]Hence, with a minimum clock period of 400 ns (2.5 MHz maximum clock rate) the MAC can safely sample MDIO during the second half of the low cycle of the clock. PRE_32 The first field in the MDIO header is the Preamble. During the preamble, the MAC sends 32 bits, all '1', on the MDIO line. ST The Start field consists of 2 bits and always contains the combination '01'. OP The Opcode consists of 2 bits. There are two possible opcodes, read '10' or write '01'. PA5 5 bits, PHY address. RA5 The Register Address field indicates the register to be written to or read from. It is 5 bits long. TA The turn-around field is 2 bits long. When data is being written to the PHY, the MAC writes '10' to the MDIO line. When data is being read, the MAC releases the MDIO line. D16 16 bits, data. This can be sent by either the SME or the PHY, depending on the value of the OP field. Z Tristate MDIO. IEEE 802.3 Part 3[1]use different opcodes and start sequences. Opcodes 00(set address) and 11(read)/01(write)/10(read increment) are used as two serial transactions to read and write registers.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIIM
Real-time locating systems(RTLS), also known asreal-time tracking systems, are used to automaticallyidentifyandtrackthe location of objects or people inreal time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are attached to objects or worn by people, and in most RTLS, fixed reference points receive wireless signals from tags to determine their location.[1]Examples of real-time locating systems include tracking automobiles through anassembly line, locating pallets of merchandise in a warehouse, or finding medical equipment in a hospital. The physical layer of RTLS technology is oftenradio frequency(RF) communication. Some systems use optical (usuallyinfrared) or acoustic (usuallyultrasound) technology with, or in place of RF, RTLS tags. And fixed reference points can betransmitters,receivers, or both resulting in numerous possible technology combinations. RTLS are a form oflocal positioning systemand do not usually refer toGPSor tomobile phone tracking. Location information usually does not include speed, direction, or spatial orientation. The term RTLS was created (circa 1998) at theID EXPOtrade show by Tim Harrington (WhereNet), Jay Werb (PinPoint), and Bert Moore (Automatic Identification Manufacturers, Inc., AIM). It was created to describe and differentiate anemerging technologythat not only provided the automatic identification capabilities of activeRFIDtags, but also added the ability to view the location on a computer screen. It was at this show that the first examples of a commercial radio based RTLS system were shown by PinPoint and WhereNet. Although this capability had been utilized previously by military and government agencies, the technology had been too expensive for commercial purposes. In the early 1990s, the first commercial RTLS were installed at three healthcare facilities in the United States and were based on the transmission and decoding ofinfrared lightsignals from actively transmitting tags. Since then, new technology has emerged that also enables RTLS to be applied to passive tag applications. RTLS are generally used in indoor and/or confined areas, such as buildings, and do not provide global coverage likeGPS. RTLS tags are affixed to mobile items, such as equipment or personnel, to be tracked or managed. RTLS reference points, which can be either transmitters or receivers, are spaced throughout a building (or similar area of interest) to provide the desired tag coverage. In most cases, the more RTLS reference points that are installed, the better the location accuracy, until the technology limitations are reached. A number of disparate system designs are all referred to as "real-time locating systems". Two primary system design elements are locating at choke points and locating in relative coordinates. The simplest form ofchoke pointlocating is where short range ID signals from a moving tag are received by a single fixed reader in a sensory network, thus indicating the location coincidence of reader and tag. Alternately, a choke point identifier can be received by the moving tag and then relayed, usually via a second wireless channel, to a location processor. Accuracy is usually defined by the sphere spanned with the reach of the choke point transmitter or receiver. The use of directional antennas, or technologies such as infrared or ultrasound that are blocked by room partitions, can support choke points of various geometries.[2] ID signals from a tag are received by a multiplicity of readers in asensory network, and a position is estimated using one or more locating algorithms, such astrilateration,multilateration, ortriangulation. Equivalently, ID signals from several RTLS reference points can be received by a tag and relayed back to a location processor. Localization with multiple reference points requires that distances between reference points in the sensory network be known in order to precisely locate a tag, and the determination of distances is calledranging. Another way to calculate relative location is viamobile tagscommunicating with one another. The tag(s) will then relay this information to a location processor. RF trilateration uses estimated ranges from multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. RF triangulation uses the angles at which the RF signals arrive at multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. Many obstructions, such as walls or furniture, can distort the estimated range and angle readings leading to varied qualities of location estimate. Estimation-based locating is often measured in accuracy for a given distance, such as 90% accurate for 10-meter range. Some systems use locating technologies that can't pass through walls, such as infrared or ultrasound. These require line of sight (or near line of sight) to communicate properly. As a result, they tend to be more accurate in indoor environments. RTLS can be used in numerouslogisticalor operational areas to: RTLS may be seen as a threat toprivacywhen used to determine the location of people. The newly declared human right ofinformational self-determinationgives the right to prevent one's identity andpersonal datafrom being disclosed to others and also covers disclosure of locality, though this does not generally apply to theworkplace. Several prominentlabor unionshave spoken out against the use of RTLS systems to track workers, calling them "the beginning ofBig Brother" and "aninvasion of privacy".[5] Current location-tracking technologies can be used to pinpoint users of mobile devices in several ways. First, service providers have access to network-based and handset-based technologies that can locate a phone for emergency purposes. Second, historical location can frequently be discerned from service provider records. Thirdly, other devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots or IMSI catchers can be used to track nearby mobile devices in real time. Finally, hybrid positioning systems combine different methods in an attempt to overcome each individual method's shortcomings.[6] There is a wide variety of systems concepts and designs to provide real-time locating.[7] A general model for selection of the best solution for a locating problem has been constructed at theRadboud University of Nijmegen.[19]Many of these references do not comply with the definitions given in international standardization with ISO/IEC 19762-5[20]and ISO/IEC 24730-1.[21]However, some aspects of real-time performance are served and aspects of locating are addressed in context of absolute coordinates. Depending on the physical technology used, at least one and often some combination of ranging and/or angulating methods are used to determine location: Real-time locating is affected by a variety of errors. Many of the major reasons relate to the physics of the locating system, and may not be reduced by improving the technical equipment. Many RTLS systems require direct and clear line of sight visibility. For those systems, where there is no visibility from mobile tags to fixed nodes there will be no result or a non valid result fromlocating engine. This applies to satellite locating as well as other RTLS systems such as angle of arrival and time of arrival. Fingerprinting is a way to overcome the visibility issue: If the locations in the tracking area contain distinct measurement fingerprints, line of sight is not necessarily needed. For example, if each location contains a unique combination of signal strength readings from transmitters, the location system will function properly. This is true, for example, with some Wi-Fi based RTLS solutions. However, having distinct signal strength fingerprints in each location typically requires a fairly high saturation of transmitters. The measured location may appear entirely faulty. This is a generally result of simple operational models to compensate for the plurality of error sources. It proves impossible to serve proper location after ignoring the errors. Real timeis no registered branding and has no inherent quality. A variety of offers sails under this term. As motion causes location changes, inevitably the latency time to compute a new location may be dominant with regard to motion. Either an RTLS system that requires waiting for new results is not worth the money or the operational concept that asks for faster location updates does not comply with the chosen system's approach. Location will never be reportedexactly, as the termreal-timeand the termprecisiondirectly contradict in aspects of measurement theory as well as the termprecisionand the termcostcontradict in aspects of economy. That is no exclusion of precision, but the limitations with higher speed are inevitable. Recognizing a reported location steadily apart from physical presence generally indicates the problem of insufficient over-determination and missing of visibility along at least one link from resident anchors to mobile transponders. Such effect is caused also by insufficient concepts to compensate for calibration needs. Noise from various sources has an erratic influence on stability of results. The aim to provide a steady appearance increases the latency contradicting to real time requirements. As objects containing mass have limitations to jump, such effects are mostly beyond physical reality. Jumps of reported location not visible with the object itself generally indicate improper modeling with the location engine. Such effect is caused by changing dominance of various secondary responses. Location of residing objects gets reported moving, as soon as the measures taken are biased by secondary path reflections with increasing weight over time. Such effect is caused by simple averaging and the effect indicates insufficient discrimination of first echoes. The basic issues of RTLS are standardized by theInternational Organization for Standardizationand theInternational Electrotechnical Commissionunder the ISO/IEC 24730 series. In this series of standards, the basic standard ISO/IEC 24730-1 identifies the terms describing a form of RTLS used by a set of vendors but does not encompass the full scope of RTLS technology. Currently several standards are published: These standards do not stipulate any special method of computing locations, nor the method of measuring locations. This may be defined in specifications for trilateration, triangulation, or any hybrid approaches to trigonometric computing for planar or spherical models of a terrestrial area. In RTLS application in the healthcare industry, various studies were issued discussing the limitations of the currently adopted RTLS. Currently used technologies RFID, Wi-fi, UWB, all RFID based are hazardous in the sense of interference with sensitive equipment. A study carried out by Dr Erik Jan van Lieshout of the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam published inJAMA(Journal of the American Medical Equipment)[24]claimed "RFID and UWB could shut down equipment patients rely on" as "RFID caused interference in 34 of the 123 tests they performed". The first Bluetooth RTLS provider in the medical industry is supporting this in their article: "The fact that RFID cannot be used near sensitive equipment should in itself be a red flag to the medical industry". The RFID Journal responded to this study not negating it rather explaining real-case solution: "The Purdue study showed no effect when ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) systems were kept at a reasonable distance from medical equipment. So placing readers in utility rooms, near elevators and above doors between hospital wings or departments to track assets is not a problem".[25]However the case of ”keeping at a reasonable distance” might be still an open question for the RTLS technology adopters and providers in medical facilities. In many applications it is very difficult and at the same time important to make a proper choice among various communication technologies (e.g., RFID, WiFi, etc.) which RTLS may include. Wrong design decisions made at early stages can lead to catastrophic results for the system and a significant loss of money for fixing and redesign. To solve this problem a special methodology for RTLS design space exploration was developed. It consists of such steps as modelling, requirements specification, and verification into a single efficient process.[26]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_time_locating
TheInternational Organization for Standardization(ISO/ˈaɪsoʊ/;[3]French:Organisation internationale de normalisation;Russian:Международная организация по стандартизации) is an independent,non-governmental,international standarddevelopment organization composed of representatives from the nationalstandards organizationsof member countries.[4][5] Membership requirements are given in Article 3 of the ISO Statutes.[6] ISO was founded on 23 February 1947, and (as of July 2024[update]) it has published over 25,000 international standards covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing. It has over 800 technical committees (TCs) and subcommittees (SCs) to take care of standards development.[7] The organization develops and publishesinternational standardsin technical and nontechnical fields, including everything from manufactured products and technology to food safety, transport, IT, agriculture, and healthcare.[7][8][9][10]More specialized topics likeelectricalandelectronic engineeringare instead handled by theInternational Electrotechnical Commission.[11]It is headquartered inGeneva, Switzerland.[7]The threeofficial languagesof ISO areEnglish,French, andRussian.[2] The International Organization for Standardization in French isOrganisation internationale de normalisationand in Russian,Международная организация по стандартизации(Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya po standartizatsii). Although one might thinkISOis an abbreviation for "International Standardization Organization" or a similar title in another language, the letters do not officially represent anacronymorinitialism. The organization provides this explanation of the name: Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French), our founders decided to give it the short formISO.ISOis derived from the Greek wordisos(ίσος, meaning "equal"). Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of our name is alwaysISO.[7] During the founding meetings of the new organization, however, the Greek word explanation was not invoked, so this meaning may be afalse etymology.[12] Both the nameISOand the ISO logo are registered trademarks and their use is restricted.[13] The organization that is known today as ISO began in 1926 as theInternational Federation of the National Standardizing Associations(ISA), which primarily focused onmechanical engineering. The ISA was suspended in 1942 duringWorld War IIbut, after the war, the ISA was approached by the recently-formedUnited NationsStandards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) with a proposal to form a newglobal standardsbody.[14] In October 1946, ISA and UNSCC delegates from 25 countries met inLondonand agreed to join forces to create the International Organization for Standardization. The organization officially began operations on 23 February 1947.[15][16] ISO Standards were originally known asISO Recommendations(ISO/R), e.g., "ISO 1" was issued in 1951 as "ISO/R 1".[17] ISO is a voluntary organization whose members are recognized authorities on standards, each one representing one country. Members meet annually at a General Assembly to discuss the strategic objectives of ISO. The organization is coordinated by a central secretariat based inGeneva.[18] A council with a rotating membership of 20 member bodies provides guidance and governance, including setting the annual budget of the central secretariat.[18][19] The technical management board is responsible for more than 250technical committees, who develop the ISO standards.[18][20][21][22] ISO has a joint technical committee (JTC) with theInternational Electrotechnical Commission(IEC) to develop standards relating toinformation technology(IT). Known asJTC 1and entitled "Information technology", it was created in 1987 and its mission is "to develop worldwideInformation and Communication Technology(ICT) standards for business and consumer applications."[23][24] There was previously also a JTC 2 that was created in 2009 for a joint project to establish common terminology for "standardization in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources".[25]It was later disbanded. As of 2022[update], there are 167national membersrepresenting ISO in their country, with each country having only one member.[7][26] ISO has three membership categories,[1] Participating members are called "P" members, as opposed to observing members, who are called "O" members. ISO is funded by a combination of:[27] International standards are the main products of ISO. It also publishes technical reports, technical specifications, publicly available specifications, technicalcorrigenda(corrections), and guides.[28][29] International standards Technical reports For example: Technical and publicly available specifications For example: Technical corrigenda ISO guides For example: ISO documents have strict copyright restrictions and ISO charges for most copies. As of 2020[update], the typical cost of a copy of an ISO standard is aboutUS$120or more (and electronic copies typically have a single-user license, so they cannot be shared among groups of people).[31]Some standards by ISO and its official U.S. representative (and, via the U.S. National Committee, theInternational Electrotechnical Commission) are made freely available.[32][33] A standard published by ISO/IEC is the last stage of a long process that commonly starts with the proposal of new work within a committee. Some abbreviations used for marking a standard with its status are:[34][35][36][37][38][39][40] Abbreviations used for amendments are:[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] Other abbreviations are:[38][39][41][42] International Standards are developed by ISO technical committees (TC) and subcommittees (SC) by a process with six steps:[36][43] The TC/SC may set upworking groups(WG) of experts for the preparation of a working drafts. Subcommittees may have several working groups, which may have several Sub Groups (SG).[44] It is possible to omit certain stages, if there is a document with a certain degree of maturity at the start of a standardization project, for example, a standard developed by another organization. ISO/IEC directives also allow the so-called "Fast-track procedure". In this procedure, a document is submitted directly for approval as a draft International Standard (DIS) to the ISO member bodies or as a final draft International Standard (FDIS), if the document was developed by an international standardizing body recognized by the ISO Council.[36] The first step, a proposal of work (New Proposal), is approved at the relevant subcommittee or technical committee (e.g., SC 29 and JTC 1 respectively in the case of MPEG, theMoving Picture Experts Group). A working group (WG) of experts is typically set up by the subcommittee for the preparation of a working draft (e.g., MPEG is a collection of seven working groups as of 2023). When the scope of a new work is sufficiently clarified, some of the working groups may make an open request for proposals—known as a "call for proposals". The first document that is produced, for example, for audio and video coding standards is called a verification model (VM) (previously also called a "simulation and test model"). When a sufficient confidence in the stability of the standard under development is reached, a working draft (WD) is produced. This is in the form of a standard, but is kept internal to working group for revision. When a working draft is sufficiently mature and the subcommittee is satisfied that it has developed an appropriate technical document for the problem being addressed, it becomes a committee draft (CD) and is sent to the P-member national bodies of the SC for the collection of formal comments. Revisions may be made in response to the comments, and successive committee drafts may be produced and circulated until consensus is reached to proceed to the next stage, called the "enquiry stage". After a consensus to proceed is established, the subcommittee will produce a draft international standard (DIS), and the text is submitted to national bodies for voting and comment within a period of five months. A document in the DIS stage is available to the public for purchase and may be referred to with its ISO DIS reference number.[45] Following consideration of any comments and revision of the document, the draft is then approved for submission as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC/SC are in favour and if not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. ISO will then hold a ballot among the national bodies where no technical changes are allowed (a yes/no final approval ballot), within a period of two months. It is approved as an International Standard (IS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC/SC is in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. After approval, the document is published by the ISOcentral secretariat, with only minor editorial changes introduced in the publication process before the publication as an International Standard.[34][36] Except for a relatively small number of standards,[32]ISO standards are not available free of charge, but rather for a purchase fee,[46]which has been seen by some as unaffordable for smallopen-sourceprojects.[47] The process of developing standards within ISO was criticized around 2007 as being too difficult for timely completion of large and complex standards, and some members were failing to respond to ballots, causing problems in completing the necessary steps within the prescribed time limits. In some cases, alternative processes have been used to develop standards outside of ISO and then submit them for its approval. A more rapid "fast-track" approval procedure was used inISO/IEC JTC 1for thestandardization of Office Open XML(OOXML, ISO/IEC 29500, approved in April 2008), and another rapid alternative "publicly available specification" (PAS) process had been used byOASISto obtain approval ofOpenDocumentas an ISO/IEC standard (ISO/IEC 26300, approved in May 2006).[48] As was suggested at the time by Martin Bryan, the outgoing convenor (chairman) of working group 1 (WG1) ofISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34, the rules of ISO were eventually tightened so that participating members that fail to respond to votes are demoted to observer status. The computer security entrepreneur andUbuntufounder,Mark Shuttleworth, was quoted in aZDNetblog article in 2008 about the process of standardization of OOXML as saying: "I think it de-values the confidence people have in the standards setting process", and alleged that ISO did not carry out its responsibility. He also said thatMicrosofthad intensely lobbied many countries that traditionally had not participated in ISO and stacked technical committees with Microsoft employees, solution providers, and resellers sympathetic to Office Open XML:[49] When you have a process built on trust and when that trust is abused, ISO should halt the process... ISO is an engineeringold boys cluband these things are boring so you have to have a lot of passion ... then suddenly you have an investment of a lot of money and lobbying and you get artificial results. The process is not set up to deal with intensive corporatelobbyingand so you end up with something being a standard that is not clear. International Workshop Agreements (IWAs) are documents that establish a collaboration agreement that allow "key industry players to negotiate in an open workshop environment" outside of ISO in a way that may eventually lead to development of an ISO standard.[42] On occasion, the fact that many of the ISO-created standards are ubiquitous has led to common use of "ISO" to describe the product that conforms to a standard. Some examples of this are: ISO presents several awards to acknowledge the valuable contributions made in the realm of international standardization:[50] Some of the 834 Technical Committees of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) include:[7]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization
Consumer privacyisinformation privacyas it relates to the consumers of products and services. A variety of social, legal and political issues arise from the interaction of the public's potentialexpectation of privacyand the collection and dissemination ofdatabybusinessesormerchants.[1]Consumerprivacy concerns date back to the first commercialcouriersand bankers who enforced strong measures to protect customer privacy. In modern times, theethical codesof various professions specify measures to protect customer privacy, includingmedical privacyandclient confidentiality. State interests include matters ofnational security. Consumer concerned about the invasion of individual information, thus doubtful when thinking about using certain services.[2]Many organizations have a competitive incentive to collect, retain, and use customer data for various purposes, and many companies adoptsecurity engineeringmeasures to control this data and manage customer expectations and legal requirements for consumer privacy. Consumer privacy protectionis the use of laws and regulations to protect individuals from privacy loss due to the failures and limitations of corporate customer privacy measures. Corporations may be inclined to share data for commercial advantage and fail to officially recognize it as sensitive to avoidlegal liabilityin the chance that lapses of security may occur. Modern consumer privacy law originated from telecom regulation when it was recognized that atelephone companyhad access to unprecedented levels of information. Customer privacy measures were seen as deficient to deal with the many hazards of corporatedata sharing,corporate mergers,employee turnover, and theft of data storage devices (e.g.,hard drives) that could store a large amount of data in a portable location. Businesses have consumer data and information obtained from consumer and client purchases, products, and services. Thus, businesses have the responsibility to keep these data and information safe and confidential. Consumers expect that businesses will take an active stance when protecting consumer privacy issues and supporting confidential agreements.[3][citation needed]Whether a firm provides services or products to consumers, firms are expected to use methods such as obfuscation or encoding methods to cover up consumer data when analyzing data or trends for example. Firms are also expected to protect consumer privacy both within the organizations themselves and from outside third entities including third party providers of services, suppliers who provide product components and supplies, and government institutions or community partnership organizations. In addition, businesses are sometime required to provide an agreement/contract to service clients or product consumer that states customer or client information and data will be kept confidential and that it will not be used for advertising or promotional purposes for example. The US government, including the FTC, haveconsumer protectionlaws like TheTelephone Consumer Protection Actand Data Transparency and Privacy Act. Individuals States have laws and regulation that protect consumers as well. One example of this is TheCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act. Consumer privacy concerns date back to the first commercialcouriersandbankerswho enforced strong measures to protect customer privacy. Harsh punitive measures were passed as the result of failing to keep a customer's information private. In modern times, theethical codesof most professions specify privacy measures for the consumer of any service, includingmedical privacy,client confidentiality, andnational security. These codes are particularly important in acarceral state, where no privacy in any form nor limits onstateoversight or data use exists.[4]Corporate customer privacy practicesare approaches taken by commercial organizations to ensure that confidential customer data is not stolen or abused.[5]Since most organizations have strong competitive incentives to retain exclusive access to customer data, and since customer trust is usually a high priority, most companies take somesecurity engineeringmeasures to protect customer privacy. There is also a concern that companies may sell consumer data if they have to declare bankruptcy, although it often violates their own privacy policies.[5] The measures companies take to protect consumer privacy vary in effectiveness, and would not typically meet the much higher standards ofclient confidentialityapplied byethical codesorlegal codesinbankingorlaw, norpatient privacymeasures in medicine, nor rigorousnational securitymeasures in military andintelligence organizations. TheCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act, for example, protects the use of consumer privacy data by firms and governments. This act makes it harder for firms to extract personal information from consumers and use it for commercial purposes. Some of the rights included in this act include:[6] Since companies operate to generate aprofit, commercial organizations also cannot spend unlimited funds on precautions while remaining competitive; a commercial context tends to limit privacy measures and to motivate organizations to share data when working in partnership. The damage done by privacy loss is not measurable, nor can it be undone, and commercial organizations have little or no interest in taking unprofitable measures to drastically increase the privacy of customers. Corporations may be inclined to share data for commercial advantage and fail to officially recognize it as sensitive to avoid legal liability in the chance that lapses of security may occur. This has led to manymoral hazardsand customerprivacy violationincidents.[7] Some services—notablytelecommunications, includingInternet—require collecting a vast array of information about users' activities in the course of business, and may also require consultation of these data to preparebills. In the US and Canada, telecom data must be kept for seven years to permit dispute and consultation about phone charges. These sensitivities have led telecom regulation to be a leader in consumer privacy regulation, enforcing a high level of confidentiality on the sensitive customer communication records. The focus of consumer rights activists on the telecoms industry has super-sided as other industries also gather sensitive consumer data. Such common commercial measures as software-basedcustomer relationship management, rewards programs, andtarget marketingtend to drastically increase the amount of information gathered (and sometimes shared). These very drastically increase privacy risks and have accelerated the shift to regulation, rather than relying on the corporate desire to preserve goodwill.[citation needed] Concerns have led to consumer privacy laws in most countries, especially in theEuropean Union,[8]Australia,New ZealandandCanada. Notably, among developed countries, theUnited Stateshas no such law and relies on corporate customer privacy disclosed in privacy policies to ensure consumer privacy in general. Modern privacy law and regulation may be compared to parts of theHippocratic Oath, which includes a requirement for doctors to avoid mentioning the ills of patients to others—not only to protect them, but to protect their families— and also recognizes that innocent third parties can be harmed by the loss of control of sensitive personal information.[9][10] Modern consumer privacy law originated from telecom regulation when it was recognized that atelephone company—especially amonopoly(known in many nations as aPTT)—had access to unprecedented levels of information: the direct customer's communication habits and correspondents and the data of those who shared the household. Telephone operators could frequently hear conversations—inadvertently or deliberately—and their job required them to dial the exact numbers. The data gathering required for the process of billing began to become a privacy risk as well. Accordingly, strong rules on operator behaviour, customer confidentiality, records keeping and destruction were enforced on telephone companies in every country. Typically only police and military authorities had legal powers towiretapor see records. Even stricter requirements emerged for various banks' electronic records. In some countries,financial privacyis a major focus of the economy, with severe criminal penalties for violating it.[citation needed] Through the 1970s, many other organizations indeveloped nationsbegan to acquire sensitive data, but there were few or no regulations in place to prevent them from sharing or abusing the data. Customer trust and goodwill were generally thought to be sufficient in first-world countries, notably theUnited States, to ensure the protection of truly sensitive data;caveat emptorwas applied in these situations. But in the 1980s, smaller organizations also began to get access to computer hardware and software, and these simply did not have the procedures or personnel or expertise, nor less the time, to take rigorous measures to protect their customers. Meanwhile, viatarget marketingandrewards programs, companies were acquiring ever more data.[citation needed][11] Gradually, customer privacy measures were seen as deficient to deal with the many hazards of corporate data sharing, corporate mergers,employee turnover, and theft of data storage devices (e.g.hard drives) that could store a large amount of data in a portable location. Explicit regulation of consumer privacy gained further support, especially in theEuropean Union, where each nation had laws that were incompatible (e.g., some restricted thedata collection, the data compilation and thedata dissemination); it was possible to violate privacy within the EU simply doing these things from different places in theEuropean Common Marketas it existed before 1992.[citation needed][12] Through the 1990s, the proliferation ofmobile telecom, the introduction ofcustomer relationship management, and the use of theInternetindeveloped nationsbrought the situation to the forefront, and most countries had to implement strong consumer privacy laws, often over the objections of business. TheEuropean UnionandNew Zealandpassed particularly strong laws that were used as a template for more limited laws inAustraliaandCanadaand some states of theUnited States(where no federal law for consumer privacy exists, although there are requirements specific to banking and telecom privacy). InAustriaaround the 1990s, the mere mention of a client's name in a semi-public social setting was enough to earn a junior bank executive a stiff jail sentence.[13] After theterrorist attacksagainst theUnited StatesonSeptember 11, 2001, privacy took a back-seat tonational securityin legislators' minds. Accordingly, concerns of consumer privacy in theUnited Stateshave tended to go unheard of as questions of citizen privacy versus the state, and the development of apolice stateorcarceral state, have occupied advocates of strong privacy measures. Whereas it may have appeared prior to 2002 that commercial organizations and the consumer data they gathered were of primary concern, it has appeared since then in mostdeveloped nationsto be much less of a concern thanpolitical privacyandmedical privacy(e.g., as violated bybiometrics). Indeed, people have recently beenstopped at airportssolely due to their political views, and there appears to be minimal public will to stop practices of this nature.[citation needed]The need for stricter laws is more pronounced after the American web service provider, Yahoo admitted that sensitive information (including email addresses and passwords) of half a billion users was stolen by hackers in 2014. The data breach was a massive setback for the company and raised several questions about the revelation of the news after two years of the hacking incident.[14]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_privacy
TheGeneral Data Protection Regulation(Regulation (EU) 2016/679),[1]abbreviatedGDPR, is aEuropean Union regulationoninformation privacyin theEuropean Union(EU) and theEuropean Economic Area(EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EUprivacy lawandhuman rights law, in particular Article 8(1) of theCharter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It also governs the transfer ofpersonal dataoutside the EU and EEA. The GDPR's goals are to enhance individuals' control and rights over their personal information and to simplify the regulations forinternational business.[2]It supersedes theData Protection Directive95/46/EC and, among other things, simplifies the terminology. TheEuropean ParliamentandCouncil of the European Unionadopted the GDPR on 14 April 2016, to become effective on 25 May 2018. As anEU regulation(instead of adirective), the GDPR has direct legal effect and does not requiretranspositioninto national law. However, it also provides flexibility for individual member states to modify (derogate from) some of its provisions. As an example of theBrussels effect, the regulation became a model for many other laws around the world, including in Brazil, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.[citation needed][3]Afterleaving the European Unionthe United Kingdom enacted its "UK GDPR", identical to the GDPR.[4]TheCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act(CCPA), adopted on 28 June 2018, has many similarities with the GDPR.[5] The GDPR 2016 has eleven chapters, concerning general provisions, principles, rights of the data subject, duties of data controllers or processors, transfers of personal data to third countries, supervisory authorities, cooperation among member states, remedies, liability or penalties for breach of rights, provisions related to specific processing situations, and miscellaneous final provisions. Recital 4 proclaims that ‘processing of personal data should be designed to serve mankind’. The regulation applies if the data controller (an organisation that collects information about living people, whether they are in the EU or not), or processor (an organisation that processes data on behalf of a data controller like cloud service providers), or the data subject (person) is based in the EU. Under certain circumstances,[6]the regulation also applies to organisations based outside the EU if they collect or process personal data of individuals located inside the EU. The regulation does not apply to the processing of data by a person for a "purely personal or household activity and thus with no connection to a professional or commercial activity." (Recital 18). According to theEuropean Commission, "Personal data is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. If you cannot directly identify an individual from that information, then you need to consider whether the individual is still identifiable. You should take into account the information you are processing together with all the means reasonably likely to be used by either you or any other person to identify that individual."[7]The precise definitions of terms such as "personal data", "processing", "data subject", "controller", and "processor" are stated inArticle 4.[1]: Art. 4 The regulation does not purport to apply to the processing of personal data for national security activities or law enforcement of the EU; however, industry groups concerned about facing a potential conflict of laws have questioned whetherArticle 48could be invoked to seek to prevent a data controller subject to a third country's laws from complying with a legal order from that country's law enforcement, judicial, or national security authorities to disclose to such authorities the personal data of an EU person, regardless of whether the data resides in or out of the EU.Article 48states that any judgement of a court ortribunaland any decision of an administrative authority of a third country requiring a controller or processor to transfer or disclose personal data may not be recognised or enforceable in any manner unless based on an international agreement, like amutual legal assistance treatyin force between the requesting third (non-EU) country and the EU or a member state. The data protection reform package also includes a separate Data Protection Directive for the police and criminal justice sector that provides rules on personal data exchanges atState level, Union level, and international levels.[8] A single set of rules applies to all EU member states. Each member state establishes an independent supervisory authority (SA) to hear and investigate complaints, sanction administrative offences, etc.[1]: Arts. 46–55SAs in each member state co-operate with other SAs, providing mutual assistance and organising joint operations. If a business has multiple establishments in the EU, it must have a single SA as its "lead authority", based on the location of its "main establishment" where the main processing activities take place. The lead authority thus acts as a "one-stop shop" to supervise all the processing activities of that business throughout the EU.[9][10]AEuropean Data Protection Board(EDPB) co-ordinates the SAs. EDPB thus replaces theArticle 29Data Protection Working Party. There are exceptions for data processed in an employment context or in national security that still might be subject to individual country regulations.[1]: Arts. 2(2)(a) & 88 Article 5sets out sixprinciplesrelating to the lawfulness of processing personal data. The first of these specifies that data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Article 6 develops this principle by specifying that personal data may not be processed unless there is at least one legal basis for doing so. The other principles refer to "purpose limitation", "data minimisation", "accuracy", "storage limitation", and "integrity and confidentiality". Article 6states that the lawful purposes are: If informedconsent[1]: Art. 4(11)is used as the lawful basis for processing, consent must have been explicit for data collected and each purpose data is used for.[1]: Art. 7Consent must be a specific, freely given, plainly worded, and unambiguous affirmation given by the data subject; an online form which has consent options structured as an opt-out selected by default is a violation of the GDPR, as the consent is not unambiguously affirmed by the user. In addition, multiple types of processing may not be "bundled" together into a single affirmation prompt, as this is not specific to each use of data, and the individual permissions are not freely given. (Recital 32). Data subjects must be allowed to withdraw this consent at any time, and the process of doing so must not be harder than it was to opt in.[1]: Art. 7(3)A data controller may not refuse service to users who decline consent to processing that is not strictly necessary in order to use the service.[1]: Art. 8Consent for children, defined in the regulation as being less than 16 years old (although with the option for member states to individually make it as low as 13 years old), must be given by the child's parent or custodian, and verifiable.[11][12] If consent to processing was already provided under the Data Protection Directive, a data controller does not have to re-obtain consent if the processing is documented and obtained in compliance with the GDPR's requirements (Recital 171).[13][14] Article 12requires the data controller to provide information to the "data subject in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language, in particular for any information addressed specifically to a child." Theright of access(Article 15) is a data subject right.[15]It gives people the right to access their personal data and information about how this personal data is being processed. A data controller must provide, upon request, an overview of the categories of data that are being processed[1]: Art. 15(1)(b)as well as a copy of the actual data;[1]: Art. 15(3)furthermore, the data controller has to inform the data subject on details about the processing, such as the purposes of the processing,[1]: Art. 15(1)(a)with whom the data is shared,[1]: Art. 15(1)(c)and how it acquired the data.[1]: Art. 15(1)(g) A data subject must be able to transfer personal data from one electronic processing system to and into another, without being prevented from doing so by the data controller. Data that has been sufficiently anonymised is excluded, but data that has been only de-identified but remains possible to link to the individual in question, such as by providing the relevant identifier, is not.[16]In practice, however, providing such identifiers can be challenging, such as in the case of Apple'sSiri, where voice and transcript data is stored with a personal identifier that the manufacturer restricts access to,[17]or in online behavioural targeting, which relies heavily ondevice fingerprintsthat can be challenging to capture, send, and verify.[18] Both data being 'provided' by the data subject and data being 'observed', such as about behaviour, are included. In addition, the data must be provided by the controller in a structured and commonly used standard electronic format. The right todata portabilityis provided byArticle 20. Aright to be forgottenwas replaced by a more limitedright of erasurein the version of the GDPR that was adopted by the European Parliament in March 2014.[19][20]Article 17provides that the data subject has the right to request erasure of personal data related to them on any one of a number of grounds, including noncompliance withArticle 6(1)(lawfulness) that includes a case (f) if the legitimate interests of the controller are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject, which require protection of personal data (see alsoGoogle Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González).[21] Article 21of the GDPR allows an individual to object to processing personal information for marketing or non-service related purposes.[22]This means the data controller must allow an individual the right to stop or prevent controller from processing their personal data. There are some instances where this objection does not apply. For example, if: GDPR is also clear that the data controller must inform individuals of their right to object from the first communication the controller has with them. This should be clear and separate from any other information the controller is providing and give them their options for how best to object to the processing of their data. There are instances the controller can refuse a request, in the circumstances that the objection request is "manifestly unfounded" or "excessive", so each case of objection must be looked at individually.[22]Other countries such as Canada[23]are also, following the GDPR, considering legislation to regulate automated decision making under privacy laws, even though there are policy questions as to whether this is the best way to regulate AI.[citation needed] Article 82of the GDPR stipulates that any person who has suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of this Regulation shall have the right to receive compensation from the controller or processor for the damage suffered. In the judgmentÖsterreichische Post(C-300/21) the Court of Justice of the European Union gave an interpretation of the right to compensation.[24]Article 82(1) GDPR requires for the award of damages(i)an infringement of the GDPR,(ii)(actual) damage suffered and(iii)a causal link between the infringement and the damage suffered. It is not necessary that the damage suffered reaches a certain degree of seriousness. There is no European defined concept of damage. Compensation is determined nationally in accordance with national law. The principles of equivalence and effectiveness must be taken into account.[25] See also the Opinion of the Advocate General in the caseKrankenversicherung Nordrhein(C-667/21).[26] Data controllers must clearly disclose anydata collection, declare the lawful basis and purpose for data processing, and state how long data is being retained and if it is being shared with any third parties or outside of the EEA. Firms have the obligation to protect data of employees and consumers to the degree where only the necessary data is extracted with minimum interference with data privacy from employees, consumers, or third parties. Firms should have internal controls and regulations for various departments such as audit, internal controls, and operations. Data subjects have the right to request aportablecopy of the data collected by a controller in a common format, as well as the right to have theirdata erasedunder certain circumstances. Public authorities, and businesses whose core activities consist of regular or systematic processing of personal data, are required to employ adata protection officer(DPO), who is responsible for managing compliance with the GDPR. Data controllers must reportdata breachesto national supervisory authorities within 72 hours if they have an adverse effect on user privacy. In some cases, violators of the GDPR may be fined up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater. To be able to demonstrate compliance with the GDPR, the data controller must implement measures that meet the principles of data protection by design and by default.Article 25requires data protection measures to be designed into the development of business processes for products and services. Such measures includepseudonymisingpersonal data, by the controller, as soon as possible (Recital 78). It is the responsibility and the liability of the data controller to implement effective measures and be able to demonstrate the compliance of processing activities even if the processing is carried out by a data processor on behalf of the controller (Recital 74). When data is collected, data subjects must be clearlyinformedabout the extent of data collection, the legal basis for the processing of personal data, how long data is retained, if data is being transferred to a third-party and/or outside the EU, and anyautomated decision-makingthat is made on a solelyalgorithmicbasis. Data subjects must be informed of their privacy rights under the GDPR, including their right to revoke consent to data processing at any time, their right toview their personal data and access an overview of how it is being processed, their right to obtain aportable copy of the stored data, their right toerasure of their data under certain circumstances, their right to contest any automated decision-making that was made on a solelyalgorithmicbasis, and their right to file complaints with aData Protection Authority. As such, the data subject must also be provided with contact details for the data controller and their designated data protection officer, where applicable.[27][28] Data protection impact assessments (Article 35) have to be conducted when specific risks occur to the rights and freedoms of data subjects. Risk assessment and mitigation is required and prior approval of the data protection authorities is required for high risks. Article 25requires data protection to be designed into the development of business processes for products and services. Privacy settings must therefore be set at a high level by default, and technical and procedural measures shall be taken by the controller to make sure that the processing, throughout the whole processing lifecycle, complies with the regulation. Controllers shall also implement mechanisms to ensure that personal data is not processed unless necessary for each specific purpose. This is known as data minimisation. A report[29]by theEuropean Union Agency for Network and Information Securityelaborates on what needs to be done to achieve privacy and data protection by default. It specifies that encryption and decryption operations must be carried out locally, not by remote service, because both keys and data must remain in the power of the data owner if any privacy is to be achieved. The report specifies that outsourced data storage on remote clouds is practical and relatively safe if only the data owner, not the cloud service, holds the decryption keys. According to the GDPR,pseudonymisationis a required process for stored data that transforms personal data in such a way that the resulting data cannot be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information (as an alternative to the other option of completedata anonymisation).[30]An example isencryption, which renders the original data unintelligible in a process that cannot be reversed without access to the correctdecryption key. The GDPR requires for the additional information (such as the decryption key) to be kept separately from the pseudonymised data. Another example of pseudonymisation istokenisation, which is a non-mathematical approach to protectingdata at restthat replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive substitutes, referred to as tokens. While the tokens have no extrinsic or exploitable meaning or value, they allow for specific data to be fully or partially visible for processing and analytics while sensitive information is kept hidden.Tokenisationdoes not alter the type or length of data, which means it can be processed by legacy systems such as databases that may be sensitive to data length and type. This also requires much fewer computational resources to process and less storage space in databases than traditionally encrypted data. Pseudonymisation is aprivacy-enhancing technologyand is recommended to reduce the risks to the concerned data subjects and also to help controllers and processors to meet their data protection obligations (Recital 28).[31] According toArticle 30records of processing activities have to be maintained by each organisation matching one of following criteria: Such requirements may be modified by each EU country. The records shall be in electronic form and the controller or the processor and, where applicable, the controller's or the processor's representative, shall make the record available to the supervisory authority on request. Records of controller shall contain all of the following information: Records of processor shall contain all of the following information: Controllers and processors of personal data must put in placeappropriate technical and organizational measuresto implement the data protection principles.[32]Business processes that handle personal data must be designed and built with consideration of the principles and provide safeguards to protect data (for example, usingpseudonymizationor fullanonymizationwhere appropriate).[33]Data controllers must design information systems with privacy in mind. For instance, using the highest-possible privacy settings by default, so that the datasets are not publicly available by default and cannot be used to identify a subject. No personal data may be processed unless this processing is done under one of the six lawful bases specified by the regulation (consent, contract, public task, vital interest, legitimate interest or legal requirement). When the processing is based on consent the data subject has the right to revoke it at any time.[34] Article 33states the data controller is under a legal obligation to notify the supervisory authority without undue delay unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of the individuals. There is a maximum of 72 hours after becoming aware of the data breach to make the report. Individuals have to be notified if a high risk of an adverse impact is determined.[1]: Art. 34In addition, the data processor will have to notify the controller without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal data breach.[1]: Art. 33However, the notice to data subjects is not required if the data controller has implemented appropriate technical and organisational protection measures that render the personal data unintelligible to any person who is not authorised to access it, such as encryption.[1]: Art. 34 Article 37requires appointment of a data protection officer. If processing is carried out by a public authority (except for courts or independent judicial authorities when acting in their judicial capacity), or if processing operations involve regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale, or if processing on a large scale of special categories of data and personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences (Articles 9andArticle 10) a data protection officer (DPO)—a person with expert knowledge of data protection law and practices—must be designated to assist the controller or processor in monitoring their internal compliance with the Regulation. A designated DPO can be a current member of staff of a controller or processor, or the role can be outsourced to an external person or agency through a service contract. In any case, the processing body must make sure that there is no conflict of interest in other roles or interests that a DPO may hold. The contact details for the DPO must be published by the processing organisation (for example, in a privacy notice) and registered with the supervisory authority. The DPO is similar to a compliance officer and is also expected to be proficient at managing IT processes,data security(including dealing withcyberattacks) and other criticalbusiness continuityissues associated with the holding and processing of personal and sensitive data. The skill set required stretches beyond understanding legal compliance with data protection laws and regulations. The DPO must maintain a living data inventory of all data collected and stored on behalf of the organization.[35]More details on the function and the role of data protection officer were given on 13 December 2016 (revised 5 April 2017) in a guideline document.[36] Organisations based outside the EU must also appoint an EU-based person as a representative and point of contact for their GDPR obligations.[1]: Art. 27This is a distinct role from a DPO, although there is overlap in responsibilities that suggest that this role can also be held by the designated DPO.[37] Article 42 and 43 of the GDPR set the legal basis for formal GDPR certifications. They set the basis for two categories of certifications:[38] According to Art. 42 GDPR, the purpose of this certification is to demonstrate “compliance with the GDPR of processing operations by controllers and processors”.[39]There are over 70 references to certification in the GDPR, encompassing various obligations such as:[39] The GDPR certification also contributes to reduce the legal and financial risks of applicants, as well as of data controllers using certified data processing services.[40] The adoption of the European Data Protection Seals is under the responsibility of theEuropean Data Protection Board(EDPB) and is recognized across all EU and EEAMember States.[41] In October 2022, the Europrivacy certification criteria were officially recognized by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to serve as European Data Protection Seal.[42]Europrivacywas developed by the European research programme and is managed by theEuropean Centre for Certification and Privacy(ECCP) in Luxembourg. Besides the definitions as a criminal offence according to national law followingArticle 83GDPR the following sanctions can be imposed: These are some cases which are not addressed in the GDPR specifically, thus are treated as exemptions.[43] Conversely, an entity or more precisely an "enterprise" has to be engaged in "economic activity" to be covered by the GDPR.[b]Economic activity is defined broadly underEuropean Union competition law.[44] The GDPR also applies to data controllers and processors outside of theEuropean Economic Area(EEA) if they are engaged in the "offering of goods or services" (regardless of whether a payment is required) to data subjects within the EEA, or are monitoring the behaviour of data subjects within the EEA (Article 3(2)). The regulation applies regardless of where the processing takes place.[45]This has been interpreted as intentionally giving GDPRextraterritorial jurisdictionfor non-EU establishments if they are doing business with people located in the EU. It is questionable whether the EU or its member states will in practice be able to enforce GDPR against organisations which have no establishment in the EU.[46] UnderArticle 27, non-EU establishments subject to GDPR are obliged to have a designee within the European Union, an "EU Representative", to serve as a point of contact for their obligations under the regulation. The EU Representative is the Controller's or Processor's contact person vis-à-vis European privacy supervisors and data subjects, in all matters relating to processing, to ensure compliance with this GDPR. A natural (individual) or legal (corporation) person can play the role of an EU Representative.[1]: Art. 27(4)The non-EU establishment must issue a duly signed document (letter of accreditation) designating a given individual or company as its EU Representative. The said designation can only be given in writing.[1]: Art. 27(1) An establishment's failure to designate an EU Representative is considered ignorance of the regulation and relevant obligations, which itself is a violation of the GDPR subject to fines of up to €10 million or up to 2% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater. The intentional or negligent (willful blindness) character of the infringement (failure to designate an EU Representative) may rather constitute aggravating factors.[1]: Arts. 83(1) & 83(2) & 83(4a) An establishment does not need to name an EU Representative if they only engage in occasional processing that does not include, on a large scale, processing of special categories of data as referred to in Article 9(1) of GDPR or processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10, and such processing is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, taking into account the nature, context, scope and purposes of the processing. Non-EU public authorities and bodies are equally exempted.[1]: Art. 27(2) Chapter V of the GDPR forbids the transfer of the personal data of EU data subjects to countries outside of the EEA — known asthird countries— unless appropriate safeguards are imposed, or the third country's data protection regulations are formally considered adequate by the European Commission (Article 45).[47][48]Binding corporate rules, standard contractual clauses for data protection issued by a Data Processing Agreement (DPA), or a scheme of binding and enforceable commitments by the data controller or processor situated in a third country, are among examples.[49] The applicability of GDPR in the United Kingdom is affected byBrexit. Although the United Kingdom formally withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, it remained subject to EU law, including GDPR, until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.[47]The United Kingdom grantedroyal assentto theData Protection Act 2018on 23 May 2018, which augmented the GDPR, including aspects of the regulation that are to be determined by national law, and criminal offences for knowingly or recklessly obtaining, redistributing, or retaining personal data without the consent of the data controller.[51][52] Under theEuropean Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, existing and relevant EU law was transposed into UK law upon completion of the transition, and the GDPR was amended bystatutory instrumentto remove certain provisions no longer needed due to the UK's non-membership in the EU. Thereafter, the regulation will be referred to as "UK GDPR".[53][48][47]The UK will not restrict the transfer of personal data to countries within the EEA under UK GDPR. However, the UK will become athird countryunder the EU GDPR, meaning that personal data may not be transferred to the country unless appropriate safeguards are imposed, or the European Commission performs an adequacy decision on the suitability of British data protection legislation (Chapter V). As part of thewithdrawal agreement, the European Commission committed to perform an adequacy assessment.[47][48] In April 2019, the UKInformation Commissioner's Office(ICO) issued achildren's code of practicefor social networking services when used by minors, enforceable under GDPR, which also includes restrictions on "like" and "streak" mechanisms in order to discouragesocial media addictionand on the use of this data for processing interests.[54][55] In March 2021,Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and SportOliver Dowdenstated that the UK was exploring divergence from the EU GDPR in order to "[focus] more on the outcomes that we want to have and less on the burdens of the rules imposed on individual businesses".[56] Some common misconceptions about GDPR include: As per a study conducted by Deloitte in 2018, 92% of companies believe they are able to comply with GDPR in their business practices in the long run.[61] Companies operating outside of the EU have invested heavily to align their business practices with GDPR. The area of GDPR consent has a number of implications for businesses who record calls as a matter of practice. A typical disclaimer is not considered sufficient to gain assumed consent to record calls. Additionally, when recording has commenced, should the caller withdraw their consent, then the agent receiving the call must be able to stop a previously started recording and ensure the recording does not get stored.[62] IT professionals expect that compliance with the GDPR will require additional investment overall: over 80 percent of those surveyed expected GDPR-related spending to be at least US$100,000.[63]The concerns were echoed in a report commissioned by the law firmBaker & McKenziethat found that "around 70 percent of respondents believe that organizations will need to invest additional budget/effort to comply with the consent, data mapping and cross-border data transfer requirements under the GDPR."[64]The total cost for EU companies is estimated at €200 billion while for US companies the estimate is for $41.7 billion.[65]It has been argued that smaller businesses andstartup companiesmight not have the financial resources to adequately comply with the GDPR, unlike the larger international technology firms (such asFacebookandGoogle) that the regulation is ostensibly meant to target first and foremost.[66][67]A lack of knowledge and understanding of the regulations has also been a concern in the lead-up to its adoption.[68]A counter-argument to this has been that companies were made aware of these changes two years prior to them coming into effect and should have had enough time to prepare.[69] The regulations, including whether an enterprise must have a data protection officer, have been criticized for potential administrative burden and unclear compliance requirements.[70]Although data minimisation is a requirement, withpseudonymisationbeing one of the possible means, the regulation provides no guidance on how or what constitutes an effective data de-identification scheme, with a grey area on what would be considered as inadequate pseudonymisation subject to Section 5 enforcement actions.[31][71][72]There is also concern regarding the implementation of the GDPR inblockchainsystems, as the transparent and fixed record of blockchain transactions contradicts the very nature of the GDPR.[73]Many media outlets have commented on the introduction of a "right to explanation" of algorithmic decisions,[74][75]but legal scholars have since argued that the existence of such a right is highly unclear without judicial tests and is limited at best.[76][77] The GDPR has garnered support from businesses who regard it as an opportunity to improve their data management.[78][79]Mark Zuckerberghas also called it a "very positive step for theInternet",[80]and has called for GDPR-style laws to be adopted in the US.[81]Consumer rights groups such asThe European Consumer Organisationare among the most vocal proponents of the legislation.[82]Other supporters have attributed its passage to the whistleblowerEdward Snowden.[83]Free software advocateRichard Stallmanhas praised some aspects of the GDPR but called for additional safeguards to prevent technology companies from "manufacturing consent".[84] Academic experts who participated in the formulation of the GDPR wrote that the law "is the most consequential regulatory development in information policy in a generation. The GDPR brings personal data into a complex and protective regulatory regime."[85] Despite having had at least two years to prepare and do so, many companies and websites changed their privacy policies and features worldwide directly prior to GDPR's implementation, and customarily provided email and other notifications discussing these changes. This was criticised for resulting in a fatiguing number of communications, while experts noted that some reminder emails incorrectly asserted that new consent for data processing had to be obtained for when the GDPR took effect (any previously obtained consent to processing is valid as long as it met the regulation's requirements).Phishingscams also emerged using falsified versions of GDPR-related emails, and it was also argued that some GDPR notice emails may have actually been sent in violation of anti-spam laws.[86][13]In March 2019, a provider of compliance software found that many websites operated by EU member state governments contained embedded tracking from ad technology providers.[87][88] The deluge of GDPR-related notices also inspiredmemes, including those surrounding privacy policy notices being delivered by atypical means (such as aOuijaboard orStar Warsopening crawl), suggesting thatSanta Claus's "naughty or nice" list was a violation, and a recording of excerpts from the regulation by a formerBBC Radio 4Shipping Forecastannouncer. A blog,GDPR Hall of Shame, was also created to showcase unusual delivery of GDPR notices, and attempts at compliance that contained egregious violations of the regulation's requirements. Its author remarked that the regulation "has a lot of nitty gritty, in-the-weeds details, but not a lot of information about how to comply", but also acknowledged that businesses had two years to comply, making some of its responses unjustified.[89][90][91][92][93] Research indicates that approximately 25% of software vulnerabilities have GDPR implications.[94]Since Article 33 emphasizes breaches, not bugs, security experts advise companies to invest in processes and capabilities to identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited, includingcoordinated vulnerability disclosure processes.[95][96]An investigation of Android apps' privacy policies, data access capabilities, and data access behaviour has shown that numerous apps display a somewhat privacy-friendlier behaviour since the GDPR was implemented, although they still retain most of their data access privileges in their code.[97][98]An investigation of theNorwegian Consumer Councilinto the post-GDPR data subject dashboards on social media platforms (such asGoogle dashboard) has concluded that large social media firms deploy deceptive tactics in order to discourage their customers from sharpening their privacy settings.[99] On the effective date, some websites began to block visitors from EU countries entirely (includingInstapaper,[100]Unroll.me,[101]andTribune Publishing-owned newspapers, such as theChicago Tribuneand theLos Angeles Times) or redirect them to stripped-down versions of their services (in the case ofNational Public RadioandUSA Today) with limited functionality and/or no advertising so that they will not be liable.[102][103][104][105]Some companies, such asKlout, and several online video games, ceased operations entirely to coincide with its implementation, citing the GDPR as a burden on their continued operations, especially due to the business model of the former.[106][107][108]The volume of onlinebehavioural advertisingplacements in Europe fell 25–40% on 25 May 2018.[109][110] In 2020, two years after the GDPR began its implementation, the European Commission assessed that users across the EU had increased their knowledge about their rights, stating that "69% of the population above the age of 16 in the EU have heard about the GDPR and 71% of people heard about their national data protection authority."[111][112]The commission also found that privacy has become a competitive quality for companies which consumers are taking into account in their decisionmaking processes.[111] Facebook and subsidiariesWhatsAppandInstagram, as well asGoogle LLC(targetingAndroid), were immediately sued byMax Schrems's non-profitNOYBjust hours after midnight on 25 May 2018, for their use of "forced consent". Schrems asserts that both companies violated Article 7(4) by not presenting opt-ins fordata processingconsent on an individualized basis, and requiring users to consent to all data processing activities (including those not strictly necessary) or would be forbidden from using the services.[113][114][115][116][117]On 21 January 2019, Google was fined €50 million by the French DPA for showing insufficient control, consent, and transparency over use of personal data for behavioural advertising.[118][119]In November 2018, following a journalistic investigation intoLiviu Dragnea, the Romanian DPA (ANSPDCP) used a GDPR request to demand information on theRISE Project's sources.[120][121] In July 2019, the BritishInformation Commissioner's Officeissued an intention to fineBritish Airwaysa record £183 million (1.5% of turnover) for poor security arrangements that enabled a 2018web skimmingattack affecting around 380,000 transactions.[122][123][124][125][126]British Airways was ultimately fined a reduced amount of £20m, with the ICO noting that they had "considered both representations from BA and the economic impact of COVID-19 on their business before setting a final penalty".[127] In December 2019,Politicoreported that Ireland and Luxembourg – two smaller EU countries that have had a reputation as atax havensand (especially in the case of Ireland) as a base for European subsidiaries of U.S.big techcompanies – were facing significant backlogs in their investigations of major foreign companies under GDPR, with Ireland citing the complexity of the regulation as a factor. Critics interviewed byPoliticoalso argued that enforcement was also being hampered by varying interpretations between member states, the prioritisation of guidance over enforcement by some authorities, and a lack of cooperation between member states.[128] In November 2021, Irish Council for Civil Liberties lodged a formal complaint of the Commission that it is in breach of its obligation under EU Law to carefully monitor how Ireland applies the GDPR.[129]Until January 2023, the Commission published a new commitment based on the complaint of ICCL.[129] While companies are now subject to legal obligations, there are still various inconsistencies in the practical and technical implementation of GDPR.[130]As an example, according to the GDPR's right to access, the companies are obliged to provide data subjects with the data they gather about them. However, in a study on loyalty cards in Germany, companies did not provide the data subjects with the exact information of the purchased articles.[131]One might argue that such companies do not collect the information of the purchased articles, which does not conform with their business models. Therefore, data subjects tend to see that as a GDPR violation. As a result, studies have suggested for a better control through authorities.[131] According to the GDPR, end-users'consentshould be valid, freely given, specific, informed and active.[132]However, the lack of enforceability regarding obtaining lawful consents has been a challenge. As an example, a 2020 study, showed that theBig Tech, i.e.Google,Amazon,Facebook,Apple, andMicrosoft(GAFAM), usedark patternsin their consent obtaining mechanisms, which raises doubts regarding the lawfulness of the acquired consent.[132] In March 2021, EU member states led by France were reported to be attempting to modify the impact of the privacy regulation in Europe by exempting national security agencies.[133] After around 160 million Euros in GDPR fines were imposed in 2020, the figure was already over one billion Euros in 2021.[134] In 2024 and early 2025, GDPR enforcement actions intensified. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) imposed a €345 million fine on TikTok for violations related to children's data privacy and insufficient safeguards for young users.[135]In January 2025, Meta was fined €1.2 billion for unlawful data transfers between the EU and the US, marking one of the largest GDPR fines to date.[136] On 12 February 2025,The European Commission has abandoned proposed regulations on technology patents, AI liability, and privacy for messaging apps due to strong lobbying and a lack of consensus among EU lawmakers, with major tech firms opposing the changes.[137] Mass adoption of these new privacy standards by multinational companies has been cited as an example of the "Brussels effect", a phenomenon wherein European laws and regulations are used as a baseline due to their gravitas.[138] The U.S. state ofCaliforniapassed theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Acton 28 June 2018, taking effect on 1 January 2020; it grants rights to transparency and control over the collection of personal information by companies in a similar means to GDPR. Critics have argued that such laws need to be implemented at the federal level to be effective, as a collection of state-level laws would have varying standards that would complicate compliance.[139][140][141]Two other U.S. states have since enacted similar legislation:Virginiapassed the Consumer Data Privacy Act on 2 March 2021,[142]andColoradoenacted the Colorado Privacy Act on 8 July 2021.[143] TheRepublic of Turkey, acandidate for European Union membership, has adopted the Law on The Protection of Personal Data on 24 March 2016 in compliance with theEU acquis.[144] China's 2021Personal Information Protection Lawis the country's first comprehensive law on personal data rights and is modeled after the GDPR.[145]: 131 Switzerland will also adopt a new data protection law that largely follows EU's GDPR.[146] With the addition of overseas regions of the European Union joining non-governmental organsational (NGO) bodies in the Caribbean region such as theOrganisation of Eastern Caribbean States, the GDPR rules have become necessary to consider in the lack of any current legislation found in the region concerning privacy rights and maintaining compliance of the laws of those outer regions.[147] A 2024 study found that GDPR reduced both EU user website page views and website revenue by 12%.[148] The EUDigital Single Marketstrategy relates to "digital economy" activities related to businesses and people in the EU.[156]As part of the strategy, the GDPR and theNIS Directiveall apply from 25 May 2018. The proposedePrivacy Regulationwas also planned to be applicable from 25 May 2018, but will be delayed for several months.[157]TheeIDASRegulation is also part of the strategy. In an initial assessment, the European Council has stated that the GDPR should be considered "a prerequisite for the development of future digital policy initiatives".[158] Similar privacy laws in other countries: Related EU regulation: Related concepts: Compliance tactics by certain companies:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
Thefair information practice principles(FIPPs) of the United StatesFederal Trade Commission(FTC) are guidelines that represent widely accepted concepts concerning fair information practice in an electronic marketplace.[1] FTC fair information practice principles are the result of the commission's inquiry into the way in which online entities collect and use personal information and safeguards to assure that practice is fair and provides adequateinformation privacyprotection.[2]The FTC has been studying online privacy issues since 1995, and in its 1998 report,[3]the commission described the widely accepted fair information practice principles of notice, choice, access, and security.[1]The commission also identified enforcement, the use of a reliable mechanism to provide sanctions for noncompliance as a critical component of any governmental or self-regulatory program to protect online privacy.[1][4] Fair information practice was initially proposed and named[5]by theUS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systemsin a 1973 report,Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens,[6]issued in response to the growing use of automated data systems containing information about individuals. The central contribution of the Advisory Committee was the development of a code of fair information practice for automated personal data systems. The Privacy Protection Study Commission also may have contributed to the development of FIPs principles in its 1977 report,Personal Privacy in an Information Society.[7] As privacy laws spread to other countries in Europe, international institutions took up privacy with a focus on the international implications of privacy regulation. In 1980, theCouncil of Europeadopted aConvention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.[8]At the same time, theOrganisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)proposed similar privacy guidelines in the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.[9]The OECD Guidelines,Council of EuropeConvention, andEuropean UnionData Protection Directive[10]relied on FIPs as core principles. All three organizations revised and extended the original U.S. statement of FIPs, with the OECD Privacy Guidelines being the version most often cited in subsequent years.[11] The core principles of privacy addressed by these principles are: 1. Notice/Awareness[12]Consumers should be given notice of an entity's information practices before anypersonal informationis collected from them.[12]This requires that companies explicitly notify some or all of the following: 2. Choice/Consent[13]Choice and consent in an on-line information-gathering sense means giving consumers options to control how their data is used. Specifically, choice relates to secondary uses of information beyond the immediate needs of the information collector to complete the consumer's transaction. The two typical types of choice models are 'opt-in' or 'opt-out.' The 'opt-in' method requires that consumers affirmatively give permission for their information to be used for other purposes. Without the consumer taking these affirmative steps in an 'opt-in' system, the information gatherer assumes that it cannot use the information for any other purpose. The 'opt-out' method requires consumers to affirmatively decline permission for other uses. Without the consumer taking these affirmative steps in an 'opt-out' system, the information gatherer assumes that itcanuse the consumer's information for other purposes. Each of these systems can be designed to allow an individual consumer to tailor the information gatherer's use of the information to fit their preferences by checking boxes to grant or deny permission for specific purposes rather than using a simple "all or nothing" method.[13] 3. Access/Participation[14]Access as defined in the Fair Information Practice Principles includes not only a consumer's ability to view the data collected, but also to verify and contest its accuracy. This access must be inexpensive and timely in order to be useful to the consumer.[14] 4. Integrity/Security[15]Information collectors should ensure that the data they collect is accurate and secure. They can improve the integrity of data by cross-referencing it with only reputable databases and by providing access for the consumer to verify it. Information collectors can keep their data secure by protecting against both internal and external security threats. They can limit access within their company to only necessary employees to protect against internal threats, and they can use encryption and other computer-based security systems to stop outside threats.[15] 5. Enforcement/Redress[16]In order to ensure that companies follow the Fair Information Practice Principles, there must be enforcement measures. The FTC identified three types of enforcement measures: self-regulation by the information collectors or an appointed regulatory body; private remedies that give civil causes of action for individuals whose information has been misused to sue violators; and government enforcement that can include civil and criminal penalties levied by the government.[16] Currently the FTC version of the Fair Information Principles are only recommendations for maintaining privacy-friendly, consumer-oriented data collection practices, and are not enforceable by law. The enforcement of and adherence to these principles is principally performed through self-regulation. The FTC has, however, undertaken efforts to evaluateindustry self-regulationpractices,[17]provides guidance for industry in developing information practices,[18]and uses its authority under the FTC Act to enforce promises made by corporations in their privacy policies.[19] Since self-regulatory initiatives fall short of ideal implementation of the principles (the 2000 FTC Report noted, for example, that self-regulatory initiatives lacked meaningful monitoring and enforcement policies and practices), the Commission recommends that theUnited States Congressenact legislation that, in conjunction with continuing self-regulatory programs, will ensure adequate protection of consumer privacy online.[20]"The legislation recommended by the Commission would set forth a basic level of privacy protection for consumer-oriented commercial Web sites" and "would establish basic standards of practice for the collection of information online...consumer-oriented commercial Web sites that collect personal identifying information from or about consumers online... would be required to comply with the four widely-accepted fair information practices."[11] The principles, however, form the basis of many individual laws at both the federal and state levels—called the "sectoral approach." Examples are theFair Credit Reporting Act, theRight to Financial Privacy Act, theElectronic Communications Privacy Act, theVideo Privacy Protection Act(VPPA), and theCable Television Protection and Competition Act.[21]Additionally, the principles continue to serve as a model for privacy protections in newly developing areas, such as in designing Smart Grid programs.[22] TheOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) andEuropean Union, among others, have adopted more comprehensive approaches to fair information practices. The OECD principles provide added protections via theIndividual Participation principlewhere specific requirements are made for access and modification of personally collected information by the individual and theAccountability principle(a data controller should be accountable for complying with measures which give effect to the principles stated above).[23][24] TheEuropean UnionData Protection Directiveis another model for comprehensive privacy protections.[25][26] The FIPPs are criticized by some scholars for being less comprehensive in scope than privacy regimes in other countries, in particular in the European Union and other OECD countries. Additionally, the FTC's formulation of the principles has been criticized in comparison to those issued by other agencies. TheFTC's 2000 version of FIPsis shorter and less complete than the privacy protection principles issued by the Privacy Office of theDepartment of Homeland Securityin 2008, which include eight principles closely aligned with the OECD principles.[21] Some in the privacy community criticize the FIPPs for being too weak, allowing too many exemptions, failing to require a privacy agency, failing to account for the weaknesses of self-regulation, and not keeping pace with information technology.[27]Many privacy experts have called for omnibus privacy protection legislation in the US[28]in lieu of the current blend of self-regulation and selective codification in certain sectors.[29] Critics from a business perspective often prefer to limit FIPs to reduced elements of notice, consent, and accountability. They complain that other elements are unworkable, expensive, or inconsistent with openness or free speech principles.[11] Some commentators argue that consumers do not have a fair say in the consent process. For example, customers provide their health information such as their social insurance number or health card number while making on-line an appointment for a dental check-up. Customers are commonly asked to sign an agreement stating that a ‘third-party may have an access to the information you provide under certain conditions.’ The certain conditions are rarely specified in any part of the agreement. Later on, the third-party may share the information with their subsidiary institutions. Thus, access to customers’ personal information is beyond their control.[30]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTC_fair_information_practice
Amesh networkis alocal area networktopologyin which the infrastructurenodes(i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate with one another to efficiently route data to and from clients. This lack of dependency on one node allows for every node to participate in the relay of information. Mesh networks dynamically self-organize and self-configure, which can reduce installation overhead. The ability to self-configure enables dynamic distribution of workloads, particularly in the event a few nodes should fail. This in turn contributes to fault-tolerance and reduced maintenance costs.[1] Mesh topology may be contrasted with conventionalstar/treelocal network topologies in which the bridges/switches are directly linked to only a small subset of other bridges/switches, and the links between these infrastructure neighbours are hierarchical. While star-and-tree topologies are very well established, highly standardized and vendor-neutral, vendors of mesh network devices have not yet all agreed on common standards, and interoperability between devices from different vendors is not yet assured.[2] Mesh networks can relay messages using either afloodingor aroutingtechnique, which makes them different from non-mesh networks.[3]A routed message is propagated along a path byhoppingfrom node to node until it reaches its destination. To ensure that all its paths are available, the network must allow for continuous connections and must reconfigure itself around broken paths, usingself-healingalgorithms such asShortest Path BridgingandTRILL(Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links). Self-healing allows a routing-based network to operate when a node breaks down or when a connection becomes unreliable. The network is typically quite reliable, as there is often more than one path between a source and a destination in the network. Although mostly used in wireless situations, this concept can also apply to wired networks and to software interaction. A mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is afully connected network. Fully connected wired networks are more secure and reliable: problems in a cable affect only the two nodes attached to it. In such networks, however, the number of cables, and therefore the cost, goes up rapidly as the number of nodes increases. Shortest path bridgingandTRILLeach allowEthernet switchesto be connected in a mesh topology and allow for all paths to be active.[4][5]IP routingsupports multiple paths from source to destination. A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a network made up ofradionodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form ofwireless ad hoc network.[6]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking
Thedark webis theWorld Wide Webcontent that exists ondarknets(overlay networks) that use theInternetbut require specific software, configurations, orauthorizationto access.[1][2][3][4]Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user's location.[5][6]The dark web forms a small part of thedeep web, the part of the web notindexedbyweb search engines, although sometimes the termdeep webis mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web.[7][2][8] The darknets which constitute the dark web include small,friend-to-friendnetworks, as well as large, popular networks such asTor,Hyphanet,I2P, andRiffleoperated by public organizations and individuals.[6]Users of the dark web refer to the regular web asclearnetdue to itsunencryptednature.[9]The Tor dark web oronionland[10]uses the traffic anonymization technique ofonion routingunder the network'stop-level domainsuffix.onion. The dark web has often been confused with thedeep web, the parts of the web not indexed (searchable) by search engines. The termdark webfirst emerged in 2009; however, it is unknown when the actual dark web first emerged.[11]Many internet users only use thesurface web, data that can be accessed by a typicalweb browser.[12]The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, but requires custom software in order to access its content. This confusion dates back to at least 2009.[13]Since then, especially in reporting onSilk Road, the two terms have often been conflated,[14]despite recommendations that they should be distinguished.[1][7] The dark web, also known as darknet websites, are accessible only through networks such asTor("The Onion Routing" project) that are created specifically for the dark web.[12][15]Tor browser and Tor-accessible sites are widely used among the darknet users and can be identified by the domain ".onion".[16]Tor browsers create encrypted entry points and pathways for the user, allowing their dark web searches and actions to be anonymous.[12] Identities and locations of darknet users stay anonymous and cannot be tracked due to the layeredencryptionsystem. The darknet encryption technology routes users' data through a large number of intermediate servers, which protects the users' identity and guarantees anonymity. The transmitted information can be decrypted only by a subsequentnodein the scheme, which leads to the exit node. The complicated system makes it almost impossible to reproduce the node path and decrypt the information layer by layer.[17]Due to the high level of encryption, websites are not able to trackgeolocationand IP of their users, and users are not able to get this information about the host. Thus, communication between darknet users is highly encrypted allowing users to talk, blog, and share files confidentially.[18] A December 2014 study by Gareth Owen from theUniversity of Portsmouthfound that the most commonly hosted type of content on Tor waschild pornography, followed byblack markets, while the individual sites with the highest traffic were dedicated tobotnetoperations (see attached metric).[21]Manywhistleblowingsites maintain a presence[22]as well as political discussion forums.[23]Sites associated withBitcoin,fraud-related services, andmail orderservices are some of the most prolific.[21] As of December 2020, the number of active Tor sites in .onion was estimated at 76,300 (containing a lot of copies). Of these, 18 000 would have original content.[24] In July 2017,Roger Dingledine, one of the three founders of the Tor Project, said thatFacebookis the biggest hidden service. The dark web comprises only 3% of the traffic in the Tor network.[25] A February 2016 study from researchers atKing's College Londongives the following breakdown of content by an alternative category set, highlighting the illicit use of .onion services.[17][26] The dark web is also used in certain extortion-related processes. It is common to observe data fromransomwareattacks on several dark web sites, for example data sales sites or public data repository sites.[27][28] Botnetsare often structured with theircommand-and-controlservers based on a censorship-resistant hidden service, creating a large amount of bot-related traffic.[21][29] Commercialdarknet marketsmediate transactions for illegal goods and typically use Bitcoin as payment.[30]These markets have attracted significant media coverage, starting with the popularity ofSilk Roadand Diabolus Market and its subsequent seizure by legal authorities.[31]Silk Road was one of the first dark web marketplaces that emerged in 2011 and has allowed for the trading of illegaldrugs,weaponsandidentity fraudresources.[30]These markets have no protection for its users and can be closed down at any time by authorities.[30]Despite the closures of these marketplaces, others pop up in their place.[30]As of 2020, there have been at least 38 active dark web market places, even though there can be many more.[30]These marketplaces are similar to that ofeBayorCraigslistwhere users can interact with sellers and leave reviews about marketplace products.[30] Examination of price differences in dark web markets versus prices in real life or over the World Wide Web have been attempted as well as studies in the quality of goods received over the dark web. One such study was performed on Evolution, one of the most popularcrypto-marketsactive from January 2013 to March 2015.[32]Although it found the digital information, such as concealment methods and shipping country, "seems accurate", the study uncovered issues with the quality of illegal drugs sold in Evolution, stating that, "the illicit drugs purity is found to be different from the information indicated on their respective listings."[32]Less is known about consumer motivations for accessing these marketplaces and factors associated with their use.[33]Darknets markets also sell leaked credit cards[34]that can be downloaded for free or purchased for use in illegal activities. Bitcoinis one of the main cryptocurrencies used in dark web marketplaces due to the flexibility and relative anonymity of the currency.[35]With bitcoin, people can hide their intentions as well as their identity.[36]A common approach was to use adigital currency exchangerservice which converted bitcoin into an online game currency (such as gold coins inWorld of Warcraft) that will later be converted back into fiat currency.[37][38]Bitcoinservices such astumblersare often available onTor, and some – such asGrams– offer darknet market integration.[39][40]A research study undertaken by Jean-Loup Richet, a research fellow atESSEC, and carried out with theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, highlighted new trends in the use of bitcoin tumblers formoney launderingpurposes, usingescrows. Due to its relevance in the digital world, bitcoin has become a popular product for users to scam companies with.[35]Cybercriminal groups such as DDOS"4" have led to over 140 cyberattacks on companies since the emergence of bitcoins in 2014.[35]These attacks have led to the formation of other cybercriminal groups as well as Cyber Extortion.[35] Manyhackerssell their services either individually or as a part of groups.[41]Such groups includexDedic,hackforum, Trojanforge,Mazafaka,dark0deand theTheRealDealdarknet market.[42]Some have been known totrackandextortapparent pedophiles.[43]Cyber crimes and hacking services for financial institutions and banks have also been offered over the dark web.[44]Attempts to monitor this activity have been made through various government and private organizations, and an examination of the tools used can be found in theProcedia Computer Sciencejournal.[45]Use of Internet-scale DNS distributed reflection denial of service (DRDoS) attacks have also been made through leveraging the dark web.[46]There are many scam .onion sites also present which end up giving tools for download that are infected withtrojan horsesorbackdoors. Recently, around 100,000 compromised ChatGPT users' login information was sold on the dark web in 2023. Additionally, the logs showed, in the opinion of the researchers, that the majority of the compromised ChatGPT passwords had been extracted by the data-stealing virus Raccoon.[47] Scott Dueweke the president and founder of Zebryx Consulting states that Russian electronic currency such as WebMoney and Perfect Money are behind the majority of the illegal actions.[36]In April 2015, Flashpoint received a 5 million dollar investment to help their clients gather intelligence from the deep and dark web.[48]There are numerouscardingforums,PayPalandbitcointrading websites as well as fraud and counterfeiting services.[49]Many such sites are scams themselves.[50]Phishingvia cloned websites and otherscamsites are numerous,[51][52]withdarknet marketsoften advertised with fraudulent URLs.[53][54] The type of content that has the most popularity on the dark web is illegal pornography—more specifically,child pornography.[35]About 80% of its web traffic is related to accessing child pornography despite it being difficult to find even on the dark web.[35]A website calledLolita City, which has since been taken down, contained over 100 GB of child pornographic media and had about 15,000 members.[35] There is regularlaw enforcementaction against sites distributing child pornography[55][56]– often via compromising the site and tracking users'IP addresses.[57][58]In 2015, the FBI investigated and took down a website calledPlaypen.[35]At the time, Playpen was the largest child pornography website on the dark web with over 200,000 members.[35]Sites use complex systems of guides, forums and community regulation.[59]Other content includessexualised torture and killing of animals[60]andrevenge porn.[61]In May 2021,German policesaid that they had dismantled one of the world's biggest child pornography networks on the dark web known asBoystown; the website had over 400,000 registered users. Four people had been detained in raids, including a man fromParaguay, on suspicion of running the network.Europolsaid several pedophile chat sites were also taken down in the German-led intelligence operation.[62][63] Terrorist organizations took to the internet as early as the 1990s; however, the birth of the dark web attracted these organizations due to the anonymity, lack of regulation, social interaction, and easy accessibility.[64]These groups have been taking advantage of the chat platforms within the dark web to inspire terrorist attacks.[64]Groups have even posted "How To" guides, teaching people how to become and hide their identities as terrorists.[64] The dark web became a forum for terrorist propaganda, guiding information, and most importantly, funding.[64]With the introduction of Bitcoin, an anonymous transactions were created which allowed for anonymous donations and funding.[64]By accepting Bitcoin, terrorists were now able to fund purchases of weaponry.[64]In 2018, an individual named Ahmed Sarsur was charged for attempting to purchase explosives and hire snipers to aid Syrian terrorists, as well as attempting to provide them financial support, all through the dark web.[35] There are at least some real and fraudulent websites claiming to be used byISIL(ISIS), including a fake one seized inOperation Onymous.[65]With the increase of technology, it has allowed cyber terrorists to flourish by attacking the weaknesses of the technology.[66]In the wake of theNovember 2015 Paris attacks, an actual such site was hacked by anAnonymous-affiliated hacker group,GhostSec, and replaced with an advert forProzac.[67]TheRawti ShaxIslamist group was found to be operating on the dark web at one time.[68] Within the dark web, there exists emerging social media platforms similar to those on the World Wide Web, this is known as the Dark Web Social Network (DWSN).[69]The DWSN works a like a regular social networking site where members can have customizable pages, have friends, like posts, and blog in forums.Facebookand other traditional social media platforms have begun to make dark-web versions of their websites to address problems associated with the traditional platforms and to continue their service in all areas of the World Wide Web.[70]Unlike Facebook, the privacy policy of the DWSN requires that members are to reveal absolutely no personal information and remain anonymous.[69] There are reports ofcrowdfunded assassinationsandhitmenfor hire;[71][72]however, these are believed to be exclusively scams.[73][74]The creator ofSilk Road,Ross Ulbricht, was arrested by Homeland Security investigations (HSI) for his site and allegedly hiring a hitman to kill six people, although the charges were later dropped.[75][76]There is anurban legendthat one can findlive murderon the dark web. The term "Red Room" has been coined based on the Japanese animation and urban legend of the same name; however, the evidence points toward all reported instances beinghoaxes.[77][78] On June 25, 2015, theindie gameSad Satanwas reviewed by YouTubersObscure Horror Cornerwhich they claimed to have found via the dark web. Various inconsistencies in the channel's reporting cast doubt on the reported version of events.[79]There are several websites which analyze and monitor the deep web and dark web for threat intelligence.[80] There have been arguments that the dark web promotes civil liberties, like "free speech, privacy, anonymity".[5]Some prosecutors and government agencies are concerned that it is a haven forcriminal activity.[81]The deep and dark web are applications of integral internet features to provide privacy and anonymity. Policing involves targeting specific activities of the private web deemed illegal or subject tointernet censorship. When investigating online suspects, police typically use the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the individual; however, due to Tor browsers creating anonymity, this becomes an impossible tactic.[82]As a result, law enforcement has employed many other tactics in order to identify and arrest those engaging in illegal activity on the dark web.[83]OSINT, or Open Source Intelligence, are data collection tools that legally collect information from public sources.[82]OSINT tools can be dark web specific to help officers find bits of information that would lead them to gaining more knowledge about interactions going on in the dark web.[82] In 2015 it was announced thatInterpolnow offers a dedicated dark web training program featuring technical information on Tor,cybersecurityand simulated darknet market takedowns.[84]In October 2013 the UK'sNational Crime AgencyandGCHQannounced the formation of a "Joint Operations Cell" to focus on cybercrime. In November 2015 this team would be tasked with tackling child exploitation on the dark web as well as other cybercrime.[85]In March 2017 theCongressional Research Servicereleased an extensive report on the dark web, noting the changing dynamic of how information is accessed and presented on it; characterized by the unknown, it is of increasing interest to researchers, law enforcement, and policymakers.[86]In August 2017, according to reportage, cybersecurity firms which specialize in monitoring and researching the dark web on behalf of banks and retailers routinely share their findings with theFBIand with other law enforcement agencies "when possible and necessary" regarding illegal content. The Russian-speaking underground offering a crime-as-a-service model is regarded as being particularly robust.[87] Manyjournalists, alternativenews organizations, educators, and researchers are influential in their writing and speaking of the darknet, and making its use clear to the general public.[88][89]Media coverage typically reports on the dark web in two ways; detailing the power and freedom of speech the dark web allows people to express, or more commonly reaffirms the illegality and fear of its contents, such as computer hackers.[69]Many headlines tie the dark web to child pornography with headlines such as, "N.J. man charged with surfing 'Dark Web' to collect nearly 3K images of child porn",[90]along with other illegal activities where news outlets describe it as "a hub for black markets that sell or distribute drugs".[91][69] SpecialistClearwebnews sites such asDeepDotWeb[92][93]andAll Things Vice[94]provide news coverage and practical information about dark web sites and services; however,DeepDotWebwas shut down by authorities in 2019.[95]The Hidden Wikiand itsmirrorsandforkshold some of the largestdirectoriesof content at any given time. Traditional media and news channels such asABC Newshave also featured articles examining the darknet.[96][97]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web
Apersonal data service(PDS) gives the user a central point ofcontrolfor their personal information (e.g. interests, contact information, affiliations, preferences, friends). The user's data attributes being managed by the service may be stored in a co-located repository, or they may be stored in multiple external distributed repositories, or a combination of both. Attributes from a PDS may be accessed via an API. Users of the same PDS instance may be allowed to selectively share sets of attributes with other users. A data ecosystem is developing where such sharing among projects or "operators" may become practicable.[1] The concept of a PDS can be differentiated from another closely related term,personal data store. "A personal data store is a physical repository for data over which an individual exerts access control. Again, the term itself does not imply where such a store lives on the network (i.e., in the cloud, on a local device, in a smart card, on a SIM, etc.)".[2]The word "store" implies that apersonal data storeactually stores personal data,[3]whereas the emphasis of a PDS is on providing a single point of control.[4]In summary, a 'personal data store' always stores data whereas, whereas apersonal data servicemay or may not.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_data_service
User interface (UI) designoruser interface engineeringis thedesignofuser interfacesformachinesandsoftware, such ascomputers,home appliances,mobile devices, and otherelectronic devices, with the focus on maximizingusabilityand theuser experience. In computer or software design, user interface (UI) design primarily focuses on information architecture. It is the process of building interfaces that clearly communicate to the user what's important. UI design refers to graphical user interfaces and other forms of interface design. The goal of user interface design is to make theuser's interaction as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing user goals (user-centered design). User-centered design is typically accomplished through the execution of moderndesign thinkingwhich involves empathizing with the target audience, defining a problem statement, ideating potential solutions, prototypingwireframes, and testing prototypes in order to refine final interfacemockups. User interfaces are the points of interaction between users and designs. Interface design is involved in a wide range of projects, from computer systems, to cars, to commercial planes; all of these projects involve much of the same basic human interactions yet also require some unique skills and knowledge. As a result, designers tend to specialize in certain types of projects and have skills centered on their expertise, whether it issoftware design, user research,web design, orindustrial design. Good user interface design facilitates finishing the task at hand without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.Graphic designandtypographyare utilized to support itsusability, influencing how the user performs certain interactions and improving theaestheticappeal of the design; design aesthetics may enhance or detract from the ability of users to use the functions of the interface.[1]The design process must balance technical functionality and visual elements (e.g.,mental model) to create a system that is not only operational but also usable and adaptable to changing user needs. Compared toUX design, UI design is more about the surface and overall look of a design. User interface design is a craft in which designers perform an important function in creating the user experience. UI design should keep users informed about what is happening, giving appropriate feedback in a timely manner. The visual look and feel of UI design sets the tone for the user experience.[2]On the other hand, the term UX design refers to the entire process of creating a user experience. Don NormanandJakob Nielsensaid: It's important to distinguish the total user experience from the user interface (UI), even though the UI is obviously an extremely important part of the design. As an example, consider a website with movie reviews. Even if the UI for finding a film is perfect, the UX will be poor for a user who wants information about a small independent release if the underlying database only contains movies from the major studios.[3] User interface design requires a good understanding of user needs. It mainly focuses on the needs of the platform and its user expectations. There are several phases and processes in the user interface design, some of which are more demanded upon than others, depending on the project.[4]The moderndesign thinkingframework was created in 2004 byDavid M. Kelley, the founder of Stanford’s d.school, formally known as theHasso Plattner Institute of Design.[5]EDIPT is a common acronym used to describe Kelley’s design thinking framework—it stands for empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.[6]Notably, the EDIPT framework is non-linear, therefore a UI designer may jump from one stage to another when developing a user-centric solution. Iteration is a common practice in the design thinking process; successful solutions often require testing and tweaking to ensure that the product fulfills user needs.[7] Common areas of interest include: TheNielsen Norman Group, co-founded byJakob NielsenandDon Normanin 1998, promotes user experience and interface design education. Jakob Nielsen pioneered the interfaceusabilitymovement and created the "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design."[9]Usability is aimed at defining an interface’s quality when considering ease of use; an interface with low usability will burden a user and hinder them from achieving their goals, resulting in the dismissal of the interface. To enhance usability, user experience researchers may conductusability testing—a process that evaluates how users interact with an interface. Usability testing can provide insight into user pain points by illustrating how efficiently a user can complete a task without error, highlighting areas for design improvement.[10] The dynamic characteristics of a system are described in terms of the dialogue requirements contained in seven principles of part 10 of the ergonomics standard, theISO 9241. This standard establishes a framework of ergonomic "principles" for the dialogue techniques with high-level definitions and illustrative applications and examples of the principles. The principles of the dialogue represent the dynamic aspects of the interface and can be mostly regarded as the "feel" of the interface. The concept of usability is defined of theISO 9241standard by effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the user. Part 11 gives the following definition of usability: Effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction can be seen as quality factors of usability. To evaluate these factors, they need to be decomposed into sub-factors, and finally, into usability measures. The information presented is described in Part 12 of theISO 9241standard for the organization of information (arrangement, alignment, grouping, labels, location), for the display of graphical objects, and for the coding of information (abbreviation, colour, size, shape, visual cues) by seven attributes. The "attributes of presented information" represent the static aspects of the interface and can be generally regarded as the "look" of the interface. The attributes are detailed in the recommendations given in the standard. Each of the recommendations supports one or more of the seven attributes. The user guidance in Part 13 of theISO 9241standard describes that the user guidance information should be readily distinguishable from other displayed information and should be specific for the current context of use. User guidance can be given by the following five means: User interface design has been a topic of considerable research, including on itsaesthetics.[11]Standards have been developed as far back as the 1980s for defining the usability of software products. One of the structural bases has become the IFIP user interface reference model. The model proposes four dimensions to structure the user interface: This model has greatly influenced the development of the international standardISO 9241describing the interface design requirements for usability. The desire to understand application-specific UI issues early in software development, even as an application was being developed, led to research on GUI rapid prototyping tools that might offer convincing simulations of how an actual application might behave in production use.[12]Some of this research has shown that a wide variety of programming tasks for GUI-based software can, in fact, be specified through means other than writing program code.[13] Research in recent years is strongly motivated by the increasing variety of devices that can, by virtue ofMoore's law, host very complex interfaces.[14]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_interface_design
Anaccess badgeis acredentialused to gain entry to an area having automatedaccess controlentry points. Entry points may bedoors,turnstiles, parking gates or other barriers. Access badges use various technologies to identify the holder of the badge to an access control system. The most common technologies aremagnetic stripe,proximity,barcode,smart cardsand variousbiometric devices. The magnetic stripe ID card was invented byForrest Parryin 1960.[1] The access badge contains a number that is read by acard reader. This number is usually called the facility code and is programmed by the administrator. The number is sent to an access control system, acomputer systemthat makes access control decisions based on information about the credential. If the credential is included in an access control list, the access control system unlocks the controlled access point. The transaction is stored in the system for later retrieval; reports can be generated showing the date/time the card was used to enter the controlled access point. TheWiegand effectwas used in early access cards. This method was abandoned in favor of other proximity technologies. The new technologies retained the Wiegand upstream data so that the new readers were compatible with old systems. Readers are still called Wiegand but no longer use the Wiegand effect. A Wiegand reader radiates a 1" to 5" electrical field around itself. Cards use a simpleLC circuit. When a card is presented to the reader, the reader's electrical field excites a coil in the card. The coil charges acapacitorand in turn powers anintegrated circuit. The integrated circuit outputs the card number to the coil which transmits it to the reader. The transmission of the card number happens in the clear—it is not encrypted. With basic understanding of radio technology and of card formats, Wiegand proximity cards can be hacked. A common proximity format is 26 bit Wiegand. This format uses a facility code, also called a site code. The facility code is a unique number common to all of the cards in a particular set. The idea is an organization has their own facility code and then numbered cards incrementing from 1. Another organization has a different facility code and their card set also increments from 1. Thus different organizations can have card sets with the same card numbers but since the facility codes differ, the cards only work at one organization. This idea worked fine for a while but there is no governing body controlling card numbers, different manufacturers can supply cards with identical facility codes and identical card numbers to different organizations. Thus there is a problem of duplicate cards. To counteract this problem some manufacturers have created formats beyond 26 bit Wiegand that they control and issue to an organization. In the 26 bit Wiegand format bit 1 is an even parity bit. Bits 2-9 are a facility code. Bits 10-25 are the card number. Bit 26 is an odd parity bit. Other formats have a similar structure of leading facility code followed by card number and including parity bits for error checking. Smart cardscan be used to counteract the problems of transmitting card numbers in the clear and control of the card numbers by manufacturers. Smart cards can be encoded by organizations with unique numbers and the communication between card and reader can beencrypted.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_badge
TheCharlieCardis acontactless smart cardused forfarepayment fortransportation in the Boston area. It is the primary payment method for theMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority(MBTA) and several regionalpublic transportsystems in the U.S. state ofMassachusetts. It is used on the MBTA'ssubwayandbusservices, but is not currently accepted on theMBTA Commuter Railandferries. The card was introduced on December 4, 2006, to enhance the technology of the transit system and eliminate the burden of carrying and collecting tokens.[1]It replaced the metal token, which was phased out in 2006.[2] Work to convert to a second-generation electronic fare system (AFC 2.0) began in 2017. The first public phase of the conversion – contactless card and smartphone payments on the subway and bus systems – was launched on August 1, 2024. Second-generation CharlieCards, a new mobile app, and new fare machines are expected to be placed in service in 2025, with the system extended to commuter rail and ferry in 2026. The CharlieCard is named after the lead character in the 1948 protestfolk musicsong, "M.T.A.". The song was written to protest a fare increase in the form of an extra five centexit farefor longer rides and was later made popular byThe Kingston Trioin 1959.[3][4]One of the rejected names for the farecard system was "The Fare Cod", a pun on boththe way locals might pronounce "Card"and thefishthat was once integral to the Massachusetts economy, and also a reference to other transit cards named for ocean animals, such as London'sOysterand Hong Kong'sOctopus. Another rejected name was T Go card with the T being the symbol for the MBTA.[5] CharlieCards work on the MBTA's subway and bus services, most of which were converted in 2006. Token sales ended on December 6, 2006.[6]The final fare-controlled station to be converted wasFields Corner stationon December 22, 2006.[7]They were originally expected to be usable onMBTA commuter railandferry boatservices by December 2008,[8]with testing on the Commuter Rail originally planned for summer 2008.[9]By 2012, the MBTA had abandoned plans to accept CharlieCards on the commuter rail system.[10]On June 22, 2020, a pilot program started accepting CharlieCards on theFairmount Line, by validation at fare vending machines and obtainingproof of payment.[11][needs update] CharlieCards were gradually introduced to Massachusetts Regional Transit Authorities:MetroWest Regional Transit Authority(October 2010),[12]Brockton Area Transit Authority(March 2011),[13]Lowell Regional Transit Authority(November 2011),[14]Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority(branded "Tap and Ride Card"; February 2012),[15]Montachusett Regional Transit Authority(March 2012),[16]Worcester Regional Transit Authority(April 2012),[17]Cape Ann Transportation Authority,[18]Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority(November 2012),Southeastern Regional Transit Authority(January 2013),[19]andBerkshire Regional Transit Authority(January 2014).[20]The MetroWest and Montaschusets Regional Transit Authorities no longer accept CharlieCards. After a shift to CharlieCards, some employees working as token collectors were retrained as customer service agents.[21][22]In March 2017, the MBTA announced they were planning on privatizing their customer service positions to increase efficiency. The MBTA hired a company called "Block By Block" and named "Transit Ambassadors".[23]In August 2017, the new Transit Ambassador program was rolled out.[24]As of December 2020, there were 200 Transit Ambassadors working in the MBTA system.[25] In November 2017, the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a $723 million contract withCubic Corporationto replace the original CharlieCard and CharlieTicket with a new system ("AFC 2.0", for Automated Fare Collection) by 2021, that would allow fare gates to be compatible withcontactless paymentsystems that have since been built into manycredit cardsandsmartphones. To speed boarding, payment readers would be installed at all doors of Green Line trolleys and buses (to allow aproof-of-paymentsystem) and cash-on-board payments would no longer be allowed, requiring customers to load cash onto cards at vending machines or retailers. It would also be extended to the Commuter Rail, where passengers would tap on and off.[26]Public meetings on the new system were held in 2017 and 2018,[27]but then stopped in 2019[28]until a revised plan was announced in December 2019. The new plan, costing over $900 million, was planned to roll out more gradually from 2020 to 2024.[29] In February 2023, the MBTA confirmed that the project might be delayed beyond the 2024 deadline.[30]Contactless credit/debit card and smartphonemobile walletpayments was launched on August 1, 2024, on the bus and subway systems.[31]As of May 2024[update], the second-generation CharlieCard system, including a mobile app and new fare vending machines, is planned to be introduced in 2025. The system is planned to be extended to commuter rail and ferry in 2026.[32] The CharlieCard can store a cash balance and daily, weekly and monthly passes that allow unlimited rides during the set period of time.[33]Passengers use the plastic CharlieCard by tapping it against a target on a gate or a vehiclefarebox.[34]When tapped, the gate or farebox either debits the cost of the passenger's ride, verifies that the card has a valid transfer or that the card has a pass that is valid for travel at the given time and location.[34][35]Transit riders can add value or a monthly pass to their cards at machines located at MBTA stations and vehicles, MBTA ticket offices, and retail sales terminals at select outlets.[34]Beginning in 2009, CharlieCards could be registered and have passes or money added to them online.[36] The original CharlieCards show no expiration date, but expired three to five years after they were first activated.[37]CharlieCards distributed later had expiration dates printed on them and are valid for ten years,[37]with the exception of Student CharlieCards which expire at the end of the school year they are issued.[38] Physical fare media are not used on The RIDE; passengers maintain an account by web site, phone, mail, or in-person visits.[39] Prior to 2021, if a user needed to replace an expired CharlieCard, they had to go to theDowntown Crossing pass sales officeduring business hours or mail the card to MBTA.[40]Passes and stored value left on an expired card can be moved to the replacement card.[41] In 2021, MBTA announced plans to upgrade fare vending machines to be able to dispense CharlieCards.[40]They also announced plans to have the new machines dispense “tappable” paper CharlieTickets, which can be scanned on future fare card readers that were under testing in 2021.[40]Additionally, the new fare readers would allow riders to pay using a smartphone or contactless credit card.[40] Automated fare collection equipment is also compatible with the MBTA'sCharlieTicket,a paper card with amagnetic stripethat operates as astored-value cardor time-period (monthly, weekly, or daily) pass.[42]The MBTA first implemented the stored-value CharlieTicket on theSilver Linein February 2005.[42][43]Tickets are inserted into a slot in the gate or farebox, the fare is deducted, and the ticket is returned to the rider.[42][44] Upgraded fare gates and fare vending machined were deployed throughout the system starting in 2020 to allow the magstripe CharlieTickets to be discontinued on March 31, 2022. Part of the AFC 2.0 project, the new machines use a tappable version of the paper CharlieTicket.[45] On September 18, 2008, two 150-bike parking cages were made available at theAlewife station, next to the MBTA parking garage. Since then, a number of MBTA stations have been provided with secure, monitored bicycle parking cages. Previously, access to these cages required a free special Bike CharlieCard. However, as of the spring of 2013, any CharlieCard can be registered for bike cage access.[46] Some riders also qualify for free or reduced fare. Children under the age of 11, people who areLegally Blind, uniformed military personnel, uniformed police officers, uniformed firefighters and select government officials all ride free. Legally Blind people may request a Blind Access CharlieCard. All other non-fare-paying riders are let in by MBTA personnel - often upon presentation of ID. People with certain disabilities, people onMedicare, people 65 and over, some middle and high school students in participating schools, and people 18–25 with low income are eligible for a reduced fare. When the MBTA transitioned to CharlieCards, they gave cards to riders for free.[47]The cards gives a discount to CharlieCard users that began with the fare increase that took effect on January 1, 2007, and continued giving discounts with later fare increases.[48][49]The MBTA continues providing the cards free of charge at pass offices, stations throughout the system and local retailers.[50][51]Certain types of CharlieCards have reduced fares, including those for senior citizens, disabled citizens and students.[52][53] CharlieCards can be reloaded,[34]and CharlieTickets can be purchased at Fare Vending Machines (FVMs) in transit stations, and elsewhere in the system, including buses.[54]The fareboxes on buses and light rail trains accept CharlieCards, CharlieTickets and cash.[55]In 2020, MBTA announced plans to phase out cash payments by 2025.[55] The bulk of the MBTA's vehicles and stations were transitioned to the CharlieCard-compatible system throughout 2006, withFields Cornerthe last to be converted on December 22, 2006.[56] Fare Vending Machines are available at stations throughout the system,[57]atLogan International Airport,[58]and insideFenway Park,[59]and at stations on theGreen Line D branch. Proof-of-Payment Validation machines are installed at select stops on the other Green Line branches.[60] The Green Line is heavily travelled. To manage the volume, in 2002, selected stops on the Green Line the MBTA implemented a pilot system known as Show-N-Go, which allowed riders to flash their monthly passes and enter through the rear doors of a train, reducing congestion at the front door.[61][62]This system worked when monthly passes were on paper tickets, as each month's pass differed from the previous month, but became easier to evade when MBTA riders began storing monthly passes on CharlieCards, as passes held this way were harder to verify visually.[63]The MBTA installed aproof-of-paymentsystem at certain Green Line stations to reduce the rate of lost fares. Machines were installed that deducted the fare from riders' cards and gave them a receipt as proof of payment.[60]Additionally, MBTA inspectors with handheld validators were stationed at the busiest stops to deduct money from and verify monthly passes on CharlieCards, also allowing riders to enter through any door.[60]All passengers were required to go to the front of the train and make payment (or show their receipt) to trolley drivers.[64] In July 2012, the MBTA reverted to a "front door only" boarding policy on surface stations outside of peak hours to combat fare evasion. This policy also required passengers getting off the streetcar to walk all the way to the front of the car to exit.[65]In 2016, the policy changed to an all-door boarding during busy hours and front-door-only boarding during off-peak hours.[66][67] The "Fare Transformation" project is currently in the process of converting all surface trolley and bus lines to all-door boarding using aproof of payment(POP) system.[45]The first POP segment opened in March 2022, with the inauguration of service toUnion Square stationon theGreen Line Extension. Security flaws in the CharlieCard technology were studied and reported in a presentation by Henryk Plötz and Karsten Nohl at theChaos Communication Congressin December 2007, which described a partial reverse-engineering of the algorithm used in the MIFARE Classic chip.[68]TheMIFAREClassic smartcard[69]fromNXP Semiconductors, owned byPhilips, was reported as compromised in March 2008 by a group of researchers led by Karsten Nohl, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science,University of Virginia.[70][71][72] In addition, the security used on the mag-stripe CharlieTickets was broken by a team ofMITstudents. They were scheduled to give a talk about their findings atDEFCON16 in August 2008,[73]but were stopped after afederal lawsuitwas filed against them by the MBTA, which resulted in a restraining order being issued.[74][75]However, their presentation had already been published by DEFCON before the complaint was filed.[76]On August 19, the court ruled the students could give their presentation.[77] In 2022, it was revealed that the NFC chip in some Android smartphones could interact with CharlieCards, including duplicating data from one card to a blank card. The MBTA indicated that its software systems detected a small number of such duplicated cards – about ten per month – which were then deactivated.[78] In 2023, fourMedford Vocational Technical High Schoolstudents found new vulnerabilities inMiFARE Classicthat allowed them edit values on CharlieCards. This included adding anywhere between $0 and$327.67, as well as making employee cards. They presented their findings atDEF CON 31with MBTA approval.[79][80]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CharlieCard
Thecommon access card, also commonly referred to as theCAC, is the standard identification for active duty United States defense personnel. The card itself is asmart cardabout the size of a credit card.[1]Defense personnel that use the CAC include theSelected ReserveandNational Guard,United States Department of Defense(DoD) civilian employees,United States Coast Guard(USCG) civilian employees and eligible DoD and USCG contractor personnel.[1]It is also the principal card used to enable physical access to buildings and controlled spaces, and it provides access to defense computer networks and systems. It also serves as an identification card under theGeneva Conventions(especially theThird Geneva Convention). In combination with apersonal identification number, a CAC satisfies the requirement fortwo-factor authentication: something the user knows combined with something the user has. The CAC also satisfies the requirements fordigital signatureanddata encryptiontechnologies: authentication, integrity andnon-repudiation. The CAC is a controlled item. As of 2008[needs update], DoD has issued over 17 million smart cards. This number includes reissues to accommodate changes in name, rank, or status and to replace lost or stolen cards. As of the same date, approximately 3.5 million unterminated or active CACs are in circulation. DoD has deployed an issuance infrastructure at over 1,000 sites in more than 25 countries around the world and is rolling out more than one million card readers and associated middleware.[when?] The CAC is issued to active United States Armed Forces (Regular, Reserves and National Guard) in the Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard; DoD civilians; USCG civilians; non-DoD/other government employees and State Employees of the National Guard; and eligible DoD and USCG contractors who need access to DoD or USCG facilities and/or DoD computer network systems: Future plans include the ability to store additional information through the incorporation ofRFIDchips or other contactless technology to allow seamless access to DoD facilities. The program that is currently used to issue CAC IDs is called theReal-Time Automated Personnel Identification System(RAPIDS). RAPIDS interfaces with the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS), and uses this system to verify that the candidate has passed a background investigation and FBI fingerprint check. Applying for a CAC requires DoD form 1172-2 to be filled out and then filed with RAPIDS. The system is secure and monitored by the DoD at all times. Different RAPIDS sites have been set up throughout military installations in and out of combat theater to issue new cards. On the front of the card, the background shows the phrase "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE" repeated across the card. A color photo of the cardholder is placed on the top left corner. Below the photo is the name of the cardholder. The top right corner displays the expiration date. Other information on the front includes (if applicable) the holders's:pay grade, rank, and federal identifier. APDF417stacked barcode is displayed on the bottom left corner. An integrated circuit chip (ICC) is placed near the bottom-middle of the front of the card. There are three color code schemes used on the front of the CAC. A blue bar across the holder’s name shows that the cardholder is a non-U.S. citizen. A green bar shows that the cardholder is a contractor. Absence of a bar indicates all other personnel—including military personnel and civil workers, among others. The back of the card has a ghost image of the cardholder. If applicable, the card also contains the date of birth, blood type, DoD benefits number, Geneva Convention category, and DoD Identification Number of the holder (also used as the Geneva Convention number, replacing the previously used Social Security Number). The DoD number is also known as theElectronic data interchangePersonal Identifier (EDIPI). ACode 39barcode and a magnetic strip are at the top and bottom of the card, respectively. The cardholder’s DoD ID/EDIPI number is permanent throughout his or her career with the DoD or USCG, regardless of department or division. Likewise, the permanent number follows retired U.S. military personnel who subsequently become DoD or USCG civilians or DoD or USCG contractors needing a card. Additionally, for non-military spouses, unremarried former spouses, and widows/widowers of active, Reserve or Retired U.S. military personnel who themselves become DoD or USCG civilians or DoD or USCG contractors, the DoD ID/EDIPI Number on their CAC will be the same as on their DD 1173 Uniformed Services Privilege and Identification Card (e.g., Dependent ID card). The front of the CAC is fully laminated, while the back is only laminated in the lower half (to avoid interference with the magnetic stripe).[2] The CAC is said to be resistant to identity fraud,[3]tampering, counterfeiting, and exploitation and provides an electronic means of rapid authentication. There are currently four different variants of CACs.[1]The Geneva Conventions Identification Card is the most common CAC and is given to active duty/reserve armed forces and uniformed service members. The Geneva Convention Accompany Forces Card is issued to emergency-essential civilian personnel. The ID and Privilege Common Access Card is for civilians residing on military installations. The ID card is for DOD/Government Agency identification for civilian employees. Until 2008, all CACs were encrypted using 1,024-bit encryption. Starting 2008, the DoD switched to 2,048-bit encryption.[4]Personnel with the older CACs had to get new CACs by the deadline.[4]On October 1, 2012, all certificates encrypted with less than 2,048-bits were placed on revocation status, rendering legacy CACs useless except for visual identification.[4] The CAC is designed to providetwo-factor authentication: what you have (the physical card) and what you know (thePIN). This CAC technology allows for rapid authentication, and enhanced physical and logical security. The card can be used in a variety of ways. The CAC can be used for visual identification by way of matching the color photo with the owner. This is used for when the user passes through a guarded gate, or purchases items from a store, such as a PX/BX that require a level of privileges to use the facility. Some states allow the CAC to be used as a government-issued ID card, such as for voting or applying for a drivers license. Themagnetic stripecan be read by swiping the card through a magnetic stripe reader, much like a credit card. The magnetic stripe is actually blank when the CAC is issued. However, its use is reserved for localized physical security systems.[5]The magnetic stripe was removed first quarter 2018.[6] The integrated circuit chip (ICC) contains information about the owner, including the PIN and one or morePKIdigital certificates. The ICC comes in different capacities, with the more recent versions issued at 64 and 144 kilobytes (KB).[citation needed] The CAC can be used for access into computers and networks equipped with one or more of a variety ofsmartcardreaders. Once inserted into the reader, the device asks the user for a PIN. Once the PIN is entered, the PIN is matched with the stored PIN on the CAC. If successful, the EDIPI number is read off the ID certificate on the card, and then sent to a processing system where the EDIPI number is matched with an access control system, such asActive DirectoryorLDAP. The DoD standard is that after three incorrect PIN attempts, the chip on the CAC will lock. The EDIPI number is stored in a PKI certificate. Depending on the owner, the CAC contains one or three PKI certificates. If the CAC is used for identification purposes only, an ID certificate is all that is needed. However, in order to access a computer, sign a document, or encrypt email, signature and encryption certificates are also required. A CAC works in virtually all modern computer operating systems. Besides the reader, drivers and middleware are also required in order to read and process a CAC. The only approved Microsoft Windows middleware for CAC is ActivClient—available only to authorized DoD personnel. Other non-Windows alternatives include LPS-Public—a non-hard drive based solution. DISAnow requires all DoD-based intranet sites to provide user authentication by way of a CAC in order to access the site. Authentication systems vary depending on the type of system, such asActive Directory,RADIUS, or otheraccess control list. CAC is based onX.509certificates with software middleware enabling an operating system to interface with the card via a hardware card reader. Although card manufacturers such asSchlumbergerprovided a suite of smartcard, hardware card reader and middleware for bothLinuxandWindows, not all other CAC systems integrators did likewise. In an attempt to correct this situation,AppleFederal Systems has done work for adding some support for Common Access Cards to their later Snow Leopard operating system updates out of the box using the MUSCLE (Movement for the Use of Smartcards in a Linux Environment) project. The procedure for this was documented historically by theNaval Postgraduate Schoolin the publication "CAC on a Mac"[7]although today the school uses commercial software. According to the independent military testers and help desks, not all cards are supported by the open source code associated with Apple's work, particularly the recent CACNG or CAC-NG PIV II CAC cards.[8]Third party support for CAC Cards on the Mac are available from vendors such as Centrify andThursby Software.[9]Apple's Federal Engineering Management suggest not using the out-of-the-box support in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard[10]but instead supported third party solutions. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion has no native smart card support. Thursby's PKard for iOS software extends CAC support to Apple iPads and iPhones. Some work has also been done in the Linux realm. Some users are using the MUSCLE project combined with Apple'sApple Public Source LicensedCommon Access Card software. Another approach to solve this problem, which is now well documented, involves the use of a new project, CoolKey,[11]to gain Common Access Card functionality. This document is available publicly from theNaval Research Laboratory's Ocean Dynamics and Predictions Branch.[12] The CAC has two types of bar codes:PDF417in the front andCode 39in the rear. 0=Dependent CH=Child There are also some security risks in RFID. To prevent theft of information in RFID, in November 2010, 2.5 million radio frequency shielding sleeves were delivered to the DoD, and another roughly 1.7 million more were to be delivered the following January 2011.[13]RAPIDS ID offices worldwide are required to issue a sleeve with every CAC.[13]When a CAC is placed in a holder along with other RFID cards, it can also cause problems, such as attempting to open a door with an access card when it is in the same holder as a CAC. Despite these challenges at least one civilian organization, NOAA, uses the RFID technology to access facilities nationwide. Access is usually granted after first removing the CAC from the RF shield and then holding it against a reader either mounted on a wall or located on a pedestal. Once the CAC is authenticated to a local security server either the door will release or a signal will be displayed to security guards to grant access to the facility. The ICC is fragile and regular wear can make the card unusable. Older cards tend to de-laminate with repeated insertion/removal from readers, but this problem appears to be less significant with the newer (PIV-compliant) cards. Also, the gold contacts on the ICC can become dirty and require cleaning with eithersolventsor a rubber pencil eraser. Fixing or replacing a CAC typically requires access to aRAPIDSfacility, causing some practical problems. In remote locations around the world without direct Internet access or physical access to a RAPIDS facility, a CAC is rendered useless if the card expires, or if the maximum number of re-tries of the PIN is reached. Based on the regulations for CAC use, a user onTAD / TDYmust visit a RAPIDS facility to replace or unlock a CAC, usually requiring travel to another geographical location or even returning to one's home location. The CAC PMO[14]has also created a CAC PIN Reset workstation capable of resetting a locked CAC PIN. For some DoD networks,Active Directory(AD) is used to authenticate users. Access to the computer's parent Active Directory is required when attempting to authenticate with a CAC for a given computer for the first time. Use of, for example a field-replaced laptop computer that was not prepared with the user's CAC before shipment would be impossible to use without some form of direct access to Active Directory beforehand. Other remedies include establishing contact with the intranet by using public broadband Internet and thenVPNto the intranet, or evensatellite Internet accessvia aVSATsystem when in locations where telecommunications is not available, such as in a natural disaster location.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Access_Card
Acredentialis a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant orde factoauthority or assumed competence to do so. Examples of credentials include academicdiplomas,academic degrees,certifications,security clearances,identification documents,badges,passwords,user names,keys,powers of attorney, and so on. Sometimes publications, such asscientific papersorbooks, may be viewed as similar to credentials by some people, especially if the publication waspeer reviewedor made in a well-knownjournalor reputablepublisher. A person holding a credential is usually given documentation or secret knowledge (e.g.,a password or key) as proof of the credential. Sometimes this proof (or a copy of it) is held by a third, trusted party. While in some cases a credential may be as simple as a paper membership card, in other cases, such as diplomas, it involves the presentation of letters directly from the issuer of the credential its faith in the person representing them in a negotiation or meeting. Counterfeitingof credentials is a constant and serious problem, irrespective of the type of credential. A great deal of effort goes into finding methods to reduce or prevent counterfeiting.In general, the greater the perceived value of a credential, the more significant the problem of counterfeiting, and the greater the lengths to which the issuer must go to prevent fraud. Indiplomacy, credentials, also known as aletter of credence, are documents thatambassadors,diplomatic ministers,plenipotentiaries, andchargés d'affairesprovide to thegovernmentto which they areaccredited, for the purpose, chiefly, of communicating to the latter theenvoy'sdiplomatic rank. It also contains a request that full credence be accorded to his official statements. Until his credentials have been presented and found in proper order, an envoy receives no official recognition.[1] The credentials of an ambassador or minister plenipotentiary are signed by thehead of state, those of a chargé d'affaires by theforeign minister.[1]Diplomatic credentials are granted and withdrawn at the pleasure of the issuing authority, based on widely varying criteria. A receiving government may reject a diplomat’s credentials by declining to receive them, but in practice this rarely happens. In medicine, the process ofcredentialingis a detailed review of all permissions granted a medical doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner at every institution at which he or she has worked in the past, to determine ariskprofile for them at a new institution. It vets the practitioner for both receiving practice insurance and the ability to bill to insurance for patient care. As well, it certifies legal and administrative body requirements, such as theJoint Commission. Medical practitioners must also have credentialsin the form of licensesissued by the government of the jurisdictions in which they practice, which they obtain after suitable education, training, and/or practical experience. Most medical credentials are granted for a practice specific group. They may also be withdrawn in the event of fraud or malpractice by their holders. Typically they require continuing education validation and renewal to continue practice. Information systems commonly use credentials to controlaccess to informationor other resources. The classic combination of a user's account number or name and a secret password is a widely used example of IT credentials. An increasing number of information systems use other forms of documentation of credentials, such asbiometrics(fingerprints,voice recognition,retinal scans),X.509,public key certificates, and so on. Credentials in cryptography establish the identity of a party to communication. Usually they take the form of machine-readable cryptographic keys and/or passwords. Cryptographic credentials may be self-issued, or issued by a trusted third party; in many cases the only criterion for issuance is unambiguous association of the credential with a specific, real individual or other entity. Cryptographic credentials are often designed to expire after a certain period, although this is not mandatory. AnX.509public key certificateis an example of a cryptographic credential. Operators of vehicles such asautomobiles,boats, andaircraftmust have credentials in the form of government-issued licenses in many jurisdictions. Often the documentation of the license consists of a simple card or certificate that the operator keeps on his person while operating the vehicle, backed up by an archival record of the license at some central location. Licenses are granted to operators after a period of successful training and/or examination. This type of credential often requires certification of good health and may also require psychological evaluations and screening forsubstance abuse. Operator licenses often expire periodically and must be renewed at intervals. Renewal may simply be a formality, or it may require a new round of examinations and training. In military and government organizations, and some private organizations, a system of compartmentalizing information exists to prevent the uncontrolled dissemination of information considered to be sensitive or confidential. Persons with a legitimate need to have access to such information are issuedsecurity clearances,which can be tracked and verified to ensure that no unauthorized persons gain access to protected information. Security clearances are among the most carefully guarded credentials. Often they are granted to individuals only after a lengthy investigation and only after their need to have access to protected information has been adequately justified to the issuing authority. The most elaborate security-clearance systems are found in the world's military organizations. Some credentials of this type are considered so sensitive that their holders are not even permitted to acknowledge that they have them (except to authorized parties). Documentation of security clearances usually consists of records kept at a secure facility and verifiable on demand from authorized parties. Breaches of security involving security clearances are often punished by specific statutory law, particularly if they occur in the context of deliberateespionage, whereas most other counterfeiting and misuse of credentials is punished by law only when used with deliberate intent to defraud in specific contexts. Security clearances are regularly withdrawn when they are no longer justified, or when the person holding them is determined to be too great a security risk. In many democratic nations, press credentials are not required at the national or federal level for anypublicationof any kind. However, individual corporations, and certain government or military entities require press credentials, such as apress pass, as a formal invitation to members of the press which grants them rights to photographs or videos,press conferences, or interviews. Press credentials indicate that a person has been verified as working for a known publication, and holding a press pass typically allows that person special treatment or access rights. Some governments impose restrictions on who may work as a journalist, requiring anyone working for the press to carry government-issued credentials. Restricting press credentials can be problematic because of its limitations on freedom of the press, particularly if government leaders selectively grant, withhold, or withdraw press credentials to disallow critique of government policy. Any press coverage published under governments that restrict journalism in this way is often treated with skepticism by others, and may not be considered any more truthful or informative thanpropaganda. Some trades and professions in some jurisdictions require special credentials of anyone practicing the trade or profession. These credentials may or may not be associated with specific competencies or skills. In some cases, they exist mainly to control the number of people who are allowed to exercise a trade or profession, in order to control salaries and wages. Persons acting as merchants, freelancers, etc., may require special credentials in some jurisdictions as well. Here again, the purpose is mainly to control the number of people working in this way, and sometimes also to track them for tax-reporting or other purposes like people evaluation. The academic and professional world makes very extensive use of credentials, such as diplomas, degrees, certificates, and certifications, in order to attest to the completion of specific training or education programs by students, to attest to their successful completion of tests and exams, and to provide independent validation of an individual's possession of the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary to practice a particular occupation competently, (for example: Arun Paul MSW, MPHIL). Documentation of academic and professional credentials usually consists of a printed, formal document. The issuing institution often maintains a record of the credential as well. Academic credentials are normally valid for the lifetime of the person to whom they are issued. Professional certifications are normally valid for a limited number of years, based on the pace of change in the certified profession, and require periodic re-certification through re-examination (to demonstrate continuing competency as occupational standards of practice evolve) or continuing professional development (to demonstrate continually enhanced competency).[2] Acquisition of these credentials often leads to increased economic mobility and work opportunity, especially for low-income people. A general term for academic credentials in the form of a resume isCurriculum vitae, often abbreviated as CV.[3] Titles are credentials that identify a person as belonging to a specific group, such as nobility or aristocracy, or a specific command grade in the military, or in other largely symbolic ways. They may or may not be associated with specific authority, and they do not usually attest to any specific competence or skill (although they may be associated with other credentials that do). A partial list of such titles includes.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credential
Anidentity document(abbreviated asID) is adocumentproving a person'sidentity. If the identity document is aplastic cardit is called anidentity card(abbreviated asICorID card). When the identity document incorporates a photographicportrait, it is called aphoto ID.[1]In some countries, identity documents may becompulsoryto have. The identity document is used to connect a person to information about the person, often in adatabase. The connection between the identity document and database is based on personal information present on the document, such as the bearer'sfull name,birth date,address, an identification number, card number, gender,citizenshipand more. A uniquenational identification numberis the most secure way, but some countries lack such numbers or do not show them on identity documents. In the absence of an explicit identity document, other documents such asdriver's licensemay be accepted in many countries foridentity verification. Some countries do not accept driver's licenses for identification, often because in those countries they do not expire as documents and can be old or easily forged. Most countries acceptpassportsas a form of identification. Some countries require all people to have an identity document available at all times. Many countries require all foreigners to have a passport or occasionally a national identity card from their home country available at any time if they do not have a residence permit in the country. A version of thepassportconsidered to be the earliest identity document inscribed into law was introduced byKing Henry V of Englandwith theSafe Conducts Act 1414.[2] For the next 500 years up to the onset of theFirst World War, most people did not have or need an identity document. Photographic identification appeared in 1876[3]but it did not become widely used until the early 20th century when photographs became part of passports and other ID documents, all of which came to be referred to as "photo IDs" in the late 20th century. Both Australia and Great Britain, for example, introduced the requirement for a photographic passport in 1915 after the so-calledLody spy scandal.[4] The shape and size of identity cards were standardized in 1985 byISO/IEC 7810. Some modern identity documents aresmart cardsthat include a difficult-to-forge embedded integrated circuit standardized in 1988 byISO/IEC 7816. Newtechnologiesallow identity cards to containbiometricinformation, such as aphotograph,face;hand, orirismeasurements; orfingerprints. Many countries issueelectronic identity cards. Law enforcementofficials claim that identity cards make surveillance and the search for criminals easier and therefore support the universal adoption of identity cards. In countries that do not have a national identity card, there is concern about the projected costs and potential abuse of high-tech smartcards. In many countries – especially English-speaking countries such asAustralia,Canada,Ireland,New Zealand, theUnited Kingdom, and theUnited States– there are no government-issued compulsory identity cards for all citizens. Ireland's Public Services Card is not considered a national identity card by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP),[5]but many say it is in fact becoming that, and without public debate or even a legislative foundation.[6] There is debate in these countries about whether such cards and their centralised databases constitute an infringement ofprivacyandcivil liberties. Most criticism is directed towards the possibility of abuse of centralised databases storing sensitive data. A 2006 survey of UKOpen Universitystudents concluded that the planned compulsory identity card under the Identity Cards Act 2006 coupled with acentral governmentdatabasegenerated the most negative response among several options. None of the countries listed above mandate identity documents, but they havede factoequivalents since these countries still require proof of identity in many situations. For example, all vehicle drivers must have a driving licence, and young people may need to use specially issued "proof of age cards" when purchasing alcohol. Arguments for identity documents as such: Arguments for national identity documents: Arguments against identity documents as such: Arguments against national identity documents: Arguments against overuse or abuse of identity documents: According toPrivacy International, as of 1996[update], possession of identity cards was compulsory in about 100 countries, though what constitutes "compulsory" varies. In some countries, it is compulsory to have an identity card when a person reaches a prescribed age. The penalty for non-possession is usually a fine, but in some cases it may result indetentionuntil identity is established. For people suspected with crimes such as shoplifting orfare evasion, non-possession might result in such detention, also in countries not formally requiring identity cards. In practice, random checks are rare, except in certain situations. A handful of countries do not issue identity cards. These includeAndorra,[14]Australia, theBahamas,[15]Canada,Nauru,New Zealand,Samoa,Tuvaluand theUnited Kingdom.[16]Other identity documents such as passports or driver's licenses are then used as identity documents when needed. However, governments of the Bahamas and Samoa are planning to introduce new national identity cards in the near future[17][18]Some countries, like Denmark, have more simple official identity cards, which do not match the security and level of acceptance of a national identity card, and which are used by people without driver's licenses. A number of countries have voluntary identity card schemes. These include Austria, Belize, Finland, France (seeFrance section), Hungary (however, all citizens of Hungary must have at least one of: valid passport, photo-based driving licence, or the National ID card), Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Saint Lucia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The United Kingdom'sschemewas scrapped in January 2011 and the database was destroyed. In the United States, the Federal government issues optional non-obligatory identity cards known as "Passport Cards" (which include important information such as the nationality). On the other hand, states issue optional identity cards for people who do not hold a driver's license as an alternate means of identification. These cards are issued by the same organisation responsible for driver's licenses, usually called theDepartment of Motor Vehicles. Passport Cards hold limited travel status or provision, usually for domestic travel. For theSahrawi peopleofWestern Sahara, pre-1975 Spanish identity cards are the main proof that they were Saharawi citizens as opposed to recent Moroccan settlers. They would thus be allowed to vote in an eventualself-determinationreferendum. Companies and government departments may issue ID cards for security purposes, proof ofidentity, or also as proof of aqualification(without proving identity). For example, alltaxicab driversin the UK carry ID cards. Managers, supervisors, and operatives in construction in the UK can get a photographic ID[19]card, the CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card, indicating training and skills including safety training. The card is not an identity card or a legal requirement, but enables holders to prove competence without having to provide all the pertinent documents. Those working on UK railway lands near working lines must carry a photographic ID card to indicate training in track safety (PTS and other cards) possession of which is dependent on periodic and random alcohol anddrug screening. InQueenslandandWestern Australia, anyone working with children has to take abackground checkand get issued aBlue Cardor Working with Children Card, respectively. Cartão Nacional de Identificação (CNI) is the national identity card ofCape Verde. It is compulsory for all Egyptian citizens age 16 or older to possess an ID card[20](Arabic:بطاقة تحقيق شخصيةBiṭāqat taḥqīq shakhṣiyya, literally, "Personal Verification Card").[citation needed]Indaily colloquial speech, it is generally simply called "el-biṭāqa" ("the card"). It is used for:[citation needed] Egyptian ID cards consist of 14 digits, the national identity number, and expire after 7 years from the date of issue. Some feel that Egyptian ID cards are problematic, due to the general poor quality of card holders' photographs and the compulsory requirements for ID card holders to identify their religion and for married women to include their husband's name on their cards.[citation needed] AllGambian citizensover 18 years of age are required to hold a Gambian National Identity Card.[citation needed]In July 2009, a newbiometricidentity card was introduced.[citation needed]The biometric card is one of the acceptable documents required to apply for a Gambian Driving Licence.[citation needed] Ghanabegun the issuing of a national identity card for Ghanaiancitizensin 1973.[21]However, the project was discontinued three years later due to problems with logistics and lack of financial support. This was the first time the idea of national identification systems in the form of theGhana Cardarose in the country.[21]Full implementation of the Ghana Cards begun from 2006.[22]According to theNational Identification Authority, over 15 million Ghanaians have been registered for the Ghana card by September 2020.[23] Liberia has begun the issuance process of its national biometric identification card, which citizens and foreign residents will use to open bank accounts and participate in other government services on a daily basis. More than 4.5 million people are expected to register and obtain ID cards of citizenship or residence in Liberia. The project has already started where NIR (National Identification Registry) is issuing Citizen National ID Cards. The centralized National Biometric Identification System (NBIS) will be integrated with other government ministries. Resident ID Cards and ECOWAS ID Cards will also be issued.[24] Mauritius requires all citizens who have reached the age of 18 to apply for a National Identity Card. The National Identity Card is one of the few accepted forms of identification, along with passports. A National Identity Card is needed to apply for a passport for all adults, and all minors must take with them the National Identity Card of a parent(s) when applying for a passport.[25] Bilhete de identidade (BI) is the national ID card ofMozambique. Nigeria first introduced a national identity card in 2005, but its adoption back then was limited and not widespread. The country is now in the process of introducing a new biometric ID card complete with a SmartCard and other security features. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)[26]is the federal government agency responsible for the issuance of these new cards, as well as the management of the new National Identity Database. The Federal Government of Nigeria announced in April 2013[27]that after the next general election in 2015, all subsequent elections will require that voters will only be eligible to stand for office or vote provided the citizen possesses a NIMC-issued identity card. The Central Bank of Nigeria is also looking into instructing banks to request for a National Identity Number (NIN) for any citizen maintaining an account with any of the banks operating in Nigeria. The proposed kick off date is yet to be determined. South African citizens aged 15 years and 6 months or older are eligible for an ID card. The South African identity document is not valid as a travel document or valid for use outside South Africa. Although carrying the document is not required in daily life, it is necessary to show the document or a certified copy as proof of identity when: The South African identity document used to also contain driving andfirearms licences; however, these documents are now issued separately in card format. In mid 2013 a smart card ID was launched to replace the ID book. The cards were launched on July 18, 2013, when a number of dignitaries received the first cards at a ceremony in Pretoria.[28]The government plans to have the ID books phased out over a six to eight-year period.[29]The South African government is looking into possibly using this smart card not just as an identification card but also for licences,National Health Insurance, and social grants.[30] Every citizen of Tunisia is expected to apply for an ID card by the age of 18; however, with the approval of a parent(s), a Tunisian citizen may apply for, and receive, an ID card prior to their eighteenth birthday upon parental request.[citation needed] In 2016, The government has introduced a new bill to the parliament to issue new biometric ID documents. The bill has created controversy amid civil society organizations.[31] Zimbabweansare required to apply for National Registration at the age of 16.[citation needed]Zimbabwean citizens are issued with aplastic cardwhich contains a photograph and their particulars onto it. Before the introduction of the plastic card, the Zimbabwean ID card used to be printed on anodised aluminium. Along with Driving Licences, the National Registration Card (including the old metal type) is universally accepted as proof of identity in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are required by law to carry identification on them at all times and visitors to Zimbabwe are expected to carry their passport with them at all times.[citation needed] Afghan citizens over the age of 18 are required to carry a national ID document calledTazkira. Bahraini citizens must have both an ID card, called a "smart card", which is recognized as an official document and can be used within theGulf Cooperation Council, and a passport, which is recognized worldwide.[citation needed] Biometric identification has existed inBangladeshsince 2008. All Bangladeshis who are 18 years of age and older are included in a central Biometric Database, which is used by the Bangladesh Election Commission to oversee the electoral procedure in Bangladesh. All Bangladeshis are issued with anNID Cardwhich can be used to obtain a passport, Driving Licence, credit card, and to register land ownership. The Bhutanese national identity card (called the Buthanese Citizenship card) is an electronic ID card, compulsory for all Bhutanese nationals and costs 100 Bhutanese ngultrum. The People's Republic of China requires each of its citizens aged 16 and over to carry an identity card. The card is the only acceptable legal document to obtain employment, a residence permit, driving licence or passport, and to open bank accounts or apply for entry to tertiary education and technical colleges. TheHong Kong Identity Card(orHKID) is an official identity document issued by theImmigration Department of Hong Kongto all people who hold the right of abode, right to land or other forms of limited stay longer than 180 days in Hong Kong. According toBasic Law of Hong Kong, all permanent residents are eligible to obtain theHong Kong Permanent Identity Cardwhich states that the holder has theright of abode in Hong Kong. All persons aged 16 and above must carry a valid legal government identification document in public. All persons aged 16 and above must be able to produce valid legal government identification documents when requested by legal authorities; otherwise, they may be held in detention to investigate his or her identity and legal right to be in Hong Kong. While there is no mandatory identity card in India, theAadhaarcard, a multi-purpose national identity card, carrying 16 personal details and a unique identification number, has been available to all citizens since 2009.[32]The card contains a photograph, full name, date of birth, and a unique, randomly generated 12-digitNational Identification Number. However, the card itself is rarely required as proof, the number or a copy of the card being sufficient. The card has a SCOSTA QR code embedded on the card, through which all the details on the card are accessible.[33]In addition to Aadhaar,PANcards,ration cards, voter cards and driving licences are also used. These may be issued by either the government of India or the government of any state and are valid throughout the nation. The Indian passport may also be used. Residents over 17 are required to hold a KTP (Kartu Tanda Penduduk) identity card. The card will identify whether the holder is anIndonesian citizenorforeign national. In 2011, the Indonesian government started a two-year ID issuance campaign that utilizes smartcard technology and biometric duplication of fingerprint andiris recognition. This card, called the Electronic KTP (e-KTP), will replace the conventional ID card beginning in 2013. By 2013, it is estimated that approximately 172 million Indonesian nationals will have an e-KTP issued to them. Every citizen of Iran has an identification document calledShenasnameh(Iranian identity booklet) inPersian(شناسنامه). This is a booklet based on the citizen's birth certificate which features their Shenasnameh National ID number,given name,surname, their birth date, their birthplace, and the names, birth dates and National ID numbers of their legal ascendants. In other pages of the Shenasnameh, their marriage status, names of spouse(s), names of children, date of every vote cast and eventually their death would be recorded.[34] Every Iranian permanent resident above the age of 15 must hold a validNational Identity Card(Persian:کارت ملی) or at least obtain their unique National Number from any of the local Vital Records branches of the IranianMinistry of Interior.[35] In order to apply for an NID card, the applicant must be at least 15 years old and have a photograph attached to theirBirth Certificate, which is undertaken by the Vital Records branch. Since June 21, 2008, NID cards have been compulsory for many things in Iran and Iranian missions abroad (e.g., obtaining a passport, driver's license, any banking procedure, etc.).[36] EveryIraqicitizen must have aNational Card(البطاقة الوطنية). Israeli law requires every permanent resident above the age of 16, whether a citizen or not, to carry an identification card calledte'udat zehut(Hebrew:תעודת זהות) inHebreworbiţāqat huwīya(بطاقة هوية) inArabic. The card is designed in a bilingual form, printed inHebrewandArabic; however, the personal data is presented in Hebrew by default and may be presented in Arabic as well if the owner decides so. The card must be presented to an official on duty (e.g., a policeman) upon request, but if the resident is unable to do this, one may contact the relevant authority within five days to avoid a penalty. Until the mid-1990s, the identification card was considered the only legally reliable document for many actions such as voting or opening a bank account. Since then, the new Israeli driver's licenses which include photos and extra personal information are now considered equally reliable for most of these transactions. In other situations, any government-issued photo ID, such as a passport or a military ID, may suffice. Japanese citizens are not required to have identification documents with them within the territory of Japan. When necessary, official documents, such as one'sJapanese driver's license,individual number card, basic resident registration card,[37]radio operator license,[38]social insurance card, health insurance card or passport are generally used and accepted. On the other hand, mid- to long-term foreign residents are required to carry theirZairyū cards,[39]while short-term visitors and tourists (those with a Temporary Visitor status sticker in their passport) are required to carry theirpassports. Since 1994, Kazakhstan has issued a compulsory identity card (Kazakh:Jeke kuälık), with a validity of 10 years, for all its citizens over the age of 16.[40]In order to receive an ID card, a Kazakh citizen must apply to NJSC State Corporation "Government for Citizens" at their permanent or temporary place of residence.[41] Currently, there's no legislation in requiring persons in Kazakhstan to carry their ID cards in public.[42]In addition, the ID card documents could be stored digitally in mobile phones due to an eGov app launched in November 2019.[43] The Kuwaiti identity card is issued to Kuwaiti citizens. It can be used as atravel documentwhen visiting countries in theGulf Cooperation Council. The first post-Soviet Kyrgyz identity document was regulated in a government resolution No. 775 of October 17, 1994 "on the approval of the regulations on the passport system of the Kyrgyz Republic" which included a sample passport and its description.[44] According to the Resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic dated November 18, 2016 No. 598, 1994 passports with a mark on the extension of the validity period "indefinitely" from April 1, 2017 completely lost their legal force and were recognized as invalid.[45] TheMacau Resident Identity Cardis an official identity document issued by the Identification Department to permanent residents and non-permanent residents. In Malaysia, theMyKadis the compulsory identity document forMalaysiancitizens aged 12 and above. Introduced by theNational Registration Department of Malaysiaon September 5, 2001, as one of fourMSC Malaysiaflagship applications[46]and a replacement for theHigh Quality Identity Card(Kad Pengenalan Bermutu Tinggi), Malaysia became the first country in the world to use an identification card that incorporates both photo identification andfingerprintbiometricdata on an in-built computer chip embedded in a piece of plastic.[47] Myanmar citizens are required to obtain a National Registration Card (NRC), while non-citizens are given a Foreign Registration Card (FRC). New biometric cards rolled out in 2018. Information displayed in both English and Nepali.[48][49] InPakistan, all adult citizens must register for the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), with a unique number, at age 18. CNIC serves as an identification document to authenticate an individual's identity as a citizen ofPakistan. Earlier on, National Identity Cards (NICs) were issued to citizens of Pakistan. Now, the government has shifted all its existing records of National Identity Cards (NIC) to the central computerized database managed byNADRA. New CNIC's are machine readable and have security features such as facial and fingerprint information. At the end of 2013, smart national identity cards, SNICs, were also made available. ThePalestinian Authorityissues identification cards following agreements with Israel. Since 1995, in accordance to theOslo Accords, the data is forwarded to Israeli databases and verified.[citation needed]In February 2014, a presidential decision issued by Palestinian presidentMahmoud Abbasto abolish the religion field was announced.[50]Israel has objected to abolishing religion on Palestinian IDs because it controls their official records, IDs and passports and the PA does not have the right to make amendments to this effect without the prior approval of Israel. The Palestinian Authority inRamallahsaid that abolishing religion on the ID has been at the center of negotiations with Israel since 1995. The decision was criticized byHamasofficials inGaza Strip, saying it is unconstitutional and will not be implemented in Gaza because it undermines the Palestinian cause.[51] A new Philippines identity card known as the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) ID card began to be issued in August 2018 to Filipino citizens and foreign residents aged 18 and above. This national ID card is non-compulsory but should harmonize existing government-initiated identification cards that have been issued – including the Unified Multi-Purpose ID issued to members of theSocial Security System,Government Service Insurance System,Philippine Health Insurance Corporationand theHome Development Mutual Fund(Pag-IBIG Fund). InSingapore, every citizen, and permanent resident (PR) must register at the age of 15 for an Identity Card (IC). The card is necessary not only for procedures of state but also in the day-to-day transactions such as registering for a mobile phone line, obtaining certain discounts at stores, and logging on to certain websites on the internet. Schools frequently use it to identify students, both online and in exams.[52] Every citizen of South Korea over the age of 17 is issued an ID card calledJumindeungrokjeung(주민등록증). It has had several changes in its history, the most recent form being a plastic card meeting the ISO 7810 standard. The card has the holder's photo and a 15-digit ID number calculated from the holder's birthday and birthplace. A hologram is applied for the purpose of hampering forgery. This card has no additional features used to identify the holder, save the photo. Other than this card, the South Korean government accepts a Korean driver's license card, an Alien Registration Card, a passport and a public officer ID card as an official ID card. The E-National Identity Card(abbreviation: E-NIC) is the identity document in use inSri Lanka. It is compulsory for all Sri Lankan citizens who are sixteen years of age and older to have a NIC. NICs are issued from the Department for Registration of Persons. The Registration of Persons Act No.32 of 1968 as amended by Act Nos 28 and 37 of 1971 and Act No.11 of 1981 legislates the issuance and usage of NICs. Sri Lankais in the process of developing aSmart CardbasedRFIDNIC card which will replace the obsolete 'laminated type' cards by storing the holders information on a chip that can be read by banks, offices, etc., thereby reducing the need to have documentation of these data physically by storing in thecloud. The NIC number is used for unique personal identification, similar to thesocial security numberin the US. InSri Lanka, all citizens over the age of 16 need to apply for aNational Identity Card(NIC). Each NIC has a unique 10-digit number, in the format 000000000A (where 0 is a digit and A is a letter). The first two digits of the number are your year of birth (e.g.: 93xxxxxxxx for someone born in 1993). The final letter is generally a 'V' or 'X'. An NIC number is required to apply for a passport (over 16), driving license (over 18) and to vote (over 18). In addition, all citizens are required to carry their NIC on them at all times as proof of identity, given the security situation in the country.[citation needed]NICs are not issued to non-citizens, who are still required to carry a form of photo identification (such as a photocopy of their passport or foreign driving license) at all times. At times the Postal ID card may also be used. The "National Identification Card" (Chinese:國民身分證) is issued to all nationals of theRepublic of China (Official name of Taiwan)aged 14 and older who havehousehold registrationin theTaiwan area. The Identification Card is used for virtually all activities that require identity verification within Taiwan such as opening bank accounts, renting apartments,employment applicationsand voting. The Identification Card contains the holder's photo,ID number,Chinese name, and (Minguo calendar) date of birth. The back of the card also contains the person's registered address where official correspondence is sent, place of birth, and the name of legal ascendants and spouse (if any). If residents move, they must re-register at a municipal office (Chinese:戶政事務所). ROC nationals with household registration in Taiwan are known as "registered nationals". ROC nationals who do not have household registration in Taiwan (known as "unregistered nationals") do not qualify for the Identification Card and its associated privileges (e.g., the right to vote and the right of abode in Taiwan), but qualify for theRepublic of China passport, which unlike the Identification Card, is not indicative of residency rights in Taiwan. If such "unregistered nationals" are residents of Taiwan, they will hold aTaiwan Area Resident Certificateas an identity document, which is nearly identical to the Alien Resident Certificate issued to foreign nationals/citizens residing in Taiwan. In 1994, the first post-Soviet Tajikinternal passportappeared, which was filled in manually. Neither the number nor the series of the document were printed on the inner pages, and the owner's photo was easy to re-stick. This document turned out to be the most convenient for falsification, hence such passports were in great demand among citizens of neighbouring countries hiding from justice.[45] InThailand, the Thai National ID Card (Thai: บัตรประจำตัวประชาชน; RTGS: bat pracham tua pracha chon) is an official identity document issued only to Thai Nationals. The card proves the holder's identity for receiving government services and other entitlements. Following thedissolutionof theSoviet Unionand theestablishment of independent Turkmenistan, blankpassports of citizens of the USSRof the 1974 model and foreign passports of citizens of the USSR were used in Turkmenistan both as internal identity document andpassport, in which the stamp “Citizen of Turkmenistan” was placed. The unified national passport system was introduced in Turkmenistan on October 25, 1996 by the Decree of the President "On Approval of the Regulations on the Passport System in Turkmenistan".[53]According to the approved regulations, the exchange and issuance of national passports of a citizen of Turkmenistan was to be carried out in the period from October 25, 1996 to December 31, 2001. The new document kept its dual-purpose role as internal identity document and passport. Following the introduction of a Turkmen biometric passport in July 2008 to be used astravel document, a separateinternal passportwas issued. The Federal Authority For Identity and Citizenship is a government agency that is responsible for issuing the National Identity Cards for the citizens (UAE nationals), GCC (Gulf Corporation Council) nationals and residents in the country. All individuals are mandated to apply for the ID card at all ages. For individuals of 15 years and above, fingerprint biometrics (10 fingerprints, palm, and writer) are captured in the registration process. Each person has a unique 15-digit identification number (IDN) that a person holds throughout his/her life. The Identity Card is a smart card that has a state-of-art technology in the smart cards field with very high security features which make it difficult to duplicate. It is a 144KB Combi Smart Card, where the electronic chip includes personal information, 2 fingerprints, 4-digit pin code, digital signature, and certificates (digital and encryption). Personal photo, IDN, name, date of birth, signature, nationality, and the ID card expiry date are fields visible on the physical card. In theUAEit is used as an official identification document for all individuals to benefit from services in the government, some of the non-government, and private entities in the UAE. This supports the UAE's vision of smart government as the ID card is used to securely access e-services in the country. The ID card could also be used by citizens as an official travel document between GCC countries instead of using passports. The implementation of the national ID program in the UAE enhanced security of the individuals by protecting their identities and preventingidentity theft.[54] Following thedissolutionof theSoviet Union,Uzbek passportwas also used as an internal identity document. In September 2020,President of UzbekistanShavkat Mirziyoyevsigned a decree "On measures to introduce ID cards in the Republic of Uzbekistan". According to the document, from January 1, 2021, a unified personal identification system will be introduced in the country, which provides for a gradual replacement of biometric passports with ID cards with an electronic data carrier (chip) by 2030. This will also allow citizens to use government services. It is expected that the document processing period will be 1 day[55]. Until December 31, 2022, ID cards was issued voluntarily to persons who have reached the age of 16, as well as in case of loss of a passport, desire to change the full name, nationality and for other reasons specified in the legislation. From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2030, the exchange of biometric passports for ID cards is mandatory as they expire. In Vietnam, all citizens above 14 years old must possess anIdentification cardprovided by the local authority, and must be reissued when the citizens' years of age reach 25, 40 and 60. Children from 6 to under 14 years old can request if needed. Formerly apeople's ID documentwas used.[56] National identity cards issued to the citizens of theEuropean UnionandEuropean Free Trade Association(Iceland,Liechtenstein,Norway, andSwitzerland) that state the bearer's citizenship as belonging to an EU/EFTA member can be used as identity documents within the home country, and astravel documentsto exercise theright of free movementin the EU or EFTA.[57][58][59] During theUK Presidency of the EU in 2005a decision was made to: "Agree common standards for security features and secure issuing procedures for ID cards (December 2005), with detailed standards agreed as soon as possible thereafter. In this respect, the UK Presidency put forward a proposal for the EU-wide use of biometrics in national identity cards".[60] From August 2, 2021, the European identity card[61][62]is intended to replace and standardize the various identity card styles currently in use.[a][64][65] The Austrian identity card is issued to Austrian citizens. It can be used as a travel document when visiting countries in the EU/EFTA, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Vatican City, the French overseas territories and the British Crown Possessions, as well as on organized tours to Jordan (through Aqaba airport) and Tunisia. Only around 10% of the citizens of Austria had this card in 2012, as they can use the Austrian driver's licenses or other identity cards domestically and the more widely accepted Austrian passport abroad. InBelgium, everyone above the age of 12 is issued an identity card (carte d'identitéin French,identiteitskaartin Dutch andPersonalausweisin German), and from the age of 15 carrying this card at all times is mandatory. For foreigners residing in Belgium, similar cards (foreigner's cards,vreemdelingenkaartin Dutch,carte pour étrangersin French) are issued, although they may also carry a passport, a work permit, or a (temporary) residence permit. Since 2000, all newly issued Belgian identity cards have a chip (eID card), and roll-out of these cards is expected to be complete in the course of 2009. Since 2008, the aforementioned foreigner's card has also been replaced by an eID card, containing a similar chip. The eID cards can be used both in the public and private sector for identification and for the creation of legally binding electronic signatures. Until end 2010 Belgian consulates issued old style ID cards (105 x 75 mm) to Belgian citizens who were permanently residing in their jurisdiction and who chose to be registered at the consulate (which is strongly advised). Since 2011 Belgian consulates issue electronic ID cards, the electronic chip on which is not activated however. InBulgaria, it is obligatory to possess an identity card (Bulgarian – лична карта, lichna karta) at the age of 14 and above. Any person above 14 being checked by the police without carrying at least some form of identification is liable to a fine of 50 Bulgarian levs (about €25). All Croatian citizens may request an Identity Card, calledOsobna iskaznica(literally Personal card). All persons over the age of 18 must have an Identity Card and carry it at all times. Refusal to carry or produce an Identity Card to a police officer can lead to a fine of 100kunaor more[needs update]and detention until the individual's identity can be verified by fingerprints. The Croatian ID card is valid in the entire European Union, and can also be used to travel throughout the non-EU countries of the Balkans. The 2013 design of the Croatian ID card is prepared for future installation of anelectronic identity cardchip, which is set for implementation in 2014.[66] The acquisition and possession of a Civil Identity Card is compulsory for any eligible person who has reached twelve years of age. On January 29, 2015, it was announced that all future IDs to be issued will be biometric.[67]They can be applied for at Citizen Service Centres (KEP) or at consulates with biometric data capturing facilities. An ID card costs €30 for adults and €20 for children with 10/5 years validity respectively. It is a valid travel document for the entire European Union. InCzech, an ID is calledObčanský průkaz, an identity card with a photo is issued to all citizens of theCzech Republicat the age of 15. It is officially recognised by all member states of theEuropean Unionfor intra EU travel. Travelling outside the EU mostly requires theCzech passport. Denmark is the onlyEU/EEAcountry that does not issueEU standardnational identity cards or travel documents in a card format. The most common identity documents in Denmark are driving licences and passports, containing both thepersonal identification numberand a photo. Identity documents are not mandatory in Denmark. For those who do not have a passport or driving licence, Danish identification cards (Danish:legitimationskort) are issued by municipalities. Each municipality has their own design and they are not accepted as valid travel documents outside Denmark. They were launched in 2017, replacing previous 'Youth Cards'.[68]Since 2018, information about the nationality of the cardholder has been included which briefly allowed the card to be used for travel to Sweden.[69]However in September 2019, Swedish authorities explicitly banned Danish municipal identity cards from being used for entry for security reasons.[70]In 2021, the Danish Ministry of Interior came to the conclusion that more secure ID cards were not on the agenda due to prohibitive costs.[71] Previously,Personal identification number certificates(Danish:Personnummerbevis)were optionally issued in Denmark but have been largely replaced byNational Health Insurance Card(Danish:Sundhedskortet) which contains the same information and health insurance information. The National Health Insurance Card is issued to all health insured residents in Denmark. It was commonly used as ade factoidentity document despite the fact it has no photo of the holder. Until 2004, the national debit cardDankortcontained a photo of the holder and was widely accepted as identification until Danish banks lobbied successfully to have pictures removed from debit cards. Between 2004 and 2016, municipalities issued a "photo identity card" or "youth cards" (Danish:billedlegitimationskort), but it was limited to proof of age verification. The Estonian identity card (Estonian:ID-kaart) is achippedpicture ID in theRepublic of Estonia. An Estonian identity card is officially recognised by all member states of theEuropean Unionfor intra EU travel. For travelling outside the EU, Estonian citizens may also require apassport. The card's chip stores akey pair, allowing users to cryptographically sign digital documents based on principles ofpublic key cryptographyusingDigiDoc. Under Estonian law, since December 15, 2000 the cryptographic signature is legally equivalent to a manualsignature. The Estonian identity card is also used for authentication in Estonia's ambitiousInternet-based votingprogramme. In February 2007, Estonia was the first country in the world to institute electronic voting for parliamentary elections. Over 30 000 voters participated in the country's first e-election. By 2014, at the European Parliament elections, the number of e-voters has increased to more than 100,000 comprising 31% of the total votes cast.[72] In Finland, any citizen can get an identification card (henkilökortti/identitetskort). This, along with the passport, is one of two official identity documents. It is available as an electronic ID card (sähköinen henkilökortti/elektroniskt identitetskort), which enables logging into certain government services on the Internet. Driving licenses andKELA(social security) cards with a photo are also widely used for general identification purposes even though they are not officially recognized as such. However, KELA has ended the practice of issuing social security cards with the photograph of the bearer, while it has become possible to embed the social security information onto the national ID card. For most purposes when identification is required, only valid documents are ID card, passport or driving license. However, a citizen is not required to carry any of these. France has had a national ID card for all citizens since the beginning ofWorld War IIin 1940. Compulsory identity documents were created before, for workers from 1803 to 1890, nomads (gens du voyage) in 1912, and foreigners in 1917 during World War I. National identity cards were first issued as thecarte d'identité françaiseunder the law of October 27, 1940, and were compulsory for everyone over the age of 16. Identity cards were valid for 10 years, had to be updated within a year in case of change of residence, and their renewal required paying a fee. Under theVichy regime, in addition to the face photograph, the family name, first names, date and place of birth, the card included the national identity number managed by the national statisticsINSEE, which is also used as the national service registration number, as the Social Security account number for health and retirement benefits, for access to court files and for tax purposes. Under the decree 55-1397 of October 22, 1955[73][74]a revised non-compulsory card, thecarte nationale d'identité(CNI) was introduced. The law (Art. 78–1 to 78–6 of theFrench code of criminal procedure(Code de procédure pénale)[75]mentions only that during an ID check performed by police, gendarmerie or customs officer, one can prove his identity "by any means", the validity of which is left to the judgment of the law enforcement official. Though not stated explicitly in the law, an ID card, a driving licence, a passport, a visa, aCarte de Séjour, avoting cardare sufficient according to jurisprudence. The decision to accept other documents, with or without the bearer's photograph, like aSocial Security card, atravel cardor abank card, is left to the discretion of the law enforcement officer. According to Art. 78-2 of theFrench Code of Criminal Procedure, ID checks are only possible:[76] The last case allows checks of passers-by ID by the police, especially in neighborhoods with a higher criminality rate which are often the poorest at the condition, according to theCour de cassation, that the policeman does not refer only to "general and abstract conditions" but to "particular circumstances able to characterise a risk of breach of public order and in particular an offence against the safety of persons or property" (Cass. crim. December 5, 1999, n°99-81153, Bull., n°95). In case of necessity to establish your identity, not being able to prove it "by any means" (for example the legality of a road trafficprocès-verbaldepends on it), may lead to a temporary arrest (vérification d'identité) of up to 4 hours for the time strictly required for ascertaining your identity according to art. 78-3 of the French Code of criminal procedure (Code de procédure pénale).[75] For financial transactions, ID cards and passports are almost always accepted as proof of identity. Due to possibleforgery, driver's licenses are sometimes refused. For transactions by cheque involving a larger sum, two different ID documents are frequently requested by merchants. The current identification cards are now issued free of charge and optional, and are valid for ten years for minors, and fifteen for adults.[80]The current government has proposed a compulsory biometric card system, which has been opposed by human rights groups and by the national authority and regulator on computing systems and databases, theCommission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés,CNIL. Another non-compulsory project is being discussed. It is compulsory for allGermancitizens aged 16 or older to possess either aPersonalausweis(identity card) or a passport but not to carry one. Police officers and other officials have a right to demand to see one of those documents (obligation of identification); however, the law does not state that one is obliged to submit the document at that very moment. But asdriver's licences, although sometimes accepted, are not legally accepted forms of identification in Germany, people usually choose to carry theirPersonalausweiswith them. Beginning from November 2010, German ID cards are issued in the ID-1 format and contain an integrated digital signature. The cards have a photograph and a chip with biometric data, including two now mandatory fingerprints. Until October 2010, German ID cards were issued inISO/IEC 7810ID-2 format. On November 1, 2019, German ID cards underwent minor textual adjustments concerning the information field on the surname and surname at birth. On August 2, 2021, German ID cards were adapted to Regulation (EU) 2019/1157. The changes include the country code "DE" being shown in white in the blueEuropean flagon the front and two fingerprints (as an encrypted image file) becoming mandatory. In addition, the version number was added to the machine-readable zone. On May 2, 2024, the doctor's title was moved to the back side of the identity card. A compulsory, universal ID system based on personal ID cards has been in place in Greece sinceWorld War II. ID cards are issued by the police on behalf of the ministry responsible for the Headquarters of theHellenic Police(Ministry of Public OrderorMinistry of Citizen ProtectionorMinistry of the Interiorat times) and display the holder's signature, standardized face photograph, name and surname, legal ascendants name and surname, date and place of birth, height, municipality, and the issuing police precinct. There are also two optional fields designed to facilitate emergency medical care:ABOandRhesus factorblood typing. Fields included in previous ID card formats, such as vocation or profession, religious denomination, domiciliary address, name and surname of spouse, fingerprint, eye and hair color, citizenship and ethnicity were removed permanently as being intrusive of personal data and/or superfluous for the sole purpose of personal identification. Since 2000, name fields have been filled in bothGreekandLatincharacters. According to the Signpost Service of the European Commission [reply to Enquiry 36581], old type Greek ID cards "are as valid as the new type according to Greek law and thus they constitute valid travel documents that all other EU Member States are obliged to accept". In addition to being equivalent to passports within the EU and EFTA, Greek ID cards are the principal means of identification of voters during elections. Since 2005, the procedure to issue an ID card has been automated and now all citizens over 12 years of age must have an ID card, which is issued within one work day.[citation needed]Prior to that date, the age of compulsory issue was at 14 and the whole procedure could last several months. In Greece, an ID card is a citizen's most important state document[original research?]. For instance, it is required to perform banking transactions if the teller personnel is unfamiliar with the apparent account holder, to interact with the Citizen Service Bureaus (KEP),[81]receive parcels or registered mail etc. Citizens are also required to produce their ID card at the request of law enforcement personnel. All the above functions can be fulfilled also with a valid Greek passport (e.g., for people who have lost their ID card and have not yet applied for a new one, people who happen to carry their passport instead of their ID card or Greeks who reside abroad and do not have an identity card, which can be issued only in Greece in contrast to passports also issued by consular authorities abroad). Currently, there are three types of valid ID documents (Személyazonosító igazolvány, néeSzemélyi igazolvány, abbr.Sz.ig.) in Hungary: the oldest valid ones are hard-covered, multi-page booklets and issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary, the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page booklet issued after the change of regime; these two have one, original photo of the owner embedded, with original signatures of the owner and the local police's representative. The third type is a plastic card with the photo and the signature of the holder digitally reproduced. These are generally called Personal Identity Card. The plastic card shows the owners full name, maiden name if applicable, birth date and place, mother's maiden name, the cardholder's gender, the ID's validity period and the local state authority which issued the card. The card has a 6 digit number + 2 letter unique ID and a separate machine readable zone on the back for identity document scanning devices. It does not have any information about the owner's residential address, nor their personal identity number – this sensitive information is contained on a separate card, called a Residency Card (Lakcímkártya). Personal identity numbers have been issued since 1975; they have the following format in numbers: gender (1 number) – birth date (6 numbers) – unique ID (4 numbers). They are no longer used as a personal identification number, but as a statistical signature. Other valid documents are the passport (blue colored or red colored withRFIDchip) and thedriver's license; an individual is required to have at least one of them on hand all the time. The Personal Identity Card is mandatory to vote in state elections or open a bank account in the country. ID cards are issued to permanent residents of Hungary; the card has a different color for foreign citizens.[citation needed] Icelandic state-issued identity cards are called "Nafnskírteini" (lit.'name certificate').[82]The ID cards are voluntary, conforming to biometricICAOandEU standardsand can be used as a travel document in theEU/EFTAand theNordic countries.[83]Identity documents are not mandatory to carry or own by law (unless driving a car), but can be needed for bank services, age verification and other situations. Most people (91%) have driving licences for day-to-day use.[84] Irelanddoes not issue mandatory national identity cards as such. Except for a brief period during the Second World War when the Irish Department of External Affairs issued identity cards to those wishing to travel to the United Kingdom,[85]Ireland has never issued national identity cards as such. Identity documentation is optional for Irish and British citizens. Nevertheless, identification is mandatory to obtain certain services such as air travel, banking, interactions regarding welfare and public services, age verification, and additional situations. "Non-nationals" aged 16 years and over must produce identification on demand to any immigration officer or a member of theGarda Síochána(police).[86] Passport booklets, passport cards, driving licences, GNIB Registration Certificates[87]and other forms of identity cards can be used for identification. Ireland has issued optionalpassport cardssince October 2015.[88]The cards are the size of a credit card and have all the information from the biographical page of an Irish passport booklet and can be used explicitly for travel in the EU and EFTA. Ireland issues a "Public Services Card" which is useful when identification is needed for contacts regarding welfare and public services. They have photographs but not birth dates and are therefore not accepted by banks. The card is also not considered as being an identity card by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). In anOireachtas(parliament) committee hearing held on February 22, 2018, Tim Duggan of that department stated "A national ID card is an entirely different idea. People are generally compelled to carry (such a card)."[5] Anyone who is legally resident in Italy, whether a citizen or not, is entitled to request an identity card at the local municipality.[89]However, only Italian citizens can use it as a travel document in lieu of a passport, and get it on a consulate/embassy.[90] It is valid in all Europe (except in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and the UK) and to travel to Turkey, Georgia, Egypt and Tunisia.[91] The Italian citizen is not legally required to carry an identification document, as they have the right to identify themselves verbally. However, if they are asked to present it by law enforcement and have it with them at that moment, they must show it to avoid committing an offense.[92][93]If public-security officers are not convinced of the claimed identity, such as may be the case for a verbally provided identity claim, they may keep the claimant in custody until his/her identity is ascertained;[94]such an arrest is limited to the time necessary for identification and has no legal consequence. Instead, all foreigners in Italy are required by law to have an ID with them at all times.[95]Citizens of EU member countries must be always ready to display an identity document that is legally government-issued in their country. Non-EU residents must have their passport with customs entrance stamp or a residence permit issued by Italian authorities; while all resident/immigrant aliens must have a residence permit (they are otherwise illegal and face deportation), foreigners from certain non-EU countries staying in Italy for a limited amount of time (typically for tourism) may be only required to have their passport with a proper customs stamp. The current Italian identity document is acontactlesselectronic card made ofpolycarbonatein theID-1format with many security features and containing the following items printed bylaser engraving:[96] Moreover, the embedded electronicmicroprocessorchip stores the holder's picture, name, surname, place and date of birth, residency and (only if aged 12 and more) two fingerprints.[97] The card is integrated into the ItalianSSOinfrastructure, theSPIDand permits the holder to use theNFCchip of the card as a login for that service. The card is issued by theMinistry of the Interiorin collaboration with theIPZSin Rome and sent to the applicant within 6 business days.[98] The validity is 10 years for adults, 5 years for minors aged 3–18, 3 years for children aged 0–3[89]and it is extended or shortened in order to expire always on birthday.[99] However, the old classic Italian ID card is still valid and in the process of being replaced with the new eID card since 4 July 2016,[100]because the lack of aMachine Readable Zone, the odd size, the fact that is made of paper and so easy to forge, often cause delays at border controls and, furthermore, foreign countries outside the EU sometimes refuse to accept it as a valid document. These common criticisms were considered in the development of the newItalian electronic identity card, which is in the more common credit-card format and now has many of the latest security features available nowadays. The Latvian "Personal certificate" is issued to Latvian citizens and is valid for travel withinEurope(except Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and UK), Georgia, French Overseas territories and Montserrat (max. 14 days). ThePrincipality of Liechtensteinhas a voluntary ID card system for citizens, the Identitätskarte. Liechtenstein citizens are entitled to use a validnational identity cardto exercise their right of free movement in the EU and EFTA[58][57][101] Lithuanian Personal Identity Card can be used as primary evidence of Lithuanian citizenship, just like a passport and can also be used as proof of identity both inside and outside Lithuania. It is valid for travel within most European nations. The Luxembourgish identity card is issued toLuxembourgish citizens. It serves as proof of identity and nationality and can also be used for travel within theEuropean Unionand a number of other European countries. Maltese identity cards are issued to Maltese citizens and other lawful residents of Malta. They can be used as a travel document when visiting countries in the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. Dutch citizens from the age of 14 are required to be able to show a valid identity document upon request by a police officer or similar official. Furthermore, identity documents are required when opening bank accounts and upon start of work for a new employer. Official identity documents for residents in the Netherlands are: For the purpose of identification in public (but not for other purposes), also a Dutchdriving licenseoften may serve as an identity document. In theCaribbean Netherlands, Dutch and other EU/EFTA identity cards are not valid; and theIdentity card BESis an obligatory document for all residents. In Norway there is no law penalising non-possession of an identity document. But there are rules requiring it for services like banking, air travel and voting (where personal recognition or other identification methods have not been possible). The following documents are generally considered valid (varying a little, since no law lists them):[102]Nordic driving licence, passport (often only from EU and EFTA), national ID card from EU, Norwegian ID card from banks and some more. Bank ID cards are printed on the reverse of Norwegian debit cards. To get a bank ID card either a Nordic passport or another passport together with Norwegian residence and work permit is needed. TheNorwegian identity cardwas introduced on November 30, 2020.[103][104]Two versions of the card exist, one that states Norwegian citizenship and is usable for exercising freedom of movement within the EU and EFTA[58][57][101]and the other for general identification.[105]The plan started in 2007 and was delayed several times.[106]Banks were campaigning to be freed from the task of issuing ID cards, stating that it was supposed to be the responsibility of state authorities.[107]Some banks ceased issuing ID cards, so people had to carry their passport for credit card purchases or buying prescribed medication if not in possession of a driving licence.[108][109] Foreign citizens resident in Norway are not allowed to get the Norwegian identity card. When banks stopped issuing the cards and it was suggested that citizens get a national identity card, foreign citizens who did not have a driving licence or a homeland passport were left outside of the system. Therefore, as of 2022 there are plans to issue a version of the Norwegian identity card for foreign citizens.[110] As of 2020, a digital ID document was introduced in Norway.[111]It requires aphone appand is useful for age checks, pick up of postal packages as well as other tasks. To activate it, a passport or national ID-card is needed. Many young people targeted for alcohol age checks or without a driver's license tend to use it, but also some older citizens.[112] Every Polish citizen 18 years of age or older residing permanently inPolandmust have an Identity Card (dokument tożsamości) issued by the local Office of Civic Affairs. Polish citizens living permanently abroad are entitled, but not required, to have one. All Portuguese citizens are required by law to obtain an Identity Card when they turn 6 years of age. They are not required to carry it at all times but are obliged to present it to the authorities if requested. The old format of the cards (yellow laminated paper document) featured a portrait of the bearer, their fingerprint, and the names of parent(s), among other information. They are currently being replaced by grey plastic cards with a chip, calledCartão de Cidadão(Citizen's Card), which now incorporate NIF (Tax Number), Cartão de Utente (Health Card) and Social Security, all of which are protected by a PIN obtained when the card is issued. The new Citizen's Card is technologically more advanced than the former Identity Card and has the following characteristics: Every citizen ofRomaniamust register for an ID card (Carte de identitate, abbreviatedCI) at the age of 14. The CI offers proof of the identity, address, sex and other data of the possessor. It has to be renewed every 10 years. It can be used instead of a passport for travel inside the European Union and several other countries outside the EU. Another ID card is the Provisional ID Card (Cartea de Identitate Provizorie) issued temporarily when an individual cannot get a normal ID card. Its validity extends for up to 1 year. It cannot be used in order to travel within the EU, unlike the normal ID card. Other forms of officially accepted identification include thedriver's licenseand the birth certificate. However, these are accepted only in limited circumstances and cannot take the place of the ID card in most cases. The ID card is mandatory for dealing with government institutions, banks or currency exchange shops. A valid passport may also be accepted, but usually only for foreigners. In addition, citizens can be expected to provide the personal identification number (CNP) in many circumstances; purposes range from simple unique identification and internal book-keeping (for example when drawing up the papers for the warranty of purchased goods) to being asked for identification by the police. The CNP is 13 characters long, with the format S-YY-MM-DD-RR-XXX-Y. Where S is the sex, YY is year of birth, MM is month of birth, DD is day of birth, RR is a regional id, XXX is a unique random number and Y is a control digit. Presenting the ID card is preferred but not mandatory when asked by police officers; however, in such cases people are expected to provide a CNP or alternate means of identification which can be checked on the spot (via radio if needed). The information on the ID card is required to be kept updated by the owner, current address of domicile in particular. Doing otherwise can expose the citizen to certain fines or be denied service by those institutions that require a valid, up to date card. In spite of this, it is common for people to let the information lapse or go around with expired ID cards. The Slovak ID card (Slovak:Občiansky preukaz) is a picture ID inSlovakia. It is issued to citizens of the Slovak Republic who are 15 or older. A Slovak ID card is officially recognised by all member states of theEU/EFTAfor travel. For travel outside the EU, Slovak citizens may also require theSlovak passport, which is a legally accepted form of picture ID as well. Police officers and some[who?]other officials have a right to demand to see one of those documents, and the law states that one is obliged to submit such a document at that very moment. If one fails to comply, law enforcement officers are allowed to insist on personal identification at the police station. Every Slovenian citizen regardless of age has the right to acquire an identity card (Slovene:osebna izkaznica), and every citizen of theRepublic of Sloveniaof 18 years of age or older is obliged by law to acquire one and carry it at all times (or any other identity document with a picture, e.g., the Slovene passport or a driver's license). The card is a valid identity document within all member states of theEuropean Unionfor travel within the EU. With the exception of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, it may be used to travel outside of the EU toNorway,Liechtenstein,BiH,Macedonia,Montenegro,Serbia, andSwitzerland. The front side displays the name and surname, sex, nationality, date of birth, and expiration date of the card, as well as the number of the ID card, a black and white photograph, and a signature. The back contains the permanent address, administrative unit, date of issue,EMŠO, and a code with key information in amachine-readable zone. Depending on the holder's age, the card is valid for 5 years or 10 years or permanently, and it is valid 1 year for foreigners living in Slovenia, in case of repeated loss, and in some other circumstances.[113]Since 28 March 2022, it is possible but not mandatory to acquire abiometricID card.[114]An identity document in healthcare institutions is thehealthcare insurance card. Since April 2023, a biometric ID card may be used instead.[115] InSpain, citizens, resident foreigners, and companies have similar but distinct identity numbers, some with prefix letters, all with a check-code:[116] Despite the NIF/CIF/NIE/NIF distinctions theidentity numberis unique and always has eight digits (theNIEhas 7 digits) followed by a letter calculated from a 23-Modular arithmeticcheckused to verify the correctness of the number. The letters I, Ñ, O and U are not used and the sequence is as follows: This number is the same for tax, social security and all legal purposes. Without this number (or a foreign equivalent such as a passport number), a contract may not be enforceable. In Spain the formal identity number on an ID card is the most important piece of identification. It is used in all public and private transactions. It is required to open a bank account, to sign a contract, to have state insurance and to register at a university and should be shown when being fined by a police officer.[120]It is one of the official documents required to vote at any election, although any other form of official ID such as a driving licence or passport may be used. The card also constitutes a validtravel documentwithin theEuropean Union.[121] Non-resident citizens of countries such as the United Kingdom, where passport numbers are not fixed for the holder's life but change with renewal, may experience difficulty with legal transactions after the document is renewed since the old number is no longer verifiable on a valid (foreign) passport. However, a NIE is issued for life and does not change and can be used for the same purposes. Sweden does not have a legal statute for compulsory identity documents. However, ID cards are regularly used to ascertain a person's identity when completing certain transactions. These include but are not limited to banking and age verification. Also, interactions with public authorities often require it, in spite of the fact that there is no law explicitly requiring it, because there are laws requiring authorities to somehow verify people's identity. Without Swedish identity documents difficulties can occur accessing health care services, receiving prescription medications and getting salaries or grants. From 2008, EU passports have been accepted for these services due to EU legislation (with exceptions including banking), but non-EU passports are not accepted. Identity cards have therefore become an important part of everyday life. There are currently three public authorities that issue ID cards: theSwedish Tax Agency, theSwedish Police Authority, and theSwedish Transport Agency. The Tax Agency cards can only be used within Sweden to validate a person's identity, but they can be obtained both by Swedish citizens and those that currently reside in Sweden. ASwedish personal identity numberis required. It is possible to get one without having any Swedish ID card. In this case a person holding such a card must guarantee the identity, and the person must be a verifiable relative or the boss at the company the person has been working or a few other verifiable people. The Police can only issue identity documents to Swedish citizens. They issue an internationally recognised identity card according to EU standard usable for intra-Europeantravel, and Swedish passports which are acceptable as identity documents worldwide.[122] The Transport Agency issuesdriving licences, which are valid as identity documents in Sweden. To obtain one, one must be approved as a driver and strictly have another Swedish identity document as proof of identity. In the past there have been certain groups that have experienced problems obtaining valid identification documents. This was due to the initial process that was required to validate one's identity, unregulated security requirements by the commercial companies which issued them. Since July 2009, the Tax Agency has begun to issue ID cards, which has simplified the identity validation process for foreign passport holders. There are still requirements for identity validation that can cause trouble, especially for foreign citizens, but the list of people who can validate one's identity has been extended. Swiss citizenshave noobligation of identificationinSwitzerlandand thus, are not required by law to be able to show a valid identity document upon request by a police officer or similar official. Furthermore, identity documents are required when opening a bank account or when dealing withpublic administration. Relevant in daily life of Swiss citizens are SwissID card[123]and Swissdriver's license;[124]the latter needs to be presented upon request by a police officer, when driving a motor-vehicle as e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bus or a truck. Swiss citizens are entitled to use a validnational identity cardto exercise their right of free movement in EFTA[58]and the EU.[59] Swiss passport[125]is needed only for e.g., travel abroad to countries not accepting Swiss ID card as travel document. No national identity card in the principality. Passports and driving licenses are most commonly used for identification.[14]When visiting France or Spain a passport is needed in lack[clarification needed]of a national identity card, although driving licenses are often used and accepted unofficially. From January 12, 2009, the Government ofAlbaniais issuing a compulsoryelectronic and biometric ID Card(Letërnjoftim)for its citizens.[126]Every citizen at age 16 must apply for Biometric ID card. Azerbaijanissues a compulsoryID Card(Şəxsiyyət vəsiqəsi)for its citizens. Every citizen at age 16 must apply for ID card. Belarus has combined the internationalpassportand theinternal passportinto one document which is compulsory from age 14. It follows the international passport convention but has extra pages for domestic use. Bosnia and Herzegovina allows every person over the age of 15 to apply for an ID card, and all citizens over the age of 18 must have the national ID card with them at all times. A penalty is issued if the citizen does not have the acquired ID card on them or if the citizen refuses to show proof of identification. The Kosovo Identity Card is an ID card issued to the citizens of Kosovo for the purpose of establishing their identity, as well as serving as proof of residency, right to work and right to public benefits. It can be used instead of a passport for travel to some neighboring countries. In Moldova, identity cards (Romanian:Carte de identitate) have been issued since 1996. The first person to get identity card was former president of Moldova –Mircea Snegur. Since then, all the Moldovan citizens are required to have and use it inside the country. It cannot be used to travel outside the country; however, it is possible to pass the so-calledTransnistrianborder with it. The Moldovan identity card may be obtained by a child from his/her date of birth. The state Public Services Agency is responsible for issuing identity cards and for storing data of all Moldovan citizens. Monégasque identity cards are issued toMonégasque citizensand can be used for travel within theSchengen Area. InMontenegroevery resident citizen over the age of 14 can have theirLična kartaissued, and all persons over the age of 18 must have ID cards and carry them at all times when they are in public places. It can be used for international travel toBosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,North Macedonia,KosovoandAlbaniainstead of thepassport. The identity card of North Macedonia (Macedonian:Лична карта, Lična karta) is a compulsory identity document issued inNorth Macedonia. The document is issued by the police on behalf of the Ministry of Interior. Every citizen over 18 must be issued this identity card. The role of identity documentation is primarily played by the so-calledRussian internal passport, a passport-size booklet which contains a person's photograph, birth information and other data such as registration at the place of residence (informally known aspropiska), marital data, information about military service and underage children. Internal passports are issued by theMain Directorate for Migration Affairsto all citizens who reach their 14th birthday and do not reside outside Russia. They are re-issued at the age 20 and 45. The internal passport is commonly considered the only acceptable ID document in governmental offices, banks, while traveling by train or plane, getting a subscription service, etc. If the person does not have an internal passport (i.e., foreign nationals or Russian citizens who live abroad), an international passport can be accepted instead, theoretically in all cases. Another exception is army conscripts, who produce theIdentity Card of the Russian Armed Forces. Internal passports can also be used to travel to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia.[citation needed] Other documents, such as driver's licenses or student cards, can sometimes be accepted as ID, subject to regulations. The national identity card is compulsory for all Sanmarinese citizens.[127]Biometric and valid for international travel since 2016. InSerbiaevery resident citizen over the age of 10 can have theirLična kartaissued, and all persons over the age of 16 must have ID cards and carry them at all times when they are in public places.[128]It can be used for international travel toBosnia and Herzegovina,MontenegroandMacedoniainstead of the passport.[129]Contact microchip on ID is optional. Kosovoissues its ownidentity cards. These documents are accepted by Serbia when used as identification while crossing the Serbia-Kosovo border.[130]They can also be used for international travel toMontenegro[131]andAlbania.[132] The Turkish national ID card (Turkish:Nüfus Cüzdanı) is compulsory for all Turkish citizens from birth. Cards for males and females have a different color. The front shows the first and last name of the holder, first name of legal ascendants, birth date and place, and an 11 digit ID number. The back shows marital status, religious affiliation, the region of the county of origin, and the date of issue of the card. On February 2, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in a 6 to 1 vote that the religious affiliation section of the Turkish identity card violated articles 6, 9, and 12 of the European Convention of Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory. The ruling should coerce the Turkish government to completely omit religious affiliation on future identity cards. The Turkish police are allowed to ask any person to show ID, and refusing to comply may lead to arrest. It can be used for international travel toNorthern Cyprus,GeorgiaandUkraineinstead of a passport. Ministry of Interiorof Turkey released EU-like identity cards for all Turkish citizens in 2017. New identity cards are fully biometric and can be used as a bank card, bus ticket or at international trips. The Ukrainian identity card or Passport of the Citizen of Ukraine (also known as theInternal passportor Passport Card) is an identity document issued to citizens of Ukraine. Every Ukrainian citizen aged 14[133]or above and permanently residing in Ukraine must possess an identity card issued by local authorities of the State Migration Service of Ukraine. Ukrainian identity cards are valid for 10 years (or 4 years, if issued for citizens aged 14 but less than 18) and afterwards must be exchanged for a new document. As of July 2021, the UK has no national identity card and has no generalobligation of identification, although drivers may be required to produce their licence and insurance documents to a police station within 7 days of a traffic stop if they are not able to provide them at the time. The UK had an identity card during World War II as part of a package of emergency powers; this was abolished in 1952 by repealing theNational Registration Act 1939. Identity cards were first proposed in the mid-1980s for people attending football matches, following a series of high-profilehooliganismincidents involving English football fans. However, this proposed identity card scheme never went ahead asLord Taylor of Gosforthruled it out as "unworkable" in theTaylor Reportof 1990. TheIdentity Cards Act 2006implemented a national ID scheme backed by a National Identity Register – an ambitious database linking a variety of data including Police, Health, Immigration, Electoral Rolls and other records. Several groups such asNo2IDformed to campaign against ID cards in Britain and more importantly the NIR database, which was seen as a "panopticon" and a significant threat to civil liberties. The scheme saw setbacks after theLoss of United Kingdom child benefit data (2007)and other high-profiledata lossesturned public opinion against the government storing large, linked personal datasets. Various partial rollouts were attempted such as compulsory identity cards for non-EU residents in Britain (starting late 2008), with voluntary registration for British nationals introduced in 2009 and mandatory registration proposed for certain high-security professions such as airport workers. However, the mandatory registrations met with resistance from unions such as theBritish Airline Pilots' Association.[134] After the2010 general electiona new coalition government was formed. Both parties had pledged to scrap ID cards in their election manifestos. The 2006 act was repealed by theIdentity Documents Act 2010which also required that the nascent NIR database be destroyed. TheHome Officeannounced that the national identity register had been destroyed on February 10, 2011.[135]Prior to the 2006 Act, work had started to updateBritish passportswith RFID chips to support the use ofePassport gates. This continued, with traditional passports being replaced with RFID versions on renewal. Driving licences, particularly the photocard driving licence introduced in 1998, andpassportsare now the most widely used ID documents in the United Kingdom, but the former cannot be used as travel documents, except within theCommon Travel Area. However, driving licences from the UK and EU countries are usually accepted within EU and EFTA countries for identity verification. Most people do not carry their passports in public without knowing in advance that they are going to need them as they do not fit in a typicalwalletand are relatively expensive to replace. Consequently, driving licences are the most common and convenient form of ID in use, along withPASS-accredited cards, used mainly for proof-of-age purposes. Unlike a travel document, they do not show the holder's nationality or immigration status. For proof-of-age purchases, aprovisional driving licenseis often used by those who do not hold a full driving license, as they are easy to obtain. Generally, in day-to-day life, most authorities do not ask for identification from individuals in a sudden, spot-check type manner, such as by police or security guards, although this may become a concern in instances ofstop and search[clarification needed–discuss]. Gibraltar has operated an identity card system since 1943. The cards issued were originally folded cardboard, similar to the wartime UK Identity cards abolished in 1950. There were different colours for British and non-British residents. Gibraltar requires all residents to hold identity cards, which are issued free. In 1993 the cardboard ID card was replaced with a laminated version. However, although valid as atravel documentto the UK, they were not accepted by Spain. A new version in an EU-compliant format was issued and is valid for use throughout the EU, although as very few are seen, there are sometimes problems when used, even in the UK. ID cards are needed for some financial transactions, but apart from that and to cross the frontier with Spain, they are not in common use.[citation needed] Called the "Identification Card R.R". Optional, although compulsory for voting and other government transactions. Available also for any Commonwealth country citizen who has lived in Belize for a year without leaving and been at least 2 months in an area where the person has been registered in.[136][137] In Canada, different forms of identification documentation are used, but there is no de jure national identity card. TheCanadian passportis issued by the federal (national) government, and the provinces and territories issue various documents which can be used for identification purposes. The most commonly used forms of identification within Canada are the health card anddriver's licenceissued by provincial and territorial governments. The widespread usage of these two documents for identification purposes has made them de facto identity cards. In Canada, a driver's license usually lists the name, home address, height and date of birth of the bearer. A photograph of the bearer is usually present, as well as additional information, such as restrictions to the bearer's driving licence. The bearer is required by law to keep the address up to date.[citation needed] A few provinces, such as Québec and Ontario, issue provincial health care cards which contain identification information, such as a photo of the bearer, their home address, and their date of birth. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario are among the provinces that produce photo identification cards for individuals who do not possess a driving licence, with the cards containing the bearer's photo, home address, and date of birth.[138][139][140] For travel abroad, a passport is almost always required. There are a few minor exceptions to this rule; required documentation to travel among North American countries is subject to theWestern Hemisphere Travel Initiative, such as theNEXUS programmeand theEnhanced Drivers Licenseprogramme implemented by a few provincial governments as a pilot project. These programmes have not yet gained widespread acceptance, and the Canadian passport remains the most useful and widely accepted international travel document. Optional and not fully launched. Legislation was enacted in 2022.[141][142][143] EveryCosta Ricancitizenmust carry anidentity cardimmediately after turning 18. The card is namedCédula de Identidadand it is issued by the local registrar's office (Registro Civil), an office belonging to the local elections committee (Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones), which in Costa Rica has the same rank as the Supreme Court. Each card has a unique number composed of nine numerical digits, the first of them being the province where the citizen was born (with other significance in special cases such as granted citizenship to foreigners,adopted persons, or in rare cases, old people for whom nobirth certificatewas processed at birth). After this digit, two blocks of four digits follow; the combination corresponds to the unique identifier of the citizen. It is widely requested as part of every legal and financial purpose, often requested at payment withcreditordebit cardsfor identification guarantee and requested for buyingalcoholic beveragesor cigarettes or upon entrance to adults-only places like bars. The card must be renewed every ten years and is freely issued again if lost. Among the information included there are, on the front, two identification pictures and digitized signature of the owner, identification number (known colloquially just as thecédula), first name, first and second-last names and an optionalknown asfield. On the back, there is again the identification number, birth date, where the citizen issues its vote for national elections or referendums, birthplace, gender, date when it must be renewed and amatrix codethat includes all this information and even a digitized fingerprint of the thumb and index finger. The matrix code is not currently being used nor inspected by any kind of scanner. Besides this identification card, every vehicle driver must carry adriving licence, an additional card that uses the same identification number as the ID card (Cédula de Identidad) for the driving license number. A passport is also issued with the same identification number used in the ID card. The same situation occurs with the Social Security number; it is the same number used for the ID card. All non-Costa Rican citizens with aresident statusmust carry an ID card (Cédula de Residencia), otherwise, a passport and a valid visa. Each resident's ID card has a unique number composed of 12 digits; the first three of them indicate their nationality and the rest of them a sequence used by the immigration authority (called Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería). As with the Costa Rican citizens, their Social Security number and their driver's license (if they have it) would use the same number as in their own resident's ID card. A "Cédulade Identidad y Electoral" (Identity and Voting Document) is a National ID that is also used for voting in both Presidential and Congressional ballots. Each "Cédula de Identidad y Electoral" has its unique serial number composed by the serial of the municipality of current residence, a sequential number plus a verification digit. This National ID card is issued to all legal residents ofadultage. It is usually required to validate job applications, legally binding contracts, official documents, buying/sellingreal estate, opening a personal bank account, obtaining aDriver's Licenseand the like. It is issued free of charge[144]by the "Junta Central Electoral" (Central Voting Committee) to allDominicansnot living abroad at the time of reachingadulthood(16 years of age) or younger is they arelegally emancipated. Foreigners who have taken permanent residence and have not yet applied for Dominicannaturalization(i.e., have not opted for Dominican citizenship but have taken permanent residence) are required to pay an issuing tariff and must bring along their non-expired Country of Origin passport and deposit photocopies of their Residential Card and Dominican Red Cross Blood Type card. Foreigners residing on a permanent basis must renew their "Foreign ID" on a 2-, 4-, or 10-year renewal basis (about US$63–US$240, depending on desired renewal period).[145] In El Salvador, ID Card is called Documento Único de Identidad (DUI) (Unique Identity Document). Every citizen above 18 years must carry this ID for identification purposes at any time. It is not based on a smartcard but on a standard plastic card with two-dimensional bar-coded information with picture and signature. In January 2009, the National Registry of Persons (RENAP) inGuatemalabegan offering a new identity document in place of theCédula de Vecindad(neighborhood identity document) to all Guatemala citizens and foreigners. The new document is called "Documento Personal de Identification" (DPI) (Personal Identity Document). It is based on a smartcard with a chip and includes an electronic signature and several measures against fraud.[146] Optional, although compulsory for voting and other government transactions.[147]Since 2022 a brand new biometric National ID Card has been unveiled, free of charge for Jamaican citizens.[148][149] Not mandatory, but needed in almost all official documents, theCURPis the standardized version of an identity document. It actually could be a printed green wallet-sized card (without a photo) or simply an 18-character identification key printed on a birth or death certificate.[150] While Mexico has a national identity card (cédula de identitad personal), it is only issued to children aged 4–17.[151] Unlike most other countries, Mexico has assigned a CURP to nearly all minors, since both the government and most private schools ask parent(s) to supply their children's CURP to keep a data base of all the children. Also, minors must produce their CURP when applying for a passport or being registered at Public Health services by their parent(s). Most adults need the CURP code too, since it is required for almost all governmental paperwork like tax filings and passport applications. Most companies ask for a prospective employee's CURP, voting card, or passport rather than birth certificates.[citation needed] To have a CURP issued for a person, a birth certificate or similar proof must be presented to the issuing authorities to prove that the information supplied on the application is true. Foreigners applying for a CURP must produce a certificate of legal residence in Mexico. Foreign-born naturalized Mexican citizens must present their naturalization certificate. On August 21, 2008, the Mexican cabinet passed the National Security Act, which compels all Mexican citizens to have a biometric identity card, called Citizen Identity Card (Cédula de identidad ciudadana) before 2011.[citation needed] On February 13, 2009, the Mexican government designated the state ofTamaulipasto start procedures for issuing a pilot program of the national Mexican ID card.[citation needed] Although the CURP is thede jureofficial identification document in Mexico, theInstituto Nacional Electoral'svoting cardis thede factoofficial identification and proof of legal age for citizens of ages 18 and older. On July 28, 2009, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, facing the Mexican House of Representatives, announced the launch of the Mexican national Identity card project, which will see the first card issued before the end of 2009. Thecédula de identidad personalis required at age 12 (cedula juvenil) and age 18. Panamanian citizens must carry theircédulaat all times. New biometric national identity cards rolled out in 2019. The card must be renewed every 10 years (every 5 years for those under 18), and it can only be replaced 3 times (with each replacement costing more than the previous one) without requiring a background check, to confirm and verify that the card holder is not selling his or her identity to third parties for human trafficking or other criminal activities. All cards have QR, PDF417, and Code 128 barcodes. The QR code holds all printed (on the front of the card) text information about the card holder, while the PDF417 barcode holds, in JPEG format encoded with Base64, an image of the fingerprint of the left index finger of the card holder. Panamanian biometric/electronic/machine readable ID cards are similar to biometric passports and current European/Czech national ID cards and have only a small PDF417 barcode, with a machine readable area, a contactless smart card RFID chip, and golden contact pads similar to those found in smart card credit cards and SIM cards. The machine-readable code contains all printed text information about the card holder (it replaces the QR code) while both chips (the smart card chip is hidden under the golden contact pads) contain all personal information about the card holder along with a JPEG photo of the card holder, a JPEG photo with the card holder's signature, and another JPEG photo but with all 10 fingerprints of both hands of the card holder. Earlier cards used Code 16K and Code 49 barcodes with magnetic stripes.[152][153] There is no compulsory federal-level ID card that is issued to all U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens and nationals may obtainpassportsorU.S. passport cardsif they choose to, but this is optional and other alternatives are more popular. For most people,driver's licensesissued by the respectivestateand territorial governments have become thede factoidentity cards, and are used for many identification purposes, such as when purchasing alcohol and tobacco, opening bank accounts, and boarding planes, along with confirming a voter's identity in states withvoter photo identificationlaws. Individuals who do not drive can obtain an identification card with the same functions from the state agency that issues driver's licenses. In addition, many schools issue student and teacher ID cards.[154] The United States passed theREAL ID Acton May 11, 2005. The bill requires states to redesign their driver's licenses to comply with federal security standards by December 2009. Federal agencies would then reject licenses or identity cards that do not comply, which would force Americans accessing everything from airplanes to courthouses to have federally mandated cards. At airports, those not having compliant licenses or cards would be redirected to a secondary screening location.[155]As of 2024, every state has implemented some ID that satisfies the standard.[156] In 2006, theU.S. State Departmentstudied the idea of issuing passports withradio-frequency identification, or RFID, chips embedded in them. TheUnited States passportverifies both personal identity and citizenship, but is not mandatory for citizens to possess within the country and is issued by the U.S. State Department on a discretionary basis. Since February 1, 2008, U.S. citizens may apply forpassport cards, in addition to the usualpassportbooks. Although their main purpose is forland and sea travel within North America, the passport card may also be accepted by federal authorities (such as for domestic air travel or entering federal buildings). TheTransportation Security Administration(TSA) accepts the passport card as an identity document at airport security checkpoints.[157] U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servicesallows the U.S. passport card to be used in the Employment Eligibility Verification FormI-9 (form)process.[158]The passport card is considered a "List A" document that may be presented by newly hired employees during the employment eligibility verification process to show work authorized status. "List A" documents are those used by employees to prove both identity and work authorization when completing the Form I-9. The basic document needed to establish a person's identity and citizenship in order to obtain a passport is abirth certificate. These are issued by either the U.S. state of birth or by the U.S. Department of State for overseas births to U.S. citizens. A child born in the U.S. is in nearly all cases (except for children of foreign diplomats) automatically a U.S. citizen. The parents of a child born overseas to U.S. citizens can report the birth to the U.S. embassy/consulate to obtain a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.[159] Social Security numbers(SSNs) and cards are issued by the U.S.Social Security Administrationfor trackingSocial Securitytaxes and benefits. They have become thede factonational identification number for federal and state taxation, private financial services, and identification with various companies. SSNs do not establish citizenship because they can also be issued to permanent residents. They typically can only be part of the establishment of a person's identity; a photo ID that verifies date of birth is also usually requested. A mix of documents can be presented to, for instance, verify one's legal eligibility to take a job within the United States.Identityandcitizenshipis established by presenting a passport alone, but this must be accompanied by a Social Security card for taxation ID purposes. A driver's license/state ID establishesidentityalone, but does not establishcitizenship, as these can be provided to non-citizens as well. In this case, an applicant without a passport may sign an affidavit of citizenship or be required to present a birth certificate. They must also submit their Social Security number. "Residency" within a certain U.S. jurisdiction, such as a voting precinct, can be proven if the driver's license or state ID has the home address printed on it corresponding to that jurisdiction. Utility bills or other pieces of official printed mail can also suffice for this purpose. In the case of voter registration, citizenship must also be proven with a passport, birth certificate, or signed citizenship affidavit. TheSelective Service Systemhas in the past, in times of a military draft, issued an identification card for men that were eligible for the draft. Australia does not have a national identity card. Instead, various identity documents are used or required to prove a person's identity, whether for government or commercial purposes. Currently,driver licencesandphoto cards, both issued by thestates and territories, are the most widely used personal identification documents in Australia. Additionally, theAustralia Post Keypass identity card, issued byAustralia Post, can be used by people who do not have an Australian drivers licence or an Australian state and territory issued identity photo card. Photo cards are also called "Proof of Age Cards" or similar and can be issued to people as another type of identity. Identification indicating age is commonly required to purchase alcohol and tobacco and to enter nightclubs and gambling venues. Other important identity documents include a passport, an official birth certificate, an official marriage certificate, cards issued by government agencies (typically social security cards), some cards issued by commercial organisations (e.g., a debit or credit card), and utility accounts. Often, some combination of identity documents is required, such as an identity document linking a name, photograph and signature (typically photo-ID in the form of a driver licence or passport), evidence of operating in the community, and evidence of a current residential address. New alcohol laws in the state of Queensland require some Brisbane-based pubs and bars to scan ID documents against a database of people who should be denied alcohol, for which foreign passports and driver's licences are not valid.[160] An "Identification Card" seems to exists among citizens of the Marshall Islands, but little information is found on these documents.[citation needed] National Identity cards, called "FSM Voters National Identity card", are issued on an optional basis, free of charge. The Identity Cards were introduced in 2005.[161] New Zealand does not have an official ID card. The most commonly carried form of identification is a driver licence issued by the Transport Agency. Other forms of special purpose identification documents are issued by different government departments, for example a Firearms Licence issued to gun owners by the Police and the SuperGold card issued to elderly people by the Ministry of Social Development. For purchasing alcohol or tobacco, the only legal forms of identification is a New Zealand or foreign passport, a New Zealand driver licences and a Kiwi Access Card (formerly known as 18+ cards)[162]from the Hospitality Association of New Zealand.[163]Overseas driver licences are not legal for this purpose. For opening a bank account, each bank has its own list of documents that it will accept. Generally speaking, banks accept a foreign or NZ passport, a NZ Firearms Licence, or a foreign ID card by itself. If the customer do not have these documents, they will need to produce two different documents on the approved list (for example a driver licence and a marriage certificate).[164] Republic of Palau Identification Cards are primarily issued to foreign nationals whom are not eligible to acquire a Palau passport or driver's license, under the Digital Residency Act. Foreign nationals are required to undergo a sanctions check. E-National ID cards were rolled out in 2015.[165] "National Voter's Identity card" are optional upon request.[166][167] Tonga's National ID Card was first issued in 2010, and it is optional, along with the driver's licenses and passports. Either one of these are mandatory for to vote though. Applicants need to be 14 years of age or older to apply for a National ID Card.[168] National Identity Cards are being issued since October 2017. Plans for rolling out biometric cards were due for the late 2018.[169][170] Documento Nacional de Identidad (DNI; "National Identity Document") is the main identity document for Argentine residents. It is issued as a card (tarjeta DNI) at birth to all people born in the country (and hence citizens), and to foreigners who register as residents with the National Directorate of Migrations. It must be updated at 8 and 14 years of age, and thereafter every 15 years. The documents are produced at a special plant inBuenos Airesby the Argentine national registry of people (ReNaPer).[171]The National Identity Document (DNI) is the sole instrument for personal identification and is mandatory. Its format and use are regulated by Law No. 17671 on Identification, Registration, and Classification of the National Human Potential, enacted in 1968, replacing the enrolment document issued to men undergoing mandatory military service andlibreta cívicagiven to women upon turning 18. According to this law, the DNI cannot be substituted by any other document for legal purposes. It is required for voting, which is mandatory, and for identification before judicial authorities. The Argentine DNI is also required for conducting procedures with state authorities, and entitles adult bearers to work within the country. From November 4, 2009, as part of a modernization and digitization process of national documents, a new type of DNI with both a booklet and a card was issued; either may be used for most purposes, but the booklet had to be used for voting. The DNI booklet had a light blue cover with laser printing for the citizen's unique number and silver prints for the rest of the presentation. Internally, it had an identical design to the card format but included spaces for marital status, address changes, organ donations, and the stamping of the DNI after voting in national elections. The card was entirely laminated and contained all the individual's data, including a photograph and fingerprint impression. From 2011, the DNI underwent further changes, with no booklet and a different card design, a higher-quality plastic card to be used for all purposes. The booklet was no longer required for voting by holders of the still-valid 2009 version. Since April 1, 2017, the DNI card is the only valid identification document. Taxpayers also have a Unique Tax Identification Code (CUIT). In December 2023, the National Registry of Persons of Argentina (Renaper), a subsidiary of the Ministry of the Interior, introduced the Biometric National Identity Document (DNI). It adheres to international standards of security, with an embeddedelectronic chipand aQR codefor electronic validation, identity verification, digital functions, and advanced security measures. Manufactured using laser technology on polycarbonate, a durable material, the new document has up-to-date physical security features to enhance visual verification and prevent counterfeiting.[172] In Brazil, at the age of 18, all Brazilian citizens are supposed to be issued acédula de identidade(ID card), usually known by its number, theRegistro Geral (RG), Portuguese for "General Registry". The cards are needed to obtain a job, to vote, and to use credit cards. Foreigners living in Brazil have a different kind of ID card. Since the RG is not unique, being issued in a state-basis, in many places theCPF(the Brazilian revenue agency's identification number) is used as a replacement. The current Brazilian driver's license contains both the RG and the CPF, and as such can be used as an identification card as well. There are plans in course to replace the current RG system with a newDocumento Nacional de Identificação(National Identification Document), which will be electronic (accessible by amobile application) and national in scope, and to change the current ID card to a newsmartcard.[173][174] Upon turning 18 every resident inColombiamust obtain an identity document (Spanish:Cédula de CiudadaníaorDocumento de Identidad), which is the only document that proves the identity of a person for legal purposes. ID cards must be carried at all times and must be presented to the police upon request. If the individual fails to present the ID card upon request by the police or the military, he/she is most likely going to be detained at police station even if he/she is not a suspect of any wrongdoing. ID cards are needed to obtain employment, open bank accounts, obtain a passport, driver's license, military card, to enroll in educational institutions, vote or enter public buildings including airports and courthouses; failure to produce ID is a misdemeanor punishable with a fine. ID duplicate costs must be assumed by citizens. Every resident over the age of 14 is issued an identity card called (Tarjeta de Identidad) Every resident of Chile over the age of 18 must have and carry at all times their ID Card calledCédula de Identidadissued by theCivil Registry and Identification Service of Chile. The identity card is the official document that proves the identity of a Chilean person. Among the data it contains is the full name, Unique National Role (RUN) and sex, in addition to the photo, signature and fingerprint. Anyone who wants their profession to appear on their identity card must be registered in the professional registry. This is the only official form of identification for residents in Chile and is widely used and accepted as such. It is necessary for every contract, most bank transactions, voting, driving (along with the driver's licence) and other public and private situations. Biometrics collection is mandatory.[175] InPeru, it is mandatory for all citizens over the age of 18, whether born inside or outside the territory of the Republic, to obtain aNational Identity Document(Documento Nacional de Identidad). The DNI is a public, personal and untransferable document. TheDNIis the only means of identification permitted for participating in any civil, legal, commercial, administrative, and judicial acts. It is also required forvotingand must be presented to authorities upon request. The DNI can be used as apassportto travel to all South American countries that are members ofUNASUR. The DNI is issued by the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC). For Peruvians abroad, service is provided through the Consulates of Peru, in accordance with Articles 26, 31 and 8 of Law No. 26,497. The document is card-sized as defined by ISO format ID-1 (prior to 2005 the DNI was size ISO ID-2; renewal of the card due to the size change was not mandatory, nor did previously-emitted cards lose validity). The front of the card presents photographs of the holder's face, their name, date and place of birth (the latter in coded form),genderandmarital status; the bottom quarter consists ofmachine-readabletext. Three dates are listed as well; the date the citizen was first registered at RENIEC; the date the document was issued; and the expiration date of the document. The back of the DNI features the holder's address (includingdistrict,department and/or province) and voting group. Eight voting record blocks are successively covered with metallic labels when the citizen presents themselves at their voting group on voting days. The back also denotes whether the holder is anorgan donor, presents the holder's right index finger print, aPDF417bar code, and a 1Dbar code. InUruguay, the identity card (documento de identidad) is issued by theMinistry of the Interiorand the National Civil Identification Bureau (Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil\| DNIC).[176] It is mandatory and essential for several activities at either governmental or private levels. The document is mandatory for all inhabitants of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, whether they are native citizens, legal citizens, or resident aliens in the country, even for children as young as 45 days old. It is a laminated card 9 cm (3.5 in) wide and approximately 5 cm (2.0 in) high, dominated by the color blue, showing the flag in the background with the photo of the owner, the number assigned by the DNIC (including a self-generated or check digit), full name, and the corresponding signature along with biometrics. The card is bilingual in Spanish and Portuguese.[177] Identity cards are required for most formal transactions, from credit card purchases to any identity validation, proof of age, and so on. The identity card is not to be confused with theCredencial Cívica, which is used exclusively for voting.[178] Identity cards in Venezuela consist of a plastic-laminated paper which contains the national ID number (Cédula de Identidad) as well as a color-photo and the last names, given names, date of birth, right thumb print, signature, andmarital status(single, married, divorced, widowed) of the bearer. It also contains the documents expedition and expiration date. Two different prefixes can be found before the ID number: "V" for Venezuelans and "E" for foreigners (extranjerosin Spanish). This distinction is also shown in the document at the very bottom by a bold all-caps typeface displaying either the word VENEZOLANO or EXTRANJERO, respectively. Despite Venezuela being the second country in the Americas (after the United States) to adopt abiometric passport, the current Venezuelan ID document is remarkably low-security, even for regional standards. It can hardly be called a card. The paper inside the laminated cover contains only two security measures, first, it is a special type of government-issued paper, and second, it has microfilaments in the paper that glow in the presence of UV light. The laminated cover itself is very simplistic and quite large for the paper it covers and the photo, although is standard sized (3x3.5 cm) is rather blurred. Government officials in charge of issuing the document openly recommend each individual to cut the excess plastic off and re-laminate the document in order to protect it from bending. The requirements for getting a Venezuelan identity document are quite relaxed and Venezuela lacks high-security in its birth certificates and other documents that give claim to citizenship.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_document
Alockis amechanicalorelectronicfastening device that is released by a physical object (such as a key,keycard,fingerprint,RFIDcard,security tokenor coin), by supplying secret information (such as a number or letter permutation orpassword), by a combination thereof, or it may only be able to be opened from one side, such as a door chain. Akeyis a device that is used to operate a lock (to lock or unlock it). A typical key is a small piece of metal consisting of two parts: thebitorblade, which slides into thekeywayof the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and thebow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. In its simplest implementation, a key operates one lock or set of locks that are keyed alike, a lock/key system where each similarly keyed lock requires the same, unique key. The key serves as asecurity tokenfor access to the locked area; locks are meant to only allow persons having the correct key to open it and gain access. In more complex mechanical lock/key systems, two different keys, one of which is known as the master key, serve to open the lock. Common metals includebrass, plated brass,nickel silver, andsteel. The act of opening a lock without a key is calledlock picking. Locks have been in use for over 6000 years, with one early example discovered in the ruins ofNineveh, the capital of ancientAssyria.[1]Locks such as this were developed into theEgyptianwoodenpin lock, which consisted of a bolt, door fixture or attachment, and key. When the key was inserted, pins within the fixture were lifted out of drilled holes within the bolt, allowing it to move. When the key was removed, the pins fell part-way into the bolt, preventing movement.[2] Thewarded lockwas also present from antiquity and remains the most recognizable lock and key design in the Western world. The first all-metal locks appeared between the years 870 and 900, and are attributed to English craftsmen.[3]It is also said that the key was invented byTheodorus of Samosin the 6th century BC.[1] The Romans invented metal locks and keys and the system of security provided by wards.[4] Affluent Romans often kept their valuables in secure locked boxes within their households, and wore the keys as rings on their fingers. The practice had two benefits: It kept the key handy at all times, while signaling that the wearer was wealthy and important enough to have money and jewellery worth securing.[5] A special type of lock, dating back to the 17th–18th century, although potentially older as similar locks date back to the 14th century, can be found in theBeguinageof the Belgian cityLier.[6][7]These locks are most likely Gothic locks, that were decorated with foliage, often in a V-shape surrounding the keyhole.[8]They are often calleddrunk man's lock, as these locks were, according to certain sources, designed in such a way a person can still find the keyhole in the dark, although this might not be the case as the ornaments might have been purely aesthetic.[6][7]In more recent times similar locks have been designed.[9][10] With the onset of theIndustrial Revolutionin the late 18th century and the concomitant development of precision engineering and component standardization, locks and keys were manufactured with increasing complexity and sophistication.[11] Thelever tumbler lock, which uses a set of levers to prevent the bolt from moving in the lock, was invented byRobert Barronin 1778.[12]His double acting lever lock required the lever to be lifted to a certain height by having a slot cut in the lever, so lifting the lever too far was as bad as not lifting the lever far enough. This type of lock is still used today.[13] The lever tumbler lock was greatly improved byJeremiah Chubbin 1818.[12]A burglary inPortsmouth Dockyardprompted theBritish Governmentto announce a competition to produce a lock that could be opened only with its own key.[5]Chubb developed theChubb detector lock, which incorporated anintegral security featurethat could frustrate unauthorized access attempts and would indicate to the lock's owner if it had been interfered with. Chubb was awarded £100 after a trainedlock-pickerfailed to break the lock after 3 months.[14] In 1820, Jeremiah joined his brotherCharlesin starting their own lock company,Chubb. Chubb made various improvements to his lock: his 1824 improved design did not require a special regulator key to reset the lock; by 1847 his keys used six levers rather than four; and he later introduced a disc that allowed the key to pass but narrowed the field of view, hiding the levers from anybody attempting to pick the lock.[15]The Chubb brothers also received a patent for the first burglar-resistingsafeand began production in 1835. The designs of Barron and Chubb were based on the use of movable levers, butJoseph Bramah, a prolific inventor, developed an alternative method in 1784. His lock used a cylindrical key with precise notches along the surface; these moved the metal slides that impeded the turning of the bolt into an exact alignment, allowing the lock to open. The lock was at the limits of the precision manufacturing capabilities of the time and was said by its inventor to be unpickable. In the same year Bramah started the Bramah Locks company at 124 Piccadilly, and displayed the "Challenge Lock" in the window of his shop from 1790, challenging "...the artist who can make an instrument that will pick or open this lock" for the reward of £200. The challenge stood for over 67 years until, at theGreat Exhibitionof 1851, the American locksmithAlfred Charles Hobbswas able to open the lock and, following some argument about the circumstances under which he had opened it, was awarded the prize. Hobbs' attempt required some 51 hours, spread over 16 days. The earliest patent for a double-actingpin tumbler lockwas granted to American physician Abraham O. Stansbury in England in 1805,[16]but the modern version, still in use today, was invented by AmericanLinus Yale Sr.in 1848.[17]This lock design usedpinsof varying lengths to prevent the lock from opening without the correct key. In 1861,Linus Yale Jr.was inspired by the original 1840s pin-tumbler lock designed by his father, thus inventing and patenting a smaller flat key with serrated edges as well as pins of varying lengths within the lock itself, the same design of the pin-tumbler lock which still remains in use today.[18]The modern Yale lock is essentially a more developed version of the Egyptian lock. Despite some improvement in key design since, the majority of locks today are still variants of the designs invented by Bramah, Chubb and Yale. Awarded lockuses a set of obstructions, or wards, to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The key has notches or slots that correspond to the obstructions in the lock, allowing it to rotate freely inside the lock. Warded locks are typically reserved for low-security applications as a well-designedskeleton keycan successfully open a wide variety of warded locks. Thepin tumbler lockuses a set of pins to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The key has a series of grooves on either side of the key's blade that limit the type of lock the key can slide into. As the key slides into the lock, the horizontal grooves on the blade align with thewardsin thekeywayallowing or denying entry to thecylinder. A series of pointed teeth and notches on the blade, calledbittings, then allowpinsto move up and down until they are in line with theshear lineof the inner and outer cylinder, allowing the cylinder orcamto rotate freely and the lock to open. An additional pin called the master pin is present between the key and driver pins in locks that accept master keys, to allow the plug to rotate at multiple pin elevations. Awafer tumbler lockis similar to the pin tumbler lock and works on a similar principle. However, unlike the pin lock (where each pin consists of two or more pieces) each wafer is a single piece. The wafer tumbler lock is often incorrectly referred to as a disc tumbler lock, which uses an entirely different mechanism. The wafer lock is relatively inexpensive to produce and is often used in automobiles and cabinetry. Thedisc tumbler lockorAbloylock is composed of slotted rotating detainer discs. Thelever tumbler lockuses a set of levers to prevent the bolt from moving in the lock. In its simplest form, lifting the tumbler above a certain height will allow the bolt to slide past. Lever locks are commonlyrecessedinside wooden doors or on some older forms of padlocks, including fire brigade padlocks. Amagnetic keyed lockis a locking mechanism whereby the key utilizes magnets as part of the locking and unlocking mechanism. A magnetic key would use from one to many small magnets oriented so that the North and South poles would equate to a combination to push or pull the lock's internal tumblers thus releasing the lock. Anelectronic lockworks by means of an electric current and is usually connected to anaccess controlsystem. In addition to the pin and tumbler used in standard locks, electronic locks connect theboltorcylinderto a motor within the door using a part called an actuator. Types of electronic locks include the following: Akeycard lockoperates with a flat card of similar dimensions as acredit card. In order to open the door, one needs to successfully match the signature within thekeycard. The lock in a typicalremote keyless systemoperates with asmart keyradio transmitter. The lock typically accepts a particular valid code only once, and the smart key transmits a differentrolling codeevery time the button is pressed. Generally the car door can be opened with either a valid code by radio transmission, or with a (non-electronic) pin tumbler key. The ignition switch may require atransponder car keyto both open a pin tumbler lock and also transmit a valid code by radio transmission. A smart lock is an electromechanics lock that gets instructions to lock and unlock the door from an authorized device using acryptographic keyand wireless protocol. Smart locks have begun to be used more commonly in residential areas, often controlled withsmartphones.[19][20]Smart locks are used incoworkingspaces and offices to enable keyless office entry.[21]In addition, electronic locks cannot be picked with conventional tools. Locksmithingis a traditional trade, and in most countries requires completion of anapprenticeship. The level of formal education required varies from country to country, from no qualifications required at all in the UK,[22]to a simple training certificate awarded by an employer, to a fulldiplomafrom anengineeringcollege. Locksmiths may be commercial (working out of a storefront), mobile (working out of a vehicle), institutional, or investigational (forensic locksmiths). They may specialize in one aspect of the skill, such as an automotive lock specialist, a master key system specialist or a safe technician. Many also act as security consultants, but not all security consultants have the skills and knowledge of a locksmith.[citation needed] Historically, locksmiths constructed or repaired an entire lock, including its constituent parts. The rise of cheap mass production has made this less common; the vast majority of locks are repaired through like-for-like replacements, high-security safes and strongboxes being the most common exception. Many locksmiths also work on any existing door hardware, including door closers, hinges, electric strikes, and frame repairs, or serviceelectronic locksby making keys for transponder-equipped vehicles and implementing access control systems. Although the fitting and replacement of keys remains an important part of locksmithing, modern locksmiths are primarily involved in the installation of high quality lock-sets and the design, implementation, and management of keying and key control systems. Locksmiths are frequently required to determine the level of risk to an individual or institution and then recommend and implement appropriate combinations of equipment and policies to create a "security layer" that exceeds the reasonable gain of an intruder.[citation needed] Traditionalkey cuttingis the primary method of key duplication. It is asubtractive processnamed after the metalworking process ofcutting, where a flatblankkey is ground down to form the same shape as thetemplate(original) key. The process roughly follows these stages: Modern key cutting replaces the mechanical key following aspect with a process in which the original key is scanned electronically, processed by software, stored, then used to guide a cutting wheel when a key is produced. The capability to store electronic copies of the key's shape allows for key shapes to be stored for key cutting by any party that has access to the key image. Different key cutting machines are more or less automated, using different milling or grinding equipment, and follow the design of early 20th century key duplicators. Key duplication is available in many retailhardware storesand as a service of the specialized locksmith, though the correct key blank may not be available. More recently, online services for duplicating keys have become available. Akeyhole(orkeyway) is a hole or aperture (as in a door or lock) for receiving a key.[23]Lock keyway shapes vary widely with lock manufacturer, and many manufacturers have a number of unique profiles requiring a specifically milledkey blankto engage the lock'stumblers. Keys appear in various symbols and coats of arms, the best-known being that of theHoly See:[24]derived from the phrase inMatthew 16:19which promisesSaint Peter, in Roman Catholic tradition the firstpope, theKeys of Heaven. But this is by no means the only case. Some works of art associate keys with the Greek goddess ofwitchcraft, known asHecate.[25] ThePalestinian keyis the Palestinian collective symbol of their homes lost in theNakba, when more than half of the population ofMandatory Palestinewasexpelled or fled violence in 1948and were subsequently refused theright to return.[26][27][28]Since 2016, a Palestinian restaurant inDoha,Qatar, holds theGuinness World Recordfor the world's largest key – 2.7 tonnes and 7.8 × 3 meters.[29][30]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(lock)#Keycard
The termdigital card[1]can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera,[2][3]or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as avirtual cardorcloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share a common purpose:identity management,credit card,debit cardordriver's license. A non-physical digital card, unlike amagnetic stripe card, canemulate(imitate) any kind of card.[4][1] Asmartphoneorsmartwatchcan store content from the card issuer; discount offers and news updates can be transmitted wirelessly, viaInternet. These virtual cards are used in very high volumes by the mass transit sector, replacing paper-based tickets and the earlier magnetic strip cards.[5] Magnetic recording on steel tape and wire was invented byValdemar Poulsenin Denmark around 1900 for recording audio.[6]In the 1950s, magnetic recording of digital computer data on plastic tape coated with iron oxide was invented. In 1960,IBMbuilt upon the magnetic tape idea and developed a reliable way of securing magnetic stripes toplastic cards,[7]as part of a contract with the US government for a security system. A number ofInternational Organization for Standardizationstandards,ISO/IEC 7810,ISO/IEC 7811,ISO/IEC 7812,ISO/IEC 7813,ISO 8583, andISO/IEC 4909, now define the physical properties of such cards, including size, flexibility, location of the magstripe, magnetic characteristics, and data formats. Those standards also specify characteristics for financial cards, including the allocation of card number ranges to different card issuing institutions. As technological progress emerged in the form of highly capable and always carriedsmartphones,handheldsandsmartwatches, the term "digital card" was introduced.[1] On May 26, 2011Googlereleased its own version of a cloud hostedGoogle Walletwhich contains digital cards - cards that can be created online without having to have a plastic card in first place, although all of its merchants currently issue both plastic and digital cards.[8]There are several virtual card issuing companies located in different geographical regions, such as Weel in Australia and Privacy in the USA. Amagnetic stripe cardis a type of card capable of storing data bystoring it on magnetic materialattached to a plastic card. A computer device can update the card's content. The magnetic stripe is read by swiping it past amagnetic reading head. Magnetic stripe cards are commonly used incredit cards,identity cards, and transportation tickets. They may also contain aradio frequency identification (RFID)tag, atransponder deviceand/or amicrochipmostly used foraccess controlor electronic payment. Magnetic storage was known from World War II and computer data storage in the 1950s.[7] In 1969an IBM engineerhad the idea of attaching a piece of magnetic tape, the predominant storage medium at the time, to a plastic card base. He tried it, but the result was unsatisfactory. Strips of tape warped easily, and the tape's function was negatively affected by adhesives he used to attach it to the card. After a frustrating day in the laboratory trying to find an adhesive that would hold the tape securely without affecting its function, he came home with several pieces of magnetic tape and several plastic cards. As he entered his home his wife was ironing clothing. When he explained the source of his frustration – inability to get the tape to "stick" to the plastic so that it would not come off, but without compromising its function – she suggested that he use the iron to melt the stripe on. He tried it and it worked.[9][10]The heat of the iron was just high enough to bond the tape to the card. Incremental improvements from 1969 through 1973 enabled developing and selling implementations of what became known as theUniversal Product Code(UPC).[11][12][13]This engineering effort resulted in IBM producing the first magnetic striped plastic credit and ID cards used by banks, insurance companies, hospitals and many others.[11][14] Initial customers included banks, insurance companies and hospitals, who provided IBM with raw plastic cards preprinted with their logos, along with a list of the contact information and data which was to be encoded and embossed on the cards.[14]Manufacturing involved attaching the magnetic stripe to the preprinted plastic cards using the hot stamping process developed by IBM.[15][16] IBM's development work, begun in 1969, but still needed more work. Steps required to convert the magnetic striped media into an industry acceptable device included: These steps were initially managed byJerome Svigalsof the Advanced Systems Division of IBM,Los Gatos, California, from 1966 to 1975. In most magnetic stripe cards, the magnetic stripe is contained in a plastic-like film. The magnetic stripe is located 0.223 inches (5.7 mm) from the edge of the card, and is 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) wide. The magnetic stripe contains three tracks, each 0.110 inches (2.8 mm) wide. Tracks one and three are typically recorded at 210 bits per inch (8.27 bits per mm), while track two typically has a recording density of 75 bits per inch (2.95 bits per mm). Each track can either contain 7-bit alphanumeric characters, or 5-bit numeric characters. Track 1 standards were created by theairlines industry (IATA). Track 2 standards were created by thebanking industry (ABA). Track 3 standards were created by the thrift-savings industry. Magstripes following these specifications can typically be read by mostpoint-of-salehardware, which are simply general-purpose computers that have been programmed to perform the required tasks. Examples of cards adhering to these standards includeATM cards,bank cards(credit and debit cards includingVisaandMasterCard),gift cards,loyalty cards,driver's licenses,telephone cards,membership cards, electronic benefit transfer cards (e.g.food stamps), and nearly any application in which monetary value or secure information isnotstored on the card itself. Many video game and amusement centers now use debit card systems based on magnetic stripe cards. Magnetic stripe cloning can be detected by the implementation of magnetic card reader heads and firmware that can read a signature of magnetic noise permanently embedded in all magnetic stripes during the card production process. This signature can be used in conjunction with common two-factor authentication schemes utilized in ATM, debit/retail point-of-sale and prepaid card applications.[17] Some types of cards intentionally ignore the ISO standards regarding which kind of data is recorded in each track, and use their own data sequences instead; these include hotel key cards, most subway and bus cards, and some national prepaid calling cards (such as for the country ofCyprus) in which the balance is stored and maintained directly on the stripe and not retrieved from a remote database. There are up to three tracks on magnetic cards known as tracks 1, 2, and 3. Track 3 is virtually unused by the major worldwide networks[citation needed], and often is not even physically present on the card by virtue of a narrower magnetic stripe. Point-of-sale card readers almost always read track 1, or track 2, and sometimes both, in case one track is unreadable. The minimum cardholder account information needed to complete a transaction is present on both tracks. Track 1 has a higher bit density (210 bits per inch vs. 75), is the only track that may contain alphabetic text, and hence is the only track that contains the cardholder's name. Track 1 is written with code known asDECSIXBITplus oddparity. The information on track 1 on financial cards is contained in several formats:A, which is reserved for proprietary use of the card issuer,B, which is described below,C-M, which are reserved for use by ANSI Subcommittee X3B10 andN-Z, which are available for use by individual card issuers: Format B: This format was developed by the banking industry (ABA). This track is written with a 5-bit scheme (4 data bits + 1 parity), which allows for sixteen possible characters, which are the numbers 0–9, plus the six characters: ; < = > ?. (It may seem odd that these particular punctuation symbols were selected, but by using them the set of sixteen characters matches theASCIIrange 0x30 through 0x3f.) The data format is as follows: Service codevalues common in financial cards: First digit Second digit Third digit The data stored on magnetic stripes on American and Canadian driver's licenses is specified by theAmerican Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Not all states and provinces use a magnetic stripe on their driver's licenses. For a list of those that do, see the AAMVA list.[18][19] The following data is stored on track 1:[20] The following data is stored on track 2: The following data is stored on track 3: Note: Each state has a different selection of information they encode, not all states are the same. Note: Some states, such as Texas,[22]have laws restricting the access and use of electronically readable information encoded on driver's licenses or identification cards under certain circumstances. Smart cardsare a newer generation of card that contain anintegrated circuit. Some smart cards have metal contacts to electrically connect the card to thereader; there are alsocontactless cardsthat use a magnetic field or radio frequency (RFID) for proximity reading. Hybrid smart cards include a magnetic stripe in addition to the chip—this combination is most commonly found inpayment cards, to make them usable at payment terminals that do not include a smart card reader. Cards that contain all three features (magnetic stripe, smart card chip, and RFID chip) are also becoming common as more activities require the use of such cards.[citation needed] DuringDEF CON24, Weston Hecker presentedHacking Hotel Keys, and Point Of Sales Systems.In the talk, Hecker described the way magnetic strip cards function and utilised spoofing software,[23]and anArduinoto obtain administrative access from hotel keys, via service staff walking past him. Hecker claims he used administrative keys from POS systems on other systems, effectively providing access to any system with a magnetic stripe reader, providing access to run privileged commands.[citation needed] Identification with a digital card is usually done in several ways:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card
Photo identificationorphoto IDis anidentity documentthat includes aphotographof the holder, usually only their face. The most commonly accepted forms of photo ID are those issued by government authorities, such asdriver's licenses, identity cards andpassports, but special-purpose photo IDs may be also produced, such as internal security oraccess controlcards. Photo identification may be used forface-to-faceauthenticationof identity of a party who either is personally unknown to the person in authority or because that person does not have access to a file, a directory, aregistryor an information service that contains or that can render a photograph of somebody on account of that person's name and other personal information. Some countries – including almost all developed nations – use a single, government-issued type of card as a proof of age or citizenship. TheUnited States,United Kingdom,Australia,New Zealand,Ireland, andCanadado not have such a single type of card. Types of photo ID used in the US include: Australianphoto IDincludes: Photo identification cards appear to have been first used at the1876 Centennial ExpositioninPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The Scottish-born Canadian photographerWilliam Notman, through his affiliated business, Centennial Photographic Co., which had exclusive photographic concession at the exhibition, introduced a photo identification system that was required for all exhibitors and employees of the exhibition. The innovation was known as a "photographic ticket".[3]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_identification
Securityis protection from, or resilience against,potentialharm (or other unwantedcoercion).Beneficiaries(technicallyreferents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change. Security mostly refers to protection from hostile forces, but it has a wide range of other senses: for example, as the absence of harm (e.g.,freedom from want); as the presence of an essential good (e.g.,food security); asresilienceagainst potential damage or harm (e.g. secure foundations); as secrecy (e.g., asecure telephone line); as containment (e.g., asecure roomorcell); and as a state of mind (e.g.,emotional security). Security is both a feeling and a state of reality. One might feel secure when one is not actually so; or might feel insecure despite being safe. This distinction is usually not very clear to express in the English language.[1] The term is also used to refer to acts and systems whose purpose may be to provide security (security company,security police,security forces,security service,security agency,security guard,cyber security systems,security cameras,remote guarding). Security can bephysicalandvirtual. The word 'secure' entered the English language in the 16th century.[2]It is derived from Latinsecurus, meaning freedom from anxiety:se(without) +cura(care, anxiety).[2] A securityreferentis the focus of a security policy or discourse; for example, a referent may be a potential beneficiary (or victim) of a security policy or system. Security referents may be persons or social groups, objects, institutions, ecosystems, or any other phenomenon vulnerable to unwanted change by the forces of its environment.[3]The referent in question may combine many referents in the same way that, for example, a nation-state is composed of many individual citizens.[4] The security context is the relationships between a security referent and its environment.[3]From this perspective, security and insecurity depend first on whether the environment is beneficial or hostile to the referent and also on how capable the referent is of responding to their environment in order to survive and thrive.[4] The means by which a referent provides for security (or is provided for) vary widely. They include, for example: Any action intended to provide security may have multiple effects. An action may have a wide benefit, enhancing security for several or all security referents in the context; alternatively, the action may be effective only temporarily, benefit one referent at the expense of another, or be entirely ineffective or counterproductive. Approaches to security are contested and the subject of debate. For example, in debate aboutnational security strategies, some argue that security depends principally on developing protective and coercive capabilities in order to protect the security referent in a hostile environment (and potentially to project that power into its environment, and dominate it to the point ofstrategic supremacy).[5][6][7]Others argue that security depends principally on building the conditions in which equitable relationships can develop, partly by reducing antagonism between actors, ensuring that fundamental needs can be met, and also ensuring that differences of interest can be negotiated effectively.[8][4][9] The table shows some of the main domains where security concerns are prominent. Informational Physical Political Monetary The range of security contexts is illustrated by the following examples (in alphabetical order): Computer security, also known as cybersecurity or IT security, refers to the security of computing devices such ascomputersand smartphones, as well ascomputer networkssuch as private and public networks, and theInternet. The field has growing importance due to the increasing reliance on computer systems in most societies.[10]It concerns the protection of hardware, software, data, people, and also the procedures by which systems are accessed. The means of computer security include thephysical securityof systems and thesecurity of informationheld on them. Corporate security refers to the resilience ofcorporationsagainstespionage, theft, damage, and other threats. The security of corporations has become more complex as reliance on IT systems has increased, and their physical presence has become more highly distributed across several countries, including environments that are, or may rapidly become, hostile to them. Environmental security, also known as ecological security, refers to the integrity ofecosystemsand thebiosphere, particularly in relation to their capacity to sustain adiversity of life-forms(including human life). The security of ecosystems has attracted greater attention as the impact of ecological damage by humans has grown.[11] Home security normally refers to the security systems used on a property used as a dwelling (commonly including doors, locks, alarm systems, lighting, fencing); and personal security practices (such as ensuring doors are locked, alarms are activated, windows are closed etc.) Human security is an emergingparadigmthat, in response to traditional emphasis on the right of nation-states to protect themselves,[12]has focused on the primacy of the security of people (individuals and communities).[13]The concept is supported by theUnited Nations General Assembly, which has stressed "the right of people to live infreedomanddignity" and recognized "that all individuals, in particular vulnerable people, are entitled tofreedom from fearandfreedom from want".[14] Information security refers to the security of information in any form. Spoken, written, digital, networked, technological, and procedural forms of information are all examples that may be covered in aninformation security managementscheme. Computer security,ITsecurity,ICTsecurity, andnetwork securityare thus all subdomains of information security.[15] National security refers to the security of anation-state, including its people, economy, and institutions. In practice, state governments rely on a wide range of means, includingdiplomacy,economic power, andmilitary capabilities. "Resource security" refers to the political andcommercialobjective of ensuring that supplies of materials needed for the production of goods and the satisfaction ofhuman needscan be reliably sustained into the future. It involves protecting the supply of such resources as water, energy, food and industrialraw materialsfrom risks ofglobal depletionand risks to national supply incurred by trade restrictions, government or terrorist interference ormarket failures. Whilecritical raw materialssuch asrare earth mineralsare an important focus of resource security planning, resource security covers a broader range of resources.[16]: 5Food security, ensuring that a reliable supply of, and access to, safe andnutritiousfood,[17]andenergy securityare important aspects of resource security. Food security is gaining in importance as the world's population has grown and productive land has diminished through overuse andclimate change.[18][19] TheUK governmentpublished aResource Security Action Planfor England in March 2012, subtitled "Making the most of valuable resources",[a]responding to concerns raised by businesses and business leaders such as theConfederation of British Industry(CBI) and theEngineering Employers' Federation(EEF), and work in this field undertaken by theHouse of Commons Science and Technology Committee. The action plan was an interdepartmental initiative for which theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(DEFRA) took the lead role as first point of contact for business enquiries.[16] Government and business concerns related to "a range of renewable and non-renewable resources", concentrating on those not already covered byenergy securityandfood securitymeasures, and especially sought to protect the supply of certain specific metals and materials under supply pressure. A generalised fear of resource insufficiency was felt to be inappropriate: thusVince Cable, thenSecretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, spoke in December 2011 about a public policy approach to resource management: It is over 200 years since theReverend Malthusfirst predicted thatpopulation growthwould inevitably outrun the capacity of the land to provide enough food. In the years since, the effects of human ingenuity and new trading routes have shown him to be wrong - though not entirely. Fish depletion is a classic Malthusian problem and is sadly resulting in some irreversible damage tostocks. Thesperm whalewas driven to near extinction by the demand for blubber to light the pre-electric world. But for the most part resource pessimism has been misplaced.[20] Similarly theAction Plannotes that in general the issue of "resource security" is not concerned with "scarcity" of resources but with availability, supply constraints and the potential financial and environmental costs of opening up new sources of supply.[16]: 7 EEF, the UK's manufacturers' representation organisation (nowMake UK) issued a report in 2014 entitledMaterials for Manufacturing: Safeguarding Supply, along with an appeal to the government seeking action to protect the country's supply of essential materials. The report highlighted "over-reliance onChinafor strategic supplies" as a key issue. The EEF and other partners argued that an "Office of Resource Management" within government "could strategically co-ordinate action across Whitehall".[21]The office would form part of theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skillsand maintain an overview of the risks to resource security.[22] Since it is not possible to know with precision the extent to which something is 'secure' (and a measure of vulnerability is unavoidable), perceptions of security vary, often greatly.[4][23]For example, a fear of death by earthquake is common in the United States (US), but slipping on the bathroom floor kills more people;[23]and in France, the United Kingdom, and the US, there are far fewer deaths caused byterrorismthan there are women killed by their partners in the home.[24][25][26][27] Another problem of perception is the common assumption that the mere presence of a security system (such asarmed forcesorantivirus software) implies security. For example, twocomputer securityprograms installed on the same device can prevent each other from working properly, while the user assumes that he or she benefits from twice the protection that only one program would afford. Security theateris a critical term for measures that change perceptions of security without necessarily affecting security itself. For example, visual signs of security protections, such as a home that advertises its alarm system, may deter anintruder, whether or not the system functions properly. Similarly, theincreased presence of military personnelon the streets of a city after aterrorist attackmay help to reassure the public, whether or not it diminishes the risk of further attacks. Certain concepts recur throughout different fields of security:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security
Asmart card(SC),chip card, orintegrated circuit card(ICCorIC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with anembeddedintegrated circuit(IC) chip.[1]Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others arecontactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing.[2]Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication forsingle sign-on(SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations. Theuniversal integrated circuit card(UICC) for mobile phones, installed as pluggableSIM cardor embeddedeSIM, is also a type of smart card. As of 2015[update], 10.5billion smart card IC chips are manufactured annually, including 5.44billion SIM card IC chips.[3] The basis for the smart card is thesiliconintegrated circuit(IC) chip.[4]It was invented byRobert NoyceatFairchild Semiconductorin 1959. The invention of the silicon integrated circuit led to the idea of incorporating it onto a plastic card in the late 1960s.[4] The idea of incorporating anintegrated circuitchip onto a plastic card was first introduced by the German engineerHelmut Gröttrup. In February 1967, Gröttrup filed the patents DE1574074[5]and DE1574075[6]inWest Germanyfor a tamper-proof identification switch based on asemiconductor deviceand described contactless communication via inductive coupling.[7]Its primary use was intended to provide individual copy-protected keys for releasing the tapping process at unmanned gas stations. In September 1968, Gröttrup, together withJürgen Dethloffas an investor, filed further patents for this identification switch, first inAustria[8]and in 1969 as subsequent applications in the United States,[9][10]Great Britain, West Germany and other countries.[11] Independently, Kunitaka Arimura of the Arimura Technology Institute in Japan developed a similar idea of incorporating an integrated circuit onto a plastic card, and filed a smart card patent in March 1970.[4][12]The following year, Paul Castrucci ofIBMfiled an American patent titled "Information Card" in May 1971.[12] In 1974Roland Morenopatented a secured memory card later dubbed the "smart card".[13][14]In 1976, Jürgen Dethloff introduced the known element (called "the secret") to identify gate user as of USP 4105156.[15] In 1977, Michel Ugon fromHoneywell Bullinvented the firstmicroprocessorsmart card with twochips: one microprocessor and onememory, and in 1978, he patented the self-programmable one-chip microcomputer (SPOM) that defines the necessary architecture to program the chip. Three years later,Motorolaused this patent in its "CP8". At that time, Bull had 1,200 patents related to smart cards. In 2001, Bull sold its CP8 division together with its patents toSchlumberger, who subsequently combined its own internal smart card department and CP8 to createAxalto. In 2006, Axalto and Gemplus, at the time the world's top two smart-card manufacturers, merged and becameGemalto. In 2008, Dexa Systems spun off from Schlumberger and acquired Enterprise Security Services business, which included the smart-card solutions division responsible for deploying the first large-scale smart-card management systems based onpublic key infrastructure(PKI). The first mass use of the cards was as atelephone cardfor payment in Frenchpayphones, starting in 1983.[16] After the Télécarte, microchips were integrated into all FrenchCarte Bleuedebit cardsin 1992. Customers inserted the card into the merchant'spoint-of-sale(POS) terminal, then typed thepersonal identification number(PIN), before the transaction was accepted. Only very limited transactions (such as paying smallhighway tolls) are processed without a PIN. Smart-card-based "electronic purse" systems store funds on the card, so that readers do not need network connectivity. They entered European service in the mid-1990s. They have been common in Germany (Geldkarte), Austria (Quick Wertkarte),Belgium(Proton), France (Moneo[17]), the Netherlands (ChipknipChipper (decommissioned in 2015)), Switzerland ("Cash"), Norway ("Mondex"), Spain ("Monedero 4B"), Sweden ("Cash", decommissioned in 2004), Finland ("Avant"), UK ("Mondex"), Denmark ("Danmønt") and Portugal ("Porta-moedas Multibanco"). Private electronic purse systems have also been deployed such as the Marines corps (USMC) at Parris Island allowing small amount payments at the cafeteria. Since the 1990s, smart cards have been thesubscriber identity modules(SIMs) used inGSMmobile-phone equipment. Mobile phones are widely used across the world, so smart cards have become very common. Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV)-compliant cards and equipment are widespread with the deployment led by European countries. The United States started later deploying the EMV technology in 2014, with the deployment still in progress in 2019. Typically, a country's national payment association, in coordination withMasterCardInternational,VisaInternational,American ExpressandJapan Credit Bureau(JCB), jointly plan and implement EMV systems. Historically, in 1993 several international payment companies agreed to develop smart-card specifications fordebitand credit cards. The original brands were MasterCard, Visa, andEuropay. The first version of the EMV system was released in 1994. In 1998 the specifications became stable. EMVCo maintains these specifications. EMVco's purpose is to assure the various financial institutions and retailers that the specifications retain backward compatibility with the 1998 version. EMVco upgraded the specifications in 2000 and 2004.[18] EMV compliant cards were first accepted into Malaysia in 2005[19]and later into United States in 2014. MasterCard was the first company that was allowed to use the technology in the United States. The United States has felt pushed to use the technology because of the increase inidentity theft. The credit card information stolen from Target in late 2013 was one of the largest indicators that American credit card information is not safe. Target made the decision on 30 April 2014 that it would try to implement the smart chip technology to protect itself from future credit card identity theft. Before 2014, the consensus in America was that there were enough security measures to avoid credit card theft and that the smart chip was not necessary. The cost of the smart chip technology was significant, which was why most of the corporations did not want to pay for it in the United States. The debate finally ended when Target sent out a notice[20]stating unauthorized access to magnetic strips[21]costing Target over 300 million dollars along with the increasing cost of online credit theft was enough for the United States to invest in the technology. The adaptation of EMV's increased significantly in 2015when the liability shifts occurred in October by the credit card companies.[clarify][citation needed] Contactlesssmart cards do not require physical contact between a card and reader. They are becoming more popular for payment and ticketing. Typical uses include mass transit and motorway tolls. Visa and MasterCard implemented a version deployed in 2004–2006 in the U.S., with Visa's current offering calledVisa Contactless. Most contactless fare collection systems are incompatible, though theMIFAREStandard card fromNXP Semiconductorshas a considerable market share in the US and Europe. Use of "Contactless" smart cards in transport has also grown through the use of low cost chips NXP Mifare Ultralight and paper/card/PET rather than PVC. This has reduced media cost so it can be used for low cost tickets and short term transport passes (up to 1 year typically). The cost is typically 10% that of a PVC smart card with larger memory. They are distributed through vending machines, ticket offices and agents. Use of paper/PET is less harmful to the environment than traditional PVC cards. Smart cards are also being introduced for identification and entitlement by regional, national, and international organizations. These uses include citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient cards. InMalaysia, the compulsory national IDMyKadenables eight applications and has 18 million users. Contactless smart cards are part ofICAObiometric passportsto enhance security for international travel. Complex Cards are smart cards that conform to theISO/IEC 7810standard and include components in addition to those found in traditional single chip smart cards. Complex Cards were invented byCyril Laloand Philippe Guillaud in 1999 when they designed a chip smart card with additional components, building upon the initial concept consisting of using audio frequencies to transmit data patented by Alain Bernard.[22]The first Complex Card prototype was developed collaboratively by Cyril Lalo and Philippe Guillaud, who were working at AudioSmartCard[23]at the time, and Henri Boccia and Philippe Patrice, who were working atGemplus. It was ISO 7810-compliant and included a battery, a piezoelectric buzzer, a button, and delivered audio functions, all within a 0.84mm thickness card. The Complex Card pilot, developed by AudioSmartCard, was launched in 2002 byCrédit Lyonnais, a French financial institution. This pilot featured acoustic tones as a means of authentication. Although Complex Cards were developed since the inception of the smart card industry, they only reached maturity after 2010. Complex Cards can accommodate various peripherals including: While first generation Complex Cards were battery powered, the second generation is battery-free and receives power through the usual card connector and/or induction . Sound, generated by a buzzer, was the preferred means of communication for the first projects involving Complex Cards. Later, with the progress of displays, visual communication is now present in almost all Complex Cards. Complex Cards support all communication protocols present on regular smart cards: contact, thanks to a contact pad as definedISO/IEC 7816standard, contactless following theISO/IEC 14443standard, and magstripe. Developers of Complex Cards target several needs when developing them: A Complex Card can be used to compute a cryptographic value, such as aOne-time password. The One-Time Password is generated by acryptoprocessorencapsulated in the card. To implement this function, the crypto processor must be initialized with a seed value, which enables the identification of the OTPs respective of each card. The hash of seed value has to be stored securely within the card to prevent unauthorized prediction of the generated OTPs. One-Time Passwords generation is based either on incremental values (event based) or on a real time clock (time based). Using clock-based One-Time Password generation requires the Complex Card to be equipped with aReal-time clock. Complex Cards used to generate One Time Password have been developed for: A Complex Card with buttons can display the balance of one or multiple account(s) linked to the card. Typically, either one button is used to display the balance in the case of a single account card or, in the case of a card linked to multiple accounts, a combination of buttons is used to select a specific account's balance. For additional security, features such as requiring the user to enter an identification or a security value such as aPINcan be added to a Complex Card. Complex Cards used to provide account information have been developed for: The latest generation of battery free, button free, Complex Cards can display a balance or other kind of information without requiring any input from the card holder. The information is updated during the use of the card. For instance, in a transit card, key information such as the monetary value balance, the number of remaining trips or the expiry date of a transit pass can be displayed. A Complex Card being deployed as a payment card can be equipped with capability to provide transaction security. Typically,online paymentsare made secure thanks to theCard Security Code (CSC), also known as card verification code (CVC2), or card verification value (CVV2). The card security code (CSC) is a 3 or 4 digits number printed on a credit or debit card, used as a security feature forcard-not-present (CNP)payment card transactions to reduce the incidence of fraud. The Card Security Code (CSC) is to be given to the merchant by the cardholder to complete a card-not-present transaction. The CSC is transmitted along with other transaction data and verified by the card issuer. ThePayment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)prohibits the storage of the CSC by the merchant or any stakeholder in the payment chain. Although designed to be a security feature, the static CSC is susceptible to fraud as it can easily be memorized by a shop attendant, who could then use it for fraudulent online transactions or sale on the dark web. This vulnerability has led the industry to develop a Dynamic Card Security Code (DCSC) that can be changed at certain time intervals, or after each contact or contactless EMV transaction. This Dynamic CSC brings significantly better security than a static CSC. The first generation of Dynamic CSC cards, developed by NagraID Security required a battery, a quartz and Real Time Clock (RTC) embedded within the card to power the computation of a new Dynamic CSC, after expiration of the programmed period. The second generation of Dynamic CSC cards, developed by Ellipse World, Inc., does not require any battery, quartz, or RTC to compute and display the new dynamic code. Instead, the card obtains its power either through the usual card connector or by induction during every EMV transaction from the Point of Sales (POS) terminal or Automated Teller Machine (ATM) to compute a new DCSC. The Dynamic CSC, also called dynamic cryptogram, is marketed by several companies, under different brand names: The advantage of the Dynamic Card Security Code (DCSC) is that new information is transmitted with the payment transactions, thus making it useless for a potential fraudster to memorize or store it. A transaction with a Dynamic Card Security Code is carried out exactly the same way, with the same processes and use of parameters as a transaction with a static code in a card-not-present transaction. Upgrading to a DCSC allows cardholders and merchants to continue their payment habits and processes undisturbed. Complex Cards can be equipped with biometric sensors allowing for stronger user authentication. In the typical use case, fingerprint sensors are integrated into a payment card to bring a higher level of user authentication than a PIN. To implement user authentication using a fingerprint enabled smart card, the user has to authenticate himself/herself to the card by means of the fingerprint before starting a payment transaction. Several companies[29]offer cards with fingerprint sensors, including: Complex Cards can incorporate a wide variety of components. The choice of components drives functionality, influences cost, power supply needs, and manufacturing complexity. Depending on Complex Card types, buttons have been added to allow an easy interaction between the user and the card. Typically, these buttons are used to: Whileseparate keyshave been used on prototypes in the early days, capacitive keyboards are the most popular solution now, thanks to technology developments by AudioSmartCard International SA.[30] The interaction with a capacitive keyboard requires constant power, therefore a battery and a mechanical button are required to activate the card. The first Complex Cards were equipped with a buzzer that made it possible to broadcast sound. This feature was generally used over the phone to send identification data such as an identifier and one-time passwords (OTPs). Technologies used for sound transmission include DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency signaling) or FSK (frequency-shift keying). Companies that offered cards with buzzers include: Displaying data is an essential part of Complex Card functionalities. Depending on the information that needs to be shown, displays can be digital or alphanumeric and of varying lengths. Displays can be located either on the front or back of the card. A front display is the most common solution for showing information such as a One-Time Password or an electronic purse balance. A rear display is more often used for showing a Dynamic Card Security Code (DCSC). Displays can be made using two technologies: If a Complex smart Card is dedicated to making cryptographic computations (such as generating a one-time password) it may require asecure cryptoprocessor. As Complex Cards contain more components than traditional smart cards, their power consumption must be carefully monitored. First generation Complex Cards require a power supply even in standby mode. As such, product designers generally included a battery in their design. Incorporating a battery creates an additional burden in terms of complexity, cost, space and flexibility in an already dense design. Including a battery in a Complex Card increases the complexity of the manufacturing process as a battery cannot be hot laminated. Second generation Complex Cards feature a battery-free design. These cards harvest the necessary power from external sources; for example when the card interacts in a contact orcontactlessfashion with a payment system or an NFC-enabled smartphone. The use of a bistable display in the card design ensures that the screen remains legible even when the Complex Card is unconnected to the power source. Complex Card manufacturing methods are inherited from the smart card industry and from the electronics mounting industry. As Complex Cards incorporate several components while having to remain within 0.8 mm thickness and be flexible, and to comply with theISO/IEC 7810,ISO/IEC 7811andISO/IEC 7816standards, renders their manufacture more complex than standard smart cards. One of the most popular manufacturing processes in the smart card industry is lamination. This process involves laminating an inlay between two card faces. The inlay contains the needed electronic components with an antenna printed on an inert support. Typically battery-powered Complex Cards require a cold lamination manufacturing process. This process impacts the manufacturing lead time and the whole cost of such a Complex Card. Second generation, battery-free Complex Cards can be manufactured by existing hot lamination process. This automated process, inherited from traditional smart card manufacturing, enables the production of Complex Cards in large quantities while keeping costs under control, a necessity for the evolution from a niche to a mass market. As with standard smart cards, Complex Cards go through a lifecycle comprising the following steps: As Complex Cards bring more functionalities than standard smart cards and, due to their complexity, their personalization can take longer or require more inputs. Having Complex Cards that can be personalized by the same machines and the same processes as regular smart cards allows them to be integrated more easily in existing manufacturing chains and applications. First generation, battery-operated Complex Cards require specificrecyclingprocesses, mandated by different regulatory bodies. Additionally, keeping battery-operated Complex Cards in inventory for extended periods of time may reduce their performance due tobattery ageing. Second-generation battery-free technology ensures operation during the entire lifetime of the card and eliminates self-discharge, providingextended shelf life, and is more eco-friendly. Since the inception of smart cards, innovators have been trying to add extra features. As technologies have matured and have been industrialized, several smart card industry players have been involved in Complex Cards. The Complex Card concept began in 1999 when Cyril Lalo and Philippe Guillaud, its inventors, first designed a smart card with additional components. The first prototype was developed collaboratively by Cyril Lalo, who was the CEO of AudioSmartCard at the time, and Henri Boccia and Philippe Patrice, from Gemplus. The prototype included a button and audio functions on a 0.84mm thick ISO 7810-compliant card . Since then, Complex Cards have been mass-deployed primarily by NagraID Security. AudioSmartCard International SA[33]was instrumental in developing the first Complex Card that included a battery, a piezoelectric buzzer, a button, and audio functions all on a 0.84mm thick, ISO 7810-compatible card. AudioSmartCard was founded in 1993 and specialized in the development and marketing of acoustic tokens incorporating security features. These acoustic tokens exchanged data in the form of sounds transmitted over a phone line. In 1999, AudioSmartCard transitioned to a new leadership under Cyril Lalo and Philippe Guillaud, who also became major shareholders. They made AudioSmartCard evolve towards the smart card world. In 2003 Prosodie,[34]a subsidiary ofCapgemini, joined the shareholders of AudioSmartCard. AudioSmartCard was renamed nCryptone,[35]in 2004. CardLab Innovation,[36]incorporated in 2006 in Herlev, Denmark, specializes in Complex Cards that include a switch, a biometric reader, anRFIDjammer, and one or more magstripes. The company works with manufacturing partners in China and Thailand and owns a card lamination factory in Thailand. Coin was a US-based startup[37]founded in 2012 by Kanishk Parashar.[38]It developed a Complex Card capable of storing the data of several credit and debit cards. The card prototype was equipped with a display[39][full citation needed]and a button that enabled the user to switch between different cards. In 2015, the original Coin card concept evolved into Coin 2.0 adding contactless communication to its original magstripe emulation.[40] Coin was acquired byFitbitin May 2016[41]and all Coin activities were discontinued in February 2017.[42] Ellipse World, Inc.[43]was founded in 2017 by Cyril Lalo and Sébastien Pochic, both recognized experts in Complex Card technology. Ellipse World, Inc. specializes in battery-free Complex Card technology. The Ellipse patented technologies enable smart card manufacturers to use their existing dual interface payment card manufacturing process and supply chain to build battery-free, second generation Complex Cards with display capabilities. Thanks to this ease of integration, smart card vendors are able to address banking, transit and prepaid cards markets. EMue[44]Technologies, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, designed and developed authentication solutions for the financial services industry from 2009 to 2015.[45]The company's flagship product, developed in collaboration with Cyril Lalo and Philippe Guillaud, was the eMue Card, a Visa CodeSure[46]credit card with an embedded keypad, a display and a microprocessor. Feitian Technologies, a China-based company created in 1998, provides cyber security products and solutions. The company offers security solutions based on smart cards as well as other authentication devices. These include Complex Cards, that incorporate a display,[47]a keypad[48]or a fingerprint sensor.[49] Fingerprint CardsAB (or Fingerprints[50]) is a Swedish company specializing in biometric solutions. The company sells biometric sensors and has recently introduced payment cards incorporating a fingerprint sensor[51]such as the Zwipe card,[52]a biometric dual-interface payment card using an integrated sensor from Fingerprints. Giesecke & Devrient, also known as G+D,[53]is a German company headquartered in Munich that provides banknotes, security printing, smart cards and cash handling systems. Its smart card portfolio includes display cards, OTP cards, as well as cards displaying aDynamic CSC. Gemalto, a division ofThales Group, is a major player in the secure transaction industry. The company's Complex Card portfolio includes cards with a display[54]or a fingerprint sensor.[55]These cards may display an OTP[56]or a Dynamic CSC.[57] IDEMIAis the product of the 2017[58]merger of Oberthur Technologies and Morpho. The combined company has positioned itself as a global provider of financial cards, SIM cards, biometric devices as well as public and private identity solutions. Due to Oberthur's acquisition of NagraID Security in 2014, Idemia's Complex Card offerings include the F.CODE[59]biometric payment card that includes a fingerprint sensor, and its battery-powered Motion Code[60]card that displays a Dynamic CSC. IDEX BiometricsASA, incorporated in Norway, specializes in fingerprint identification technologies for personal authentication. The company offers fingerprint sensors[61]and modules[62]that are ready to be embedded into cards.[63] Founded in 2002, by Alan Finkelstein, Innovative Card Technologies developed and commercialized enhancements for the smart card market. The company acquired the display card assets of nCryptone[64]in 2006. Innovative Card Technologies has ceased its activities. Nagra ID, now known as NID,[65]was a wholly-owned subsidiary of theKudelski Groupuntil 2014. NID can trace its history with Complex Cards back to 2003 when it collaborated on development with nCryptone. Nagra ID was instrumental in developing the cold lamination process for Complex Cards manufacturing. Nagra ID manufactures Complex Cards[66]that can include a battery, buttons, displays or other electronic components. Nagra ID Security began in 2008 as a spinoff of Nagra ID to focus on Complex Card development and manufacturing. The company was owned byKudelski Group(50%), Cyril Lalo (25%) and Philippe Guillaud (25%). NagraID Security quickly became a leading player in the adoption of Complex Cards due, in large part, to its development of MotionCode cards that featured a small display to enable aCard Security Code (CVV2). NagraID Security was the first Complex Cards manufacturer to develop a mass market for payment display cards. Their customers included: NagraID Security also delivered One-Time Password cards to companies including: In 2014, NagraID Security was sold toOberthur Technologies(nowIDEMIA). nCryptone emerged in 2004 from the renaming of AudioSmartCard. nCryptone was headed by Cyril Lalo and Philippe Guillaud[68]and developed technologies around authentication servers and devices. nCryptone display card assets were acquired by Innovative Card Technologies in 2006.[69] Oberthur Technologies, nowIDEMIA, is one of the major players in the secure transactions industry. It acquired the business of NagraID Security in 2014. Oberthur then merged with Morpho and the combined entity was renamed Idemia in 2017. Major references in the Complex Cards business include: Set up in 2009, Plastc announced a single card that could digitally hold the data of up to 20 credit or debit cards. The company succeeded in raising US$9 million through preorders but failed to deliver any product.[73]Plastc was then acquired[74]in 2017 by Edge Mobile Payments,[75]a Santa Cruz-based Fintech company. The Plastc project continues as the Edge card,[76]a dynamic payment card that consolidates several payment cards in one device. The card is equipped with a battery and an ePaper screen and can store data from up to 50 credit, debit, loyalty and gift cards. Stratos[77]was created in 2012 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. In 2015, Stratos developed the Stratos Bluetooth Connected Card,[78]which was designed to integrate up to three credit and debit card in a single card format and featured a smartphone app used to manage the card. Due to its Lithium ion thin film battery, the Stratos card was equipped with LEDs and communicated in contactless mode and in Bluetooth low Energy. In 2017 Stratos was acquired[79]by CardLab Innovation, a company headquartered in Herlev, Denmark. SWYP[80]was the brand name of a card developed by Qvivr, a company incorporated in 2014 in Fremont, California. SWYP was introduced in 2015 and dubbed the world's first smart wallet. SWYP was a metal card with the ability to combine over 25 credit, debit, gift and loyalty cards. The card worked in conjunction with a smartphone app used to manage the cards. The Swyp card included a battery, a button and a matrix display that showed which card was in use. The company registered users in its beta testing program, but the product never shipped on a commercial scale. Qvivr raised US$5 million in January 2017[81]and went out of business in November 2017. Complex Cards have been adopted by numerous financial institutions worldwide. They may include different functionalities such as payment cards (credit, debit, prepaid),One-time password, mass-transit, and dynamicCard Security Code (CVV2). Complex Card technology is used by numerous financial institutions including: A smart card may have the following generic characteristics: Since April 2009, a Japanese company has manufactured reusable financial smart cards made from paper.[98] As mentioned above, data on a smart card may be stored in afile system(FS). In smart card file systems, the root directory is called the "master file" ("MF"), subdirectories are called "dedicated files" ("DF"), and ordinary files are called "elementary files" ("EF").[99] The file system mentioned above is stored on anEEPROM(storage or memory) within the smartcard.[99]In addition to the EEPROM, other components may be present, depending upon the kind of smartcard. Most smartcards have one of three logical layouts: In cards with microprocessors, the microprocessor sits inline between the reader and the other components. The operating system that runs on the microprocessor mediates the reader's access to those components to prevent unauthorized access.[99] Contact smart cards have a contact area of approximately 1 square centimetre (0.16 sq in), comprising several gold-platedcontact pads. These pads provide electrical connectivity when inserted into areader,[102]which is used as a communications medium between the smart card and a host (e.g., a computer, a point of sale terminal) or a mobile telephone. Cards do not containbatteries; power is supplied by the card reader. TheISO/IEC 7810andISO/IEC 7816series of standards define: Because the chips in financial cards are the same as those used insubscriber identity modules(SIMs) in mobile phones, programmed differently and embedded in a different piece ofPVC, chip manufacturers are building to the more demanding GSM/3G standards. So, for example, although the EMV standard allows a chip card to draw 50 mA from its terminal, cards are normally well below the telephone industry's 6 mA limit. This allows smaller and cheaper financial card terminals. Communication protocols for contact smart cards include T=0 (character-level transmission protocol, defined in ISO/IEC 7816-3) and T=1 (block-level transmission protocol, defined in ISO/IEC 7816-3). Contactless smart cardscommunicate with readers under protocols defined in theISO/IEC 14443standard. They support data rates of 106–848 kbit/s. These cards require only proximity to an antenna to communicate. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source. Instead, they use aloop antennacoil to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal,rectifyit, and use it to power the card's electronics. Contactless smart media can be made with PVC, paper/card and PET finish to meet different performance, cost and durability requirements. APDU transmission by a contactless interface is defined inISO/IEC 14443-4. Hybrid cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with unconnected chips including dedicated modules/storage and processing. Dual-interface cards implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single chip with some shared storage and processing. An example isPorto's multi-application transport card, calledAndante, which uses a chip with both contact andcontactless(ISO/IEC 14443 Type B) interfaces. Numerous payment cards worldwide are based on hybrid card technology allowing them to communicate in contactless as well as contact modes. TheCCID(Chip Card Interface Device) is a USB protocol that allows a smart card to be interfaced to a computer using a card reader which has a standard USB interface. This allows the smart card to be used as a security token for authentication and data encryption such asBitlocker. A typical CCID is a USB dongle and may contain a SIM. Different smart cards implement one or more reader-side protocols. Common protocols here include CT-API andPC/SC.[99] Smartcard operating systems may provide application programming interfaces (APIs) so that developers can write programs ("applications") to run on the smartcard. Some such APIs, such asJava Card, allow programs to be uploaded to the card without replacing the card's entire operating system.[99] Smart cards serve as credit orATM cards,fuel cards, mobile phoneSIMs, authorization cards for pay television, household utility pre-payment cards, high-security identification andaccess badges, and public transport and public phone payment cards. Smart cards may also be used aselectronic wallets. The smart card chip can be "loaded" with funds to pay parking meters, vending machines or merchants.Cryptographic protocolsprotect the exchange of money between the smart card and the machine. No connection to a bank is needed. The holder of the card may use it even if not the owner. Examples areProton,Geldkarte,ChipknipandMoneo. The German Geldkarte is also used to validate customer age atvending machinesfor cigarettes. These are the best known payment cards (classic plastic card): Roll-outs started in 2005 in the U.S. Asia and Europe followed in 2006. Contactless (non-PIN) transactions cover a payment range of ~$5–50. There is anISO/IEC 14443PayPass implementation. Some, but not all, PayPass implementations conform to EMV. Non-EMV cards work likemagnetic stripe cards. This is common in the U.S. (PayPass Magstripe and Visa MSD). The cards do not hold or maintain the account balance. All payment passes without a PIN, usually in off-line mode. The security of such a transaction is no greater than with a magnetic stripe card transaction.[citation needed] EMV cards can have either contact or contactless interfaces. They work as if they were a normal EMV card with a contact interface. Via the contactless interface they work somewhat differently, in that the card commands enabled improved features such as lower power and shorter transaction times. EMV standards include provisions for contact and contactless communications. Typically modern payment cards are based on hybrid card technology and support both contact and contactless communication modes. Thesubscriber identity modulesused in mobile-phone systems are reduced-size smart cards, using otherwise identical technologies. Smart-cards canauthenticateidentity. Sometimes they employ apublic key infrastructure(PKI). The card stores an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI provider along with other relevant information. Examples include theU.S. Department of Defense(DoD)Common Access Card(CAC), and other cards used by other governments for their citizens. If they include biometric identification data, cards can provide superior two- or three-factor authentication. Smart cards are not always privacy-enhancing, because the subject may carry incriminating information on the card. Contactless smart cards that can be read from within a wallet or even a garment simplify authentication; however, criminals may access data from these cards. Cryptographic smart cards are often used forsingle sign-on. Most advanced smart cards include specialized cryptographic hardware that uses algorithms such asRSAandDigital Signature Algorithm(DSA). Today's cryptographic smart cards generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk from having more than one copy of the key (since by design there usually isn't a way to extract private keys from a smart card). Such smart cards are mainly used fordigital signaturesand secure identification. The most common way to access cryptographic smart card functions on a computer is to use a vendor-providedPKCS#11library.[citation needed]OnMicrosoft WindowstheCryptographic Service Provider(CSP) API is also supported. The most widely used cryptographic algorithms in smart cards (excluding the GSM so-called "crypto algorithm") areTriple DESandRSA. The key set is usually loaded (DES) or generated (RSA) on the card at the personalization stage. Some of these smart cards are also made to support theNational Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) standard forPersonal Identity Verification,FIPS 201. Turkey implemented the first smart card driver's license system in 1987. Turkey had a high level of road accidents and decided to develop and use digital tachograph devices on heavy vehicles, instead of the existing mechanical ones, to reduce speed violations. Since 1987, the professional driver's licenses in Turkey have been issued as smart cards. A professional driver is required to insert his driver's license into a digital tachograph before starting to drive. The tachograph unit records speed violations for each driver and gives a printed report. The driving hours for each driver are also being monitored and reported. In 1990 the European Union conducted a feasibility study through BEVAC Consulting Engineers, titled "Feasibility study with respect to a European electronic drivers license (based on a smart-card) on behalf of Directorate General VII". In this study, chapter seven describes Turkey's experience. Argentina's Mendoza province began using smart card driver's licenses in 1995. Mendoza also had a high level of road accidents, driving offenses, and a poor record of recovering fines.[citation needed]Smart licenses hold up-to-date records of driving offenses and unpaid fines. They also store personal information, license type and number, and a photograph. Emergency medical information such as blood type, allergies, and biometrics (fingerprints) can be stored on the chip if the card holder wishes. The Argentina government anticipates that this system will help to collect more than $10 million per year in fines. In 1999Gujaratwas the first Indian state to introduce a smart card license system.[103]As of 2005, it has issued 5 million smart card driving licenses to its people.[104] In 2002, the Estonian government started to issue smart cards namedID Kaartas primary identification for citizens to replace the usual passport in domestic and EU use. As of 2010 about 1 million smart cards have been issued (total population is about 1.3 million) and they are widely used in internet banking, buying public transport tickets, authorization on various websites etc. By the start of 2009, the entire population ofBelgiumwas issued eID cards that are used for identification. These cards contain two certificates: one for authentication and one for signature. This signature is legally enforceable. More and more services in Belgium use eID forauthorization.[105] Spain started issuing national ID cards (DNI) in the form of smart cards in 2006 and gradually replaced all the older ones with smart cards. The idea was that many or most bureaucratic acts could be done online but it was a failure because the Administration did not adapt and still mostly requires paper documents and personal presence.[106][107][108][109] On 14 August 2012, the ID cards inPakistanwere replaced. The Smart Card is a third generation chip-basedidentity documentthat is produced according to international standards and requirements. The card has over 36 physical security features and has the latest[clarification needed]encryption codes. This smart card replaced the NICOP (the ID card foroverseas Pakistani). Smart cards may identify emergency responders and their skills. Cards like these allow first responders to bypass organizational paperwork and focus more time on the emergency resolution. In 2004, The Smart Card Alliance expressed the needs: "to enhance security, increase government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, Government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification".[110]emergency responsepersonnel can carry these cards to be positively identified in emergency situations.WidePoint Corporation, a smart card provider toFEMA, produces cards that contain additional personal information, such as medical records and skill sets. In 2007, theOpen Mobile Alliance(OMA) proposed a new standard defining V1.0 of the Smart Card Web Server (SCWS), anHTTP serverembedded in a SIM card intended for asmartphoneuser.[111]The non-profit trade association SIMalliance has been promoting the development and adoption of SCWS. SIMalliance states that SCWS offers end-users a familiar,OS-independent, browser-based interface to secure, personal SIM data. As of mid-2010, SIMalliance had not reported widespread industry acceptance of SCWS.[112]The OMA has been maintaining the standard, approving V1.1 of the standard in May 2009, and V1.2 was expected to be approved in October 2012.[113] Smart cards are also used to identify user accounts on arcade machines.[114] Smart cards, used astransit passes, andintegrated ticketingare used by many public transit operators. Card users may also make small purchases using the cards. Some operators offer points for usage, exchanged at retailers or for other benefits.[115]Examples include Singapore'sCEPAS, Malaysia'sTouch 'n Go, Ontario'sPresto card, Hong Kong'sOctopus card, Tokyo'sSuicaandPASMOcards, London'sOyster card, Ireland'sLeap Card, Brussels'MoBIB, Québec'sOpus card, Boston'sCharlieCard, San Francisco'sClipper card, Washington, D.C.'sSmarTrip, Auckland'sAT Hop, Brisbane'sgo card, Perth'sSmartRider, Sydney'sOpal cardand Victoria'smyki. However, these present aprivacyrisk because they allow the mass transit operator (and the government) to track an individual's movement. In Finland, for example, the Data ProtectionOmbudsmanprohibited the transport operatorHelsinki Metropolitan Area Council(YTV) from collecting such information, despite YTV's argument that the card owner has the right to a list of trips paid with the card. Earlier, such information was used in the investigation of theMyyrmanni bombing.[citation needed] The UK'sDepartment for Transportmandated smart cards to administer travel entitlements for elderly and disabled residents. These schemes let residents use the cards for more than just bus passes. They can also be used for taxi and other concessionary transport. One example is the "Smartcare go" scheme provided by Ecebs.[116]The UK systems use theITSO Ltdspecification. Other schemes in the UK include period travel passes, carnets of tickets or day passes and stored value which can be used to pay for journeys. Other concessions for school pupils, students and job seekers are also supported. These are mostly based on theITSO Ltdspecification. Many smart transport schemes include the use of low cost smart tickets for simple journeys, day passes and visitor passes. Examples include GlasgowSPT subway. These smart tickets are made of paper or PET which is thinner than a PVC smart card e.g. Confidex smart media.[117]The smart tickets can be supplied pre-printed and over-printed or printed on demand. In Sweden, as of 2018–19, the old SL Access smart card system has started to be phased out and replaced by smartphone apps. The phone apps have less cost, at least for the transit operators who don't need any electronic equipment (the riders provide that). The riders are able buy tickets anywhere and don't need to load money onto smart cards. New NFC smart cards are still in use for foreseeable future (as of 2024). In Japaneseamusement arcades,contactless smart cards(usually referred to as "IC cards") are used by game manufacturers as a method for players to access in-game features (both online likeKonamiE-AmusementandSegaALL.Netand offline) and as a memory support to save game progress. Depending on a case by case scenario, the machines can use a game-specific card or a "universal" one usable on multiple machines from the same manufacturer/publisher. Amongst the most widely used there are Banapassport byBandai Namco,E-amusement passbyKonami,AimebySegaandNesicabyTaito. In 2018, in an effort to make arcade game IC cards more user friendly,[118]Konami, Bandai Namco and Sega have agreed on a unified system of cards namedAmusement IC. Thanks to this agreement, the three companies are now using a unified card reader in their arcade cabinets, so that players are able to use their card, no matter if a Banapassport, an e-Amusement Pass or an Aime, with hardware and ID services of all three manufacturers. A common logo forAmusement ICcards has been created, and this is now displayed on compatible cards from all three companies. In January 2019, Taito announced[119]that their Nesica card was also joining theAmusement ICagreement with the other three companies. Smart cards can be used as asecurity token. Mozilla'sFirefoxweb browsercan use smart cards to storecertificatesfor use in secure web browsing.[120] Somedisk encryption systems, such asVeraCryptand Microsoft'sBitLocker, can use smart cards to securely hold encryption keys, and also to add another layer of encryption to critical parts of the secured disk. GnuPG, the well known encryption suite, also supports storing keys in a smart card.[121] Smart cards are also used forsingle sign-ontolog onto computers. Smart cards are being provided to students at some schools and colleges.[122][123][124]Uses include: Smart health cards can improve thesecurityandprivacyof patient information, provide a secure carrier for portablemedical records, reducehealth care fraud, support new processes for portable medical records, provide secure access to emergency medical information, enable compliance with government initiatives (e.g.,organ donation) and mandates, and provide the platform to implement other applications as needed by thehealth care organization.[125][126] Smart cards are widely used toencryptdigital television streams.VideoGuardis a specific example of how smart card security worked. The Malaysian government promotesMyKadas a single system for all smart-card applications. MyKad started as identity cards carried by all citizens and resident non-citizens. Available applications now include identity, travel documents, drivers license, health information, an electronic wallet, ATM bank-card, public toll-road and transit payments, and public key encryption infrastructure. The personal information inside the MYKAD card can be read using special APDU commands.[127] Smart cards have been advertised as suitable for personal identification tasks, because they areengineeredto betamper resistant. The chip usually implements somecryptographicalgorithm. There are, however, several methods for recovering some of the algorithm's internal state. Differential power analysisinvolves measuring the precise time andelectric currentrequired for certain encryption or decryption operations. This can deduce the on-chip private key used by public key algorithms such asRSA. Some implementations ofsymmetric cipherscan be vulnerable to timing orpower attacksas well. Smart cards can be physically disassembled by using acid, abrasives, solvents, or some other technique to obtain unrestricted access to the on-board microprocessor. Although such techniques may involve a risk of permanent damage to the chip, they permit much more detailed information (e.g.,photomicrographsof encryption hardware) to be extracted. The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver's license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card. For example, a smart card can be programmed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card. Governments and regional authorities save money because of improved security, better data and reduced processing costs. These savings help reduce public budgets or enhance public services. There are many examples in the UK, many using a common open LASSeO specification. Individuals have better security and more convenience with using smart cards that perform multiple services. For example, they only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. The data storage on a card can reduce duplication, and even provide emergency medical information. The first main advantage of smart cards is their flexibility. Smart cards have multiple functions which simultaneously can be an ID, a credit card, a stored-value cash card, and a repository of personal information such as telephone numbers or medical history. The card can be easily replaced if lost, and, the requirement for aPIN(or other form of security) provides additional security from unauthorised access to information by others. At the first attempt to use it illegally, the card would be deactivated by the card reader itself. The second main advantage is security. Smart cards can be electronic key rings, giving the bearer ability to access information and physical places without need for online connections. They are encryption devices, so that the user can encrypt and decrypt information without relying on unknown, and therefore potentially untrustworthy, appliances such as ATMs. Smart cards are very flexible in providing authentication at different level of the bearer and the counterpart. Finally, with the information about the user that smart cards can provide to the other parties, they are useful devices for customizing products and services. Other general benefits of smart cards are: Smart cards can be used inelectronic commerce, over the Internet, though the business model used in current electronic commerce applications still cannot use the full feature set of the electronic medium. An advantage of smart cards for electronic commerce is their use customize services. For example, for the service supplier to deliver the customized service, the user may need to provide each supplier with their profile, a boring and time-consuming activity. A smart card can contain a non-encrypted profile of the bearer, so that the user can get customized services even without previous contacts with the supplier. The plastic or paper card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible. The larger the chip, the higher the probability that normal use could damage it. Cards are often carried in wallets or pockets, a harsh environment for a chip and antenna in contactless cards. PVC cards can crack or break if bent/flexed excessively. However, for large banking systems, failure-management costs can be more than offset by fraud reduction.[citation needed] The production, use and disposal of PVC plastic is known to be more harmful to the environment than other plastics.[128]Alternative materials including chlorine free plastics and paper are available for some smart applications. If the account holder's computer hostsmalware, the smart card security model may be broken. Malware can override the communication (both input via keyboard and output via application screen) between the user and the application.Man-in-the-browsermalware (e.g., the TrojanSilentbanker) could modify a transaction, unnoticed by the user. Banks likeFortisandBelfiusin Belgium andRabobank("random reader") in the Netherlands combine a smart card with an unconnected card reader to avoid this problem. The customer enters a challenge received from the bank's website, a PIN and the transaction amount into the reader. The reader returns an 8-digit signature. This signature is manually entered into the personal computer and verified by the bank, preventingpoint-of-sale-malwarefrom changing the transaction amount. Smart cards have also been the targets of security attacks. These attacks range from physical invasion of the card's electronics, to non-invasive attacks that exploit weaknesses in the card's software or hardware. The usual goal is to expose private encryption keys and then read and manipulate secure data such as funds. Once an attacker develops a non-invasive attack for a particular smart card model, he or she is typically able to perform the attack on other cards of that model in seconds, often using equipment that can be disguised as a normal smart card reader.[129]While manufacturers may develop new card models with additionalinformation security, it may be costly or inconvenient for users to upgrade vulnerable systems.Tamper-evidentand audit features in a smart card system help manage the risks of compromised cards. Another problem is the lack of standards for functionality and security. To address this problem, the Berlin Group launched the ERIDANE Project to propose "a new functional and security framework for smart-card based Point of Interaction (POI) equipment".[130]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_card
TheWiegand interfaceis ade factowiring standard which arose from the popularity ofWiegand effectcard readers in the 1980s. It is commonly used to connect a card swipe mechanism to the rest of anaccess control system. The sensor in such a system is often a "Wiegand wire", based on the Wiegand effect, discovered byJohn R. Wiegand. A Wiegand-compatible reader is normally connected to a Wiegand-compatible security panel. The Wiegand interface uses three wires, one of which is a common ground and two of which are data transmission wires usually called DATA0 and DATA1, alternatively labeled "D0" and "D1" or "Data Low" and "Data High".[1]When no data is being sent, both DATA0 and DATA1 arepulled upto the "high" voltage level — usually +5 VDC. When a 0 is sent the DATA0 wire is pulled to a low voltage while the DATA1 wire stays at a high voltage. When a 1 is sent the DATA1 wire is pulled to a low voltage while DATA0 stays at a high voltage.[2] The high signaling level of 5 VDC is used to accommodate long cable runs from card readers to the associated access control panel, typically located in a secure closet. Most card reader manufacturers publish a maximum cable run of 500 feet (150 m). An advantage of the Wiegand signalling format is that it allows very long cable runs, far longer than other interface standards of its day allowed. The communications protocol used on a Wiegand interface is known as the Wiegand protocol. The original Wiegand format had one parity bit, 8 bits of facility code, 16 bits of ID code, and a trailing parity bit for a total of 26 bits. The first parity bit is calculated from the first 12 bits of the code and the trailing parity bit from the last 12 bits.[3]However, many inconsistent implementations and extensions to the basic format exist. Many access control system manufacturers adopted Wiegand technology, but were unhappy with the limitations of only 8 bits for site codes (0-255) and 16 bits for card numbers (0-65535), so they designed their own formats with varying complexity of field numbers and lengths and parity checking.[4] The physical size limitations of the card dictated that a maximum of 37 Wiegand wire filaments could be placed in a standard credit card, as dictated by CR80 orISO/IEC 7810standards, before misreads would affect reliability. Therefore, most Wiegand formats used in physical access control are less than 37 bits in length.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiegand_interface
Inelectromagnetics, anevanescent field, orevanescent wave, is an oscillating electric and/or magnetic field that does not propagate as anelectromagnetic wavebut whose energy is spatially concentrated in the vicinity of the source (oscillating charges and currents). Even when there is a propagating electromagnetic wave produced (e.g., by a transmittingantenna), one can still identify as an evanescent field the component of the electric or magnetic field that cannot be attributed to the propagating wave observed at a distance of many wavelengths (such as thefar fieldof a transmitting antenna). A hallmark of an evanescent field is that there is no net energy flow in that region. Since the net flow of electromagnetic energy is given by the averagePoynting vector, this means that the Poynting vector in these regions, as averaged over a complete oscillation cycle, is zero.[a] In many cases one cannot simply say that a field is or is not "evanescent" – having the Poynting vector average to zero in some direction (or all directions). In most cases where they exist, evanescent fields are simply thought of and referred to the same as all other electric or magnetic fields involved, without any special recognition of those fields' evanescence. The term's use is mostly limited to distinguishing a part of a field or solution in those cases where one might only expect the fields of a propagating wave. For instance, in the illustration at the top of the article, energy is indeed carried in the horizontal direction. However, in the vertical direction, the field strength drops off exponentially with increasing distance above the surface. This leaves most of the field concentrated in a thin boundary layer very close to the interface; for that reason, it is referred to as asurface wave.[1]However, despite energy flowing horizontally, along the vertical there isnonet propagation of energyawayfrom (or toward) the surface, so that one could properly describe the field as being "evanescent in the vertical direction". This is one example of the context dependence of the term. Everyday electronic devices and electrical appliances are surrounded by large fields which are evanescent; their operation involves alternating voltages (producing an electric field between them) and alternating currents (producing a magnetic field around them) which are expected to only carry power along internal wires, but not to the outsides of the devices. Even though the term "evanescent" is not mentioned in this ordinary context, the appliances' designers still may be concerned withmaintainingevanescence, in order to prevent or limit production of a propagating electromagnetic wave, which would lead toradiation loss, since a propagating wave "steals" its power from the circuitry or donates unwantedinterference. The term "evanescent field"doesarise in various contexts where a propagating electromagnetic wave is involved (even if confined). The term then differentiates electromagnetic field components that accompany the propagating wave, but which do not themselves propagate. In other, similar cases, where a propagating electromagnetic wave would normally be expected (such as lightrefractedat the interface between glass and air), the term is invoked to describe that part of the field where the wave is suppressed (such as light traveling through glass, impinging on a glass-to-air interface but beyond thecritical angle). Although all electromagnetic fields are classically governed according toMaxwell's equations, different technologies or problems have certain types of expected solutions, and when the primary solutions involve wave propagation the termevanescentis frequently applied to field components or solutions which do not share that property. For instance, thepropagation constantof a hollow metalwaveguideis a strong function of frequency (adispersion relation). Below a certain frequency (thecut-off frequency) the propagation constant becomes an imaginary number. A solution to thewave equationhaving an imaginary wavenumber doesnotpropagate as a wave but falls off exponentially, so the field excited at that lower frequency is considered evanescent. It can also be simply said that propagation is "disallowed" for that frequency. The formal solution to the wave equation can describe modes having an identical form, but the change of the propagation constant from real to imaginary as the frequency drops below the cut-off frequency totally changes the physical nature of the result. The solution may be described as a "cut-off mode" or an "evanescent mode";[2][3]: 360while a different author will just state that no such mode exists. Since the evanescent field corresponding to the mode was computed as a solution to the wave equation, it is often discussed as being an "evanescent wave" even though its properties (such as carrying no energy) are inconsistent with the definition ofwave. Although this article concentrates on electromagnetics, the termevanescentis used similarly in fields such asacousticsandquantum mechanics, where thewave equationarises from the physics involved. In these cases, solutions to the wave equation resulting in imaginary propagation constants are likewise called "evanescent", and have the essential property that no net energy is transferred, even though there is a non-zero field. Inopticsandacoustics, evanescent waves are formed when waves traveling in a medium undergototal internal reflectionat its boundary because they strike it at an angle greater than thecritical angle.[4][5]The physical explanation for the existence of the evanescent wave is that the electric and magnetic fields (orpressure gradients, in the case of acoustical waves) cannot be discontinuous at a boundary, as would be the case if there was no evanescent wave field. Inquantum mechanics, the physical explanation is exactly analogous—theSchrödinger wave-functionrepresenting particle motion normal to the boundary cannot be discontinuous at the boundary. Electromagnetic evanescent waves have been used to exert opticalradiation pressureon small particles to trap them for experimentation, or tocoolthem to very low temperatures, and to illuminate very small objects such asbiological cellsorsingle protein and DNA moleculesformicroscopy(as in thetotal internal reflection fluorescence microscope). The evanescent wave from anoptical fibercan be used in a gas sensor, and evanescent waves figure in theinfrared spectroscopytechnique known asattenuated total reflectance. Inelectrical engineering, evanescent waves are found in thenear-field regionwithin one third of a wavelength of any radio antenna. During normal operation, an antenna emits electromagnetic fields into the surrounding nearfield region, and a portion of the field energy is reabsorbed, while the remainder is radiated as EM waves. Recently, a graphene-based Bragg grating (one-dimensionalphotonic crystal) has been fabricated and demonstrated its competence for excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in the periodic structure using aprism coupling technique.[6] Inquantum mechanics, the evanescent-wave solutions of theSchrödinger equationgive rise to the phenomenon ofwave-mechanical tunneling. Inmicroscopy, systems that capture the information contained in evanescent waves can be used to createsuper-resolution images. Matter radiates both propagating and evanescent electromagnetic waves. Conventional optical systems capture only the information in the propagating waves and hence are subject to thediffraction limit. Systems that capture the information contained in evanescent waves, such as thesuperlensandnear field scanning optical microscopy, can overcome the diffraction limit; however these systems are then limited by the system's ability to accurately capture the evanescent waves.[7]The limitation on their resolution is given by wherek{\displaystyle k}is the maximalwave vectorthat can be resolved,d{\displaystyle d}is the distance between the object and the sensor, andδ{\displaystyle \delta }is a measure of thequalityof the sensor. More generally, practical applications of evanescent waves can be classified as (1) those in which the energy associated with the wave is used to excite some other phenomenon within the region of space where the original traveling wave becomes evanescent (for example, as in thetotal internal reflection fluorescence microscope) or (2) those in which the evanescent wave couples two media in which traveling waves are allowed, and hence permits the transfer of energy or a particle between the media (depending on the wave equation in use), even though no traveling-wave solutions are allowed in the region of space between the two media. An example of this iswave-mechanical tunnelling, and is known generally asevanescent wave coupling. For example, considertotal internal reflectionin two dimensions, with the interface between the media lying on the x axis, thenormalalong y, and thepolarizationalong z. One might expect that for angles leading to total internal reflection, the solution would consist of an incident wave and a reflected wave, with no transmitted wave at all, but there is no such solution that obeysMaxwell's equations. Maxwell's equations in a dielectric medium impose a boundary condition of continuity for the components of the fieldsE\|\|, H\|\|, Dy, andBy. For the polarization considered in this example, the conditions onE\|\|andByare satisfied if the reflected wave has the same amplitude as the incident one, because these components of the incident and reflected waves superimpose destructively. TheirHxcomponents, however, superimpose constructively, so there can be no solution without a non-vanishing transmitted wave. The transmitted wave cannot, however, be a sinusoidal wave, since it would then transport energy away from the boundary, but since the incident and reflected waves have equal energy, this would violateconservation of energy. We therefore conclude that the transmitted wave must be a non-vanishing solution to Maxwell's equations that is not a traveling wave, and the only such solutions in a dielectric are those that decay exponentially: evanescent waves. Mathematically, evanescent waves can be characterized by awave vectorwhere one or more of the vector's components has animaginaryvalue. Because the vector has imaginary components, it may have a magnitude that is less than its real components. For the plane of incidence as thexy{\displaystyle xy}plane atz=0{\displaystyle z=0}and the interface of the two mediums as thexz{\displaystyle xz}plane aty=0{\displaystyle y=0}, the wave vector of the transmitted wave has the form[8] withkx=ktsin⁡θt{\displaystyle k_{x}=k_{t}\sin \theta _{t}}andky=ktcos⁡θt{\displaystyle k_{y}=k_{t}\cos \theta _{t}}, wherekt{\displaystyle k_{t}}is the magnitude of the wave vector of the transmitted wave (so thewavenumber),θt{\displaystyle \theta _{t}}is the angle of refraction, andx^{\displaystyle {\hat {\mathbf {x} }}}andy^{\displaystyle {\hat {\mathbf {y} }}}are the unit vectors along thex{\displaystyle x}axis direction and they{\displaystyle y}axis direction respectively. By using theSnell's lawnisin⁡θi=ntsin⁡θt{\displaystyle n_{i}\sin \theta _{i}=n_{t}\sin \theta _{t}}whereni{\displaystyle n_{i}},nt{\displaystyle n_{t}}, andθi{\displaystyle \theta _{i}}are the refractive index of the medium where the incident wave and the reflected wave exist, the refractive index of the medium where the transmitted wave exists, and the angle of incidence respectively, withnti=ntni{\textstyle n_{ti}={\frac {n_{t}}{n_{i}}}}. If a part of the condition of thetotal internal reflectionassin⁡θi>sin⁡θc=nti{\displaystyle \sin \theta _{i}>\sin \theta _{c}=n_{ti}}, is satisfied, then If thepolarizationis perpendicular to the plane of incidence (along thez{\displaystyle z}direction), then the electric field of any of the waves (incident, reflected, or transmitted) can be expressed as wherez^{\displaystyle \mathbf {\hat {z}} }is theunit vectorin thez{\displaystyle z}axis direction. By assuming plane waves asE(r)=E0e−ik⋅r{\displaystyle E(\mathbf {r} )=E_{0}e^{-i\mathbf {k} \cdot \mathbf {r} }}, and substituting the transmitted wave vectorkt{\displaystyle \mathbf {k_{t}} }intok{\displaystyle \mathbf {k} }, we find for the transmitted wave: whereα=kt(sin2⁡θinti2−1)1/2{\textstyle \alpha =k_{t}\left({\frac {\sin ^{2}\theta _{i}}{n_{ti}^{2}}}-1\right)^{1/2}}is theattenuation constant, andβ=kx{\displaystyle \beta =k_{x}}is thephase constant.+iα{\displaystyle +i\alpha }is ignored since it does not physically make sense (the wave amplification alongythe direction in this case). Especially inoptics,evanescent-wave couplingrefers to the coupling between two waves due to physical overlap of what would otherwise be described as the evanescent fields corresponding to the propagating waves.[9] One classical example isfrustrated total internal reflection (FTIR)in which the evanescent field very close (see graph) to the surface of a dense medium at which a wave normally undergoestotal internal reflectionoverlaps another dense medium in the vicinity. This disrupts the totality of the reflection, diverting some power into the second medium. Coupling between twooptical waveguidesmay be effected by placing the fiber cores close together so that the evanescent field generated by one element excites a wave in the other fiber. This is used to producefiber-optic splittersand infiber tapping. At radio (and even optical) frequencies, such a device is called adirectional coupler.The device is usually called a power divider in the case of microwave transmission and modulation. Evanescent-wave coupling is synonymous withnear fieldinteraction in electromagnetic field theory. Depending on the nature of the source element, the evanescent field involved is either predominantly electric (capacitive) or magnetic (inductive), unlike (propagating) waves in the far field where these components are connected (identical phase, in the ratio of theimpedance of free space). The evanescent wave coupling takes place in the non-radiative field near each medium and as such is always associated with matter; i.e., with the induced currents and charges within a partially reflecting surface. In quantum mechanics the wave function interaction may be discussed in terms of particles and described asquantum tunneling. Evanescent wave coupling is commonly used in photonic and nanophotonic devices as waveguide sensors or couplers (see e.g.,prism coupler).[10] Evanescent wave coupling is used to excite, for example, dielectric microsphere resonators. Evanescent coupling, as near field interaction, is one of the concerns inelectromagnetic compatibility. Coupling of optical fibers without loss forfiber tapping. Evanescent wave coupling plays a major role in the theoretical explanation ofextraordinary optical transmission.[11] Evanescent wave coupling is used in powering devices wirelessly.[12][13][14] Atotal internal reflection fluorescence microscopeuses the evanescent wave produced bytotal internal reflectionto excite fluorophores close to a surface. This is useful when surface properties of biological samples need to be studied.[15]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evanescent_wave_coupling
Inductanceis the tendency of anelectrical conductorto oppose a change in theelectric currentflowing through it. The electric current produces amagnetic fieldaround the conductor. The magnetic field strength depends on the magnitude of the electric current, and therefore follows any changes in the magnitude of the current. FromFaraday's law of induction, any change in magnetic field through a circuit induces anelectromotive force(EMF) (voltage) in the conductors, a process known aselectromagnetic induction. This induced voltage created by the changing current has the effect of opposing the change in current. This is stated byLenz's law, and the voltage is calledback EMF. Inductance is defined as the ratio of the induced voltage to the rate of change of current causing it.[1]It is a proportionality constant that depends on the geometry of circuit conductors (e.g., cross-section area and length) and themagnetic permeabilityof the conductor and nearby materials.[1]Anelectronic componentdesigned to add inductance to a circuit is called aninductor. It typically consists of acoilor helix of wire. The terminductancewas coined byOliver Heavisidein May 1884, as a convenient way to refer to "coefficient of self-induction".[2][3]It is customary to use the symbolL{\displaystyle L}for inductance, in honour of the physicistHeinrich Lenz.[4][5]In theSIsystem, the unit of inductance is thehenry(H), which is the amount of inductance that causes a voltage of onevolt, when the current is changing at a rate of oneampereper second.[6]The unit is named forJoseph Henry, who discovered inductance independently of Faraday.[7] The history of electromagnetic induction, a facet ofelectromagnetism, began with observations of the ancients: electric charge or static electricity (rubbing silk onamber), electric current (lightning), and magnetic attraction (lodestone). Understanding the unity of these forces of nature, and the scientific theory of electromagnetism was initiated and achieved during the 19th century. Electromagnetic induction was first described byMichael Faradayin 1831.[8][9]In Faraday's experiment, he wrapped two wires around opposite sides of an iron ring. He expected that, when current started to flow in one wire, a sort of wave would travel through the ring and cause some electrical effect on the opposite side. Using agalvanometer, he observed a transient current flow in the second coil of wire each time that a battery was connected or disconnected from the first coil.[10]This current was induced by the change inmagnetic fluxthat occurred when the battery was connected and disconnected.[11]Faraday found several other manifestations of electromagnetic induction. For example, he saw transient currents when he quickly slid a bar magnet in and out of a coil of wires, and he generated a steady (DC) current by rotating a copper disk near the bar magnet with a sliding electrical lead ("Faraday's disk").[12] A currenti{\displaystyle i}flowing through a conductor generates amagnetic fieldaround the conductor, which is described byAmpere's circuital law. The totalmagnetic fluxΦ{\displaystyle \Phi }through a circuit is equal to the product of the perpendicular component of the magnetic flux density and the area of the surface spanning the current path. If the current varies, themagnetic fluxΦ{\displaystyle \Phi }through the circuit changes. ByFaraday's law of induction, any change in flux through a circuit induces anelectromotive force(EMF,E{\displaystyle {\mathcal {E}}})in the circuit, proportional to the rate of change of flux E(t)=−ddtΦ(t){\displaystyle {\mathcal {E}}(t)=-{\frac {\text{d}}{{\text{d}}t}}\,\Phi (t)} The negative sign in the equation indicates that the induced voltage is in a direction which opposes the change in current that created it; this is calledLenz's law. The potential is therefore called aback EMF. If the current is increasing, the voltage is positive at the end of the conductor through which the current enters and negative at the end through which it leaves, tending to reduce the current. If the current is decreasing, the voltage is positive at the end through which the current leaves the conductor, tending to maintain the current. Self-inductance, usually just called inductance,L{\displaystyle L}is the ratio between the induced voltage and the rate of change of the current v(t)=Ldidt(1){\displaystyle v(t)=L\,{\frac {{\text{d}}i}{{\text{d}}t}}\qquad \qquad \qquad (1)\;} Thus, inductance is a property of a conductor or circuit, due to its magnetic field, which tends to oppose changes in current through the circuit. The unit of inductance in theSIsystem is thehenry(H), named afterJoseph Henry, which is the amount of inductance that generates a voltage of onevoltwhen the current is changing at a rate of oneampereper second. All conductors have some inductance, which may have either desirable or detrimental effects in practical electrical devices. The inductance of a circuit depends on the geometry of the current path, and on themagnetic permeabilityof nearby materials;ferromagneticmaterials with a higher permeability likeironnear a conductor tend to increase the magnetic field and inductance. Any alteration to a circuit which increases the flux (total magnetic field) through the circuit produced by a given current increases the inductance, because inductance is also equal to the ratio ofmagnetic fluxto current[13][14][15][16] L=Φ(i)i{\displaystyle L={\Phi (i) \over i}} Aninductoris anelectrical componentconsisting of a conductor shaped to increase the magnetic flux, to add inductance to a circuit. Typically it consists of a wire wound into acoilorhelix. A coiled wire has a higher inductance than a straight wire of the same length, because the magnetic field lines pass through the circuit multiple times, it has multipleflux linkages. The inductance is proportional to the square of thenumber of turnsin the coil, assuming full flux linkage. The inductance of a coil can be increased by placing amagnetic coreofferromagneticmaterial in the hole in the center. The magnetic field of the coil magnetizes the material of the core, aligning itsmagnetic domains, and the magnetic field of the core adds to that of the coil, increasing the flux through the coil. This is called aferromagnetic core inductor. A magnetic core can increase the inductance of a coil by thousands of times. If multipleelectric circuitsare located close to each other, the magnetic field of one can pass through the other; in this case the circuits are said to beinductively coupled. Due toFaraday's law of induction, a change in current in one circuit can cause a change in magnetic flux in another circuit and thus induce a voltage in another circuit. The concept of inductance can be generalized in this case by defining themutual inductanceMk,ℓ{\displaystyle M_{k,\ell }}of circuitk{\displaystyle k}and circuitℓ{\displaystyle \ell }as the ratio of voltage induced in circuitℓ{\displaystyle \ell }to the rate of change of current in circuitk{\displaystyle k}.This is the principle behind atransformer.The property describing the effect of one conductor on itself is more precisely calledself-inductance, and the properties describing the effects of one conductor with changing current on nearby conductors is calledmutual inductance.[17] If the current through a conductor with inductance is increasing, a voltagev(t){\displaystyle v(t)}is induced across the conductor with a polarity that opposes the current—in addition to any voltage drop caused by the conductor's resistance. The charges flowing through the circuit lose potential energy. The energy from the external circuit required to overcome this "potential hill" is stored in the increased magnetic field around the conductor. Therefore, an inductor stores energy in its magnetic field. At any given timet{\displaystyle t}the powerp(t){\displaystyle p(t)}flowing into the magnetic field, which is equal to the rate of change of the stored energyU{\displaystyle U},is the product of the currenti(t){\displaystyle i(t)}and voltagev(t){\displaystyle v(t)}across the conductor[18][19][20] p(t)=dUdt=v(t)i(t){\displaystyle p(t)={\frac {{\text{d}}U}{{\text{d}}t}}=v(t)\,i(t)} From (1) above dUdt=L(i)ididtdU=L(i)idi{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\text{d}}U}{{\text{d}}t}}&=L(i)\,i\,{\frac {{\text{d}}i}{{\text{d}}t}}\\[3pt]{\text{d}}U&=L(i)\,i\,{\text{d}}i\end{aligned}}} When there is no current, there is no magnetic field and the stored energy is zero. Neglecting resistive losses, theenergyU{\displaystyle U}(measured injoules, inSI) stored by an inductance with a currentI{\displaystyle I}through it is equal to the amount of work required to establish the current through the inductance from zero, and therefore the magnetic field. This is given by: U=∫0IL(i)idi{\displaystyle U=\int _{0}^{I}L(i)\,i\,{\text{d}}i\,} If the inductanceL(i){\displaystyle L(i)}is constant over the current range, the stored energy is[18][19][20] U=L∫0Iidi=12LI2{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}U&=L\int _{0}^{I}\,i\,{\text{d}}i\\[3pt]&={\tfrac {1}{2}}L\,I^{2}\end{aligned}}} Inductance is therefore also proportional to the energy stored in the magnetic field for a given current. This energy is stored as long as the current remains constant. If the current decreases, the magnetic field decreases, inducing a voltage in the conductor in the opposite direction, negative at the end through which current enters and positive at the end through which it leaves. This returns stored magnetic energy to the external circuit. Ifferromagneticmaterials are located near the conductor, such as in an inductor with amagnetic core, the constant inductance equation above is only valid forlinearregions of the magnetic flux, at currents below the level at which the ferromagnetic materialsaturates, where the inductance is approximately constant. If the magnetic field in the inductor approaches the level at which the core saturates, the inductance begins to change with current, and the integral equation must be used. When asinusoidalalternating current(AC) is passing through a linear inductance, the inducedback-EMFis also sinusoidal. If the current through the inductance isi(t)=Ipeaksin⁡(ωt){\displaystyle i(t)=I_{\text{peak}}\sin \left(\omega t\right)}, from (1) above the voltage across it isv(t)=Ldidt=Lddt[Ipeaksin⁡(ωt)]=ωLIpeakcos⁡(ωt)=ωLIpeaksin⁡(ωt+π2){\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}v(t)&=L{\frac {{\text{d}}i}{{\text{d}}t}}=L\,{\frac {\text{d}}{{\text{d}}t}}\left[I_{\text{peak}}\sin \left(\omega t\right)\right]\\&=\omega L\,I_{\text{peak}}\,\cos \left(\omega t\right)=\omega L\,I_{\text{peak}}\,\sin \left(\omega t+{\pi \over 2}\right)\end{aligned}}} whereIpeak{\displaystyle I_{\text{peak}}}is theamplitude(peak value) of the sinusoidal current in amperes,ω=2πf{\displaystyle \omega =2\pi f}is theangular frequencyof the alternating current, withf{\displaystyle f}being itsfrequencyinhertz, andL{\displaystyle L}is the inductance. Thus the amplitude (peak value) of the voltage across the inductance is Vp=ωLIp=2πfLIp{\displaystyle V_{p}=\omega L\,I_{p}=2\pi f\,L\,I_{p}} Inductivereactanceis the opposition of an inductor to an alternating current.[21]It is defined analogously toelectrical resistancein a resistor, as the ratio of theamplitude(peak value) of the alternating voltage to current in the component XL=VpIp=2πfL{\displaystyle X_{L}={\frac {V_{p}}{I_{p}}}=2\pi f\,L} Reactance has units ofohms. It can be seen thatinductive reactanceof an inductor increases proportionally with frequencyf{\displaystyle f},so an inductor conducts less current for a given applied AC voltage as the frequency increases. Because the induced voltage is greatest when the current is increasing, the voltage and current waveforms areout of phase; the voltage peaks occur earlier in each cycle than the current peaks. The phase difference between the current and the induced voltage isϕ=12π{\displaystyle \phi ={\tfrac {1}{2}}\pi }radiansor 90 degrees, showing that in an ideal inductorthe current lags the voltage by 90°. In the most general case, inductance can be calculated from Maxwell's equations. Many important cases can be solved using simplifications. Where high frequency currents are considered, withskin effect, the surface current densities and magnetic field may be obtained by solving theLaplace equation. Where the conductors are thin wires, self-inductance still depends on the wire radius and the distribution of the current in the wire. This current distribution is approximately constant (on the surface or in the volume of the wire) for a wire radius much smaller than other length scales. As a practical matter, longer wires have more inductance, and thicker wires have less, analogous to their electrical resistance (although the relationships are not linear, and are different in kind from the relationships that length and diameter bear to resistance). Separating the wire from the other parts of the circuit introduces some unavoidable error in any formulas' results. These inductances are often referred to as “partial inductances”, in part to encourage consideration of the other contributions to whole-circuit inductance which are omitted. For derivation of the formulas below, see Rosa (1908).[22]The total low frequency inductance (interior plus exterior) of a straight wire is: LDC=200nHmℓ[ln⁡(2ℓr)−0.75]{\displaystyle L_{\text{DC}}=200{\text{ }}{\tfrac {\text{nH}}{\text{m}}}\,\ell \left[\ln \left({\frac {\,2\,\ell \,}{r}}\right)-0.75\right]} where The constant 0.75 is just one parameter value among several; different frequency ranges, different shapes, or extremely long wire lengths require a slightly different constant (see below). This result is based on the assumption that the radiusr{\displaystyle r}is much less than the lengthℓ{\displaystyle \ell },which is the common case for wires and rods. Disks or thick cylinders have slightly different formulas. For sufficiently high frequencies skin effects cause the interior currents to vanish, leaving only the currents on the surface of the conductor; the inductance for alternating current,LAC{\displaystyle L_{\text{AC}}}is then given by a very similar formula: LAC=200nHmℓ[ln⁡(2ℓr)−1]{\displaystyle L_{\text{AC}}=200{\text{ }}{\tfrac {\text{nH}}{\text{m}}}\,\ell \left[\ln \left({\frac {\,2\,\ell \,}{r}}\right)-1\right]}where the variablesℓ{\displaystyle \ell }andr{\displaystyle r}are the same as above; note the changed constant term now 1, from 0.75 above. For example, a single conductor of a lamp cord10 mlong, made of 18AWG(1.024 mm) wire, would have a low frequency inductance of about19.67 μH, at k=0.75, if stretched out straight. Formally, the self-inductance of a wire loop would be given by the above equation withm=n.{\displaystyle \ m=n\ .}However, here1/\|x−x′\|{\displaystyle \ 1/\left\|\mathbf {x} -\mathbf {x} '\right\|\ }becomes infinite, leading to a logarithmically divergent integral.[a]This necessitates taking the finite wire radiusa{\displaystyle \ a\ }and the distribution of the current in the wire into account. There remains the contribution from the integral over all points and a correction term,[23] where Asolenoidis a long, thin coil; i.e., a coil whose length is much greater than its diameter. Under these conditions, and without any magnetic material used, themagnetic flux densityB{\displaystyle B}within the coil is practically constant and is given byB=μ0Niℓ{\displaystyle B={\frac {\mu _{0}\,N\,i}{\ell }}} whereμ0{\displaystyle \mu _{0}}is themagnetic constant,N{\displaystyle N}the number of turns,i{\displaystyle i}the current andl{\displaystyle l}the length of the coil. Ignoring end effects, the total magnetic flux through the coil is obtained by multiplying the flux densityB{\displaystyle B}by the cross-section areaA{\displaystyle A}:Φ=μ0NiAℓ,{\displaystyle \Phi ={\frac {\mu _{0}\,N\,i\,A}{\ell }},} When this is combined with the definition of inductanceL=NΦi{\displaystyle L={\frac {N\,\Phi }{i}}},it follows that the inductance of a solenoid is given by:L=μ0N2Aℓ.{\displaystyle L={\frac {\mu _{0}\,N^{2}\,A}{\ell }}.} Therefore, for air-core coils, inductance is a function of coil geometry and number of turns, and is independent of current. Let the inner conductor have radiusri{\displaystyle r_{i}}andpermeabilityμi{\displaystyle \mu _{i}},let the dielectric between the inner and outer conductor have permeabilityμd{\displaystyle \mu _{d}},and let the outer conductor have inner radiusro1{\displaystyle r_{o1}},outer radiusro2{\displaystyle r_{o2}},and permeabilityμ0{\displaystyle \mu _{0}}.However, for a typical coaxial line application, we are interested in passing (non-DC) signals at frequencies for which the resistiveskin effectcannot be neglected. In most cases, the inner and outer conductor terms are negligible, in which case one may approximate L′=dLdℓ≈μd2πln⁡ro1ri{\displaystyle L'={\frac {{\text{d}}L}{{\text{d}}\ell }}\approx {\frac {\mu _{d}}{2\pi }}\ln {\frac {r_{o1}}{r_{i}}}} Most practical air-core inductors are multilayer cylindrical coils with square cross-sections to minimize average distance between turns (circular cross -sections would be better but harder to form). Many inductors include amagnetic coreat the center of or partly surrounding the winding. Over a large enough range these exhibit a nonlinear permeability with effects such asmagnetic saturation. Saturation makes the resulting inductance a function of the applied current. The secant or large-signal inductance is used in flux calculations. It is defined as: Ls(i)=defNΦi=Λi{\displaystyle L_{s}(i)\mathrel {\overset {\underset {\mathrm {def} }{}}{=}} {\frac {N\ \Phi }{i}}={\frac {\Lambda }{i}}} The differential or small-signal inductance, on the other hand, is used in calculating voltage. It is defined as: Ld(i)=defd(NΦ)di=dΛdi{\displaystyle L_{d}(i)\mathrel {\overset {\underset {\mathrm {def} }{}}{=}} {\frac {{\text{d}}(N\Phi )}{{\text{d}}i}}={\frac {{\text{d}}\Lambda }{{\text{d}}i}}} The circuit voltage for a nonlinear inductor is obtained via the differential inductance as shown by Faraday's Law and thechain ruleof calculus. v(t)=dΛdt=dΛdididt=Ld(i)didt{\displaystyle v(t)={\frac {{\text{d}}\Lambda }{{\text{d}}t}}={\frac {{\text{d}}\Lambda }{{\text{d}}i}}{\frac {{\text{d}}i}{{\text{d}}t}}=L_{d}(i){\frac {{\text{d}}i}{{\text{d}}t}}} Similar definitions may be derived for nonlinear mutual inductance. The mutual inductance or the coefficient of mutual induction of two magnetically linked coils is equal to the flux linkage of one coil per unit current in the neighboring coil. OR The mutual inductance or the coefficient of mutual induction of two magnetically linked coils is numerically equal to the emf induced in one coil (secondary) per unit time rate of change of current in the neighboring coil (primary). There are two cases to consider: Currents in the wires need not be equal, though they often are, as in the case of a complete circuit, where one wire is the source and the other the return. This is the generalized case of the paradigmatic two-loop cylindrical coil carrying a uniform low frequency current; the loops are independent closed circuits that can have different lengths, any orientation in space, and carry different currents. Nonetheless, the error terms, which are not included in the integral are only small if the geometries of the loops are mostly smooth and convex: They must not have too many kinks, sharp corners, coils, crossovers, parallel segments, concave cavities, or other topologically "close" deformations. A necessary predicate for the reduction of the 3-dimensional manifold integration formula to a double curve integral is that the current paths be filamentary circuits, i.e. thin wires where the radius of the wire is negligible compared to its length. The mutual inductance by a filamentary circuitm{\displaystyle m}on a filamentary circuitn{\displaystyle n}is given by the double integralNeumannformula[24] where Mij=defΦijIj{\displaystyle M_{ij}\mathrel {\stackrel {\mathrm {def} }{=}} {\frac {\Phi _{ij}}{I_{j}}}} where Φij=∫SiBj⋅da=∫Si(∇×Aj)⋅da=∮CiAj⋅dsi=∮Ci(μ0Ij4π∮Cjdsj\|si−sj\|)⋅dsi{\displaystyle \Phi _{ij}=\int _{S_{i}}\mathbf {B} _{j}\cdot \mathrm {d} \mathbf {a} =\int _{S_{i}}(\nabla \times \mathbf {A_{j}} )\cdot \mathrm {d} \mathbf {a} =\oint _{C_{i}}\mathbf {A} _{j}\cdot \mathrm {d} \mathbf {s} _{i}=\oint _{C_{i}}\left({\frac {\mu _{0}I_{j}}{4\pi }}\oint _{C_{j}}{\frac {\mathrm {d} \mathbf {s} _{j}}{\left\|\mathbf {s} _{i}-\mathbf {s} _{j}\right\|}}\right)\cdot \mathrm {d} \mathbf {s} _{i}} where Stokes' theoremhas been used for the 3rd equality step. For the last equality step, we used theretarded potentialexpression forAj{\displaystyle A_{j}}and we ignore the effect of the retarded time (assuming the geometry of the circuits is small enough compared to the wavelength of the current they carry). It is actually an approximation step, and is valid only for local circuits made of thin wires. Mutual inductance is defined as the ratio between the EMF induced in one loop or coil by the rate of change of current in another loop or coil. Mutual inductance is given the symbolM. The inductance equations above are a consequence ofMaxwell's equations. For the important case of electrical circuits consisting of thin wires, the derivation is straightforward. In a system ofK{\displaystyle K}wire loops, each with one or several wire turns, theflux linkageof loopm{\displaystyle m},λm{\displaystyle \lambda _{m}},is given byλm=NmΦm=∑n=1KLm,nin.{\displaystyle \displaystyle \lambda _{m}=N_{m}\Phi _{m}=\sum \limits _{n=1}^{K}L_{m,n}\ i_{n}\,.} HereNm{\displaystyle N_{m}}denotes the number of turns in loopm{\displaystyle m};Φm{\displaystyle \Phi _{m}}is themagnetic fluxthrough loopm{\displaystyle m};andLm,n{\displaystyle L_{m,n}}are some constants described below. This equation follows fromAmpere's law:magnetic fields and fluxes are linear functions of the currents. ByFaraday's law of induction, we have vm=dλmdt=NmdΦmdt=∑n=1KLm,ndindt,{\displaystyle \displaystyle v_{m}={\frac {{\text{d}}\lambda _{m}}{{\text{d}}t}}=N_{m}{\frac {{\text{d}}\Phi _{m}}{{\text{d}}t}}=\sum \limits _{n=1}^{K}L_{m,n}{\frac {{\text{d}}i_{n}}{{\text{d}}t}},} wherevm{\displaystyle v_{m}}denotes the voltage induced in circuitm{\displaystyle m}.This agrees with the definition of inductance above if the coefficientsLm,n{\displaystyle L_{m,n}}are identified with the coefficients of inductance. Because the total currentsNnin{\displaystyle N_{n}\ i_{n}}contribute toΦm{\displaystyle \Phi _{m}}it also follows thatLm,n{\displaystyle L_{m,n}}is proportional to the product of turnsNmNn{\displaystyle N_{m}\ N_{n}}. Multiplying the equation forvmabove withimdtand summing overmgives the energy transferred to the system in the time intervaldt,∑mKimvmdt=∑m,n=1KimLm,ndin=!∑n=1K∂W(i)∂indin.{\displaystyle \sum \limits _{m}^{K}i_{m}v_{m}{\text{d}}t=\sum \limits _{m,n=1}^{K}i_{m}L_{m,n}{\text{d}}i_{n}\mathrel {\overset {!}{=}} \sum \limits _{n=1}^{K}{\frac {\partial W\left(i\right)}{\partial i_{n}}}{\text{d}}i_{n}.} This must agree with the change of the magnetic field energy,W, caused by the currents.[26]Theintegrability condition ∂2W∂im∂in=∂2W∂in∂im{\displaystyle \displaystyle {\frac {\partial ^{2}W}{\partial i_{m}\partial i_{n}}}={\frac {\partial ^{2}W}{\partial i_{n}\partial i_{m}}}} requiresLm,n= Ln,m. The inductance matrix,Lm,n, thus is symmetric. The integral of the energy transfer is the magnetic field energy as a function of the currents,W(i)=12∑m,n=1KimLm,nin.{\displaystyle \displaystyle W\left(i\right)={\frac {1}{2}}\sum \limits _{m,n=1}^{K}i_{m}L_{m,n}i_{n}.} This equation also is a direct consequence of the linearity of Maxwell's equations. It is helpful to associate changing electric currents with a build-up or decrease of magnetic field energy. The corresponding energy transfer requires or generates a voltage. Amechanical analogyin theK= 1 case with magnetic field energy (1/2)Li2is a body with massM, velocityuand kinetic energy (1/2)Mu2. The rate of change of velocity (current) multiplied with mass (inductance) requires or generates a force (an electrical voltage). Mutual inductance occurs when the change in current in one inductor induces a voltage in another nearby inductor. It is important as the mechanism by whichtransformerswork, but it can also cause unwanted coupling between conductors in a circuit. The mutual inductance,Mij{\displaystyle M_{ij}},is also a measure of the coupling between two inductors. The mutual inductance by circuiti{\displaystyle i}on circuitj{\displaystyle j}is given by the double integralNeumannformula, seecalculation techniques The mutual inductance also has the relationship:M21=N1N2P21{\displaystyle M_{21}=N_{1}\ N_{2}\ P_{21}\!}where Once the mutual inductanceM{\displaystyle M}is determined, it can be used to predict the behavior of a circuit:v1=L1di1dt−Mdi2dt{\displaystyle v_{1}=L_{1}\ {\frac {{\text{d}}i_{1}}{{\text{d}}t}}-M\ {\frac {{\text{d}}i_{2}}{{\text{d}}t}}}where The minus sign arises because of the sense the currenti2{\displaystyle i_{2}}has been defined in the diagram. With both currents defined going into thedotsthe sign ofM{\displaystyle M}will be positive (the equation would read with a plus sign instead).[27] The coupling coefficient is the ratio of the open-circuit actual voltage ratio to the ratio that would be obtained if all the flux coupled from onemagnetic circuitto the other. The coupling coefficient is related to mutual inductance and self inductances in the following way. From the two simultaneous equations expressed in the two-port matrix the open-circuit voltage ratio is found to be: V2V1open circuit=ML1{\displaystyle {V_{2} \over V_{1}}_{\text{open circuit}}={M \over L_{1}}}where while the ratio if all the flux is coupled is the ratio of the turns, hence the ratio of the square root of the inductances V2V1max coupling=L2L1{\displaystyle {V_{2} \over V_{1}}_{\text{max coupling}}={\sqrt {L_{2} \over L_{1}\ }}} thus, M=kL1L2{\displaystyle M=k{\sqrt {L_{1}\ L_{2}\ }}}where The coupling coefficient is a convenient way to specify the relationship between a certain orientation of inductors with arbitrary inductance. Most authors define the range as0≤k<1{\displaystyle 0\leq k<1},but some[28]define it as−1<k<1{\displaystyle -1<k<1\,}.Allowing negative values ofk{\displaystyle k}captures phase inversions of the coil connections and the direction of the windings.[29] Mutually coupled inductors can be described by any of thetwo-port networkparameter matrix representations. The most direct are thez parameters, which are given by[30] [z]=s[L1MML2].{\displaystyle [\mathbf {z} ]=s{\begin{bmatrix}L_{1}\ M\\M\ L_{2}\end{bmatrix}}.} They parametersare given by [y]=1s[L1MML2]−1.{\displaystyle [\mathbf {y} ]={\frac {1}{s}}{\begin{bmatrix}L_{1}\ M\\M\ L_{2}\end{bmatrix}}^{-1}.}Wheres{\displaystyle s}is thecomplex frequencyvariable,L1{\displaystyle L_{1}}andL2{\displaystyle L_{2}}are the inductances of the primary and secondary coil, respectively, andM{\displaystyle M}is the mutual inductance between the coils. Mutual inductance may be applied to multiple inductors simultaneously. The matrix representations for multiple mutually coupled inductors are given by[31][z]=s[L1M12M13…M1NM12L2M23…M2NM13M23L3…M3N⋮⋮⋮⋱M1NM2NM3N…LN]{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}&[\mathbf {z} ]=s{\begin{bmatrix}L_{1}&M_{12}&M_{13}&\dots &M_{1N}\\M_{12}&L_{2}&M_{23}&\dots &M_{2N}\\M_{13}&M_{23}&L_{3}&\dots &M_{3N}\\\vdots &\vdots &\vdots &\ddots \\M_{1N}&M_{2N}&M_{3N}&\dots &L_{N}\\\end{bmatrix}}\\\end{aligned}}} Mutually coupled inductors can equivalently be represented by a T-circuit of inductors as shown. If the coupling is strong and the inductors are of unequal values then the series inductor on the step-down side may take on a negative value.[32] This can be analyzed as a two port network. With the output terminated with some arbitrary impedanceZ{\displaystyle Z},the voltage gainAv{\displaystyle A_{v}},is given by: Av=sMZs2L1L2−s2M2+sL1Z=ks(1−k2)L1L2Z+L1L2{\displaystyle A_{\mathrm {v} }={\frac {sMZ}{\,s^{2}L_{1}L_{2}-s^{2}M^{2}+sL_{1}Z\,}}={\frac {k}{\,s\left(1-k^{2}\right){\frac {\sqrt {L_{1}L_{2}}}{Z}}+{\sqrt {\frac {L_{1}}{L_{2}}}}\,}}} wherek{\displaystyle k}is the coupling constant ands{\displaystyle s}is thecomplex frequencyvariable, as above. For tightly coupled inductors wherek=1{\displaystyle k=1}this reduces to Av=L2L1{\displaystyle A_{\mathrm {v} }={\sqrt {L_{2} \over L_{1}}}} which is independent of the load impedance. If the inductors are wound on the same core and with the same geometry, then this expression is equal to the turns ratio of the two inductors because inductance is proportional to the square of turns ratio. The input impedance of the network is given by: Zin=s2L1L2−s2M2+sL1ZsL2+Z=L1L2Z(11+ZsL2)(1+1−k2ZsL2){\displaystyle Z_{\text{in}}={\frac {s^{2}L_{1}L_{2}-s^{2}M^{2}+sL_{1}Z}{sL_{2}+Z}}={\frac {L_{1}}{L_{2}}}\,Z\,\left({\frac {1}{1+{\frac {Z}{\,sL_{2}\,}}}}\right)\left(1+{\frac {1-k^{2}}{\frac {Z}{\,sL_{2}\,}}}\right)} Fork=1{\displaystyle k=1}this reduces to Zin=sL1ZsL2+Z=L1L2Z(11+ZsL2){\displaystyle Z_{\text{in}}={\frac {sL_{1}Z}{sL_{2}+Z}}={\frac {L_{1}}{L_{2}}}\,Z\,\left({\frac {1}{1+{\frac {Z}{\,sL_{2}\,}}}}\right)} Thus, current gainAi{\displaystyle A_{i}}isnotindependent of load unless the further condition \|sL2\|≫\|Z\|{\displaystyle \|sL_{2}\|\gg \|Z\|} is met, in which case, Zin≈L1L2Z{\displaystyle Z_{\text{in}}\approx {L_{1} \over L_{2}}Z} and Ai≈L1L2=1Av{\displaystyle A_{\text{i}}\approx {\sqrt {L_{1} \over L_{2}}}={1 \over A_{\text{v}}}} Alternatively, two coupled inductors can be modelled using aπequivalent circuit with optional ideal transformers at each port. While the circuit is more complicated than a T-circuit, it can be generalized[33]to circuits consisting of more than two coupled inductors. Equivalent circuit elementsLs{\displaystyle L_{\text{s}}},Lp{\displaystyle L_{\text{p}}}have physical meaning, modelling respectivelymagnetic reluctancesof coupling paths andmagnetic reluctancesofleakage paths. For example, electric currents flowing through these elements correspond to coupling and leakagemagnetic fluxes. Ideal transformers normalize all self-inductances to 1 Henry to simplify mathematical formulas. Equivalent circuit element values can be calculated from coupling coefficients withLSij=det(K)−CijLPi=det(K)∑j=1NCij{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}L_{S_{ij}}&={\frac {\det(\mathbf {K} )}{-\mathbf {C} _{ij}}}\\[3pt]L_{P_{i}}&={\frac {\det(\mathbf {K} )}{\sum _{j=1}^{N}\mathbf {C} _{ij}}}\end{aligned}}} where coupling coefficient matrix and its cofactors are defined as For two coupled inductors, these formulas simplify to and for three coupled inductors (for brevity shown only forLs12{\displaystyle L_{\text{s12}}}andLp1{\displaystyle L_{\text{p1}}}) When a capacitor is connected across one winding of a transformer, making the winding atuned circuit(resonant circuit) it is called a single-tuned transformer. When a capacitor is connected across each winding, it is called adouble tuned transformer. Theseresonant transformerscan store oscillating electrical energy similar to aresonant circuitand thus function as abandpass filter, allowing frequencies near theirresonant frequencyto pass from the primary to secondary winding, but blocking other frequencies. The amount of mutual inductance between the two windings, together with theQ factorof the circuit, determine the shape of the frequency response curve. The advantage of the double tuned transformer is that it can have a wider bandwidth than a simple tuned circuit. The coupling of double-tuned circuits is described as loose-, critical-, or over-coupled depending on the value of thecoupling coefficientk{\displaystyle k}.When two tuned circuits are loosely coupled through mutual inductance, the bandwidth is narrow. As the amount of mutual inductance increases, the bandwidth continues to grow. When the mutual inductance is increased beyond the critical coupling, the peak in the frequency response curve splits into two peaks, and as the coupling is increased the two peaks move further apart. This is known as overcoupling. Stongly-coupled self-resonant coils can be used forwireless power transferbetween devices in the mid range distances (up to two metres).[34]Strong coupling is required for a high percentage of power transferred, which results in peak splitting of the frequency response.[35][36] Whenk=1{\displaystyle k=1},the inductor is referred to as being closely coupled. If in addition, the self-inductances go to infinity, the inductor becomes an idealtransformer. In this case the voltages, currents, and number of turns can be related in the following way: Vs=NsNpVp{\displaystyle V_{\text{s}}={\frac {N_{\text{s}}}{N_{\text{p}}}}V_{\text{p}}}where Conversely the current: Is=NpNsIp{\displaystyle I_{\text{s}}={\frac {N_{\text{p}}}{N_{\text{s}}}}I_{\text{p}}}where The power through one inductor is the same as the power through the other. These equations neglect any forcing by current sources or voltage sources. The table below lists formulas for the self-inductance of various simple shapes made of thin cylindrical conductors (wires). In general these are only accurate if the wire radiusa{\displaystyle a}is much smaller than the dimensions of the shape, and if no ferromagnetic materials are nearby (nomagnetic core). Wheeler's approximation formula for current-sheet model air-core coil:[37][38] L=N2D218D+40ℓ{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}={\frac {N^{2}D^{2}}{18D+40\ell }}}(inches)L=N2D245.72D+101.6ℓ{\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}={\frac {N^{2}D^{2}}{45.72D+101.6\ell }}}(cm) This formula gives an error no more than 1%whenℓ>0.4D.{\displaystyle \ell >0.4\,D~.} L=μ0π[ℓ1ln⁡(2ℓ1a)+ℓ2ln⁡(2ℓ2a)+2ℓ12+ℓ22−ℓ1sinh−1⁡(ℓ1ℓ2)−ℓ2sinh−1⁡(ℓ2ℓ1)−(2−14Y)(ℓ1+ℓ2)]{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\mathcal {L}}={\frac {\mu _{0}}{\pi }}\ {\biggl [}\ &\ell _{1}\ln \left({\frac {2\ell _{1}}{a}}\right)+\ell _{2}\ \ln \left({\frac {2\ell _{2}}{a}}\right)+2{\sqrt {\ell _{1}^{2}+\ell _{2}^{2}\ }}\\&-\ell _{1}\ \sinh ^{-1}\left({\frac {\ell _{1}}{\ell _{2}}}\right)-\ell _{2}\sinh ^{-1}\left({\frac {\ell _{2}}{\ell _{1}}}\right)\\&-\left(2-{\tfrac {1}{4}}Y\ \right)\left(\ell _{1}+\ell _{2}\right)\ {\biggr ]}\end{aligned}}} L=μ0πℓcosh−1⁡(s2a)=μ0πℓln⁡(s2a+s24a2−1)≈μ0πℓln⁡(sa){\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\mathcal {L}}&={\frac {\mu _{0}}{\pi }}\ \ell \ \cosh ^{-1}\left({\frac {s}{2a}}\right)\\&={\frac {\mu _{0}}{\pi }}\ \ell \ \ln \left({\frac {s}{2a}}+{\sqrt {{\frac {s^{2}}{4a^{2}}}-1}}\right)\\&\approx {\frac {\mu _{0}}{\pi }}\ \ell \ \ln \left({\frac {s}{a}}\right)\end{aligned}}} Y{\displaystyle Y}is an approximately constant value between 0 and 1 that depends on the distribution of the current in the wire:Y=0{\displaystyle Y=0}when the current flows only on the surface of the wire (completeskin effect),Y=1{\displaystyle Y=1}when the current is evenly spread over the cross-section of the wire (direct current). For round wires, Rosa (1908) gives a formula equivalent to:[22] Y≈11+a18μσω{\displaystyle Y\approx {\frac {1}{\,1+a\ {\sqrt {{\tfrac {1}{8}}\mu \sigma \omega \,}}\,}}} where O(x){\displaystyle {\mathcal {O}}(x)}is represents small term(s) that have been dropped from the formula, to make it simpler. Read the term+O(x){\displaystyle {}+{\mathcal {O}}(x)}as "plus small corrections that vary on the order ofx{\displaystyle x}"(seebig O notation).	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductance
Short-circuit inductanceof a real linear two-windingtransformerisinductancemeasured across the primary or secondary winding when the other winding is short-circuited.[1][Notes 1]The method of measuring the short circuit inductance is described in industrial standard. The industrial standard also stipulates a method for obtaining thecoupling factorby combining it with the open circuit inductance value. Measured primary and secondary short-circuit inductances may be considered as constituent parts of primary and secondary self-inductances. They are derived by usingHo-Thevenin's theoremfrom the equivalent inductance of the three-terminal equivalent circuit as follows. Then they are related according to the coupling factor as, Where Short-circuit inductance measurement is used in conjunction with open-circuit inductance measurements to obtain various derived quantities likek{\displaystyle k}, the inductive coupling factor andσ{\displaystyle \sigma }, the inductive leakage factor.k{\displaystyle k}is derived according to:[Notes 2] where Other transformer parameters like leakage inductance and mutual inductance which cannot be directly measured may be defined in terms of k. Short-circuit inductance is one of the parameters that determines theresonance frequencyof themagnetic phase synchronous couplingin aresonant transformerandwireless power transfer. Short-circuit inductance is the main component of the current-limiting parameter inleakage transformerapplications.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-circuit_inductance
Wardenclyffe Tower(1901–1917), also known as theTesla Tower, was an early experimentalwirelesstransmission station designed and built byNikola TeslaonLong Islandin 1901–1902, located in the village ofShoreham, New York. Tesla intended to transmit messages,telephony, and evenfacsimile imagesacross theAtlantic Oceanto England and to ships at sea based on his theories of using theEarthto conduct the signals. His decision to increase the scale of the facility and implement his ideas ofwireless power transferto better compete withGuglielmo Marconi's radio-basedtelegraphsystem was met with refusal to fund the changes by the project's primary backer, financierJ. P. Morgan. Additional investment could not be found, and the project was abandoned in 1906, never to become operational. In an attempt to satisfy Tesla's debts, the tower was demolished for scrap in 1917 and the property taken inforeclosurein 1922. For 50 years, Wardenclyffe was a processing facility producing photography supplies. Many buildings were added to the site and the land it occupies has been trimmed down from 200 acres (81 ha) to 16 acres (6.5 ha) but the original, 94 by 94 ft (29 by 29 m), brick building designed byStanford Whiteremains standing. In the 1980s and 2000s, hazardous waste from the photographic era wascleaned up, and the site was sold and cleared for new development. A grassroots campaign to save the site succeeded in purchasing the property in 2013, with plans to builda future museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla. In 2018, the property was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[2] Tesla's design for Wardenclyffe grew out of his experiments beginning in the early 1890s. His primary goal in these experiments was to develop a new wireless power transmission system. Tesla discarded the idea of using the newly discoveredHertzian waves(radio waves), detected in 1888 by German physicistHeinrich Rudolf Hertz. Tesla doubted they existed and he followed scientific thought of the period that, if they did exist, this was just a type of invisible light which would travel in straight lines the wayvisible lightdid, meaning they would travel straight out into space and be "hopelessly lost".[3][4] In laboratory work and later large-scale experiments atColorado Springs, Colorado, in 1899, Tesla developed his own ideas on how aworldwide wireless systemwould work. He theorized from these experiments that if he injected electric current into the Earth at just the right frequency he could harness what he believed was the planet's own electrical charge and cause it to resonate at a frequency that would be amplified in "standing waves" that could be tapped anywhere on the planet to run devices or, throughmodulation, carry a signal.[5]His system was based more on 19th-century ideas ofelectrical conductionand telegraphy instead of the newer theories of electromagnetic waves, with an electrical charge being conducted through the ground and being returned through the air.[6] Tesla's design used a concept of a charged conductive upper layer in the atmosphere,[6]a theory dating back to an 1872 idea for a proposed wireless power system byMahlon Loomis.[7]Tesla not only believed that he could use this layer as the return path in his electrical conduction system, but that the power flowing through it would make it glow, providing night time lighting for cities and shipping lanes.[7] In February 1901, in aCollier'sWeeklyarticle titled "Talking With Planets", Tesla described his "system of energy transmission and of telegraphy without the use of wires" as: (using) the Earth itself as the medium for conducting the currents, thus dispensing with wires and all other artificial conductors ... a machine which, to explain its operation in plain language, resembled a pump in its action, drawing electricity from the Earth and driving it back into the same at an enormous rate, thus creating ripples or disturbances which, spreading through the Earth as through a wire, could be detected at great distances by carefully attuned receiving circuits. In this manner I was able to transmit to a distance, not only feeble effects for the purposes of signaling, but considerable amounts of energy, and later discoveries I made convinced me that I shall ultimately succeed in conveying power without wires, for industrial purposes, with high economy, and to any distance, however great.[8] Although Tesla demonstrated wireless power transmission at Colorado Springs, lighting electric lights mounted outside the building where he had his large experimental coil,[9]he did not scientifically test his theories. He believed he had achieved Earth resonance which, according to his theory, would work at any distance.[10] Tesla was back in New York in January 1900. He had convinced his friendRobert Underwood Johnson, editor ofThe Century Magazine, to allow him to publish an article covering his work and Johnson had even sent a photographer to Colorado Springs the previous year to photograph Tesla's experiments. The article written by Tesla, titled "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy", appeared in the June 1900 edition ofCentury Magazine. Instead of the understandable scientific description Johnson had hoped for,[11]it was more of a lengthy philosophical treatise where Tesla described his futuristic ideas on harnessing the sun's energy, control of the weather with electricity, wireless control, and how future inventions would make war impossible. It also contained what were to become iconic images by photographer Dickenson Alley of Tesla and his Colorado Springs experiments. Tesla made the rounds in New York trying to find investors for his system of wireless transmission, wining and dining them at theWaldorf-Astoria's Palm Garden (the hotel where he was living at the time),The Players ClubandDelmonico's.[12]Tesla first went to his old friendGeorge Westinghousefor help. Westinghouse seemed like a natural fit for the project given the large-scale AC equipmentWestinghouse Electricmanufactured and Tesla's need for similar equipment. Tesla asked Westinghouse to "meet me on some fair terms in furnishing me the machinery, retaining the ownership of the same and interesting yourself to a certain extent". Though Westinghouse declined to buy into the project, he did agree to lend Tesla $6,000 ($226,776 in 2024).[13]Westinghouse suggested Tesla pursue some of the rich venture capitalists. Tesla talked toJohn Jacob Astor,Thomas Fortune Ryan, and even sent acabochonsapphirering as a gift toHenry O. Havemeyer. No investment was forthcoming from Havemeyer and Ryan, but Astor did buy 500 shares in Tesla's company.[14]Tesla gained the attention of financierJ. P. Morganin November 1900. Morgan was impressed byGuglielmo Marconi's feat of sending reports from theAmerica's Cupyacht races offLong Islandback to New York City via radio the previous year, and he was dubious about the feasibility and patent priority of Tesla's system.[15][16] In several discussions, Tesla assured Morgan his system was superior to, and based on patents that superseded, that of Marconi and of other wireless inventors, and that it would far outpace the performance of its main competitor, thetransatlantic telegraph cable. Morgan signed a contract with Tesla in March 1901, agreeing to give the inventor $150,000 ($5.67 million in 2024) to develop and build a wireless station[16]on Long Island, capable of sending wireless messages to London as well as ships at sea. The deal also included Morgan having a 51% interest in the company as well as a 51% share in present and future wireless patents developed from the project.[17] Tesla began working on his wireless station immediately. As soon as the contract was signed with Morgan in March 1901, he placed an order for generators and transformers with Westinghouse Electric. Tesla's plans changed radically after he read a June 1901Electrical Reviewarticle by Marconi titled "Syntonic Wireless Telegraph".[16][18] At this point, Marconi was transmitting radio signals beyond the range most physicists thought possible (over the horizon) and the description of the Italian inventor's use of a "Tesla coil" "connected to the Earth" led Tesla to believe Marconi was copying his earth resonance system to do it.[16][19]Tesla, believing a small pilot system capable of sendingMorse codeyacht race results to Morgan in Europe would not be able to capture the attention of potential investors, decided to scale up his designs with a much more powerful transmitter, incorporating his ideas of advanced telephone and image transmission[citation needed]as well as his ideas of wireless power delivery. In July 1901, Tesla informed Morgan of his planned changes to the project and the need for much more money to build it. He explained the more grandiose plan as a way to leap ahead of competitors and secure much larger profits on the investment. With Tesla basically proposing a breach of contract, Morgan refused to lend additional funds and demanded an account of money already spent.[16]Tesla claimed a few years later that funds were also running short because of Morgan's role in triggering the stock marketPanic of 1901, making everything Tesla had to buy much more expensive.[16] Morgan stated no additional funds would be supplied, but Tesla continued with the project. He explored the idea of building several small towers or a tower 300 feet (91 m) and even 600 feet (180 m) tall to transmit the type of low-frequencylongwavesthat Tesla thought were needed to resonate the Earth. His friend, architectStanford White, who was working on designing structures for the project, calculated that a 600-foot tower would cost $450,000 ($17 million in 2024) and the idea had to be canceled. Tesla purchased 200 acres (81 ha) of land close to a railway line 65 miles (105 km) from New York City inShorehamon Long Island Sound from land developer James S. Warden who was building a resort community known as Wardenclyffe-On-Sound. Tesla would later state his plans were to eventually make Wardenclyffe a hub "city" in his plans for a worldwide system of 30 wireless plants, sending messages and media content and broadcasting electrical power.[16]The land surrounding the Wardenclyffe plant was intended to be what Tesla would later in life refer to as a "radio city" with factories producing Tesla's patented devices.[20]Warden expected to build housing on the part of his remaining land for the expected 2,000–2,500 Tesla employees. At the end of July 1901 Tesla closed a contract for the building of the wireless telegraph plant and electrical laboratory at Wardenclyffe. The final design Tesla started building at Wardenclyffe consisted of a wood-framed tower 186 feet (57 m) tall and the cupola 68 feet (21 m) in diameter. It had a 55-ton steel (some report it was a better conducting material, such as copper) hemispherical structure at the top (referred to as a cupola). The structure was such as to allow each piece to be taken out and replaced as necessary. The main building occupied the rest of the facility grounds. Stanford White designed the Wardenclyffe facility main building. It included a laboratory area, instrumentation room, boiler room, generator room and machine shop. Inside the main building, there were electromechanical devices, electrical generators, electrical transformers, glass blowing equipment,X-raydevices,Tesla coils, a remote controlled boat, cases with bulbs and tubes, wires, cables, a library, and an office. It was constructed in the style of the Italian Renaissance. The tower was designed by W.D. Crow, an associate of White. There was a great deal of construction under the tower to establish some form of ground connection but Tesla and his workers kept the public and the press away from the project so little is known. The descriptions (some from Tesla's 1923 testimony in foreclosure proceedings on the property) include that the facility had a ten by twelve foot wood and steel lined shaft sunk into the ground 120 feet (37 m) beneath the tower with a stairway inside it. Tesla stated that at the bottom of the shaft he "had special machines rigged up which would push the iron pipe, one length after another, and I pushed these iron pipes, I think sixteen of them, three hundred feet, and then the current through these pipes takes hold of the earth."[21]In Tesla's words, the function of this was "to have a grip on the earth so the whole of this globe can quiver".[22][23]There is also contemporaneous and later descriptions of four 100 foot long tunnels, possibly brick lined and waterproofed, radiating from the bottom of the shaft north, south, east, and west terminating back at ground level in little brickigloos.[24]Speculation on the tunnels ranges from them being for drainage, acting as access ways, or having the function of enhancing ground connection or resonance by interacting with thewater tablebelow the tower, maybe via being filled with salt water orliquid nitrogen.[21][24] The Tesla biographerJohn Joseph O'Neillnoted the cupola at the top of the 186-foot tower had a 5-foot hole in its top where ultraviolet lights were to be mounted, perhaps to create an ionized path up through the atmosphere that could conduct electricity.[25]How Tesla intended to employ the ground conduction method and atmospheric method in Wardenclyffe's design is unknown.[26]Power for the entire system was to be provided by a coal fired 200 kilowatt Westinghouse alternating current industrialgenerator. Construction began in September 1901 but money was so short (with Morgan still owing Tesla the remainder of the original $150,000 promised) Tesla complained in a letter to White he was facing foreclosure. Tesla kept writing Morgan letters pleading for more money and assuring the financier his wireless system would be superior to Marconi's, but in December Tesla's plans were dealt another serious blow when Marconi announced to the world he was able to send a wireless transmission (theMorse codefor the letter S) across the Atlantic. Construction at Wardenclyffe continued in 1902 and that June Tesla began moving his laboratory operations from 46 EastHouston Streetlaboratory to the 94-foot-square brick building at Wardenclyffe. By the end of 1902 the tower reached its full height of 187 feet. What Tesla was doing at Wardenclyffe and the site itself was generally kept from the public. Tesla would respond to reporters inquiries stating there was a similar wireless plant in Scotland and that "We have been sending wireless messages for long distances from this station for some time, but whether we are going into the telegraph field on a commercial basis I cannot say at present."[27] Tesla continued to write to Morgan asking the investor to reconsider his position on the contract and invest the additional funds the project needed. In a July 3, 1903 letter Tesla wrote "Will you help me or let my great work — almost complete — go to pots?" Morgan's reply on July 14 was "I have received your letter and in reply would say that I should not feel disposed at present to make any further advances". The night of Morgan's reply, and several nights after, newspapers reported that the Wardenclyffe tower came alive shooting off bright flashes lighting up the night sky. No explanation was forthcoming from Tesla or any of his workers as to the meaning of the display and Wardenclyffe never seemed to operate again. Tesla's finances continued to unravel. Investor money on Wall Street was continuing to flow to Marconi's system, which was making regular transmissions, and doing it with equipment far less expensive than the "wireless plant" Tesla was attempting to build. Some in the press began turning against Tesla's project claiming it was a hoax[28]and the "rich man's panic" of late 1903 on Wall Street reduced investment further.[29][30][31]Some money came from Thomas Fortune Ryan but the funds went towards the debt on the project instead of funding any further construction.[12]Investors seemed to be shying away from putting money into a project that J. P. Morgan had abandoned.[12]Tesla continued to write Morgan trying to get extra funding stating his "knowledge and ability [...] if applied effectively would advance the world a century". Morgan would only reply through his secretary saying "it will be impossible for [me/ Morgan] to do anything in the matter".[32]Tesla's attempts to raise money by getting the US Navy interested in his remote control boat and torpedo and other attempts to commercialize his inventions went nowhere. In May 1905, Tesla's patents onalternating currentmotors and other methods of power transmission expired, halting royalty payments and causing a further severe reduction of funding to the Wardenclyffe Tower. In an attempt to find alternative funding Tesla advertised the services of the Wardenclyffe facility but he was met with little success. In 1906, the financial problems and other events may have led to what Tesla biographerMarc J. Seifersuspects was a nervous breakdown on Tesla's part.[33]In June architect Stanford White was murdered byHarry Kendall Thawover White's affair with Thaw's wife, actressEvelyn Nesbit. In October long time investor William Rankine died of a heart attack. George Scherff, Tesla's chief manager who had been supervising Wardenclyffe, had to leave to find other employment. The people living around Wardenclyffe noticed the Tesla plant seemed to have been abandoned without notice.[34] In 1904, Tesla took out a mortgage on the Wardenclyffe property withGeorge C. Boldt, proprietor of theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel, to cover Tesla's living expenses at the hotel. In 1908 Tesla procured a second mortgage from Boldt to further cover expenses.[35][36]The facility was partially abandoned around 1911, and the tower structure deteriorated. Between 1912 and 1915, Tesla's finances unraveled, and when the funders wanted to know how they were going to recoup their investments, Tesla was unable to give satisfactory answers. The March 1, 1916 edition of the publicationExport American Industriesran a story titled "Tesla's Million DollarFolly" describing the abandoned Wardenclyffe site: There everything seemed left as for a day — chairs, desks, and papers in businesslike array. The great wheels seemed only awaiting Monday life. But the magic word has not been spoken, and the spell still rests on the great plant.[37] By mid-1917 the facility's main building was breached and vandalized.[38] By 1915, Tesla's accumulated debt at the Waldorf-Astoria was aroundUS$20,000(equivalent to $622,000 in 2024). When Tesla was unable to make any further payments on the mortgages, Boldt foreclosed on the Wardenclyffe property.[35]Boldt went on to make the property available for sale and decided to demolish the tower for scrap.[39]On July 4, 1917, the Smiley Steel Company of New York began demolition of the tower bydynamitingit. The tower was knocked on a tilt by the initial explosion but it was not totally demolished until September.[40][41]The scrap value realized was$1,750(equivalent to $43,000 in 2024). Since this was duringWorld War Ia rumor spread, picked up by newspapers and other publications, that the tower was demolished on orders of the United States Government with claims German spies were using it as a radio transmitter or observation post, or that it was being used as a landmark for Germansubmarines.[41][42]Tesla was not pleased with what he saw as attacks on his patriotism via the rumors about Wardenclyffe, but since the original mortgages with Boldt as well as the foreclosure had been kept off the public record in order to hide his financial difficulties, Tesla was not able to reveal the real reason for the demolition.[40][41][43] On April 20, 1922, Tesla lost an appeal of judgment on Boldt's original foreclosure.[44] In 1925, the property ownership was transferred to Walter L. Johnson ofBrooklyn. On March 6, 1939, Plantacres, Inc. purchased the facility's land and subsequently leased it to Peerless Photo Products, Inc. AGFA Corporationbought the property from Peerless and used the site from 1969 to 1992 before closing the facility. The site has undergone a final cleanup of waste produced during its Photo Products era. The clean up was conducted under the scrutiny of theNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and paid for by AGFA. In 2009, AGFA put the property up for sale for $1,650,000. The main building remains standing to this day; AGFA advertised that the land can "be delivered fully cleared and level." It says it spent $5 million through September 2008 cleaning up silver andcadmium.[45][46][47]A non-profit preservation organization supported byThe Oatmealpurchased the land in 2013 with hopes to create amuseum to Teslathere.[48] On February 14, 1967, the nonprofit public benefit corporation Brookhaven Town Historical Trust was established. It selected the Wardenclyffe facility to be designated as a historic site and as the first site to be preserved by the Trust on March 3, 1967. The Brookhaven Town Historic Trust was rescinded by resolution on February 1, 1972. There were never any appointments made after a legal opinion was received; it was never set up properly.[49]On July 7, 1976, a plaque fromYugoslaviawas installed by representatives fromBrookhaven National Laboratory[50]near the entrance of the building. It reads:[51] IN THIS BUILDINGDESIGNED BY STANFORD WHITE, ARCHITECTNIKOLA TESLABORN SMILJAN, YUGOSLAVIA 1856—DIED NEW YORK, U.S.A. 1943CONSTRUCTED IN 1901–1905 WARDENCLYFFEHUGE RADIO STATION WITH ANTENNA TOWER187 FEET HIGH /DESTROYED 1917/, WHICHWAS TO HAVE SERVED AS HIS FIRST WORLDCOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM.IN MEMORY OF 120TH ANNIVERSARY OF TESLA'S BIRTHAND 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S.A INDEPENDENCE The sign was stolen from the property in November 2009. An anonymous benefactor is offering a $2,000 reward if it is returned to the property.[52] In 1976, an application was filed to nominate the main building for listing on theNational Register of Historic Places(NRHP). It failed to get approval. TheTesla Wardenclyffe Project, Inc.was established in 1994 for the purpose of seeking placement of the Wardenclyffe laboratory-office building and the Tesla tower foundation on both the New York State and NRHP. Its mission is the preservation and adaptive reuse of Wardenclyffe, the century-old laboratory of electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla located in Shoreham, Long Island, New York.[53] In October 1994, a second application for formal nomination was filed. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation conducted inspections and determined the facility meets New York State criteria for historic designation. A second visit was made on February 25, 2009. The site cannot be registered until it is nominated by a willing owner. Designation of the structure as a National Landmark is awaiting completion of plant decommissioning activities by its present owner.[54] In August 2012, concerned about an apparent offer to purchase the site and develop it for commercial use, web cartoonThe Oatmeallaunched a fundraiser for theTesla Science Center at Wardenclyffeto raise $1.7 million to purchase the property, with the hope of eventually building a museum on the grounds.[55] Jane Alcorn, president of the nonprofit group The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, and Matthew Inman, creator ofThe Oatmeal, collaborated in 2012 to honor "the Father of the Electric Age", by preserving the Wardenclyffe facility as a science center and museum. They initiated theLet's Build a Goddamn Tesla Museumfund-raising campaign on theIndiegogocrowdfundingsite, to raise funding to buy the Wardenclyffe property and restore the facility. The project reached its goal of raising $850,000 within a week, more than exceeded the requested amount, including a $33,333 donation from the producers of the Tesla film "Fragments from Olympus-The Vision of Nikola Tesla".[56]The campaign also attracted donations from benefactors such asElon Musk, CEO ofTesla, Inc.[57] The money raised within one week was enough to get a matching grant from the state of New York, allowing the project to be able to meet the seller's asking price of $1.6 million;[57][58]the state had agreed to match donations up to half that amount.[59]A total of $1.37 million was donated, the matching grant from the State of New York brought the total collected to over $2.2 million. The surplus was to be used to fund the cleaning and restoration of the property. Tesla, Wardenclyffe and the museum fundraising effort was the subject of a documentary calledTower to the People – Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues.[60][61][62] On May 2, 2013, The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe announced that they had purchased the 15.69-acre laboratory site fromAgfa Corporationand will begin to raise "about $10 million to create a science learning center and museum worthy of Tesla and his legacy".[48] On May 13, 2014, The Oatmeal published a comic called "What It's Like to Own aModel S, Part 2", to request a further donation of $8 million fromTesla MotorsfounderElon Musk.[63]The next day, Musktweetedthat he "would be happy to help".[64]On July 10, 2014, during a 158th birthday celebration for Tesla at the Wardenclyffe site, it was announced that Musk would donate $1 million toward funding the museum, and install a Tesla Motors supercharging station onsite.[65] The center plans to offer several programs, including science teacher associations, conferences, symposia, field trips, associations with science competitions, and other science programs. Planned permanent exhibits include a Tesla exhibit, exploratorium-type exhibits, and a living museum.[66]On September 23, 2013, thePresident of Serbia,Tomislav Nikolić, unveiled a monument to Tesla at the Wardenclyffe site. Nikolić said that he had planned to push for the monument to be displayed at theUnited Nations, but chose Wardenclyffe once he learned it had been purchased for the center.[67] Emergency renovations on the chimney started in February 2020.[68]A ground breaking event took place in June of 2023.[69] Wardenclyffe is located near the Shoreham Post Office and Shoreham Fire House on Route 25A in Shoreham, Long Island, New York. Wardenclyffe was divided into two main sections. The tower, which was located in the back, and the main building now compose the entire facility grounds. At one time the property was about 200 acres (0.81 km2). Now it consists of slightly less than 16 acres (65,000 m2). On 21 November 2023, just months after the groundbreaking, the laboratory building caught fire. Over 100 firefighters across Long Island helped contain the fire. Much of the original brick building survived.[70]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_tower
TheElectronic Product Code(EPC) is designed as a universal identifier (using an idiosyncratic numerical code for each different commodity[1]) that provides a unique identity for every physical object anywhere in the world, for all time. The EPC structure is defined in the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard,[2]which is a freely available standard. The canonical representation of an EPC is aURI, namely the 'pure-identity URI' representation that is intended for use when referring to a specific physical object in communications about EPCs among information systems and business application software. The EPCglobal Tag Data Standard also defines additional representations of an EPC identifier, such as the tag-encoding URI format and a compact binary format suitable for storing an EPC identifier efficiently withinRFIDtags (for which the low-cost passive RFID tags typically have limited memory capacity available for the EPC/UII memory bank). The EPCglobal Tag Data Standard defines the structure of the URI syntax and binary format, as well as the encoding and decoding rules to allow conversion between these representations. The EPC is designed as a flexible framework that can support many existing coding schemes, including many coding schemes currently in use withbarcodetechnology. EPC identifiers currently support 7 identification keys from theGS1system of identifiers, as well as a General Identifier and EPC identifiers that can be used for encoding supplies to the USDepartment of Defense. EPCs are not designed exclusively for use with RFID data carriers. They can indeed be constructed based on reading of optical data carriers, such as linear bar codes and two-dimensional bar codes, such asData Matrixsymbols. The 'pure identity URI' canonical representation of an EPC is agnostic to the data carrier technology that was used to attach the unique identifier to the individual physical object. The EPC is designed to meet the needs of various industries, while guaranteeing uniqueness for all EPC-compliant tags. Some of the existingGS1identification keys (such as the Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI)) already provide for unique identification of individual objects. However, theGlobal Trade Item Number(GTIN) only identifies the product type orstock-keeping unitrather than an individual instance of a particular product type. To ensure that an EPC always uniquely identifies an individual physical object, in the case of a GTIN, the EPC is constructed as aSerialised Global Trade Item Number(SGTIN) by combining a GTIN product identifier with a unique serial number. Both theUniversal Product CodeandEAN-13identifiers that are still found on many trade items can be mapped into a 14-digitGTINidentifier, by padding to the left with zero digits to reach a total of 14 digits. An SGTIN EPC identifier can therefore be constructed by combining the resulting GTIN with a unique serial number and following the encoding rules in the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard. The EPC accommodates existing coding schemes and defines new schemes where necessary. Each coding scheme within the EPC identifier framework is distinguished through the use of a separate namespace. In the URI notations, this is indicated using aURIprefix such asurn:epc:id:sgtinorurn:epc:id:ssccIn the compact binary encoding of an EPC identifier, the namespace is instead indicated using a compact binary header (typically the first 8 bits of the binary encoding of an EPC identifier). The EPCglobal Tag Data Standard provides details of the URI prefixes and corresponding binary header values. Low-cost passive RFID tags were designed to uniquely identify each item manufactured. In contrast, bar codes for trade items and consumer products have limited capacity and typically only identify the manufacturer and class of products. AlthoughRFIDtags are currently still more expensive than a simple optically readable label, they offer additional capabilities such as the ability to be read by radio waves, without requiring 'line of sight' between the reader or interrogator and the tag; this enables individual items within a large cardboard box (case) to be read without first unpacking each individual item from the box. Some RFID tags offer additional read/write user memory that could be used for storage of additional information, such as an expiry date or date of manufacture. Plain text and barcoding are still useful in addition to the EPC tag, as liability obligations for the producer require durable and sufficiently fail-safe labels. Currently (2010) there are no applications in which RFID tags have completely replaced conventional labeling. The EPC was the creation of theMITAuto-ID Center, a consortium of over 120 global corporations and university labs. EPC identifiers were designed to identify each item manufactured, as opposed to just the manufacturer and class of products, as bar codes do today. The EPC system is currently managed by EPCglobal, Inc., a subsidiary ofGS1. The specifications for the EPC identifiers can be found in the EPCglobal, Inc. Tag Data Standard, which is an open standard, freely available for anyone to download. The Electronic Product Code is one of the industrial standards for global RFID usage, and a core element of the EPCglobal Network,[3]an architecture of open standards developed by the GS1 EPCglobal community. Most currently deployed EPC RFID tags comply withISO/IEC18000-6C for the RFID air interface standard. The canonical representation of an EPC is aURI- the 'pure-identity URI' that is intended for use when referring to a specific physical object in communications about EPCs among information systems and business application software. Each coding scheme within the EPC identifier framework is distinguished through the use of a separate namespace. In the URI notations, this is indicated using a URI prefix such asurn:epc:id:sgtinorurn:epc:id:ssccIn the compact binary encoding of an EPC identifier, the namespace is instead indicated using a compact binary header (typically the first 8 bits of the binary encoding of an EPC identifier). The EPCglobal Tag Data Standard provides details of the URI prefixes and corresponding binary header values. This namespace indicator (URI prefix or compact binary header value) in turn dictates the length, type and structure of the EPC. EPC encoding schemes are used to uniquely identify one object. Most EPCs include an element within their structure that corresponds to a serial number. EPC Version 1.3 supports the following alternative coding schemes: From Version 1.4 these new coding schemas are also additionally supported: GS1 identification keys[4]includes detailed information about 12 GS1 ID keys, their purpose, use, allocation and maintenance rules, etc. GS1 Application Identifiers[5]defines the prefixes (AIs) used in barcodes and EPC/RFID-tags to define the meaning and format of identifiers, and currently lists 516 kinds of identifiers. The EPC Tag Data Standard[6](TDS) defines the possible kinds of EPC identifiers, including: The latest TDS version defines the following GS1 Identification Keys:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Product_Code
Acontactless smart cardis a contactless credential whose dimensions arecredit cardsize. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal viaNFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports. There are two broad categories of contactless smart cards. Memory cards contain non-volatile memory storage components, and perhaps some specific security logic. Contactless smart cards contain read-onlyRFIDcalled CSN (Card Serial Number) or UID, and a re-writeable smart cardmicrochipthat can be transcribed via radio waves. A contactless smart card is characterized as follows: Contactless smart cards can be used for identification, authentication, and data storage.[2]They also provide a means of effecting business transactions in a flexible, secure, standard way with minimal human intervention. Contactless smart cards were first used for electronic ticketing in 1995 in Seoul, South Korea.[3][4] Since then, smart cards with contactless interfaces have been increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit. Globally, contactless fare collection is being employed for efficiencies in public transit. The various standards emerging are local in focus and are not compatible, though theMIFAREClassic card from Philips has a large market share in the United States and Europe. In more recent times,VisaandMasterCardhave agreed to standards for general "open loop" payments on their networks, with millions of cards deployed in the U.S.,[5]in Europe and around the world. Smart cards are being introduced in personal identification and entitlement schemes at regional, national, and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are becoming more prevalent. In Malaysia, the compulsory national ID schemeMyKadincludes 8 different applications and is rolled out for 18 million users. Contactless smart cards are being integrated intoICAObiometric passportsto enhance security for international travel. With theCOVID-19 pandemic, demand for and usage of contactless credit and debit cards has increased, although coins and banknotes are generally safe and this technology will thus not reduce the spread of the virus. Contactless smart card readers use radio waves to communicate with, and both read and write data on a smart card. When used for electronic payment, they are commonly located nearPIN pads, cash registers and other places of payment. When the readers are used for public transit they are commonly located on fare boxes, ticket machines, turnstiles, and station platforms as a standalone unit. When used for security, readers are usually located to the side of an entry door. A contactless smart card is a card in which the chip communicates with the card reader through an induction technology similar to that of anRFID(at data rates of 106 to 848 kbit/s). These cards require only close proximity to an antenna to complete a transaction. They are often used when transactions must be processed quickly or hands-free, such as on mass transit systems, where a smart card can be used without even removing it from awallet. The standard for contactless smart card communications isISO/IEC 14443. It defines two types of contactless cards ("A" and "B")[6]and allows for communications at distances up to 10 cm (3.9 in)[citation needed]. There had been proposals for ISO/IEC 14443 types C, D, E, F and G that have been rejected by the International Organization for Standardization. An alternative standard for contactless smart cards isISO/IEC 15693, which allows communications at distances up to 50 cm (1.6 ft). Examples of widely used contactless smart cards areSeoul'sUpass(1996),MalaysiaTouch 'n Gocard (1997),Hong Kong'sOctopus card,Shanghai'sPublic Transportation Card(1999),Paris'sNavigo card,Japan Rail'sSuicaCard (2001),Singapore'sEZ-Link,Taiwan'sEasyCard,San Francisco Bay Area'sClipper Card(2002),London'sOyster card,Beijing'sMunicipal Administration and Communications Card(2003),South Korea'sT-money,Southern Ontario'sPresto card,India'sMore Card,Israel'sRav-Kav Card(2008),Melbourne'sMyki cardandSydney'sOpal cardwhich predate the ISO/IEC 14443 standard. The following tables list smart cards used forpublic transportationand otherelectronic purseapplications. A related contactless technology isRFID(radio frequency identification). In certain cases, it can be used for applications similar to those of contactless smart cards, such as forelectronic toll collection. RFID devices usually do not include writeable memory or microcontroller processing capability as contactless smart cards often do.[dubious–discuss] There are dual-interface cards that implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example isPorto's multi-application transport card, calledAndante, that uses a chip in contact and contactless (ISO/IEC 14443 type B) mode. Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have a battery. Instead, they use a built-ininductor, using the principle ofresonant inductive coupling, to capture some of the incident electromagnetic signal,rectifyit, and use it to power the card's electronics. Since the start of using theSeoul Transportation Card, numerous cities have moved to the introduction of contactless smart cards as the fare media in anautomated fare collectionsystem.[citation needed] In a number of cases these cards carry anelectronic walletas well as fare products, and can be used for low-value payments. Starting around 2005, a major application of the technology has beencontactless paymentcredit and debit cards. Some major examples include: Roll-outs started in 2005 in the United States, and in 2006 in some parts of Europe and Asia (Singapore).[9]In the U.S., contactless (nonPIN) transactions cover a payment range of ~$5–$100. In general there are two classes of contactless bank cards: magnetic stripe data (MSD) and contactlessEMV. Contactless MSD cards are similar to magnetic stripe cards in terms of the data they share across the contactless interface. They are only distributed in the U.S. Payment occurs in a similar fashion to mag-stripe, without a PIN and often in off-line mode (depending on parameters of the terminal). The security level of such a transaction is better than a mag-stripe card, as the chip cryptographically generates a code which can be verified by the card issuer's systems. Contactless EMV cards have two interfaces (contact and contactless) and work as a normal EMV card via their contact interface. The contactless interface provides similar data to a contact EMV transaction, but usually a subset of the capabilities (e.g. usually issuers will not allow balances to be increased via the contactless interface, instead requiring the card to be inserted into a device which uses the contact interface). EMV cards may carry an "offline balance" stored in their chip, similar to theelectronic walletor "purse" that users of transit smart cards are used to. A quickly growing application is in digital identification cards. In this application, the cards are used forauthenticationof identity. The most common example is in conjunction with aPKI. The smart card will store an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI along with any other relevant or needed information about the card holder. Examples include theU.S. Department of Defense(DoD)Common Access Card(CAC), and the use of various smart cards by many governments as identification cards for their citizens. When combined with biometrics, smart cards can provide two- or three-factor authentication. Smart cards are not always a privacy-enhancing technology, for the subject carries possibly incriminating information about him all the time. By employing contactless smart cards, that can be read without having to remove the card from the wallet or even the garment it is in, one can add even more authentication value to the human carrier of the cards. The Malaysian government uses smart card technology in theidentity cardscarried by all Malaysian citizens and resident non-citizens. The personal information inside the smart card (calledMyKad) can be read using special APDU commands.[10] Smart cards have been advertised as suitable for personal identification tasks, because they are engineered to betamper resistant. The embedded chip of a smart card usually implements somecryptographic algorithm. However, there are several methods of recovering some of the algorithm's internal state. Differential power analysis[11]involves measuring the precise time andelectric current[dubious–discuss]required for certain encryption or decryption operations. This is most often used against public key algorithms such asRSAin order to deduce the on-chip private key, although some implementations of symmetric ciphers can be vulnerable to timing or power attacks as well. Smart cards can be physically disassembled by using acid, abrasives, or some other technique to obtain direct, unrestricted access to the on-board microprocessor. Although such techniques obviously involve a fairly high risk of permanent damage to the chip, they permit much more detailed information (e.g. photomicrographs of encryption hardware) to be extracted. Short distance (≈10 cm. or 4″) is required for supplying power. The radio frequency, however, can be eavesdropped within several meters once powered-up.[12]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contactless_smart_card
Abarcodeorbar codeis a method of representing data in a visual,machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D), can be scanned by specialoptical scanners, calledbarcode readers, of which there are several types. Later, two-dimensional (2D) variants were developed, using rectangles, dots,hexagonsand other patterns, called2D barcodesormatrix codes, although they do not use bars as such. Both can be read using purpose-built 2D optical scanners, which exist in a few different forms. Matrix codes can also be read by a digital camera connected to a microcomputer running software that takes a photographic image of the barcode and analyzes the image to deconstruct and decode the code. Amobile devicewith a built-in camera, such as asmartphone, can function as the latter type of barcode reader using specializedapplication softwareand is suitable for both 1D and 2D codes. The barcode was invented byNorman Joseph WoodlandandBernard Silverand patented in the US in 1952.[1]The invention was based onMorse code[2]that was extended to thin and thick bars. However, it took over twenty years before this invention became commercially successful. UK magazineModern RailwaysDecember 1962 pages 387–389 record howBritish Railwayshad already perfected a barcode-reading system capable of correctly reading rolling stock travelling at 100 mph (160 km/h) with no mistakes. An early use of one type of barcode in an industrial context was sponsored by theAssociation of American Railroadsin the late 1960s. Developed byGeneral Telephone and Electronics(GTE) and calledKarTrak ACI(Automatic Car Identification), this scheme involved placing colored stripes in various combinations on steel plates which were affixed to the sides of railroad rolling stock. Two plates were used per car, one on each side, with the arrangement of the colored stripes encoding information such as ownership, type of equipment, and identification number.[3]The plates were read by a trackside scanner located, for instance, at the entrance to a classification yard, while the car was moving past.[4]The project was abandoned after about ten years because the system proved unreliable after long-term use.[3] Barcodes became commercially successful when they were used to automate supermarket checkout systems, a task for which they have become almost universal. The Uniform Grocery Product Code Council had chosen, in 1973, the barcode design developed byGeorge Laurer. Laurer's barcode, with vertical bars, printed better than the circular barcode developed by Woodland and Silver.[5]Their use has spread to many other tasks that are generically referred to asautomatic identification and data capture(AIDC). The first successful system using barcodes was in the UK supermarket groupSainsbury'sin 1972 using shelf-mounted barcodes which were developed byPlessey.[6][7]In June 1974,Marsh supermarketinTroy, Ohioused a scanner made byPhotographic Sciences Corporationto scan theUniversal Product Code(UPC) barcode on a pack ofWrigley'schewing gum.[8][5]QR codes, a specific type of 2D barcode, rose in popularity in the second decade of the 2000s due to the growth in smartphone ownership.[9] Other systems have made inroads in theAIDCmarket, but the simplicity, universality and low cost of barcodes has limited the role of these other systems, particularly before technologies such asradio-frequency identification(RFID) became available after 2023. In 1948,Bernard Silver, a graduate student atDrexel Institute of Technologyin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US overheard the president of the local food chain,Food Fair, asking one of the deans to research a system to automatically read product information during checkout.[10]Silver told his friendNorman Joseph Woodlandabout the request, and they started working on a variety of systems. Their first working system usedultravioletink, but the ink faded too easily and was expensive.[11] Convinced that the system was workable with further development, Woodland left Drexel, moved into his father's apartment in Florida, and continued working on the system. His next inspiration came from Morse code, and he formed his first barcode from sand on the beach. "I just extended the dots and dashes downwards and made narrow lines and wide lines out of them."[11]To read them, he adapted technology from optical soundtracks in movies, using a 500-watt incandescent light bulb shining through the paper onto anRCA935photomultipliertube (from a movie projector) on the far side. He later decided that the system would work better if it were printed as a circle instead of a line, allowing it to be scanned in any direction. On 20 October 1949 Woodland and Silver filed a patent application for "Classifying Apparatus and Method", in which they described both the linear andbull's eyeprinting patterns, as well as the mechanical and electronic systems needed to read the code. The patent was issued on 7 October 1952 as US Patent 2,612,994.[1]In 1951, Woodland moved toIBMand continually tried to interest IBM in developing the system. The company eventually commissioned a report on the idea, which concluded that it was both feasible and interesting, but that processing the resulting information would require equipment that was some time off in the future. IBM offered to buy the patent, but the offer was not accepted.Philcopurchased the patent in 1962 and then sold it toRCAsometime later.[11] During his time as an undergraduate,David Jarrett Collinsworked at thePennsylvania Railroadand became aware of the need to automatically identify railroad cars. Immediately after receiving his master's degree fromMITin 1959, he started work atGTE Sylvaniaand began addressing the problem. He developed a system calledKarTrakusing blue, white and red reflective stripes attached to the side of the cars, encoding a four-digit company identifier and a six-digit car number.[11]Light reflected off the colored stripes was read byphotomultipliervacuum tubes.[12] TheBoston and Maine Railroadtested the KarTrak system on their gravel cars in 1961. The tests continued until 1967, when theAssociation of American Railroads(AAR) selected it as a standard,automatic car identification, across the entire North American fleet. The installations began on 10 October 1967. However, theeconomic downturnand rash of bankruptcies in the industry in the early 1970s greatly slowed the rollout, and it was not until 1974 that 95% of the fleet was labeled. To add to its woes, the system was found to be easily fooled by dirt in certain applications, which greatly affected accuracy. The AAR abandoned the system in the late 1970s, and it was not until the mid-1980s that they introduced a similar system, this time based on radio tags.[13] The railway project had failed, but a toll bridge in New Jersey requested a similar system so that it could quickly scan for cars that had purchased a monthly pass. Then the US Post Office requested a system to track trucks entering and leaving their facilities. These applications required specialretroreflectorlabels. Finally,Kal Kanasked the Sylvania team for a simpler (and cheaper) version which they could put on cases of pet food for inventory control. In 1967, with the railway system maturing, Collins went to management looking for funding for a project to develop a black-and-white version of the code for other industries. They declined, saying that the railway project was large enough, and they saw no need to branch out so quickly. Collins then quit Sylvania and formed theComputer Identics Corporation.[11]As its first innovations, Computer Identics moved from using incandescent light bulbs in its systems, replacing them withhelium–neon lasers, and incorporated a mirror as well, making it capable of locating a barcode up to a meter (3 feet) in front of the scanner. This made the entire process much simpler and more reliable, and typically enabled these devices to deal with damaged labels, as well, by recognizing and reading the intact portions. Computer Identics Corporation installed one of its first two scanning systems in the spring of 1969 at aGeneral Motors(Buick) factory in Flint, Michigan.[11]The system was used to identify a dozen types of transmissions moving on an overhead conveyor from production to shipping. The other scanning system was installed at General Trading Company's distribution center in Carlstadt, New Jersey to direct shipments to the proper loading bay. In 1966 theNational Association of Food Chains(NAFC) held a meeting on the idea of automated checkout systems.RCA, which had purchased the rights to the original Woodland patent, attended the meeting and initiated an internal project to develop a system based on the bullseye code. TheKrogergrocery chain volunteered to test it. In the mid-1970s the NAFC established the Ad-Hoc Committee for U.S. Supermarkets on a Uniform Grocery-Product Code to set guidelines for barcode development. In addition, it created a symbol-selection subcommittee to help standardize the approach. In cooperation with consulting firm,McKinsey & Co., they developed a standardized 11-digit code for identifying products. The committee then sent out a contract tender to develop abarcode systemto print and read the code. The request went toSinger,National Cash Register(NCR),Litton Industries, RCA,Pitney-Bowes, IBM and many others.[14]A wide variety of barcode approaches was studied, including linear codes, RCA's bullseye concentric circle code,starburstpatterns and others. In the spring of 1971 RCA demonstrated their bullseye code at another industry meeting. IBM executives at the meeting noticed the crowds at the RCA booth and immediately developed their own system. IBM marketing specialist Alec Jablonover remembered that the company still employed Woodland, and he established a new facility inResearch Triangle Parkto lead development. In July 1972 RCA began an 18-month test in a Kroger store in Cincinnati. Barcodes were printed on small pieces of adhesive paper, and attached by hand by store employees when they were adding price tags. The code proved to have a serious problem; the printers would sometimes smear ink, rendering the code unreadable in most orientations. However, a linear code, like the one being developed by Woodland at IBM, was printed in the direction of the stripes, so extra ink would simply make the code "taller" while remaining readable. So on 3 April 1973 the IBM UPC was selected as the NAFC standard. IBM had designed five versions of UPC symbology for future industry requirements: UPC A, B, C, D, and E.[15] NCR installed a testbed system atMarsh's SupermarketinTroy, Ohio, near the factory that was producing the equipment. On 26 June 1974, a 10-pack of Wrigley'sJuicy Fruitgum was scanned, registering the first commercial use of the UPC.[16] In 1971 an IBM team was assembled for an intensive planning session, threshing out, 12 to 18 hours a day, how the technology would be deployed and operate cohesively across the system, and scheduling a roll-out plan. By 1973, the team were meeting with grocery manufacturers to introduce the symbol that would need to be printed on the packaging or labels of all of their products. There were no cost savings for a grocery to use it, unless at least 70% of the grocery's products had the barcode printed on the product by the manufacturer. IBM projected that 75% would be needed in 1975. Economic studies conducted for the grocery industry committee projected over $40 million in savings to the industry from scanning by the mid-1970s. Those numbers were not achieved in that time-frame and some predicted the demise of barcode scanning. The usefulness of the barcode required the adoption of expensive scanners by a critical mass of retailers while manufacturers simultaneously adopted barcode labels. Neither wanted to move first and results were not promising for the first couple of years, withBusiness Weekproclaiming "The Supermarket Scanner That Failed" in a 1976 article.[16][17] Sims Supermarketswere the first location in Australia to use barcodes, starting in 1979.[18] A barcode system is a network of hardware and software, consisting primarily ofmobile computers,printers,handheld scanners, infrastructure, and supporting software. Barcode systems are used to automate data collection where hand recording is neither timely nor cost effective. Despite often being provided by the same company, Barcoding systems are notradio-frequency identification(RFID) systems. Many companies use both technologies as part of largerresource managementsystems. A typical barcode system consist of some infrastructure, either wired or wireless that connects some number of mobile computers, handheld scanners, and printers to one or many databases that store and analyze the data collected by the system. At some level there must be some software to manage the system. The software may be as simple as code that manages the connection between the hardware and the database or as complex as anERP,MRP, or some otherinventory managementsoftware. A wide range of hardware is manufactured for use in barcode systems by such manufacturers as Datalogic, Intermec, HHP (Hand Held Products),Microscan Systems, Unitech, Metrologic, PSC, and PANMOBIL, with the best known brand of handheld scanners and mobile computers being produced bySymbol,[citation needed]a division ofMotorola. Some ERP, MRP, and otherinventory management softwarehave built in support for barcode reading. Alternatively, custom interfaces can be created using a language such asC++,C#,Java,Visual Basic.NET, and many others. In addition, software development kits are produced to aid the process. In 1981 theUnited States Department of Defenseadopted the use ofCode 39for marking all products sold to the United States military. This system, Logistics Applications of Automated Marking and Reading Symbols (LOGMARS), is still used by DoD and is widely viewed as the catalyst for widespread adoption of barcoding in industrial uses.[19] Barcodes are widely used around the world in many contexts. In stores, UPC barcodes are pre-printed on most items other than fresh produce from a grocery store. This speeds up processing at check-outs and helps track items and also reduces instances of shoplifting involving price tag swapping, although shoplifters can now print their own barcodes.[20]Barcodes that encode a book'sISBNare also widely pre-printed on books, journals and other printed materials. In addition, retail chain membership cards use barcodes to identify customers, allowing for customized marketing and greater understanding of individual consumer shopping patterns. At the point of sale, shoppers can get product discounts or special marketing offers through the address or e-mail address provided at registration. Barcodes are widelyused in healthcare and hospital settings, ranging from patient identification (to access patient data, including medical history, drug allergies, etc.) to creatingSOAP notes[21]with barcodes to medication management. They are also used to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications, track the organization of species in biology,[22]and integrate with in-motioncheckweighersto identify the item being weighed in a conveyor line for data collection. They can also be used to keep track of objects and people; they are used to keep track of rental cars, airline luggage, nuclear waste, express mail, and parcels. Barcoded tickets (which may be printed by the customer on their home printer, or stored on their mobile device) allow the holder to enter sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, fairgrounds, and transportation, and are used to record the arrival and departure of vehicles from rental facilities etc. This can allow proprietors to identify duplicate or fraudulent tickets more easily. Barcodes are widely used in shop floor control applications software where employees can scan work orders and track the time spent on a job. Barcodes are also used in some kinds of non-contact 1D and 2Dposition sensors. A series of barcodes are used in some kinds of absolute 1Dlinear encoder. The barcodes are packed close enough together that the reader always has one or two barcodes in its field of view. As a kind offiducial marker, the relative position of the barcode in the field of view of the reader gives incremental precise positioning, in some cases withsub-pixel resolution. The data decoded from the barcode gives the absolute coarse position. An "address carpet", used indigital paper, such as Howell's binary pattern and theAnotodot pattern, is a 2D barcode designed so that a reader, even though only a tiny portion of the complete carpet is in the field of view of the reader, can find its absolute X, Y position and rotation in the carpet.[23][24] Matrix codes can embed ahyperlinkto a web page. A mobile device with a built-in camera might be used to read the pattern and browse the linked website, which can help a shopper find the best price for an item in the vicinity. Since 2005, airlines use an IATA-standard 2D barcode on boarding passes (Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP)), and since 2008 2D barcodes sent to mobile phones enable electronic boarding passes.[25] Some applications for barcodes have fallen out of use. In the 1970s and 1980s, software source code was occasionally encoded in a barcode and printed on paper (Cauzin Softstripand Paperbyte[26]are barcode symbologies specifically designed for this application), and the 1991Barcode Battlercomputer game system used any standard barcode to generate combat statistics. Artists have used barcodes in art, such asScott Blake's Barcode Jesus, as part of thepost-modernismmovement. The mapping between messages and barcodes is called asymbology. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the message into bars and spaces, any required start and stop markers, the size of the quiet zone required to be before and after the barcode, and the computation of achecksum. Linear symbologies can be classified mainly by two properties: Some symbologies use interleaving. The first character is encoded using black bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded by varying the width of the white spaces between these bars. Thus, characters are encoded in pairs over the same section of the barcode.Interleaved 2 of 5is an example of this. Stacked symbologies repeat a given linear symbology vertically. The most common among the many 2D symbologies are matrix codes, which feature square or dot-shaped modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2D symbologies also come in circular and other patterns and may employsteganography, hiding modules within an image (for example,DataGlyphs). Linear symbologies are optimized for laser scanners, which sweep a light beam across the barcode in a straight line, reading asliceof the barcode light-dark patterns. Scanning at an angle makes the modules appear wider, but does not change the width ratios. Stacked symbologies are also optimized for laser scanning, with the laser making multiple passes across the barcode. In the 1990s development ofcharge-coupled device(CCD) imagers to read barcodes was pioneered byWelch Allyn. Imaging does not require moving parts, as a laser scanner does. In 2007, linear imaging had begun to supplant laser scanning as the preferred scan engine for its performance and durability. 2D symbologies cannot be read by a laser, as there is typically no sweep pattern that can encompass the entire symbol. They must be scanned by an image-based scanner employing a CCD or other digital camera sensor technology. The earliest, and still[when?]the cheapest, barcode scanners are built from a fixed light and a singlephotosensorthat is manually moved across the barcode. Barcode scanners can be classified into three categories based on their connection to the computer. The older type is theRS-232barcode scanner. This type requires special programming for transferring the input data to the application program. Keyboard interface scanners connect to a computer using aPS/2orAT keyboard–compatible adaptor cable (a "keyboard wedge"). The barcode's data is sent to the computer as if it had been typed on the keyboard. Like the keyboard interface scanner,USBscanners do not need custom code for transferring input data to the application program. On PCs running Windows thehuman interface deviceemulates the data merging action of a hardware "keyboard wedge", and the scanner automatically behaves like an additional keyboard. Most modern smartphones are able to decode barcode using their built-in camera. Google's mobileAndroidoperating system can use their ownGoogle Lensapplication to scan QR codes, or third-party apps likeBarcode Scannerto read both one-dimensional barcodes and QR codes. Google'sPixeldevices can natively read QR codes inside the defaultPixel Cameraapp. Nokia'sSymbianoperating system featured a barcode scanner,[27]while mbarcode[28]is a QR code reader for theMaemooperating system. In AppleiOS 11, the native camera app can decode QR codes and can link to URLs, join wireless networks, or perform other operations depending on the QR Code contents.[29]Other paid and free apps are available with scanning capabilities for other symbologies or for earlier iOS versions.[30]WithBlackBerrydevices, the App World application can natively scan barcodes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browser.Windows Phone 7.5is able to scan barcodes through theBingsearch app. However, these devices are not designed specifically for the capturing of barcodes. As a result, they do not decode nearly as quickly or accurately as a dedicated barcode scanner orportable data terminal.[citation needed] It is common for producers and users of bar codes to have aquality management systemwhich includesverification and validationof bar codes.[31]Barcode verification examines scanability and the quality of the barcode in comparison to industry standards and specifications.[32]Barcode verifiers are primarily used by businesses that print and use barcodes. Any trading partner in thesupply chaincan test barcode quality. It is important to verify a barcode to ensure that any reader in the supply chain can successfully interpret a barcode with a low error rate. Retailers levy large penalties for non-compliant barcodes. These chargebacks can reduce a manufacturer's revenue by 2% to 10%.[33] A barcode verifier works the way a reader does, but instead of simply decoding a barcode, a verifier performs a series of tests. For linear barcodes these tests are: 2D matrix symbols look at the parameters: Depending on the parameter, eachANSItest is graded from 0.0 to 4.0 (F to A), or given a pass or fail mark. Each grade is determined by analyzing thescan reflectance profile(SRP), an analog graph of a single scan line across the entire symbol. The lowest of the 8 grades is the scan grade, and the overall ISO symbol grade is the average of the individual scan grades. For most applications a 2.5 (C) is the minimal acceptable symbol grade.[36] Compared with a reader, a verifier measures a barcode's optical characteristics to international and industry standards. The measurement must be repeatable and consistent. Doing so requires constant conditions such as distance, illumination angle, sensor angle and verifieraperture. Based on the verification results, the production process can be adjusted to print higher quality barcodes that will scan down the supply chain. Bar code validation may include evaluations after use (and abuse) testing such as sunlight, abrasion, impact, moisture, etc.[37] Barcode verifier standards are defined by theInternational Organization for Standardization(ISO), in ISO/IEC 15426-1 (linear) or ISO/IEC 15426-2 (2D).[citation needed]The current international barcode quality specification is ISO/IEC 15416 (linear) and ISO/IEC 15415 (2D).[citation needed]TheEuropean StandardEN 1635 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 15416. The original U.S. barcode quality specification wasANSIX3.182. (UPCs used in the US – ANSI/UCC5).[citation needed]As of 2011 the ISO workgroup JTC1 SC31 was developing aDirect Part Marking (DPM)quality standard: ISO/IEC TR 29158.[38] In point-of-sale management, barcode systems can provide detailed up-to-date information on the business, accelerating decisions and with more confidence. For example: Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in logistics and supply chain management. Barcode scanners are relatively low cost and extremely accurate compared to key-entry, with only about 1 substitution error in 15,000 to 36 trillion characters entered.[39][unreliable source?]The exact error rate depends on the type of barcode. A first generation, "one dimensional" barcode that is made up of lines and spaces of various widths or sizes that create specific patterns. 2D barcodes consist of bars, but use both dimensions for encoding. Amatrix codeor simply a2D code, is a two-dimensional way to represent information. It can represent more data per unit area. Apart from dots various other patterns can be used. Patented.[61]DataGlyphs can be embedded into a half-tone image or background shading pattern in a way that is almost perceptually invisible, similar tosteganography.[62][63] In architecture, a building inLingang New Cityby German architectsGerkan, Marg and Partnersincorporates a barcode design,[87]as does a shopping mall calledShtrikh-kod(Russian forbarcode) in Narodnaya ulitsa ("People's Street") in theNevskiy districtofSt. Petersburg, Russia.[88] In media, in 2011, theNational Film Board of CanadaandARTE Francelaunched a web documentary entitledBarcode.tv, which allows users to view films about everyday objects by scanning the product's barcode with theiriPhonecamera.[89][90] Inprofessional wrestling, theWWEstableD-Generation Xincorporated a barcode into their entrance video, as well as on a T-shirt.[91][92] In video games, the protagonist of theHitmanvideo game serieshas a barcode tattoo on the back of his head; QR codes can also be scanned in a side mission inWatch Dogs. The 2018 videogameJudgmentfeaturesQR Codesthat protagonist Takayuki Yagami can photograph with his phone camera. These are mostly to unlock parts for Yagami'sDrone.[93] Interactive Textbooks were first published byHarcourt College Publishers to Expand Education Technology with Interactive Textbooks.[94] Some companies integrate custom designs into barcodes on their consumer products without impairing their readability. Some have regarded barcodes to be an intrusivesurveillancetechnology. Some Christians, pioneered by a 1982 bookThe New Money System 666by Mary Stewart Relfe, believe the codes hide the number666, representing the "Number of the beast".[95]Old Believers, a separation of theRussian Orthodox Church, believe barcodes are the stamp of theAntichrist.[96]Television hostPhil Donahuedescribed barcodes as a "corporate plot against consumers".[97]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode#2D_barcodes
Radio-frequency identification(RFID) useselectromagnetic fieldsto automaticallyidentifyandtracktags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radiotranspondercalled a tag, aradio receiver, and atransmitter. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually anidentifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to trackinventorygoods.[1] Passive tags are powered by energy from the RFID reader's interrogatingradio waves. Active tags are powered by a battery and thus can be read at a greater range from the RFID reader, up to hundreds of meters. Unlike abarcode, the tag does not need to be within theline of sightof the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID is one method ofautomatic identification and data capture(AIDC).[2] RFID tags are used in many industries. For example, an RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through theassembly line,[citation needed]RFID-tagged pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses,[citation needed]andimplanting RFID microchipsin livestock and pets enables positive identification of animals.[3]Tags can also be used in shops to expedite checkout, and toprevent theftby customers and employees.[4] Since RFID tags can be attached to physical money, clothing, and possessions, or implanted in animals and people, the possibility of reading personally-linked information withoutconsenthas raised seriousprivacyconcerns.[5]These concerns resulted in standard specifications development addressing privacy and security issues. In 2014, the world RFID market was worth US$8.89billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013 and US$6.96 billion in 2012. This figure includes tags, readers, and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs, and all other form factors. The market value is expected to rise from US$12.08 billion in 2020 to US$16.23 billion by 2029.[6] In 1945,Leon Theremininventedthe "Thing", a listening devicefor theSoviet Unionwhich retransmitted incident radio waves with the added audio information. Sound waves vibrated adiaphragmwhich slightly altered the shape of theresonator, which modulated the reflected radio frequency. Even though this device was acovert listening device, rather than an identification tag, it is considered to be a predecessor of RFID because it was passive, being energised and activated by waves from an outside source.[7] Similar technology, such as theIdentification friend or foetransponder, was routinely used by the Allies and Germany inWorld War IIto identify aircraft as friendly or hostile.Transpondersare still used by most powered aircraft.[8]An early work exploring RFID is the landmark 1948 paper by Harry Stockman,[9]who predicted that "Considerable research and development work has to be done before the remaining basic problems in reflected-power communication are solved, and before the field of useful applications is explored." Mario Cardullo's device, patented on January 23, 1973, was the first true ancestor of modern RFID,[10]as it was a passive radio transponder with memory.[11]The initial device was passive, powered by the interrogating signal, and was demonstrated in 1971 to theNew York Port Authorityand other potential users. It consisted of a transponder with 16bitmemory for use as atoll device. The basic Cardullo patent covers the use of radio frequency (RF), sound and light as transmission carriers. The original business plan presented to investors in 1969 showed uses in transportation (automotive vehicle identification, automatic toll system,electronic license plate, electronic manifest, vehicle routing, vehicle performance monitoring), banking (electronic chequebook, electronic credit card), security (personnel identification, automatic gates, surveillance) and medical (identification, patient history).[10] In 1973, an early demonstration ofreflected power(modulated backscatter) RFID tags, both passive and semi-passive, was performed by Steven Depp, Alfred Koelle and Robert Freyman at theLos Alamos National Laboratory.[12]The portable system operated at 915 MHz and used 12-bit tags. This technique is used by the majority of today's UHFID and microwave RFID tags.[13] In 1983, the first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted toCharles Walton.[14] In 1996, the first patent for a batteryless RFID passive tag with limited interference was granted to David Everett, John Frech, Theodore Wright, and Kelly Rodriguez.[15] A radio-frequency identification system usestags, orlabelsattached to the objects to be identified. Two-way radio transmitter-receivers calledinterrogatorsorreaderssend a signal to the tag and read its response.[16] RFID tags are made out of three pieces: The tag information is stored in a non-volatile memory.[17]The RFID tags includes either fixed or programmable logic for processing the transmission and sensor data, respectively.[citation needed] RFID tags can be either passive, active or battery-assisted passive. An active tag has an on-board battery and periodically transmits its ID signal.[17]A battery-assisted passive tag has a small battery on board and is activated when in the presence of an RFID reader. A passive tag is cheaper and smaller because it has no battery; instead, the tag uses the radio energy transmitted by the reader. However, to operate a passive tag, it must be illuminated with a power level roughly a thousand times stronger than an active tag for signal transmission.[18] Tags may either be read-only, having a factory-assigned serial number that is used as a key into a database, or may be read/write, where object-specific data can be written into the tag by the system user. Field programmable tags may be write-once, read-multiple; "blank" tags may be written with an electronic product code by the user.[19] The RFID tag receives the message and then responds with its identification and other information. This may be only a unique tag serial number, or may be product-related information such as a stock number, lot or batch number, production date, or other specific information. Since tags have individual serial numbers, the RFID system design can discriminate among several tags that might be within the range of the RFID reader and read them simultaneously. RFID systems can be classified by the type of tag and reader. There are 3 types:[20] Fixed readers are set up to create a specific interrogation zone which can be tightly controlled. This allows a highly defined reading area for when tags go in and out of the interrogation zone. Mobile readers may be handheld or mounted on carts or vehicles. Signaling between the reader and the tag is done in several different incompatible ways, depending on the frequency band used by the tag. Tags operating on LF and HF bands are, in terms of radio wavelength, very close to the reader antenna because they are only a small percentage of a wavelength away. In thisnear fieldregion, the tag is closely coupled electrically with the transmitter in the reader. The tag can modulate the field produced by the reader by changing the electrical loading the tag represents. By switching between lower and higher relative loads, the tag produces a change that the reader can detect. At UHF and higher frequencies, the tag is more than one radio wavelength away from the reader, requiring a different approach. The tag canbackscattera signal. Active tags may contain functionally separated transmitters and receivers, and the tag need not respond on a frequency related to the reader's interrogation signal.[27] AnElectronic Product Code(EPC) is one common type of data stored in a tag. When written into the tag by an RFID printer, the tag contains a 96-bit string of data. The first eight bits are a header which identifies the version of the protocol. The next 28 bits identify the organization that manages the data for this tag; the organization number is assigned by the EPCGlobal consortium. The next 24 bits are an object class, identifying the kind of product. The last 36 bits are a unique serial number for a particular tag. These last two fields are set by the organization that issued the tag. Rather like aURL, the total electronic product code number can be used as a key into a global database to uniquely identify a particular product.[28] Often more than one tag will respond to a tag reader. For example, many individual products with tags may be shipped in a common box or on a common pallet. Collision detection is important to allow reading of data. Two different types of protocols are used to"singulate"a particular tag, allowing its data to be read in the midst of many similar tags. In aslotted Alohasystem, the reader broadcasts an initialization command and a parameter that the tags individually use to pseudo-randomly delay their responses. When using an "adaptive binary tree" protocol, the reader sends an initialization symbol and then transmits one bit of ID data at a time; only tags with matching bits respond, and eventually only one tag matches the complete ID string.[29] Both methods have drawbacks when used with many tags or with multiple overlapping readers.[citation needed] "Bulk reading" is a strategy for interrogating multiple tags at the same time, but lacks sufficient precision for inventory control. A group of objects, all of them RFID tagged, are read completely from one single reader position at one time. However, as tags respond strictly sequentially, the time needed for bulk reading grows linearly with the number of labels to be read. This means it takes at least twice as long to read twice as many labels. Due to collision effects, the time required is greater.[30] A group of tags has to be illuminated by the interrogating signal just like a single tag. This is not a challenge concerning energy, but with respect to visibility; if any of the tags are shielded by other tags, they might not be sufficiently illuminated to return a sufficient response. The response conditions for inductively coupledHFRFID tags and coil antennas in magnetic fields appear better than for UHF or SHF dipole fields, but then distance limits apply and may prevent success.[citation needed][31] Under operational conditions, bulk reading is not reliable. Bulk reading can be a rough guide for logistics decisions, but due to a high proportion of reading failures, it is not (yet)[when?]suitable for inventory management. However, when a single RFID tag might be seen as not guaranteeing a proper read, multiple RFID tags, where at least one will respond, may be a safer approach for detecting a known grouping of objects. In this respect, bulk reading is afuzzymethod for process support. From the perspective of cost and effect, bulk reading is not reported as an economical approach to secure process control in logistics.[32] RFID tags are easy to conceal or incorporate in other items. For example, in 2009 researchers atBristol Universitysuccessfully glued RFID micro-transponders to liveantsin order to study their behavior.[33]This trend towards increasingly miniaturized RFIDs is likely to continue as technology advances. Hitachi holds the record for the smallest RFID chip, at 0.05 mm × 0.05 mm. This is 1/64th the size of the previous record holder, the mu-chip.[34]Manufacture is enabled by using thesilicon-on-insulator(SOI) process. These dust-sized chips can store 38-digit numbers using 128-bitRead Only Memory(ROM).[35]A major challenge is the attachment of antennas, thus limiting read range to only millimeters. In early 2020, MIT researchers demonstrated aterahertzfrequency identification (TFID) tag that is barely 1 square millimeter in size. The devices are essentially a piece of silicon that are inexpensive, small, and function like larger RFID tags. Because of the small size, manufacturers could tag any product and track logistics information for minimal cost.[36][37] An RFID tag can be affixed to an object and used to track tools, equipment, inventory, assets, people, or other objects. RFID offers advantages over manual systems or use ofbarcodes. The tag can be read if passed near a reader, even if it is covered by the object or not visible. The tag can be read inside a case, carton, box or other container, and unlike barcodes, RFID tags can be read hundreds at a time; barcodes can only be read one at a time using current devices. Some RFID tags, such as battery-assisted passive tags, are also able to monitor temperature and humidity.[38] In 2011, the cost of passive tags started at US$0.09 each; special tags, meant to be mounted on metal or withstand gamma sterilization, could cost up to US$5. Active tags for tracking containers, medical assets, or monitoring environmental conditions in data centers started at US$50 and could be over US$100 each.[39]Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) tags were in the US$3–10 range.[citation needed] RFID can be used in a variety of applications,[40][41]such as: In 2010, three factors drove a significant increase in RFID usage: decreased cost of equipment and tags, increased performance to a reliability of 99.9%, and a stable international standard around HF and UHF passive RFID. The adoption of these standards were driven by EPCglobal, a joint venture betweenGS1and GS1 US, which were responsible for driving global adoption of the barcode in the 1970s and 1980s. The EPCglobal Network was developed by theAuto-ID Center.[45] RFID provides a way for organizations to identify and manage stock, tools and equipment (asset tracking), etc. without manual data entry. Manufactured products such as automobiles or garments can be tracked through the factory and through shipping to the customer. Automatic identification with RFID can be used for inventory systems. Many organisations require that their vendors place RFID tags on all shipments to improvesupply chain management.[citation needed]Warehouse Management System[clarification needed]incorporate this technology to speed up the receiving and delivery of the products and reduce the cost of labor needed in their warehouses.[46] RFID is used foritem-level taggingin retail stores. This can enable more accurate and lower-labor-cost supply chain and store inventory tracking, as is done atLululemon, though physically locating items in stores requires more expensive technology.[47]RFID tags can be used at checkout; for example, at some stores of the French retailerDecathlon, customers performself-checkoutby either using a smartphone or putting items into a bin near the register that scans the tags without having to orient each one toward the scanner.[47]Some stores use RFID-tagged items to trigger systems that provide customers with more information or suggestions, such as fitting rooms atChaneland the "Color Bar" atKendra Scottstores.[47] Item tagging can also provide protection against theft by customers and employees by usingelectronic article surveillance(EAS). Tags of different types can be physically removed with a special tool or deactivated electronically when payment is made.[48]On leaving the shop, customers have to pass near an RFID detector; if they have items with active RFID tags, an alarm sounds, both indicating an unpaid-for item, and identifying what it is. Casinos can use RFID to authenticatepoker chips, and can selectively invalidate any chips known to be stolen.[49] RFID tags are widely used inidentification badges, replacing earliermagnetic stripecards. These badges need only be held within a certain distance of the reader to authenticate the holder. Tags can also be placed on vehicles, which can be read at a distance, to allow entrance to controlled areas without having to stop the vehicle and present a card or enter an access code.[citation needed] In 2010, Vail Resorts began using UHF Passive RFID tags in ski passes.[50] Facebook is using RFID cards at most of their live events to allow guests to automatically capture and post photos.[citation needed][when?] Automotive brands have adopted RFID for social media product placement more quickly than other industries. Mercedes was an early adopter in 2011 at thePGA Golf Championships,[51]and by the 2013 Geneva Motor Show many of the larger brands were using RFID for social media marketing.[52][further explanation needed] To prevent retailers diverting products, manufacturers are exploring the use of RFID tags on promoted merchandise so that they can track exactly which product has sold through the supply chain at fully discounted prices.[53][when?] Yard management, shipping and freight and distribution centers use RFID tracking. In therailroadindustry, RFID tags mounted on locomotives and rolling stock identify the owner, identification number and type of equipment and its characteristics. This can be used with a database to identify the type, origin, destination, etc. of the commodities being carried.[54] In commercial aviation, RFID is used to support maintenance on commercial aircraft. RFID tags are used to identify baggage and cargo at several airports and airlines.[55][56] Some countries are using RFID for vehicle registration and enforcement.[57]RFID can help detect and retrieve stolen cars.[58][59] RFID is used inintelligent transportation systems. InNew York City, RFID readers are deployed at intersections to trackE-ZPasstags as a means for monitoring the traffic flow. The data is fed through the broadband wireless infrastructure to the traffic management center to be used inadaptive traffic controlof the traffic lights.[60] Where ship, rail, or highway tanks are being loaded, a fixed RFID antenna contained in a transfer hose can read an RFID tag affixed to the tank, positively identifying it.[61] At least one company has introduced RFID to identify and locate underground infrastructure assets such asgaspipelines,sewer lines, electrical cables, communication cables, etc.[62] The first RFID passports ("E-passport") were issued byMalaysiain 1998. In addition to information also contained on the visual data page of the passport, Malaysian e-passports record the travel history (time, date, and place) of entry into and exit out of the country.[citation needed] Other countries that insert RFID in passports include Norway (2005),[63]Japan (March 1, 2006), mostEUcountries (around 2006), Singapore (2006), Australia, Hong Kong, the United States (2007), the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (2006), India (June 2008), Serbia (July 2008), Republic of Korea (August 2008), Taiwan (December 2008), Albania (January 2009), The Philippines (August 2009), Republic of Macedonia (2010), Argentina (2012), Canada (2013), Uruguay (2015)[64]and Israel (2017). Standards for RFID passports are determined by theInternational Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO), and are contained in ICAO Document 9303, Part 1, Volumes 1 and 2 (6th edition, 2006). ICAO refers to theISO/IEC 14443RFID chips in e-passports as "contactless integrated circuits". ICAO standards provide for e-passports to be identifiable by a standard e-passport logo on the front cover. Since 2006, RFID tags included in newUnited States passportsstore the same information that is printed within the passport, and include a digital picture of the owner.[65]The United States Department of State initially stated the chips could only be read from a distance of 10 centimetres (3.9 in), but after widespread criticism and a clear demonstration that special equipment can read the test passports from 10 metres (33 ft) away,[66]the passports were designed to incorporate a thin metal lining to make it more difficult for unauthorized readers toskiminformation when the passport is closed. The department will also implementBasic Access Control(BAC), which functions as apersonal identification number(PIN) in the form of characters printed on the passport data page. Before a passport's tag can be read, this PIN must be entered into an RFID reader. The BAC also enables the encryption of any communication between the chip and interrogator.[67] In many countries, RFID tags can be used to pay for mass transit fares on bus, trains, or subways, or to collect tolls on highways. Somebike lockersare operated with RFID cards assigned to individual users. A prepaid card is required to open or enter a facility or locker and is used to track and charge based on how long the bike is parked.[citation needed] TheZipcarcar-sharing service uses RFID cards for locking and unlocking cars and for member identification.[68] In Singapore, RFID replaces paper Season Parking Ticket (SPT).[69] RFID tags for animals represent one of the oldest uses of RFID. Originally meant for large ranches and rough terrain, since the outbreak ofmad-cow disease, RFID has become crucial inanimal identificationmanagement. Animplantable RFID tagortranspondercan also be used for animal identification. The transponders are better known as PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags, passive RFID, or "chips" on animals.[70]TheCanadian Cattle Identification Agencybegan using RFID tags as a replacement for barcode tags. Currently, CCIA tags are used inWisconsinand by United States farmers on a voluntary basis. TheUSDAis currently developing its own program. RFID tags are required for all cattle sold in Australia and in some states, sheep and goats as well.[71] Biocompatiblemicrochip implantsthat use RFID technology are being routinely implanted in humans. The first-ever human to receive an RFID microchip implant was American artistEduardo Kacin 1997.[72][73]Kac implanted the microchip live on television (and also live on the Internet) in the context of his artworkTime Capsule.[74]A year later, British professor ofcyberneticsKevin Warwickhad an RFID chip implanted in his arm by hisgeneral practitioner, George Boulos.[75][76]In 2004, the 'Baja Beach Club' operated byConrad ChaseinBarcelona[77]andRotterdamoffered implanted chips to identify their VIP customers, who could in turn use it to pay for service. In 2009, British scientistMark Gassonhad an advanced glass capsule RFID device surgically implanted into his left hand and subsequently demonstrated how a computer virus could wirelessly infect his implant and then be transmitted on to other systems.[78] TheFood and Drug Administrationin the United States approved the use of RFID chips in humans in 2004.[79] There is controversy regarding human applications of implantable RFID technology including concerns that individuals could potentially be tracked by carrying an identifier unique to them. Privacy advocates have protested against implantable RFID chips, warning of potential abuse. Some are concerned this could lead to abuse by an authoritarian government, to removal of freedoms,[80]and to the emergence of an "ultimatepanopticon", a society where all citizens behave in a socially accepted manner because others might be watching.[81] On July 22, 2006, Reuters reported that two hackers, Newitz and Westhues, at a conference in New York City demonstrated that they could clone the RFID signal from a human implanted RFID chip, indicating that the device was not as secure as was previously claimed.[82] The UFO religionUniverse Peopleis notorious online for their vocal opposition to human RFID chipping, which they claim is asaurianattempt to enslave the human race; one of their web domains is "dont-get-chipped".[83][84][85] Adoption of RFID in the medical industry has been widespread and very effective.[86]Hospitals are among the first users to combine both active and passive RFID.[87]Active tags track high-value, or frequently moved items, and passive tags track smaller, lower cost items that only need room-level identification.[88]Medical facility rooms can collect data from transmissions of RFID badges worn by patients and employees, as well as from tags assigned to items such as mobile medical devices.[89]TheU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)recently announced plans to deploy RFID in hospitals across America to improve care and reduce costs.[90] Since 2004, a number of U.S. hospitals have begun implanting patients with RFID tags and using RFID systems; the systems are typically used for workflow and inventory management.[91][92][93]The use of RFID to prevent mix-ups betweenspermandovainIVFclinics is also being considered.[94] In October 2004, the FDA approved the USA's first RFID chips that can be implanted in humans. The 134 kHz RFID chips, from VeriChip Corp. can incorporate personal medical information and could save lives and limit injuries from errors in medical treatments, according to the company. Anti-RFID activistsKatherine AlbrechtandLiz McIntyrediscovered anFDA Warning Letterthat spelled out health risks.[95]According to the FDA, these include "adverse tissue reaction", "migration of the implanted transponder", "failure of implanted transponder", "electrical hazards" and "magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] incompatibility." Libraries have used RFID to replace the barcodes on library items. The tag can contain identifying information or may just be a key into a database. An RFID system may replace or supplement bar codes and may offer another method of inventory management and self-service checkout by patrons. It can also act as asecuritydevice, taking the place of the more traditionalelectromagnetic security strip.[96] It is estimated that over 30 million library items worldwide now contain RFID tags, including some in theVatican LibraryinRome.[97] Since RFID tags can be read through an item, there is no need to open a book cover or DVD case to scan an item, and a stack of books can be read simultaneously. Book tags can be read while books are in motion on aconveyor belt, which reduces staff time. This can all be done by the borrowers themselves, reducing the need for library staff assistance. With portable readers, inventories could be done on a whole shelf of materials within seconds.[98]However, as of 2008, this technology remained too costly for many smaller libraries, and the conversion period has been estimated at 11 months for an average-size library. A 2004 Dutch estimate was that a library which lends 100,000 books per year should plan on a cost of €50,000 (borrow- and return-stations: 12,500 each, detection porches 10,000 each; tags 0.36 each). RFID taking a large burden off staff could also mean that fewer staff will be needed, resulting in some of them getting laid off,[97]but that has so far not happened in North America where recent surveys have not returned a single library that cut staff because of adding RFID.[citation needed][99]In fact, library budgets are being reduced for personnel and increased for infrastructure, making it necessary for libraries to add automation to compensate for the reduced staff size.[citation needed][99]Also, the tasks that RFID takes over are largely not the primary tasks of librarians.[citation needed][99]A finding in the Netherlands is that borrowers are pleased with the fact that staff are now more available for answering questions.[citation needed][99] Privacy concerns have been raised surrounding library use of RFID.[100][101]Because some RFID tags can be read up to 100 metres (330 ft) away, there is some concern over whether sensitive information could be collected from an unwilling source. However, library RFID tags do not contain any patron information,[102]and the tags used in the majority of libraries use a frequency only readable from approximately 10 feet (3.0 m).[96]Another concern is that a non-library agency could potentially record the RFID tags of every person leaving the library without the library administrator's knowledge or consent. One simple option is to let the book transmit a code that has meaning only in conjunction with the library's database. Another possible enhancement would be to give each book a new code every time it is returned. In future, should readers become ubiquitous (and possibly networked), then stolen books could be traced even outside the library. Tag removal could be made difficult if the tags are so small that they fit invisibly inside a (random) page, possibly put there by the publisher.[citation needed] RFID technologies are now[when?]also implemented in end-user applications in museums.[103]An example was the custom-designed temporary research application, "eXspot", at theExploratorium, a science museum inSan Francisco,California. A visitor entering the museum received an RF tag that could be carried as a card. The eXspot system enabled the visitor to receive information about specific exhibits. Aside from the exhibit information, the visitor could take photographs of themselves at the exhibit. It was also intended to allow the visitor to take data for later analysis. The collected information could be retrieved at home from a "personalized" website keyed to the RFID tag.[104] In 2004, school authorities in the Japanese city ofOsakamade a decision to start chipping children's clothing, backpacks, and student IDs in a primary school.[105]Later, in 2007, a school inDoncaster, England, piloted a monitoring system designed to keep tabs on pupils by tracking radio chips in their uniforms.[106][when?]St Charles Sixth Form Collegein westLondon, England, starting in 2008, uses an RFID card system to check in and out of the main gate, to both track attendance and prevent unauthorized entrance. Similarly,Whitcliffe Mount SchoolinCleckheaton, England, uses RFID to track pupils and staff in and out of the building via a specially designed card. In the Philippines, during 2012, some schools already[when?]use RFID in IDs for borrowing books.[107][unreliable source?]Gates in those particular schools also have RFID scanners for buying items at school shops and canteens. RFID is also used in school libraries, and to sign in and out for student and teacher attendance.[99] RFID for timing racesbegan in the early 1990s with pigeon racing, introduced by the companyDeister Electronicsin Germany. RFID can provide race start and end timings for individuals in large races where it is impossible to get accurate stopwatch readings for every entrant.[citation needed] In races using RFID, racers wear tags that are read by antennas placed alongside the track or on mats across the track. UHF tags provide accurate readings with specially designed antennas. Rush error,[clarification needed]lap count errors and accidents at race start are avoided, as anyone can start and finish at any time without being in a batch mode.[clarification needed] The design of the chip and of the antenna controls the range from which it can be read. Short range compact chips are twist tied to the shoe, or strapped to the ankle withhook-and-loop fasteners. The chips must be about 400 mm from the mat, therefore giving very good temporal resolution. Alternatively, a chip plus a very large (125mm square) antenna can be incorporated into the bib number worn on the athlete's chest at a height of about 1.25 m (4.1 ft).[citation needed] Passive and active RFID systems are used in off-road events such asOrienteering,Enduroand Hare and Hounds racing. Riders have a transponder on their person, normally on their arm. When they complete a lap they swipe or touch the receiver which is connected to a computer and log their lap time.[citation needed] RFID is being[when?]adapted by many recruitment agencies which have a PET (physical endurance test) as their qualifying procedure, especially in cases where the candidate volumes may run into millions (Indian Railway recruitment cells, police and power sector). A number ofski resortshave adopted RFID tags to provide skiers hands-free access toski lifts. Skiers do not have to take their passes out of their pockets. Ski jackets have a left pocket into which the chip+card fits. This nearly contacts the sensor unit on the left of the turnstile as the skier pushes through to the lift. These systems were based on high frequency (HF) at 13.56MHz. The bulk of ski areas in Europe, from Verbier to Chamonix, use these systems.[108][109][110] TheNFLin the United States equips players with RFID chips that measures speed, distance and direction traveled by each player in real-time. Currently, cameras stay focused on thequarterback; however, numerous plays are happening simultaneously on the field. The RFID chip will provide new insight into these simultaneous plays.[111]The chip triangulates the player's position within six inches and will be used to digitallybroadcastreplays. The RFID chip will make individual player information accessible to the public. The data will be available via the NFL 2015 app.[112]The RFID chips are manufactured byZebra Technologies. Zebra Technologies tested the RFID chip in 18 stadiums last year[when?]to track vector data.[113] RFID tags are often a complement, but not a substitute, forUniversal Product Code(UPC) orEuropean Article Number(EAN) barcodes. They may never completely replace barcodes, due in part to their higher cost and the advantage of multiple data sources on the same object. Also, unlike RFID labels, barcodes can be generated and distributed electronically by e-mail or mobile phone, for printing or display by the recipient. An example is airlineboarding passes. The newEPC, along with several other schemes, is widely available at reasonable cost. The storage of data associated with tracking items will require manyterabytes. Filtering and categorizing RFID data is needed to create useful information. It is likely that goods will be tracked by the pallet using RFID tags, and at package level with UPC or EAN from unique barcodes. The unique identity is a mandatory requirement for RFID tags, despite special choice of the numbering scheme. RFID tag data capacity is large enough that each individual tag will have a unique code, while current barcodes are limited to a single type code for a particular product. The uniqueness of RFID tags means that a product may be tracked as it moves from location to location while being delivered to a person. This may help to combat theft and other forms of product loss. The tracing of products is an important feature that is well supported with RFID tags containing a unique identity of the tag and the serial number of the object. This may help companies cope with quality deficiencies and resulting recall campaigns, but also contributes to concern about tracking and profiling of persons after the sale. Since around 2007, there has been increasing development in the use of RFID[when?]in thewaste managementindustry. RFID tags are installed on waste collection carts, linking carts to the owner's account for easy billing and service verification.[114]The tag is embedded into a garbage and recycle container, and the RFID reader is affixed to the garbage and recycle trucks.[115]RFID also measures a customer's set-out rate and provides insight as to the number of carts serviced by each waste collection vehicle. This RFID process replaces traditional "pay as you throw" (PAYT)municipal solid wasteusage-pricing models. Active RFID tags have the potential to function as low-cost remote sensors that broadcasttelemetryback to a base station. Applications of tagometry data could include sensing of road conditions by implantedbeacons, weather reports, and noise level monitoring.[116] Passive RFID tags can also report sensor data. For example, theWireless Identification and Sensing Platformis a passive tag that reports temperature, acceleration and capacitance to commercial Gen2 RFID readers. It is possible that active or battery-assisted passive (BAP) RFID tags could broadcast a signal to an in-store receiver to determine whether the RFID tag – and by extension, the product it is attached to – is in the store.[citation needed] To avoid injuries to humans and animals, RF transmission needs to be controlled.[117]A number of organizations have set standards for RFID, including theInternational Organization for Standardization(ISO), theInternational Electrotechnical Commission(IEC),ASTM International, theDASH7Alliance andEPCglobal.[118] Several specific industries have also set guidelines, including the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) for tracking IT Assets with RFID, the Computer Technology Industry AssociationCompTIAfor certifying RFID engineers, and theInternational Air Transport Association(IATA) for luggage in airports.[citation needed] Every country can set its own rules forfrequency allocationfor RFID tags, and not all radio bands are available in all countries. These frequencies are known as theISM bands(Industrial Scientific and Medical bands). The return signal of the tag may still causeinterferencefor other radio users.[citation needed] In North America, UHF can be used unlicensed for 902–928 MHz (±13 MHz from the 915 MHz center frequency), but restrictions exist for transmission power.[citation needed]In Europe, RFID and other low-power radio applications are regulated byETSIrecommendationsEN 300 220andEN 302 208, andEROrecommendation 70 03, allowing RFID operation with somewhat complex band restrictions from 865–868 MHz.[citation needed]Readers are required to monitor a channel before transmitting ("Listen Before Talk"); this requirement has led to some restrictions on performance, the resolution of which is a subject of current[when?]research. The North American UHF standard is not accepted in France as it interferes with its military bands.[citation needed]On July 25, 2012, Japan changed its UHF band to 920 MHz, more closely matching the United States' 915 MHz band, establishing an international standard environment for RFID.[citation needed] In some countries, a site license is needed, which needs to be applied for at the local authorities, and can be revoked.[citation needed] As of 31 October 2014, regulations are in place in 78 countries representing approximately 96.5% of the world's GDP, and work on regulations was in progress in three countries representing approximately 1% of the world's GDP.[119] Standardsthat have been made regarding RFID include: In order to ensure global interoperability of products, several organizations have set up additional standards forRFID testing. These standards include conformance, performance and interoperability tests.[citation needed] EPC Gen2 is short forEPCglobal UHF Class 1 Generation 2. EPCglobal, a joint venture betweenGS1and GS1 US, is working on international standards for the use of mostly passive RFID and theElectronic Product Code(EPC) in the identification of many items in thesupply chainfor companies worldwide. One of the missions of EPCglobal was to simplify the Babel of protocols prevalent in the RFID world in the 1990s. Two tag air interfaces (the protocol for exchanging information between a tag and a reader) were defined (but not ratified) by EPCglobal prior to 2003. These protocols, commonly known as Class 0 and Class 1, saw significant commercial implementation in 2002–2005.[121] In 2004, the Hardware Action Group created a new protocol, the Class 1 Generation 2 interface, which addressed a number of problems that had been experienced with Class 0 and Class 1 tags. The EPC Gen2 standard was approved in December 2004. This was approved after a contention fromIntermecthat the standard may infringe a number of their RFID-related patents. It was decided that the standard itself does not infringe their patents, making the standard royalty free.[122]The EPC Gen2 standard was adopted with minor modifications as ISO 18000-6C in 2006.[123] In 2007, the lowest cost of Gen2 EPC inlay was offered by the now-defunct company SmartCode, at a price of $0.05 apiece in volumes of 100 million or more.[124] Not every successful reading of a tag (an observation) is useful for business purposes. A large amount of data may be generated that is not useful for managing inventory or other applications. For example, a customer moving a product from one shelf to another, or a pallet load of articles that passes several readers while being moved in a warehouse, are events that do not produce data that are meaningful to an inventory control system.[125] Event filtering is required to reduce this data inflow to a meaningful depiction of moving goods passing a threshold. Various concepts[example needed]have been designed, mainly offered asmiddlewareperforming the filtering from noisy and redundant raw data to significant processed data.[citation needed] The frequencies used for UHF RFID in the USA are as of 2007 incompatible with those of Europe or Japan. Furthermore, no emerging standard has yet become as universal as thebarcode.[126]To address international trade concerns, it is necessary to use a tag that is operational within all of the international frequency domains. A primary RFID security concern is the illicit tracking of RFID tags. Tags, which are world-readable, pose a risk to both personal location privacy and corporate/military security. Such concerns have been raised with respect to theUnited States Department of Defense's recent[when?]adoption of RFID tags forsupply chain management.[127]More generally, privacy organizations have expressed concerns in the context of ongoing efforts to embed electronic product code (EPC) RFID tags in general-use products. This is mostly as a result of the fact that RFID tags can be read, and legitimate transactions with readers can be eavesdropped on, from non-trivial distances. RFID used in access control,[128]payment and eID (e-passport) systems operate at a shorter range than EPC RFID systems but are also vulnerable toskimmingand eavesdropping, albeit at shorter distances.[129] A second method of prevention is by using cryptography.Rolling codesandchallenge–response authentication(CRA) are commonly used to foil monitor-repetition of the messages between the tag and reader, as any messages that have been recorded would prove to be unsuccessful on repeat transmission.[clarification needed]Rolling codes rely upon the tag's ID being changed after each interrogation, while CRA uses software to ask for acryptographicallycoded response from the tag. The protocols used during CRA can besymmetric, or may usepublic key cryptography.[130] While a variety of secure protocols have been suggested for RFID tags, in order to support long read range at low cost, many RFID tags have barely enough power available to support very low-power and therefore simple security protocols such ascover-coding.[131] Unauthorized reading of RFID tags presents a risk to privacy and to business secrecy.[132]Unauthorized readers can potentially use RFID information to identify or track packages, persons, carriers, or the contents of a package.[130]Several prototype systems are being developed to combat unauthorized reading, including RFID signal interruption,[133]as well as the possibility of legislation, and 700 scientific papers have been published on this matter since 2002.[134]There are also concerns that the database structure ofObject Naming Servicemay be susceptible to infiltration, similar todenial-of-service attacks, after the EPCglobal Network ONS root servers were shown to be vulnerable.[135] Microchip–induced tumours have been noted during animal trials.[136][137] In an effort to prevent the passive "skimming" of RFID-enabled cards or passports, the U.S.General Services Administration(GSA) issued a set of test procedures for evaluating electromagnetically opaque sleeves.[138]For shielding products to be in compliance with FIPS-201 guidelines, they must meet or exceed this published standard; compliant products are listed on the website of the U.S. CIO's FIPS-201 Evaluation Program.[139]The United States government requires that when new ID cards are issued, they must be delivered with an approved shielding sleeve or holder.[140]Although many wallets and passport holders are advertised to protect personal information, there is little evidence that RFID skimming is a serious threat; data encryption and use ofEMVchips rather than RFID makes this sort of theft rare.[141][142] There are contradictory opinions as to whether aluminum can prevent reading of RFID chips. Some people claim that aluminum shielding, essentially creating aFaraday cage, does work.[143]Others claim that simply wrapping an RFID card in aluminum foil only makes transmission more difficult and is not completely effective at preventing it.[144] Shielding effectiveness depends on the frequency being used.Low-frequencyLowFID tags, like those used in implantable devices for humans and pets, are relatively resistant to shielding, although thick metal foil will prevent most reads.High frequencyHighFID tags (13.56 MHz—smart cardsand access badges) are sensitive to shielding and are difficult to read when within a few centimetres of a metal surface.UHFUltra-HighFID tags (pallets and cartons) are difficult to read when placed within a few millimetres of a metal surface, although their read range is actually increased when they are spaced 2–4 cm from a metal surface due to positive reinforcement of the reflected wave and the incident wave at the tag.[145] The use of RFID has engendered considerable controversy and someconsumer privacyadvocates have initiated productboycotts. Consumer privacy expertsKatherine AlbrechtandLiz McIntyreare two prominent critics of the "spychip" technology. The two main privacy concerns regarding RFID are as follows:[citation needed] Most concerns revolve around the fact that RFID tags affixed to products remain functional even after the products have been purchased and taken home; thus, they may be used forsurveillanceand other purposes unrelated to their supply chain inventory functions.[146] The RFID Network responded to these fears in the first episode of their syndicated cable TV series, saying that they are unfounded, and let RF engineers demonstrate how RFID works.[147]They provided images of RF engineers driving an RFID-enabled van around a building and trying to take an inventory of items inside. They also discussed satellite tracking of a passive RFID tag. The concerns raised may be addressed in part by use of theClipped Tag. The Clipped Tag is an RFID tag designed to increase privacy for the purchaser of an item. The Clipped Tag has been suggested byIBMresearchersPaul Moskowitzand Guenter Karjoth. After the point of sale, a person may tear off a portion of the tag. This allows the transformation of a long-range tag into a proximity tag that still may be read, but only at short range – less than a few inches or centimeters. The modification of the tag may be confirmed visually. The tag may still be used later for returns, recalls, or recycling. However, read range is a function of both the reader and the tag itself. Improvements in technology may increase read ranges for tags. Tags may be read at longer ranges than they are designed for by increasing reader power. The limit on read distance then becomes the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal reflected from the tag back to the reader. Researchers at two security conferences have demonstrated that passive Ultra-HighFID tags normally read at ranges of up to 30 feet can be read at ranges of 50 to 69 feet using suitable equipment.[148][149] In January 2004, privacy advocates from CASPIAN and the German privacy groupFoeBuDwere invited to the METRO Future Store in Germany, where an RFID pilot project was implemented. It was uncovered by accident that METRO "Payback" customerloyalty cardscontained RFID tags with customer IDs, a fact that was disclosed neither to customers receiving the cards, nor to this group of privacy advocates. This happened despite assurances by METRO that no customer identification data was tracked and all RFID usage was clearly disclosed.[150] During the UNWorld Summit on the Information Society(WSIS) in November 2005,Richard Stallman, the founder of thefree software movement, protested the use of RFID security cards by covering his card with aluminum foil.[151] In 2004–2005, theFederal Trade Commissionstaff conducted a workshop and review of RFID privacy concerns and issued a report recommending best practices.[152] RFID was one of the main topics of the 2006Chaos Communication Congress(organized by theChaos Computer ClubinBerlin) and triggered a large press debate. Topics included electronic passports, Mifare cryptography and the tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2006. Talks showed how the first real-world mass application of RFID at the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup worked. The groupmonochromstaged a "Hack RFID" song.[153] Some individuals have grown to fear the loss of rights due to RFID human implantation. By early 2007, Chris Paget of San Francisco, California, showed that RFID information could be pulled from aUS passport cardby using only $250 worth of equipment. This suggests that with the information captured, it would be possible to clone such cards.[154] According to ZDNet, critics believe that RFID will lead to tracking individuals' every movement and will be an invasion of privacy.[155]In the bookSpyChips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Moveby Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre, one is encouraged to "imagine a world of no privacy. Where your every purchase is monitored and recorded in a database and your every belonging is numbered. Where someone many states away or perhaps in another country has a record of everything you have ever bought. What's more, they can be tracked and monitored remotely".[156] According to an RSA laboratories FAQ, RFID tags can be destroyed by a standard microwave oven;[157]however, some types of RFID tags, particularly those constructed to radiate using large metallic antennas (in particular RF tags andEPCtags), may catch fire if subjected to this process for too long (as would any metallic item inside a microwave oven). This simple method cannot safely be used to deactivate RFID features in electronic devices, or those implanted in living tissue, because of the risk of damage to the "host". However the time required is extremely short (a second or two of radiation) and the method works in many other non-electronic and inanimate items, long before heat or fire become of concern.[158] Some RFID tags implement a "kill command" mechanism to permanently and irreversibly disable them. This mechanism can be applied if the chip itself is trusted or the mechanism is known by the person that wants to "kill" the tag. UHF RFID tags that comply with the EPC2 Gen 2 Class 1 standard usually support this mechanism, while protecting the chip from being killed with a password.[159]Guessing or cracking this needed 32-bit password for killing a tag would not be difficult for a determined attacker.[160]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Frequency_Identification
In the distribution andlogisticsof many types of products,track and traceortracking and tracingconcerns a process of determining the current and past locations (and other information) of a unique item or property.Mass serializationis the process that manufacturers go through to assign and mark each of their products with aunique identifiersuch as anElectronic Product Code(EPC) for track and trace purposes. The marking or "tagging" of products is usually completed within the manufacturing process through the use of various combinations of human readable or machine readable technologies such asDataMatrixbarcodes orRFID. The track and trace concept can be supported by means of reckoning and reporting of the position of vehicles and containers with the property of concern, stored, for example, in areal-time database. This approach leaves the task to compose a coherent depiction of the subsequent status reports. Another approach is to report the arrival or departure of the object and recording the identification of the object, the location where observed, the time, and the status. This approach leaves the task to verify the reports regarding consistency and completeness. An example of this method might be thepackage trackingprovided by shippers, such as theUnited States Postal Service,Deutsche Post,Royal Mail,United Parcel Service,AirRoad, orFedEx. The international standards organizationEPCglobalunderGS1has ratified the EPC network standards (esp. the EPC information servicesEPCISstandard) which codify the syntax and semantics forsupply chainevents and the secure method for selectively sharing supply chain events with trading partners. These standards for Tracking and Tracing have been used in successful deployments in many industries and there are now a wide range of products that are certified as being compatible with these standards. In response to a growing number ofrecallincidents (food, pharmaceutical, toys, etc.), a wave of software, hardware, consulting and systems vendors have emerged over the last few years to offer a range oftraceabilitysolutions and tools for industry.Radio-frequency identificationandbarcodesare two common technology methods used to deliver traceability.[1] RFID is synonymous with track-and-trace solutions, and has a critical role to play in supply chains. RFID is a code-carrying technology, and can be used in place of a barcode to enable non-line of sight-reading. Deployment of RFID was earlier inhibited by cost limitations but the usage is now increasing. Barcoding is a common and cost-effective method used to implement traceability at both the item and case-level. Variable data in a barcode or a numeric or alphanumeric code format can be applied to the packaging or label. The secure data can be used as a pointer to traceability information and can also correlate with production data such as time to market and product quality.[2] Packagingconvertershave a choice of three different classes of technology to print barcodes: Serialization facilitates supply chain agility: visibility into supply chain activities and the ability to take responsive action. Particular benefits include the ability to recognise and isolatecounterfeitproducts and to improve the efficiency of product recall management.[3] Consumers can access web sites to trace the origins of their purchased products or to find the status of shipments. Consumers can type a code found on an item into a search box at the tracing website and view information. This can also be done via asmartphonetaking a picture of a 2D barcode and thereby opening up a website that verifies the product (i.e. product authentication). Serialization has a significant and legally endorsed safety role in thepharmaceuticalindustry.[4]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_and_trace
Pay at the pumpis a system used at manyfilling stations, where customers can pay for their fuel by inserting acredit card,debit card, orfuel cardinto a slot on thepump, bypassing the requirement to make the transaction with the station attendant or to walk away from one's vehicle. A few areas have gas stations that useelectronic tollingtransponders as a method of payment, such asVia Verdein Portugal. Pay at the pump was first invented in 1973 by George Randolph “Randy” Nicholson (1937(1937)–2020(2021)), debuting at an E-Z Serve gas station inAbilene, Texas, but did not take off until the 1980s.[1][2][3][4][5]The system was introduced in 1982 in Europe, andMobillater claimed to have been the first gas station to introduce pay at the pump in the United States in 1986.[6][7]Only thirteen percent of convenience stores had the technology by 1994. Eighty percent of US convenience stores used it by 2002, and virtually all US stores do today. In 2004,Sheetzwas the first to use touchscreen kiosks by the pump, where customers can also order in-storefoodserviceitems that they pick up after fueling.[8]In 2012,Zarco USAwas the first to have ordering touchscreens on the pump.[9] Pay at the pump is seen as a way to keep thecost of gasolinedown by reducing the need for employees at filling stations.[10]It is considered to be a major change from the days in which full service was the norm at filling stations, and the attendant not only pumped fuel, but also washed thewindshieldand checked the fluids andtire pressure, all while the customer remained in the vehicle.[11]Full service is legally mandated in the US states ofNew Jerseyand parts ofOregon. Oregon allows for commercial self-serve of gasoline for business use[12]through a cardlock network, such asPacific Prideor CFN. The technology has also allowed the introduction of unattended filling stations (where allowable by law), which are mainly outside supermarkets and other retail establishments and have no connected store facility.[13] Those who use the pay at the pump feature could be putting themselves at risk for fraud, as thieves can attachskimmersto the pumps that can steal the information off the cards used to make purchases.[citation needed]Many debit cards can be used to make the purchase either as debit or credit. But those who make the purchases as debit are potentially feeding their information into the skimmers.[14] Without the human interaction, there is no verification system when credit cards are used to make purchases, and no signature is required. This enables those in possession of stolen or cloned credit cards, or those who are otherwise making unauthorized use of another's card to purchase gasoline without a signature. Many stations now require customers making credit-based transactions to enter theirzip code(United States) or equivalent (other countries) in order to be allowed to make a fuel purchase.[15]The security of credit card numbers on receipts has been nearly nullified, as the vast majority of retailers nowtruncate to only the last four digits of a cardon a receipt, with legal force in many states and provinces. In the United States,EMVchip card acceptance at gas pumps was part of the liability shift, where the entity that does not comply with the chip card upgrades will be liable for any fraud. The liability shift was originally set to be at October 2017 but was moved to October 2020 by all payment brands, and later the payment brands extended the liability shift to April 2021.[16][17] The vast majority of gas pumps with pay-at-the-pump capabilities will place a temporary hold on a certain amount of money, generally $75-$150, in a customer's account following the use of a debit or credit card to make a purchase. The pump must do this pre-authorization before allowing a customer to pump fuel to guarantee funds are available to pay for said fuel. The length of time the funds are placed on hold, and are unavailable to the customer, is totally dependent on how fast the customer's bank processes the transaction.[citation needed]Depending on the bank, it can take a few minutes to a few business days before the funds on hold are released. While this amount is placed on hold, the customer could be penalized fornon-sufficient fundswhen making other purchases on the same account.[18] To avoid pre-authorizations and holds placed on their accounts, customers can pay for fuel inside the gas station and not use pay-at-the-pump services. Paying at the pump may lead to customers avoiding going inside aconvenience storeand purchasing snacks, beverages, tobacco, or automotive products, thereby hurting the profits stations make from such sales.[19] Some gas pumps have been upgraded to offer contactless payment, where mobile wallets likeApple PayandGoogle Payare accepted, as well as mobile features to pay at the pump online, without interacting with the pump for the payment, by identifying the pump number in the mobile wallet and charging the card stored in the wallet.[20][21] Amazon also offers pay with Alexa at selected gas pumps.[22]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_at_the_pump
Aloyalty programorrewards programis amarketing strategydesigned to encouragecustomersto continue to shop at or use the services of one or morebusinessesassociated with the program.[1] Loyalty programs may be either: In 2020McKinseyspoke of loyalty program "ecosystems".[6] A loyalty program typically involves the operator of a particular program setting up an account for a customer of a business associated with the scheme, and then issue to the customer aloyalty card(variously calledrewards card,points card, advantage card, club card, or some other name) which may be aplasticor paper card, visually similar to acredit card, that identifies the cardholder as a participant in the program. Cards may have abarcodeormagstripeto more easily allow for scanning, although some arechip cardsorproximity cards.[7]U.S. supermarkets often issue two copies of the card: one credit-card sized and one that fits on a keychain, in addition to providing access to the card via a mobile app, website. As of 2024, most programs in the United States offer a digital version of the loyalty card, accessed via a mobile app, and often customers can scan a QR or bar code from the app at the physical point of sale. Some programs now offer digital cards only or only exceptionally, such asMarks and Spencer's "Sparks" program in theUKlaunched in 2020 which no longer issues physical cards except upon special request.[8]American Airlines no longer sends membership kits to new members of its frequent flyer program.[9] Encouraging or forcing customers to use a mobile app to present their loyalty account number, although criticized for being unfriendly to people without smartphones including many elderly people,[8]benefits the merchant in a number of ways. It lets them present special offers to the customer (or even push them viapush notifications), tailor customer experience to the individual consumer, and understand customer behavior better, including their purchasing amounts and patterns.[10] At a physical point of sale, presenting a physical or digital card is not necessary at many U.S. merchants, if the customer enters the phone number associated with the account on a terminal or tells it to a cashier who enters it into the register. When purchasing online, customers usually must log in to the account on the merchant's website. However, when purchasing airline tickets from online travel agencies, customers can usually enter their airline loyalty number into the agency website and the agency will pass it onto the airline. Programs that feature points grant customers a certain number of points for each purchase, in the US often per $1 or $10 increment of spend. Once they have enough points, clients can redeem them for either: Programs with tiers define levels (such as silver, gold, and platinum levels) that customers are upgraded to when they spend enough with the merchant(s), usually over a certain period of time such as a year. For example, Sephora gives 1 point for $1 spent. Once customers earn a specific number of points, they can enter a new level with higher discounts and exclusive products. In subscription-based programs, customers pay a fee to enjoy the program's benefits, for exampleBarnes and Noblebookstores charge members about 40U.S. dollarsper year (as of mid-2024) for its "Premium Membership and Rewards" program, which gives members a 10% discount off most merchandise. There is also a free tier which does not offer such discounts but does allow members to collect virtual "stamps" (i.e. loyalty points).[11] Depending on the program, rewards may take the form of: In addition to rewards, loyalty cards may also be used identify consumers for benefits and other services, e.g.: Programs with cashback features give customers a portion of the money that they have spent with a business (usually a defined percent which may be higher than usual during promotions). The "cash back" is rarely actually cash money, but rather takes the form of a transfer of the "cashback" amount to the customer's bank account. Examples in the U.S. includeRakuten Rewards, a coalition reward program, and many banks that give their clients cash back for using their debit cards to pay for various products and services. Depending on the program, ways that consumers may access their loyalty account (account number, promotions, other information) may include: There has been a move away from traditional magnetic card, stamp, or punchcard based schemes to online and mobile online loyalty programs. While these schemes vary, the common element is a push toward eradication of a traditional card, in favour of an electronic equivalent. The choice of medium is often aQR code. Some prominent examples are Austrian based mobile-pocket established in 2009, the US-based Punchd (discontinued from June 2013,[13]), which became part ofGooglein 2011.[14]and an Australian-based loyalty card application called Stamp Me[15]which incorporatesiBeacontechnology. Others, like Loopy Loyalty (HK), Loyalli (UK),Perka(US), and Whisqr Loyalty (CA), have offered similar programs.[16]Passbook by Appleis the first attempt to standardize the format of mobile loyalty cards. With the introduction ofhost card emulation(HCE) andnear field communication(NFC) technology for mobile applications, traditional contactless smart cards for prepaid and loyalty programs are emulated in a smartphone.Google Walletadopted these technologies for mobile off-line payment applications. The major advantage of off-line over the online system is that the user's smartphone does not have to be online, and the transaction is fast. In addition, multiple emulated cards can be stored in a smartphone to support multi-merchant loyalty programs. Consequently, the user does not need to carry many physical cards anymore.[17][18] Today, suchloyalty programscover most types of commerce, each having varying features and rewards schemes, and range from programs of a single-location business to large chains or membership in a coalition loyalty program. Industries include:[19] The market approach has shifted from product-centric to a customer-centric one due to a highly competitive market and a wide array of services offered to customers, therefore, it's important that marketing strategies prioritize growing a sustainable business and increasing customer satisfaction.[20] Almost all major U.S. casino chains also have loyalty cards, which offer members tier credits, reward credits,comps, and other perks based on card members' "theo" from gambling, various demographic data, and spend patterns on various purchases at the casino, within the casino network, and with the casino's partners.[21][22]Examples of such programs includeCaesarsRewards[23](formerly called Total Rewards[24]) andMGM Resorts International's Mlife.[25] As of 2011[update], some independent coffee shops in Boston, Toronto and London has set up experimental "disloyalty card" programs, which rewarded customers for visiting a variety of coffee shops.[26][27] Loyalty programs' most important benefit to merchants is that they generate data, which bring more repeat business and therefore increase sales. Application forms for cards usually entail agreements by the store concerning customer privacy, typically non-disclosure (by the store) of non-aggregate data about customers. The store uses aggregate data internally (and sometimes externally) as part of itsmarketing research. Over time the data can reveal, for example, a given customer's favorite brand of beer, or whether they are a vegetarian. As of the mid-2020s, loyalty program trends include:[28] Loyalty programs are a means of implementing a type of what economists call atwo-part tariff. Co-operative Membership: the Co-op Group offers a 2% (previously 5%) refund to members on Co-op branded products with 2% also going to the cardholder's nominated charity. This is only available in Co-op Group stores. It replaced the dividend benefit previously used. Other Co-op chains continue with the dividend scheme, e.g. Midcounties Co-operative. Many of these accept other Co-operative loyalty cards but generally without the same benefits. For instance Midcounties Co-operative accept Co-operative Group cards but there is no charity donation or cardholder refund. Flybuys is the largest loyalty program in bothAustralia[87][88][89]andNew Zealand.[90] Loyalty programs have been described as a form of centralizedvirtual currency, one with unidirectional cash flow, since reward points can be exchanged into agood or servicebut not into cash.[94] Evidence for the effectiveness of loyalty programs is controversial. Many companies are unsure whether and how to use customer loyalty programs profitably. Many programs (regardless of location, size, or industry) are run without the appropriate metrics or target parameters.[95] Some companies complain that loyalty programs discount goods to people who are buying goods anyway.[75]Moreover, the expense of participating in these programs rarely generates a good return on investment. The Forte Consultancy Group regards loyalty programs asbribes.[96]In the case of infrequent spenders, loyalty fees provide a means ofsubsidizingdiscounts. A 2015 study found that most supermarket loyalty cards in the United States do not offer any real value to their customers.[97]Furthermore, commercial use of customers'personal data– collected as part of loyalty programs – has the potential for abuse; it is highly likely that consumer purchases are tracked and used formarketing researchto increase the efficiency of marketing and advertising, which is one of the purposes of offering the loyalty card.[98][99]For some customers, participating in a loyalty program (even with a fake or anonymous card) funds activities that violate privacy.[100]Consumers have also expressed concern about the integration ofRFIDtechnology into loyalty-card systems.[101] One may view loyalty and credit-card reward-plans as modern-day examples ofkickbacks.[102]Employees who need to buy something (such as an airline flight or a hotel room) for abusiness trip, but who have discretion to decide which airline or hotel chain to use, have an incentive to choose the payment method that provides the mostcash-back,[103]credit-card rewardsor loyalty points instead of minimizing costs for their employer.[104]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_program
[citation needed] Adata logger(alsodataloggerordata recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or about location either with a built-ininstrumentorsensoror via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they are based on a digital processor (or computer), and called digital data loggers (DDL). They generally are small, battery-powered, portable, and equipped with a microprocessor, internal memory for data storage, and sensors. Some data loggers interface with a personal computer and use software to activate the data logger and view and analyze the collected data, while others have a local interface device (keypad, LCD) and can be used as a stand-alone device. Data loggers vary from general-purpose devices for various measurement applications to very specific devices for measuring in one environment or application type only. While it is common for general-purpose types to beprogrammable, many remain static machines with only a limited number or no changeable parameters. Electronic data loggers have replacedchart recordersin many applications. One primary benefit of using data loggers is their ability to automatically collect data on a 24-hour basis. Upon activation, data loggers are typically deployed and left unattended to measure and record information for the duration of the monitoring period. This allows for a comprehensive, accurate picture of the environmental conditions being monitored, such as air temperature and relative humidity. The cost of data loggers has been declining over the years as technology improves and costs are reduced. Simple single-channel data loggers can cost as little as $25, while more complicated loggers may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Standardization of protocols and data formats has been a problem but is now growing in the industry andXML,JSON, andYAMLare increasingly being adopted for data exchange. The development of theSemantic Weband theInternet of Thingsis likely to accelerate this present trend. Several protocols have been standardized including a smart protocol,SDI-12, that allows some instrumentation to be connected to a variety of data loggers. The use of this standard has not gained much acceptance outside the environmental industry. SDI-12 also supports multi-drop instruments. Some data logging companies support theMODBUSstandard. This has been used traditionally in the industrial control area, and many industrial instruments support this communication standard. Another multi-drop protocol that is now starting to become more widely used is based uponCAN-Bus(ISO 11898). Some data loggers use a flexible scripting environment to adapt to various non-standard protocols. The terms data logging anddata acquisitionare often used interchangeably. However, in a historical context, they are quite different. A data logger is a data acquisition system, but a data acquisition system is not necessarily a data logger. Applications of data logging include: Data Loggers are changing more rapidly now than ever before. The original model of a stand-alone data logger is changed to one of a device that collects data but also has access to wireless communications for alarming of events, automatic reporting of data, and remote control. Data loggers are beginning to serve web pages for current readings,e-mailtheir alarms, andFTPtheir daily results into databases or direct to the users. Very recently, there is a trend to move away from proprietary products with commercial software to open-source software and hardware devices. TheRaspberry Pisingle-board computeris among others a popular platform hosting real-time Linux or preemptive-kernel Linux operating systems with many	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_logger
Geopositioningis the process of determining or estimating thegeographic positionof an object or a person.[1]Geopositioning yields a set ofgeographic coordinates(such aslatitudeandlongitude) in a givenmap datum. Geographic positions may also be expressed indirectly, as a distance inlinear referencingor as a bearing and range from a known landmark. In turn, positions can determine a meaningful location, such as astreet address. Geoposition is sometimes referred to asgeolocation, and the process of geopositioning may also be described asgeo-localization. Specific instances include: Geofencinginvolves creating a virtual geographic boundary (ageofence), enabling software to trigger a response when a device enters or leaves a particular area.[3]Geopositioning is a pre-requisite for geofencing. Geopositioning uses various visual andelectronicmethods includingposition linesandposition circles,celestial navigation,radio navigation,radio and WiFi positioning systems, and the use ofsatellite navigation systems. The calculation requires measurements or observations of distances or angles to reference points whose positions are known. In 2D surveys, observations of three reference points are enough to compute a position in atwo-dimensionalplane. In practice, observations are subject to errors resulting from various physical and atmospheric factors that influence the measurement of distances and angles.[4] A practical example of obtaining a position fix would be for a ship to takebearingmeasurements on threelighthousespositioned along the coast. These measurements could be made visually using ahand bearing compass, or in case of poor visibility, electronically usingradarorradio direction finding. Since all physical observations are subject to errors, the resulting position fix is also subject to inaccuracy. Although in theory two lines of position (LOP) are enough to define a point, in practice 'crossing' more LOPs provides greater accuracy and confidence, especially if the lines cross at a good angle to each other. Three LOPs are considered the minimum for a practical navigational fix.[5]The three LOPs when drawn on the chart will in general form a triangle, known as a 'cocked hat'. The navigator will have more confidence in a position fix that is formed by a small cocked hat with angles close to those of anequilateral triangle.[6]The area of doubt surrounding a position fix is called anerror ellipse. To minimize the error,electronic navigationsystems generally use more than three reference points to compute a position fix to increase thedata redundancy. As more redundant reference points are added, the position fix becomes more accurate and the area of the resulting error ellipse decreases.[7] The process of using 3 reference points to calculate the location is calledTrilateration, and when using more than 3 points,multilateration. Combining multiple observations to compute a position fix is equivalent to solving a system oflinear equations. Navigation systems useregression algorithmssuch asleast squaresin order to compute a position fix in 3D space. This is most commonly done by combining distance measurements to 4 or moreGPSsatellites, which orbit the Earth along known paths.[8] The result of position fixing is called aposition fix(PF), or simply afix, a position derived from measuring in relation to external reference points.[9]In nauticalnavigation, the term is generally used with manual or visual techniques, such as the use of intersecting visual or radioposition lines, rather than the use of more automated and accurate electronic methods likeGPS; in aviation, use of electronic navigation aids is more common. A visual fix can be made by using any sighting device with abearingindicator. Two or more objects of known position are sighted, and the bearings recorded. Bearing lines are then plotted on a chart through the locations of the sighted items. The intersection of these lines is the current position of the vessel. Usually, a fix is where two or more position lines intersect at any given time. If three position lines can be obtained, the resulting "cocked hat", where the three lines do not intersect at the same point, but create a triangle, gives the navigator an indication of the accuracy. The most accurate fixes occur when the position lines are perpendicular to each other. Fixes are a necessary aspect of navigation bydead reckoning, which relies on estimates ofspeedandcourse. The fix confirms the actual position during a journey. A fix can introduce inaccuracies if the reference point is not correctly identified or is inaccurately measured. Geopositioning can be referred to both global positioning and outdoor positioning, using for exampleGPS, and to indoor positioning, for all the situations where satellite GPS is not a viable option and the localization process has to happen indoors. For indoor positioning, tracking and localization there are many technologies that can be used, depending on the specific needs and on the environmental characteristics.[10]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopositioning
AGPS tracking unit,geotracking unit,satellite tracking unit, or simplytrackeris anavigation devicenormally on a vehicle,asset, person oranimalthat usessatellite navigationto determine its movement and determine itsWGS84UTMgeographic position(geotracking) to determine its location.[1]Satellite tracking devices may send special satellite signals that are processed by a receiver. Locations are stored in the tracking unit or transmitted to anInternet-connected device using thecellular network(GSM/GPRS/CDMA/LTEorSMS),radio, orsatellite modemembedded in the unit or WiFi work worldwide. GPS antenna size limits tracker size, often smaller than a half-dollar (diameter 30.61 mm). In 2020 tracking is a $2 billion business plus military-in the gulf war 10% or more targets used trackers. Virtually every cellphone tracks its movements. Tracks can be map displayed in real time, using GPS tracking software and devices with GPS capability.[2] A GPS "track me" essentially contains a GPS module that receives theGPS signaland calculates the coordinates. For data loggers, it contains large memory to store the coordinates. Data pushers additionally contain aGSM/GPRS/CDMA/LTEmodem to transmit this information to a central computer either viaSMSorGPRSin form ofIPpackets. Satellite-based GPS tracking units will operate anywhere on the globe using satellite technology such asGlobalStarorIridium. They do not require a cellular connection. There are three types of GPS trackers, though mostGPS-equipped phonescan work in any of these modes depending on themobile applicationsinstalled: GPS loggerslogthe position of the device at regular intervals in its internal memory. GPS loggers may have either amemory cardslot, or internal flash memory card and aUSBport. Some act as aUSB flash drive, which allowsdownloadingthe track log data for further computer analysis. The track list orpoint of interestlist may be inGPX,KML,NMEAor other format. Mostdigital camerassave the time a photo was taken. Provided the camera clock is reasonably accurate or used GPS as its time source, this time can be correlated with GPS log data, to provide an accurate location. This can be added to theExifmetadata in the picture file.Cameras with a GPS receiver built incan directly produce such ageotagged photograph. In someprivate investigationcases,data loggersare used to keep track of a target vehicle. The private investigator need not follow the target too closely, and always has a backup source of data. A data pusher is the most common type of GPS tracking unit, used forasset tracking,personal trackingandvehicle trackingsystems. Virtually every cell phone is in this mode per user agreement, even if shut off or disabled storing the data for future transmission. Also known as a "GPS beacon", this kind of devicepush(i.e. "sends"), at regular intervals, the position of the device as well as other information likespeedoraltitudeto a determinedserver, that can store and analyze the data instantly. AGPS navigation deviceand a mobile phone sit side-by-side in the same box, powered by the same battery. At regular intervals, the phone sends a text message via SMS or GPRS, containing the data from the GPS receiver. Newer GPS-integratedsmartphonesrunning GPS tracking software can turn the phone into a data pusher (or logger) device. As of 2009,open sourceandproprietaryapplications are available for commonJava MEenabled phones,iPhone,Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian.[3][4][5] Most 21st-century GPS trackers provide data "push" technology, enabling sophisticated GPS tracking in business environments, specifically organizations that employ a mobile workforce, such as a commercial fleet. Typical GPStracking systemsused in commercialfleet managementhave two core parts: location hardware (or tracking device) and tracking software. This combination is often referred to as anAutomatic Vehicle Locationsystem. The tracking device is most often hardwired installed in the vehicle, connected to theCAN-bus,ignition systemswitch, battery. It allows collection of extra data, which is later transferred to theGPS tracking server. There it is available for viewing, in most cases via a website accessed over the Internet, where fleet activity can be viewed live or historically using digital maps and reports. GPS tracking systems used in commercial fleets are often configured to transmit location and telemetry input data at a set update rate or when an event (door open/close, auxiliary equipment on/off,geofenceborder cross) triggers the unit to transmit data. Live GPS tracking used in commercial fleets generally refers to systems that update regularly at one-minute, two-minute or five-minute intervals while the ignition status is on. Some tracking systems combine timed updates with heading change triggered updates. GPS tracking solutions such asTelematics 2.0, anIoTbasedtelematicstechnology for the automotive industry, are being used by mainstream commercial auto insurance companies. GPS data pullers are also known as "GPS transponders". Unlike data pushers that send the position of the devices at regular intervals (push technology), these devices are always on, and can be queried as often as required (pull technology). This technology is not in widespread use, but an example of this kind of device is a computer connected to the Internet and runninggpsd. These can often be used in the case where the location of the tracker will only need to be known occasionally (e.g. placed in property that may be stolen, or that does not have a constant source of energy to send data on a regular basis, like freight or containers.) Data Pullers are coming into more common usage in the form of devices containing a GPS receiver and a cell phone which, when sent a specialSMSmessage reply to the message with their location. Covert GPS trackers contain the same electronics as regular GPS trackers but are constructed in such a way as to appear to be an everyday object. One use for covert GPS trackers is for power tool protection; these devices can be concealed within power tool boxes and traced if theft occurs. The applications of GPS trackers include: Solar Powered: the advantage of some solar powered units is that they have much more power over their lifetime than battery-powered units. This gives them the advantage of reporting their position and status much more often than battery units which need to conserve energy to extend their life. Some wireless solar-powered units, such as theRailRidercan report more than 20,000 times per year and work indefinitely on solar power, eliminating the need to change batteries. Aircraft can be tracked either byADS-B(primarily airliners and General Aviation aircraft with ADS-B-out enabledtransponder), or byFLARMdata packets picked up by a network of ground stations (primarily used by General Aviation aircraft, gliders and UAVs), both of which are data pushers. ADS-B is to be superseded by ADS-C, a data puller. Animal monitoring (GPS wildlife tracking): when put on a wild animal (e.g. in aGPS collar), it allows scientists to study the animal's activities and migration patterns. Vaginal implant transmitters mark the location where pregnant females give birth.[15]Animal tracking collarsmay also be put on domestic animals, to locate them in case they get lost.[16] There are no Australian Federal Laws for surveillance and GPS tracker legality. However, most states have statutes covering the use and restrictions of tracking devices used for surveillance. The below states have formal statutes. At present, only Queensland and Tasmania do not have legislation. In the United States, the use of GPS trackers by government authorities is limited by theFourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. So police, for example, usually require asearch warrant.[18]While police have placed GPS trackers in vehicles without a warrant, this usage was questioned in court in early 2009.[19][20] Use by private citizens is regulated in some states, such as California, where California Penal Code Section 637.7 states:(a) No person or entity in this state shall use an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person.(b) This section shall not apply when the registered owner, lesser, or lessee of a vehicle has consented to the use of the electronic tracking device with respect to that vehicle.(c) This section shall not apply to the lawful use of an electronic tracking device by a law enforcement agency.(d) As used in this section, "electronic tracking device" means any device attached to a vehicle or other movable thing that reveals its location or movement by transmission of electronic signals.(g) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.(f) A violation of this section by a person, business, firm, company, association, partnership, or corporation licensed under Division 3 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Business and Professions Code shall constitute grounds for revocation of the license issued to that person, business, firm, company, association, partnership, or corporation, pursuant to the provisions that provide for the revocation of the license as set forth in Division 3 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Business and Professions Code.[21] Note that 637.7 pertains to all electronic tracking devices, and does not differentiate between those that rely on GPS technology or not. As the laws catch up with the times, it is plausible that all 50 states will eventually enact laws similar to those of California.[original research?] Other laws, like thecommon lawinvasion of privacytortas well as state criminalwiretappingstatutes (for example, the wiretapping statute of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts, which is extremely restrictive) potentially cover the use of GPS tracking devices by private citizens without consent of the individual being so tracked. Privacy can also be a problem when people use the devices to track the activities of a loved one.[22]GPS tracking devices have also been put on religious statues to track the whereabouts of the statue if stolen.[23] In 2009, debate ensued over a Georgia proposal to outlaw hidden GPS tracking, with an exception forlaw enforcement officersbut not forprivate investigators. See Georgia HB 16 - Electronic tracking device; location of person without consent (2009).[24][25] The law in the UK has not specifically addressed the use of GPS trackers, but several laws may affect the use of this technology as a surveillance tool. Data Protection Act 1998 It is quite clear that if client instructions (written or digitally transmitted) that identify a person and a vehicle are combined with a tracker, the information gathered by the tracker becomes personal data as defined by theData Protection Act 1998. The document “What is personal data? – A quick reference guide”[26]published by theInformation Commissioner's Office(ICO) makes clear that data identifying a living individual is personal data. If a living individual can be identified from the data, with or without additional information that may become available, is personal data. Identifiability An individual is 'identified' if distinguished from other members of a group. In most cases, an individual's name, together with some other information, will be sufficient to identify them, but a person can be identified even if their name is not known. Start by looking at the means available to identify an individual and the extent to which such means are readily available to you. Does the data 'relate to' the identifiable living individual, whether in personal or family life, business or profession? Relates to means: Data which identifies an individual, even without an associated name, may be personal data which is processed to learn or record something about that individual, or the processing of information that affects the individual. Therefore, data may 'relate to' an individual in several different ways. Is the data 'obviously about a particular individual? Data 'obviously about' an individual will include their medical history, criminal record, record of work, or their achievements in a sporting activity. Data that is not 'obviously about' a particular individual may include information about their activities. Data such as personal bank statements or itemised telephone bills will be personal data about the individual operating the account or contracting for telephone services. Where data is not 'obviously about' an identifiable individual it may be helpful to consider whether the data is being processed, or could easily be processed, to learn, record or decide something about an identifiable individual. Information may be personal data where the aim, or an incidental consequence, of the processing, is that one learns or records something about an identifiable individual, or the processing could affect an identifiable individual. Data from a Tracker would be to identify the individual or their activities. It is therefore personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any individual who wishes to gather personal data must be registered with theInformation Commissioner's Office(ICO) and have a DPA number. It is a criminal offense to process data and not have a DPA number.[27] Trespass It may be a civil trespass for an individual to deploy a tracker on another's car. But in the OSC's annual inspection, the OSC's Chief Surveillance CommissionerSir Christopher Rosestated "putting an arm into a wheel arch or under the frame of a vehicle is straining the concept of trespass".[28] However, entering a person's private land to deploy a tracker is clearly a trespass which is a civil tort. Prevention of Harassment Act 1997 At times, the public misinterprets surveillance, in all its forms, as stalking. Whilst there is no specific legislation to address this kind of harassment, a long-term pattern of persistent and repeated efforts at contact with a particular victim is generally considered stalking. TheProtection of Freedoms Act 2012created two new offenses of stalking by inserting new sections 2A and 4A into the PHA 1997.[29]The new offences which came into force on 25 November 2012, are not retrospective. Section 2A (3) of the PHA 1997 sets out examples of acts or omissions which, in particular circumstances, are ones associated with stalking. Examples are: following a person, watching or spying on them, or forcing contact with the victim through any means, including social media. Such behavior curtails a victim's freedom, leaving them feeling that they constantly have to be careful. In many cases, the conduct might appear innocent (if considered in isolation), but when carried out repeatedly, so as to amount to a course of conduct, it may then cause significant alarm, harassment or distress to the victim. The examples given in section 2A (3) are not an exhaustive list but an indication of the types of behavior that may be displayed in a stalking offense. Stalking and harassment of another or others can include a range of offenses such as those under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; theOffences Against the Person Act 1861; theSexual Offences Act 2003; and theMalicious Communications Act 1988. Examples of the types of conduct often associated with stalking include direct communication; physical following; indirect contact through friends, colleagues, family or technology; or, other intrusions into the victim's privacy. The behavior curtails a victim's freedom, leaving them feeling that they constantly have to be careful. If the subject of inquiry is aware of the tracking, then this may amount to harassment under the Prevention of Harassment Act 1997. There is a case at the Royal Courts of Justice where a private investigator is being sued under this act for the use of trackers. In December 2011, a Claim was brought against Richmond Day & Wilson Limited (First Defendant) and Bernard Matthews Limited (Second Defendant), Britain's leading Turkey Provider. The case relates to the discovery of a tracking device found in August 2011 on a vehicle supposedly connected to Hillside Animal Sanctuary.[30] Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 Property Interference: The Home Office published a document entitled "Covert Surveillance and Property Interference, Revised Code of Practice, Pursuant to section 71 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000"[31]where it suggests in Chapter 7, page 61 that; General basis for lawful activity 7. 1 Authorizations under section 5 of the 1994 Act or Part III of the 1997 Act should be sought wherever members of the intelligence services, the police, the services police, Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or Office of Fair Trading (OFT), or persons acting on their behalf, conduct entry on, or interference with, property or with wireless telegraphy that would be otherwise unlawful. 7. 2 For the purposes of this chapter, "property interference" shall be taken to include entry on, or interference with, property or with wireless telegraphy. Example: The use of a surveillance device for providing information about the location of a vehicle may involve some physical interference with that vehicle as well as subsequent directed surveillance activity. Such an operation could be authorized by a combined authorization for property interference (under Part III of the 1997 Act) and, where appropriate, directed surveillance (under the 2000 Act). In this case, the necessity and proportionality of the property interference element of the authorization would need to be considered by the appropriate authorizing officer separately to the necessity and proportionality of obtaining private information by means of the directed surveillance. This can be interpreted to mean that placing a tracker on a vehicle without the consent of the owner is illegal unless you obtain authorization from the Surveillance Commissionaire under the RIPA 2000 laws. Since a member of the public cannot obtain such authorizations, it is therefore illegal property interference. Another interpretation is that it is illegal to do so if you are acting under the instruction of a public authority and you do not obtain authorization. The legislation makes no mention of property interference for anyone else. Currently, there is no legislation in place that deals with the deployment of trackers in a criminal sense except RIPA 2000 and that RIPA 2000 only applies to those agencies and persons mentioned in it. In August 2010, Brazilian companyUnileverran an unusual promotion where GPS trackers were placed in boxes ofOmolaundry detergent. Teams would then track consumers who purchased the boxes of detergent to their homes where they would be awarded a prize for their purchase. The company also launched a website (in Portuguese) to show the approximate location of the winners' homes.[32]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_tracking
TheIntelligent Mail Barcode(IMb) is a 65-barbarcodefor use onmailin theUnited States.[1]The term "Intelligent Mail" refers to services offered by theUnited States Postal Servicefor domestic mail delivery. The IM barcode is intended to provide greater information and functionality than its predecessorsPOSTNETandPLANET. An Intelligent Mail barcode has also been referred to as aOne Code Solutionand a4-State Customer Barcode, abbreviated 4CB, 4-CB or USPS4CB. The complete specification can be found in USPS Document USPS-B-3200.[2]It effectively incorporates the routingZIP Codeand tracking information included in previously used postal barcode standards. The barcode is applied by the sender; the Postal Service required use of the Intelligent Mail barcode to qualify for automation prices beginning January 28, 2013.[3]Use of the barcode provides increased overall efficiency, including improved deliverability, and new services. The Intelligent Mail barcode is a height-modulated barcode that encodes up to 31decimaldigits of mail-piece data into 65 vertical bars.[2] The code is made up of four distinct symbols, which is why it was once referred to as the 4-State Customer Barcode. Each bar contains the central "tracker" portion, and may contain an ascender, descender, neither, or both (a "full bar"). The 65 bars represent 130 bits (or 39.13 decimal digits), grouped as ten 13-bit characters. Each character has 2, 5, 8, or 11 of its 13 bits set to one. TheHamming distancebetween characters is at least 2. Consequently, single-bit errors in a character can be detected (toggling one bit results in an invalid character). The characters are interleaved throughout the symbol. The number of characters can be calculated from thebinomial coefficient. The total number of characters is two times 1365, or 2730. Log2(2730) is 11.41469 bits per group. So the 65 bars (or 130 bits) encode a 114-bit message. The encoding includes an eleven-bitcyclic redundancy check(CRC) to detect, but not correct, errors. Subtracting the 11 CRC bits from the 114-bit message leaves an information payload of 103 bits (the specification sets one of those bits to zero). Consequently, 27 of the 130 bits are devoted to error detection. The IM barcode carries a data payload of 31 digits representing the following elements: A barcode identifier is assigned by the United States Postal Service to encode the presort identification that is currently printed in human-readable form on the optional endorsement line (OEL). It is also available for future United States Postal Service use. This is accomplished using two digits, with the second digit in the range of 0–4. The allowable encoding ranges are 00–04, 10–14, 20–24, 30–34, 40–44, 50–54, 60–64, 70–74, 80–84, and 90–94. The first digit of the barcode identifier is defined as: A three-digit value represents both the class of the mail (such as first-class, standard mail, or periodical), and any services requested by the sender. Basic STIDs, for the purpose of automation only, are as follows: For a detailed list of STIDs, see Appendix A of the USPS Guide to Intelligent Mail Letters and Flats[5]or Service Type Identifiers.[6] A 6- or 9-digit number assigned by the United States Postal Service identifies the specific business sending the mailing. Higher-volume mailers are eligible to receive 6-digit mailer IDs, which have a larger range of associated sequence numbers; lower-volume mailers receive 9-digit mailer IDs. To make it possible to distinguish 6-digit IDs from 9-digit IDs, all 6-digit IDs begin with a digit between 0 and 8 inclusive, while all 9-digit IDs begin with the digit 9. A mailer-assigned 6- or 9-digit ID specific to one piece of mail, to identify the specific recipient or household. The mailer must ensure that this number remains unique for a 45-day period after the mail is sent if a full service discount is claimed; otherwise, it does not have to be unique. The sequence number is either 6 or 9 digits, based on the length of the mailer ID. If the mailer ID is 6 digits long, then the sequence number is 9 digits long, and conversely, so that there will always be 15 digits in total when the mailer ID and the sequence number are combined. This section of the code may be omitted, but if it is present, the 5-, 9-, or 11-digit forms of theZIP Codeare also encoded in the Intelligent Mail barcode. The full 11-digit form includes the standard 5-digit ZIP code, the ZIP + 4 code, and a 2-digit code indicating the exactdelivery point. This is the same information that was encoded in the POSTNET barcode, which the Intelligent Mail barcode replaces.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Mail_barcode
In computing,Internet geolocationis software capable of deducing the geographic position of a device connected to the Internet. For example, the device's IP address can be used to determine the country, city, or ZIP code, determining its geographical location. Other methods include examination ofWi-Fihotspots. An IP address is assigned to each device (e.g. computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses theInternet Protocolfor communication. The protocol specifies that each IP packet must have a header which contains, among other things, the IP address of the sender. There are a number of free and paid subscription geolocation databases, ranging from country level to state or city—including ZIP/post code level—each with varying claims of accuracy (generally higher at the country level). These databases typically contain IP address data, which may be used infirewalls, adservers,routing, mail systems, websites, and other automated systems where a geolocation may be useful. An alternative to hosting and querying a database is to obtain the country code for a given IP address through a DNSBL-style lookup from a remote server. Some commercial databases have augmented geolocation software with demographic data to enable demographic-type targeting using IP address data. The primary source for IP address data is the regional Internet registries which allocates and distributes IP addresses amongst organizations located in their respective service regions: The registries allow assignees to specify country and geographical coordinates of each assigned block. Starting from 2021 RFC 9092 allows assignees to specify location of any IP subnetwork they own. Secondary sources include: Accuracy is improved by: If geolocation software maps IP addresses associated with an entire county or territory to a particular location, such as the geographic center of the territory, this can cause considerable problems for the people who happen to live there, as law enforcement authorities and others may mistakenly assume any crimes or other misconduct associated with the IP address to originate from that particular location. For example, a farmstead northeast of Potwin, Kansas became the default site of 600 million IP addresses when the Massachusetts-based digital mapping company MaxMind changed the putative geographic center of the contiguous United States from 39.8333333,-98.585522 to 38.0000,-97.0000. Since 2012, a family in Pretoria, South Africa, has been regularly visited by police or angry private citizens who believed their stolen phones were to be found in the family's backyard. This was also the result of geolocation by MaxMind. The company used the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's coordinates for Pretoria, which pointed to the family's house, to represent IP addresses associated with Pretoria. A distinction can be made betweenco-operativeandoppositionalgeolocation. In some cases, it is in the interest of users to be accurately located, for example, so that they can be offered information relevant to their location. In other cases, users prefer not to disclose their location for privacy or other reasons.[1] Technical measures for ensuringanonymity, such asproxy servers, can be used to circumvent restrictions imposed by geolocation software. Some sites detect the use of proxies and anonymizers, and may either block service or provide non-localized content in response.[2] Geolocation technology has been under development only since 1999, and the first patents were granted in 2004.[3]The technology is already widely used in multiple industries,[4]including e-retail, banking, media, telecommunications, education, travel,[5]hospitality, entertainment, health care, online gaming and law enforcement, for preventingonline fraud, complying with regulations, managing digital rights[6]and serving targetedmarketingcontent andpricing.[7]Additionally, the U.S.Federal Communications Commission(FCC) has proposed that geolocation software might be leveraged to support9-1-1location determination.[8] An IP address or therelated uniqueURLmay also be investigated with basic functions, typing from thekeyboardtwo instructions:pingandtraceroute.[9]InUnix-likesystems, they are available as a command line tool. In the same way,Microsoft Windowshas the prompt ofDOSworking with those instructions. Banks, software vendors and other online enterprises in the US and elsewhere became subject to strict "know your customer" laws imposed by theUSA PATRIOT Act, theBank Secrecy Act, theUS Treasury Department'sOffice of Foreign Assets Controland other regulatory entities in the US and Europe from the early twenty-first century. These laws are intended to prevent money laundering, trafficking with terrorist organizations, and trading with banned nations. When it is possible to identify the true location of online visitors, geolocation can protect banks from participating in the transfer of funds for illicit purposes. More and more prosecuting bodies are bringing cases involving cyber-crimes such as cyber-stalking andidentity theft. Prosecutors often have the capability of determining theIP addressdata necessary to link a computer to a crime.[10] Online retailers and payment processors use geolocation to detect possiblecredit card fraudby comparing the user's location to the billing address on the account or the shipping address provided. A mismatch – an order placed from the US on an account number from Tokyo, for example – is a strong indicator of potential fraud. IP address geolocation can be also used infraud detectionto match billing address postal code or area code.[11]Banks can prevent "phishing" attacks,money launderingand other security breaches by determining the user's location as part of the authentication process.Whoisdatabases can also help verifyIP addressesand registrants.[12] Government, law enforcement and corporate security teams use geolocation as an investigatory tool, tracking the Internet routes of online attackers to find the perpetrators and prevent future attacks from the same location. Since geolocation software can get the information of user location, companies using geomarketing may provideweb contentor products that are famous or useful in that specific location. Advertisements and content on a website that uses geolocation software in the form of anAPI(also referred to as "IP API" or "IP address geolocation API") may be tailored to provide the information that a certain user wants.[13] Internetmovie vendors, online broadcasters who serve live streaming video of sporting events, or certain TV and music video sites that are licensed to broadcast their videos of episodes/music videos are permitted to serve viewers only in their licensed territories. By geolocating viewers, they can be certain of obeying licensing regulations.[14]Online gambling websitesmust also know where their customers violate gambling laws, or risk doing so. Jim Ramo, chief executive of movie distributor Movielink, said studios were aware of the shortcomings going in and have grown more confident now that the system has been shown to work.[15] Alocation-based gameis a type ofpervasive gameforsmartphonesor othermobile devicesin which thegameplayevolves and progresses via a player's real-world location which is typically obtained byGPSfunctionality from the device.[16]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_geolocation
Real-time locating systems(RTLS), also known asreal-time tracking systems, are used to automaticallyidentifyandtrackthe location of objects or people inreal time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are attached to objects or worn by people, and in most RTLS, fixed reference points receive wireless signals from tags to determine their location.[1]Examples of real-time locating systems include tracking automobiles through anassembly line, locating pallets of merchandise in a warehouse, or finding medical equipment in a hospital. The physical layer of RTLS technology is oftenradio frequency(RF) communication. Some systems use optical (usuallyinfrared) or acoustic (usuallyultrasound) technology with, or in place of RF, RTLS tags. And fixed reference points can betransmitters,receivers, or both resulting in numerous possible technology combinations. RTLS are a form oflocal positioning systemand do not usually refer toGPSor tomobile phone tracking. Location information usually does not include speed, direction, or spatial orientation. The term RTLS was created (circa 1998) at theID EXPOtrade show by Tim Harrington (WhereNet), Jay Werb (PinPoint), and Bert Moore (Automatic Identification Manufacturers, Inc., AIM). It was created to describe and differentiate anemerging technologythat not only provided the automatic identification capabilities of activeRFIDtags, but also added the ability to view the location on a computer screen. It was at this show that the first examples of a commercial radio based RTLS system were shown by PinPoint and WhereNet. Although this capability had been utilized previously by military and government agencies, the technology had been too expensive for commercial purposes. In the early 1990s, the first commercial RTLS were installed at three healthcare facilities in the United States and were based on the transmission and decoding ofinfrared lightsignals from actively transmitting tags. Since then, new technology has emerged that also enables RTLS to be applied to passive tag applications. RTLS are generally used in indoor and/or confined areas, such as buildings, and do not provide global coverage likeGPS. RTLS tags are affixed to mobile items, such as equipment or personnel, to be tracked or managed. RTLS reference points, which can be either transmitters or receivers, are spaced throughout a building (or similar area of interest) to provide the desired tag coverage. In most cases, the more RTLS reference points that are installed, the better the location accuracy, until the technology limitations are reached. A number of disparate system designs are all referred to as "real-time locating systems". Two primary system design elements are locating at choke points and locating in relative coordinates. The simplest form ofchoke pointlocating is where short range ID signals from a moving tag are received by a single fixed reader in a sensory network, thus indicating the location coincidence of reader and tag. Alternately, a choke point identifier can be received by the moving tag and then relayed, usually via a second wireless channel, to a location processor. Accuracy is usually defined by the sphere spanned with the reach of the choke point transmitter or receiver. The use of directional antennas, or technologies such as infrared or ultrasound that are blocked by room partitions, can support choke points of various geometries.[2] ID signals from a tag are received by a multiplicity of readers in asensory network, and a position is estimated using one or more locating algorithms, such astrilateration,multilateration, ortriangulation. Equivalently, ID signals from several RTLS reference points can be received by a tag and relayed back to a location processor. Localization with multiple reference points requires that distances between reference points in the sensory network be known in order to precisely locate a tag, and the determination of distances is calledranging. Another way to calculate relative location is viamobile tagscommunicating with one another. The tag(s) will then relay this information to a location processor. RF trilateration uses estimated ranges from multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. RF triangulation uses the angles at which the RF signals arrive at multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. Many obstructions, such as walls or furniture, can distort the estimated range and angle readings leading to varied qualities of location estimate. Estimation-based locating is often measured in accuracy for a given distance, such as 90% accurate for 10-meter range. Some systems use locating technologies that can't pass through walls, such as infrared or ultrasound. These require line of sight (or near line of sight) to communicate properly. As a result, they tend to be more accurate in indoor environments. RTLS can be used in numerouslogisticalor operational areas to: RTLS may be seen as a threat toprivacywhen used to determine the location of people. The newly declared human right ofinformational self-determinationgives the right to prevent one's identity andpersonal datafrom being disclosed to others and also covers disclosure of locality, though this does not generally apply to theworkplace. Several prominentlabor unionshave spoken out against the use of RTLS systems to track workers, calling them "the beginning ofBig Brother" and "aninvasion of privacy".[5] Current location-tracking technologies can be used to pinpoint users of mobile devices in several ways. First, service providers have access to network-based and handset-based technologies that can locate a phone for emergency purposes. Second, historical location can frequently be discerned from service provider records. Thirdly, other devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots or IMSI catchers can be used to track nearby mobile devices in real time. Finally, hybrid positioning systems combine different methods in an attempt to overcome each individual method's shortcomings.[6] There is a wide variety of systems concepts and designs to provide real-time locating.[7] A general model for selection of the best solution for a locating problem has been constructed at theRadboud University of Nijmegen.[19]Many of these references do not comply with the definitions given in international standardization with ISO/IEC 19762-5[20]and ISO/IEC 24730-1.[21]However, some aspects of real-time performance are served and aspects of locating are addressed in context of absolute coordinates. Depending on the physical technology used, at least one and often some combination of ranging and/or angulating methods are used to determine location: Real-time locating is affected by a variety of errors. Many of the major reasons relate to the physics of the locating system, and may not be reduced by improving the technical equipment. Many RTLS systems require direct and clear line of sight visibility. For those systems, where there is no visibility from mobile tags to fixed nodes there will be no result or a non valid result fromlocating engine. This applies to satellite locating as well as other RTLS systems such as angle of arrival and time of arrival. Fingerprinting is a way to overcome the visibility issue: If the locations in the tracking area contain distinct measurement fingerprints, line of sight is not necessarily needed. For example, if each location contains a unique combination of signal strength readings from transmitters, the location system will function properly. This is true, for example, with some Wi-Fi based RTLS solutions. However, having distinct signal strength fingerprints in each location typically requires a fairly high saturation of transmitters. The measured location may appear entirely faulty. This is a generally result of simple operational models to compensate for the plurality of error sources. It proves impossible to serve proper location after ignoring the errors. Real timeis no registered branding and has no inherent quality. A variety of offers sails under this term. As motion causes location changes, inevitably the latency time to compute a new location may be dominant with regard to motion. Either an RTLS system that requires waiting for new results is not worth the money or the operational concept that asks for faster location updates does not comply with the chosen system's approach. Location will never be reportedexactly, as the termreal-timeand the termprecisiondirectly contradict in aspects of measurement theory as well as the termprecisionand the termcostcontradict in aspects of economy. That is no exclusion of precision, but the limitations with higher speed are inevitable. Recognizing a reported location steadily apart from physical presence generally indicates the problem of insufficient over-determination and missing of visibility along at least one link from resident anchors to mobile transponders. Such effect is caused also by insufficient concepts to compensate for calibration needs. Noise from various sources has an erratic influence on stability of results. The aim to provide a steady appearance increases the latency contradicting to real time requirements. As objects containing mass have limitations to jump, such effects are mostly beyond physical reality. Jumps of reported location not visible with the object itself generally indicate improper modeling with the location engine. Such effect is caused by changing dominance of various secondary responses. Location of residing objects gets reported moving, as soon as the measures taken are biased by secondary path reflections with increasing weight over time. Such effect is caused by simple averaging and the effect indicates insufficient discrimination of first echoes. The basic issues of RTLS are standardized by theInternational Organization for Standardizationand theInternational Electrotechnical Commissionunder the ISO/IEC 24730 series. In this series of standards, the basic standard ISO/IEC 24730-1 identifies the terms describing a form of RTLS used by a set of vendors but does not encompass the full scope of RTLS technology. Currently several standards are published: These standards do not stipulate any special method of computing locations, nor the method of measuring locations. This may be defined in specifications for trilateration, triangulation, or any hybrid approaches to trigonometric computing for planar or spherical models of a terrestrial area. In RTLS application in the healthcare industry, various studies were issued discussing the limitations of the currently adopted RTLS. Currently used technologies RFID, Wi-fi, UWB, all RFID based are hazardous in the sense of interference with sensitive equipment. A study carried out by Dr Erik Jan van Lieshout of the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam published inJAMA(Journal of the American Medical Equipment)[24]claimed "RFID and UWB could shut down equipment patients rely on" as "RFID caused interference in 34 of the 123 tests they performed". The first Bluetooth RTLS provider in the medical industry is supporting this in their article: "The fact that RFID cannot be used near sensitive equipment should in itself be a red flag to the medical industry". The RFID Journal responded to this study not negating it rather explaining real-case solution: "The Purdue study showed no effect when ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) systems were kept at a reasonable distance from medical equipment. So placing readers in utility rooms, near elevators and above doors between hospital wings or departments to track assets is not a problem".[25]However the case of ”keeping at a reasonable distance” might be still an open question for the RTLS technology adopters and providers in medical facilities. In many applications it is very difficult and at the same time important to make a proper choice among various communication technologies (e.g., RFID, WiFi, etc.) which RTLS may include. Wrong design decisions made at early stages can lead to catastrophic results for the system and a significant loss of money for fixing and redesign. To solve this problem a special methodology for RTLS design space exploration was developed. It consists of such steps as modelling, requirements specification, and verification into a single efficient process.[26]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locating_engine
MAC address anonymizationperforms aone-way functionon aMAC addressso that the result may be used intracking systemsfor reporting and the general public, while making it nearly impossible to obtain the original MAC address from the result. The idea is that this process allows companies likeGoogle,[1]Apple[2]andCrowdVision[3]- which track users' movements via their computer hardware - to simultaneously preserve the identities of the people they are tracking, while tracking the hardware itself. An example of MAC address anonymization would be to use a simple hash algorithm. Given an address of11:22:33:44:55:66, theMD5hash algorithm produceseb341820cd3a3485461a61b1e97d31b1(32 hexadecimal digits).[4]An address only one character different (11:22:33:44:55:67) produces391907146439938c9821856fa181052e,[5]an entirely different hash due to theavalanche effect. The problem lies in the fact that there are only 248(281,474,976,710,656) possible MAC addresses. Given the encoding algorithm, an index can easily be created for each possible address. By usingrainbow tablecompression, the index can be made small enough to be portable. Building the index is anembarrassingly parallelproblem, and so the work can be accelerated greatly e.g. by renting a large amount of cloud computing resources temporarily. For example, if a single CPU can compute 1,000,000 encrypted MACs per second, then generating the full table takes 8.9 CPU-years. With a fleet of 1,000 CPUs, this would only take around 78 hours. Using a rainbow table with a "depth" of 1,000,000 hashes per entry, the resulting table would only contain a few hundred million entries (a few GB) and require 0.5 seconds (on average, ignoring I/O time) to reverse any encrypted MAC into its original form. In 2018, academics found that with modern computing equipment with the ability to calculate 6 billion MD5 hashes and 844 million SHA-256 hashes per second the authors are able to recover 100% of 1 million hashes in:[6] Another approach that has been tested is truncating the MAC Address by removing theOrganizationally unique identifier(the first 24 bits of the 48 bit MAC Address).[7]However, as only 0.1% of the totalOrganizationally unique identifierspace has been allocated and not all manufacturers fully utilise their allocated MAC Address space, this fails to offer any meaningful privacy benefit.[8]Furthermore, manufacturers will frequently assign contiguous address blocks to specific devices allows for fine-grained mapping of the devices in use - allowing the device type to be identified with only a small part of the MAC Address.[9] Due to the pitfalls of existing approaches, more robust anonymization approaches have been developed by academics.[10]In particular, Junade Ali and Vladimir Dyo developed an approach which works by:[11] The degree to which a resulting hash is truncated is a balancing act between the privacy offered and the desired collision rate (the probability that one anonymised MAC Address will overlap with another). Previous work has suggested that it is therefore difficult to control the anonymity set size when using approximations of theBirthday Paradox.[12]Instead, Ali and Dyo use the overall rate of collision in the dataset and provide that the probability of there being a collisionpcan be calculated byp=1−(1−1/n)m−1{\displaystyle p=1-(1-1/n)^{m-1}}where there aremMAC Addresses andnpossible hash digests. Therefore "for digests of 24 bits it is possible to store up to 168,617 MAC addresses with the rate of collisions less than 1%".	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address_anonymization
Trilaterationis the use ofdistances(or "ranges") for determining the unknownposition coordinatesof apointof interest, often around Earth (geopositioning).[1]When more than three distances are involved, it may be calledmultilateration, for emphasis. The distances or ranges might be ordinaryEuclidean distances(slant ranges) orspherical distances(scaledcentral angles), as intrue-range multilateration; or biased distances (pseudo-ranges), as inpseudo-range multilateration. Trilateration or multilateration should not be confused withtriangulation, which usesanglesfor positioning; anddirection finding, which determines the line of sightdirectionto a target without determining theradial distance. Multiple, sometimes overlapping and conflicting terms are employed for similar concepts – e.g.,multilaterationwithout modification has been used for aviation systems employing both true-ranges and pseudo-ranges.[2][3]Moreover, different fields of endeavor may employ different terms. Ingeometry,trilaterationis defined as the process of determining absolute or relative locations of points by measurement of distances, using the geometry ofcircles,spheresortriangles. In surveying,trilaterationis a specific technique.[4][5][6] True-range multilateration(also termed range-range multilateration and spherical multilateration) is a method to determine the location of a movable vehicle or stationary point in space using multipleranges(distances) between the vehicle/point and multiple spatially-separated known locations (often termed "stations").[7][8]Energy waves may be involved in determining range, but are not required. True-range multilateration is both a mathematical topic and an applied technique used in several fields. A practical application involving a fixed location occurs insurveying.[9][10]Applications involving vehicle location are termednavigationwhen on-board persons/equipment are informed of its location, and are termedsurveillancewhen off-vehicle entities are informed of the vehicle's location. Twoslant rangesfrom two known locations can be used to locate a third point in a two-dimensional Cartesian space (plane), which is a frequently applied technique (e.g., in surveying). Similarly, twospherical rangescan be used to locate a point on a sphere, which is a fundamental concept of the ancient discipline ofcelestial navigation— termed thealtitude interceptproblem. Moreover, if more than the minimum number of ranges are available, it is good practice to utilize those as well. This article addresses the general issue of position determination using multiple ranges. Intwo-dimensional geometry, it is known that if a point lies on two circles, then the circle centers and the two radii provide sufficient information to narrow the possible locations down to two – one of which is the desired solution and the other is an ambiguous solution. Additional information often narrow the possibilities down to a unique location. In three-dimensional geometry, when it is known that a point lies on the surfaces of three spheres, then the centers of the three spheres along with their radii also provide sufficient information to narrow the possible locations down to no more than two (unless the centers lie on a straight line). Pseudo-range multilateration, often simply multilateration (MLAT) when in context, is a technique fordetermining the positionof an unknown point, such as a vehicle, based on measurement of biasedtimes of flight(TOFs) of energy waves traveling between the vehicle and multiple stations at known locations. TOFs are biased by synchronization errors in the difference betweentimes of arrival(TOA) andtimes of transmission(TOT):TOF=TOA-TOT.Pseudo-ranges(PRs) are TOFs multiplied by the wave propagation speed:PR=TOF ⋅ s. In general, the stations' clocks are assumed synchronized but the vehicle's clock is desynchronized. In MLAT forsurveillance, the waves are transmitted by the vehicle and received by the stations; the TOT is unique and unknown, while the TOAs are multiple and known. When MLAT is used fornavigation(as inhyperbolic navigation), the waves are transmitted by the stations and received by the vehicle; in this case, the TOTs are multiple but known, while the TOA is unique and unknown. In navigation applications, the vehicle is often termed the "user"; in surveillance applications, the vehicle may be termed the "target". The vehicle's clock is considered an additional unknown, to be estimated along with the vehicle's position coordinates. Ifd{\displaystyle d}is the number of physical dimensions being considered (e.g., 2 for a plane) andm{\displaystyle m}is the number of signals received (thus, TOFs measured), it is required thatm≥d+1{\displaystyle m\geq d+1}. Processing is usually required to extract the TOAs or their differences from the received signals, and analgorithmis usually required to solve this set of equations. An algorithm either: (a) determines numerical values for the TOT (for the receiver(s) clock) andd{\displaystyle d}vehicle coordinates; or (b) ignores the TOT and formsm−1{\displaystyle m-1}(at leastd{\displaystyle d})time difference of arrivals(TDOAs), which are used to find thed{\displaystyle d}vehicle coordinates. Almost always,d=2{\displaystyle d=2}(e.g., a plane or the surface of a sphere) ord=3{\displaystyle d=3}(e.g., the real physical world). Systems that form TDOAs are also calledhyperbolicsystems,[11]for reasons discussed below. A multilaterationnavigationsystem provides vehicle position information to an entity "on" the vehicle (e.g., aircraft pilot or GPS receiver operator). A multilaterationsurveillancesystem provides vehicle position to an entity "not on" the vehicle (e.g., air traffic controller or cell phone provider). By the reciprocity principle, any method that can be used for navigation can also be used for surveillance, and vice versa (the same information is involved).	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilateration
In3D human-computer interaction,positional tracking, also calledpose tracking, is a process that tracks the position and/or orientation ofhead-mounted displays, controllers, or other input devices withinEuclidean space. Pose tracking is often referred to as 6DOF tracking, for thesix degrees of freedomin which the objects are often tracked.[1] In some consumer GPS systems, orientation data is added additionally usingmagnetometers, which give partial orientation information, but not the full orientation that pose tracking provides. In VR, it is paramount that pose tracking is both accurate and precise so as not to break the illusion of a being in virtual world. Several methods of tracking the position and orientation (pitch, yaw and roll) of a display and any associated objects or devices have been developed to achieve this. Many methods utilize sensors which repeatedly record signals from transmitters on or near the tracked object(s), and then send that data to the computer in order to maintain an approximation of their physical locations. A popular tracking method isLighthouse tracking. By and large, these physical locations are identified and defined using one or more of three coordinate systems: the Cartesian rectilinear system, the spherical polar system, and the cylindrical system. Many interfaces have also been designed to monitor and control one's movement within and interaction with the virtual 3D space; such interfaces must work closely with positional tracking systems to provide a seamless user experience.[2] Another type of pose tracking used more often in newer systems is referred to as inside-out tracking, includingsimultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) orvisual-inertial odometry(VIO). An example of a device that uses inside-out positional tracking is theOculus Quest 2. Wireless tracking uses a set of anchors that are placed around the perimeter of the tracking space and one or more tags that are tracked. This system is similar in concept to GPS, but works both indoors and outdoors. Sometimes referred to as indoor GPS. The tagstriangulatetheir 3D position using the anchors placed around the perimeter. A wireless technology called Ultra Wideband has enabled the position tracking to reach a precision of under 100 mm. By using sensor fusion and high speed algorithms, the tracking precision can reach 5 mm level with update speeds of 200 Hz or 5 mslatency. Pros: Cons: Optical tracking uses cameras placed on or around the headset to determine position and orientation based oncomputer vision algorithms. This method is based on the same principle asstereoscopic human vision. When a person looks at an object using binocular vision, they are able to define approximately at what distance the object is placed due to the difference in perspective between the two eyes. In optical tracking, cameras are calibrated to determine the distance to the object and its position in space.Optical systemsare reliable and relatively inexpensive, but they can be difficult to calibrate. Furthermore, the system requires a direct line of light without occlusions, otherwise it will receive wrong data. Optical tracking can be done either with or without markers. Tracking with markers involves targets with known patterns to serve as reference points, and cameras constantly seek these markers and then use various algorithms (for example,POSIT algorithm) to extract the position of the object. Markers can be visible, such as printedQR codes, but many useinfrared(IR) light that can only be picked up by cameras. Active implementations feature markers with built-in IR LED lights which can turn on and off to sync with the camera, making it easier to block out other IR lights in the tracking area.[5]Passive implementations areretroreflectorswhich reflect the IR light back towards the source with little scattering. Markerless tracking does not require any pre-placed targets, instead using the natural features of the surrounding environment to determine position and orientation.[6] In this method, cameras are placed in stationary locations in the environment to track the position of markers on the tracked device, such as a head mounted display or controllers. Having multiple cameras allows for different views of the same markers, and this overlap allows for accurate readings of the device position.[5]The originalOculus Riftutilizes this technique, placing a constellation of IR LEDs on its headset and controllers to allow external cameras in the environment to read their positions.[7]This method is the most mature, having applications not only in VR but also in motion capture technology for film.[8]However, this solution is space-limited, needing external sensors in constant view of the device. Pros: Cons: In this method, the camera is placed on the tracked device and looks outward to determine its location in the environment. Headsets that use this tech have multiple cameras facing different directions to get views of its entire surroundings. This method can work with or without markers. The Lighthouse system used by theHTC Viveis an example of active markers. Each external Lighthouse module contains IR LEDs as well as a laser array that sweeps in horizontal and vertical directions, and sensors on the headset and controllers can detect these sweeps and use the timings to determine position.[10][11]Markerless tracking, such as on theOculus Quest, does not require anything mounted in the outside environment. It uses cameras on the headset for a process calledSLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, where a 3D map of the environment is generated in real time.[6]Machine learning algorithms then determine where the headset is positioned within that 3D map, using feature detection to reconstruct and analyze its surroundings.[12][13]This tech allows high-end headsets like theMicrosoft HoloLensto be self-contained, but it also opens the door for cheaper mobile headsets without the need of tethering to external computers or sensors.[14] Pros: Cons: Inertial tracking is a native method of rotational tracking. It uses data fromaccelerometersandgyroscopes, and sometimesmagnetometers. Accelerometers measure linear acceleration. Since the derivative of position with respect to time is velocity and the derivative of velocity is acceleration, the output of the accelerometer can theoretically be integrated to find the velocity and then integrated again to find the position relative to some initial point. Gyroscopes measureangular velocity. Angular velocity can be integrated as well to determine angular position relatively to the initial point. Magnetometers measure magnetic fields and magnetic dipole moments. The direction of Earth's magnetic field can be integrated to have an absolute orientation reference and to compensate for gyroscopic drifts.[15]Moderninertial measurement units systems (IMU)are based onMEMS technologyallows to track the orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) in space with high update rates and minimal latency. Gyroscopes are always used for rotational tracking, but different techniques are used for positional tracking based on factors like cost, ease of setup, and tracking volume.[16] Dead reckoningis used to track positional data, which alters the virtual environment by updating motion changes of the user.[17]The dead reckoning update rate and prediction algorithm used in a virtual reality system affect the user experience, but there is no consensus on best practices as many different techniques have been used.[17]It is hard to rely only on inertial tracking to determine the precise position becausedead reckoningleads to drift, so this type of tracking is not used in isolation in virtual reality.[18]A lag between the user's movement and virtual reality display of more than 100ms has been found to cause nausea.[19] Inertial sensors are not only capable of tracking rotational movement (roll, pitch, yaw), but also translational movement. These two types of movement together are known as theSix degrees of freedom. Many applications of virtual reality need to not only track the users’ head rotations, but also how their bodies move with them (left/right, back/forth, up/down).[20]Six degrees of freedom capability is not necessary for all virtual reality experiences, but it is useful when the user needs to move things other than their head. Pros: Cons: Sensor fusion combines data from several tracking algorithms and can yield better outputs than only one technology. One of the variants of sensor fusion is to merge inertial and optical tracking. These two techniques are often used together because while inertial sensors are optimal for tracking fast movements they also accumulate errors quickly, and optical sensors offer absolute references to compensate for inertial weaknesses.[16]Further, inertial tracking can offset some shortfalls of optical tracking. For example, optical tracking can be the main tracking method, but when an occlusion occurs inertial tracking estimates the position until the objects are visible to the optical camera again. Inertial tracking could also generate position data in-between optical tracking position data because inertial tracking has higherupdate rate. Optical tracking also helps to cope with a drift of inertial tracking. Combining optical and inertial tracking has shown to reduce misalignment errors that commonly occur when a user moves their head too fast.[21]Microelectrical magnetic systems advancements have made magnetic/electric tracking more common due to their small size and low cost.[22] Acoustic tracking systems use techniques for identifying an object or device's position similar to those found naturally in animals that useecholocation. Analogous to bats locating objects using differences in soundwave return times to their two ears, acoustic tracking systems in VR may use sets of at least three ultrasonic sensors and at least three ultrasonic transmitters on devices in order to calculate the position and orientation of an object (e.g. a handheld controller).[23]There are two ways to determine the position of the object: to measure time-of-flight of the sound wave from thetransmitterto the receivers or the phase coherence of the sinusoidal sound wave by receiving the transfer. Given a set of three noncollinear sensors (or receivers) with distances between them d1and d2, as well as the travel times of an ultrasonic soundwave (a wave with frequency greater than 20 kHz) from a transmitter to those three receivers, the relative Cartesian position of the transmitter can be calculated as follows: x0=l12+d12−l222d1{\displaystyle x_{0}={l_{1}^{2}+d_{1}^{2}-l_{2}^{2} \over 2d_{1}}} y0=l12+d22−l322d2{\displaystyle y_{0}={l_{1}^{2}+d_{2}^{2}-l_{3}^{2} \over 2d_{2}}} z0=l12−x02−y02{\displaystyle z_{0}={\sqrt {l_{1}^{2}-x_{0}^{2}-y_{0}^{2}}}} Here, eachlirepresents the distance from the transmitter to each of the three receivers, calculated based on the travel time of the ultrasonic wave using the equationl=ctus. The constantcdenotes the speed of sound, which is equal to 343.2 m/s in dry air at temperature 20°C. Because at least three receivers are required, these calculations are commonly known astriangulation. Beyond its position, determining a device's orientation (i.e. its degree of rotation in all directions) requires at least three noncollinear points on the tracked object to be known, mandating the number of ultrasonic transmitters to be at least three per device tracked in addition to the three aforementioned receivers. The transmitters emit ultrasonic waves in sequence toward the three receivers, which can then be used to derive spatial data on the three transmitters using the methods described above. The device's orientation can then be derived based on the known positioning of the transmitters upon the device and their spatial locations relative to one another.[24] As opposed to TOF methods, phase-coherent (PC) tracking methods have also been used to locate object acoustically. PC tracking involves comparing the phase of the current soundwave received by sensors to that of a prior reference signal, such that one can determine the relative change in position of transmitters from the last measurement. Because this method operates only on observed changes in position values, and not on absolute measurements, any errors in measurement tend to compound over more observations. Consequently, this method has lost popularity with developers over time. Pros: Cons: In summary, implementation of acoustic tracking is optimal in cases where one has total control over the ambient environment that the VR or AR system resides in, such as a flight simulator.[2][25][26] Magnetic tracking relies on measuring the intensity of inhomogenousmagnetic fieldswith electromagnetic sensors. Abase station, often referred to as the system's transmitter or field generator, generates analternatingor astaticelectromagnetic field, depending on the system's architecture. To cover all directions in the three dimensional space, three magnetic fields are generated sequentially. The magnetic fields are generated by three electromagnetic coils which are perpendicular to each other. These coils should be put in a small housing mounted on a moving target which position is necessary to track. Current, sequentially passing through the coils, turns them into electromagnets, which allows them to determine their position and orientation in space. Because magnetic tracking does not require a head-mounted display, which are frequently used in virtual reality, it is often the tracking system used in fully immersive virtual reality displays.[21]Conventional equipment like head-mounted displays are obtrusive to the user in fully enclosed virtual reality experiences, so alternative equipment such as that used in magnetic tracking is favored. Magnetic tracking has been implemented by Polhemus and inRazer Hydra by Sixense. The system works poorly near any electrically conductive material, such as metal objects and devices, that can affect an electromagnetic field. Magnetic tracking worsens as the user moves away from the base emitter,[21]and scalable area is limited and can't be bigger than 5 meters. Pros: Cons:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positional_tracking
Real-time locating systems(RTLS), also known asreal-time tracking systems, are used to automaticallyidentifyandtrackthe location of objects or people inreal time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are attached to objects or worn by people, and in most RTLS, fixed reference points receive wireless signals from tags to determine their location.[1]Examples of real-time locating systems include tracking automobiles through anassembly line, locating pallets of merchandise in a warehouse, or finding medical equipment in a hospital. The physical layer of RTLS technology is oftenradio frequency(RF) communication. Some systems use optical (usuallyinfrared) or acoustic (usuallyultrasound) technology with, or in place of RF, RTLS tags. And fixed reference points can betransmitters,receivers, or both resulting in numerous possible technology combinations. RTLS are a form oflocal positioning systemand do not usually refer toGPSor tomobile phone tracking. Location information usually does not include speed, direction, or spatial orientation. The term RTLS was created (circa 1998) at theID EXPOtrade show by Tim Harrington (WhereNet), Jay Werb (PinPoint), and Bert Moore (Automatic Identification Manufacturers, Inc., AIM). It was created to describe and differentiate anemerging technologythat not only provided the automatic identification capabilities of activeRFIDtags, but also added the ability to view the location on a computer screen. It was at this show that the first examples of a commercial radio based RTLS system were shown by PinPoint and WhereNet. Although this capability had been utilized previously by military and government agencies, the technology had been too expensive for commercial purposes. In the early 1990s, the first commercial RTLS were installed at three healthcare facilities in the United States and were based on the transmission and decoding ofinfrared lightsignals from actively transmitting tags. Since then, new technology has emerged that also enables RTLS to be applied to passive tag applications. RTLS are generally used in indoor and/or confined areas, such as buildings, and do not provide global coverage likeGPS. RTLS tags are affixed to mobile items, such as equipment or personnel, to be tracked or managed. RTLS reference points, which can be either transmitters or receivers, are spaced throughout a building (or similar area of interest) to provide the desired tag coverage. In most cases, the more RTLS reference points that are installed, the better the location accuracy, until the technology limitations are reached. A number of disparate system designs are all referred to as "real-time locating systems". Two primary system design elements are locating at choke points and locating in relative coordinates. The simplest form ofchoke pointlocating is where short range ID signals from a moving tag are received by a single fixed reader in a sensory network, thus indicating the location coincidence of reader and tag. Alternately, a choke point identifier can be received by the moving tag and then relayed, usually via a second wireless channel, to a location processor. Accuracy is usually defined by the sphere spanned with the reach of the choke point transmitter or receiver. The use of directional antennas, or technologies such as infrared or ultrasound that are blocked by room partitions, can support choke points of various geometries.[2] ID signals from a tag are received by a multiplicity of readers in asensory network, and a position is estimated using one or more locating algorithms, such astrilateration,multilateration, ortriangulation. Equivalently, ID signals from several RTLS reference points can be received by a tag and relayed back to a location processor. Localization with multiple reference points requires that distances between reference points in the sensory network be known in order to precisely locate a tag, and the determination of distances is calledranging. Another way to calculate relative location is viamobile tagscommunicating with one another. The tag(s) will then relay this information to a location processor. RF trilateration uses estimated ranges from multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. RF triangulation uses the angles at which the RF signals arrive at multiple receivers to estimate the location of a tag. Many obstructions, such as walls or furniture, can distort the estimated range and angle readings leading to varied qualities of location estimate. Estimation-based locating is often measured in accuracy for a given distance, such as 90% accurate for 10-meter range. Some systems use locating technologies that can't pass through walls, such as infrared or ultrasound. These require line of sight (or near line of sight) to communicate properly. As a result, they tend to be more accurate in indoor environments. RTLS can be used in numerouslogisticalor operational areas to: RTLS may be seen as a threat toprivacywhen used to determine the location of people. The newly declared human right ofinformational self-determinationgives the right to prevent one's identity andpersonal datafrom being disclosed to others and also covers disclosure of locality, though this does not generally apply to theworkplace. Several prominentlabor unionshave spoken out against the use of RTLS systems to track workers, calling them "the beginning ofBig Brother" and "aninvasion of privacy".[5] Current location-tracking technologies can be used to pinpoint users of mobile devices in several ways. First, service providers have access to network-based and handset-based technologies that can locate a phone for emergency purposes. Second, historical location can frequently be discerned from service provider records. Thirdly, other devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots or IMSI catchers can be used to track nearby mobile devices in real time. Finally, hybrid positioning systems combine different methods in an attempt to overcome each individual method's shortcomings.[6] There is a wide variety of systems concepts and designs to provide real-time locating.[7] A general model for selection of the best solution for a locating problem has been constructed at theRadboud University of Nijmegen.[19]Many of these references do not comply with the definitions given in international standardization with ISO/IEC 19762-5[20]and ISO/IEC 24730-1.[21]However, some aspects of real-time performance are served and aspects of locating are addressed in context of absolute coordinates. Depending on the physical technology used, at least one and often some combination of ranging and/or angulating methods are used to determine location: Real-time locating is affected by a variety of errors. Many of the major reasons relate to the physics of the locating system, and may not be reduced by improving the technical equipment. Many RTLS systems require direct and clear line of sight visibility. For those systems, where there is no visibility from mobile tags to fixed nodes there will be no result or a non valid result fromlocating engine. This applies to satellite locating as well as other RTLS systems such as angle of arrival and time of arrival. Fingerprinting is a way to overcome the visibility issue: If the locations in the tracking area contain distinct measurement fingerprints, line of sight is not necessarily needed. For example, if each location contains a unique combination of signal strength readings from transmitters, the location system will function properly. This is true, for example, with some Wi-Fi based RTLS solutions. However, having distinct signal strength fingerprints in each location typically requires a fairly high saturation of transmitters. The measured location may appear entirely faulty. This is a generally result of simple operational models to compensate for the plurality of error sources. It proves impossible to serve proper location after ignoring the errors. Real timeis no registered branding and has no inherent quality. A variety of offers sails under this term. As motion causes location changes, inevitably the latency time to compute a new location may be dominant with regard to motion. Either an RTLS system that requires waiting for new results is not worth the money or the operational concept that asks for faster location updates does not comply with the chosen system's approach. Location will never be reportedexactly, as the termreal-timeand the termprecisiondirectly contradict in aspects of measurement theory as well as the termprecisionand the termcostcontradict in aspects of economy. That is no exclusion of precision, but the limitations with higher speed are inevitable. Recognizing a reported location steadily apart from physical presence generally indicates the problem of insufficient over-determination and missing of visibility along at least one link from resident anchors to mobile transponders. Such effect is caused also by insufficient concepts to compensate for calibration needs. Noise from various sources has an erratic influence on stability of results. The aim to provide a steady appearance increases the latency contradicting to real time requirements. As objects containing mass have limitations to jump, such effects are mostly beyond physical reality. Jumps of reported location not visible with the object itself generally indicate improper modeling with the location engine. Such effect is caused by changing dominance of various secondary responses. Location of residing objects gets reported moving, as soon as the measures taken are biased by secondary path reflections with increasing weight over time. Such effect is caused by simple averaging and the effect indicates insufficient discrimination of first echoes. The basic issues of RTLS are standardized by theInternational Organization for Standardizationand theInternational Electrotechnical Commissionunder the ISO/IEC 24730 series. In this series of standards, the basic standard ISO/IEC 24730-1 identifies the terms describing a form of RTLS used by a set of vendors but does not encompass the full scope of RTLS technology. Currently several standards are published: These standards do not stipulate any special method of computing locations, nor the method of measuring locations. This may be defined in specifications for trilateration, triangulation, or any hybrid approaches to trigonometric computing for planar or spherical models of a terrestrial area. In RTLS application in the healthcare industry, various studies were issued discussing the limitations of the currently adopted RTLS. Currently used technologies RFID, Wi-fi, UWB, all RFID based are hazardous in the sense of interference with sensitive equipment. A study carried out by Dr Erik Jan van Lieshout of the Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam published inJAMA(Journal of the American Medical Equipment)[24]claimed "RFID and UWB could shut down equipment patients rely on" as "RFID caused interference in 34 of the 123 tests they performed". The first Bluetooth RTLS provider in the medical industry is supporting this in their article: "The fact that RFID cannot be used near sensitive equipment should in itself be a red flag to the medical industry". The RFID Journal responded to this study not negating it rather explaining real-case solution: "The Purdue study showed no effect when ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) systems were kept at a reasonable distance from medical equipment. So placing readers in utility rooms, near elevators and above doors between hospital wings or departments to track assets is not a problem".[25]However the case of ”keeping at a reasonable distance” might be still an open question for the RTLS technology adopters and providers in medical facilities. In many applications it is very difficult and at the same time important to make a proper choice among various communication technologies (e.g., RFID, WiFi, etc.) which RTLS may include. Wrong design decisions made at early stages can lead to catastrophic results for the system and a significant loss of money for fixing and redesign. To solve this problem a special methodology for RTLS design space exploration was developed. It consists of such steps as modelling, requirements specification, and verification into a single efficient process.[26]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_locating
Simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) is the computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of anagent's location within it. While this initially appears to be achicken or the eggproblem, there are severalalgorithmsknown to solve it in, at least approximately, tractable time for certain environments. Popular approximate solution methods include theparticle filter, extendedKalman filter, covariance intersection, and GraphSLAM. SLAM algorithms are based on concepts incomputational geometryandcomputer vision, and are used inrobot navigation,robotic mappingandodometryforvirtual realityoraugmented reality. SLAM algorithms are tailored to the available resources and are not aimed at perfection but at operational compliance. Published approaches are employed inself-driving cars,unmanned aerial vehicles,autonomous underwater vehicles,planetary rovers, newerdomestic robotsand even inside the human body. Given a series of controlsut{\displaystyle u_{t}}and sensor observationsot{\displaystyle o_{t}}over discrete time stepst{\displaystyle t}, the SLAM problem is to compute an estimate of the agent's statext{\displaystyle x_{t}}and a map of the environmentmt{\displaystyle m_{t}}. All quantities are usually probabilistic, so the objective is to compute[1] ApplyingBayes' rulegives a framework for sequentially updating the location posteriors, given a map and a transition functionP(xt\|xt−1){\displaystyle P(x_{t}\|x_{t-1})}, Similarly the map can be updated sequentially by Like many inference problems, the solutions to inferring the two variables together can be found, to a local optimum solution, by alternating updates of the two beliefs in a form of anexpectation–maximization algorithm. Statistical techniques used to approximate the above equations includeKalman filtersandparticle filters(the algorithm behind Monte Carlo Localization). They provide an estimation of theposterior probability distributionfor the pose of the robot and for the parameters of the map. Methods which conservatively approximate the above model usingcovariance intersectionare able to avoid reliance on statistical independence assumptions to reduce algorithmic complexity for large-scale applications.[2]Other approximation methods achieve improved computational efficiency by using simple bounded-region representations of uncertainty.[3] Set-membership techniquesare mainly based oninterval constraint propagation.[4][5]They provide a set which encloses the pose of the robot and a set approximation of the map.Bundle adjustment, and more generallymaximum a posteriori estimation(MAP), is another popular technique for SLAM using image data, which jointly estimates poses and landmark positions, increasing map fidelity, and is used in commercialized SLAM systems such as Google's ARCore which replaces their prior augmented reality computing platform named Tango, formerlyProject Tango. MAP estimators compute the most likely explanation of the robot poses and the map given the sensor data, rather than trying to estimate the entire posterior probability. New SLAM algorithms remain an active research area,[6]and are often driven by differing requirements and assumptions about the types of maps, sensors and models as detailed below. Many SLAM systems can be viewed as combinations of choices from each of these aspects. Topological maps are a method of environment representation which capture the connectivity (i.e., topology) of the environment rather than creating a geometrically accurate map. Topological SLAM approaches have been used to enforce global consistency in metric SLAM algorithms.[7] In contrast, grid maps use arrays (typically square or hexagonal) of discretized cells to represent a topological world, and make inferences about which cells are occupied. Typically the cells are assumed to be statistically independent to simplify computation. Under such assumption,P(mt\|xt,mt−1,ot){\displaystyle P(m_{t}\|x_{t},m_{t-1},o_{t})}are set to 1 if the new map's cells are consistent with the observationot{\displaystyle o_{t}}at locationxt{\displaystyle x_{t}}and 0 if inconsistent. Modern self driving cars mostly simplify the mapping problem to almost nothing, by making extensive use of highly detailed map data collected in advance. This can include map annotations to the level of marking locations of individual white line segments and curbs on the road. Location-tagged visual data such as Google's StreetView may also be used as part of maps. Essentially such systems simplify the SLAM problem to a simpler localization only task, perhaps allowing for moving objects such as cars and people only to be updated in the map at runtime. SLAM will always use several different types of sensors, and the powers and limits of various sensor types have been a major driver of new algorithms.[8]Statistical independence is the mandatory requirement to cope with metric bias and with noise in measurements. Different types of sensors give rise to different SLAM algorithms which assumptions are most appropriate to the sensors. At one extreme, laser scans or visual features provide details of many points within an area, sometimes rendering SLAM inference unnecessary because shapes in these point clouds can be easily and unambiguously aligned at each step viaimage registration. At the opposite extreme,tactile sensorsare extremely sparse as they contain only information about points very close to the agent, so they require strong prior models to compensate in purely tactile SLAM. Most practical SLAM tasks fall somewhere between these visual and tactile extremes. Sensor models divide broadly into landmark-based and raw-data approaches. Landmarks are uniquely identifiable objects in the world which location can be estimated by a sensor, such asWi-Fiaccess points or radio beacons. Raw-data approaches make no assumption that landmarks can be identified, and instead modelP(ot\|xt){\displaystyle P(o_{t}\|x_{t})}directly as a function of the location. Optical sensors may be one-dimensional (single beam) or 2D- (sweeping)laser rangefinders, 3D high definition light detection and ranging (lidar), 3D flash lidar, 2D or 3Dsonarsensors, and one or more 2Dcameras.[8]Since the invention of local features, such asSIFT, there has been intense research into visual SLAM (VSLAM) using primarily visual (camera) sensors, because of the increasing ubiquity of cameras such as those in mobile devices.[9]Follow up research includes.[10]Both visual andlidarsensors are informative enough to allow for landmark extraction in many cases. Other recent forms of SLAM include tactile SLAM[11](sensing by local touch only), radar SLAM,[12]acoustic SLAM,[13]and Wi-Fi-SLAM (sensing by strengths of nearby Wi-Fi access points).[14]Recent approaches apply quasi-opticalwirelessranging formulti-lateration(real-time locating system(RTLS)) ormulti-angulationin conjunction with SLAM as a tribute to erratic wireless measures. A kind of SLAM for human pedestrians uses a shoe mountedinertial measurement unitas the main sensor and relies on the fact that pedestrians are able to avoid walls to automatically build floor plans of buildings by anindoor positioning system.[15] For some outdoor applications, the need for SLAM has been almost entirely removed due to high precision differentialGPSsensors. From a SLAM perspective, these may be viewed as location sensors which likelihoods are so sharp that they completely dominate the inference. However, GPS sensors may occasionally decline or go down entirely, e.g. during times of military conflict, which are of particular interest to some robotics applications. TheP(xt\|xt−1){\displaystyle P(x_{t}\|x_{t-1})}term represents the kinematics of the model, which usually include information about action commands given to a robot. As a part of the model, thekinematics of the robotis included, to improve estimates of sensing under conditions of inherent and ambient noise. The dynamic model balances the contributions from various sensors, various partial error models and finally comprises in a sharp virtual depiction as a map with the location and heading of the robot as some cloud of probability. Mapping is the final depicting of such model, the map is either such depiction or the abstract term for the model. For 2D robots, the kinematics are usually given by a mixture of rotation and "move forward" commands, which are implemented with additional motor noise. Unfortunately the distribution formed by independent noise in angular and linear directions is non-Gaussian, but is often approximated by a Gaussian. An alternative approach is to ignore the kinematic term and read odometry data from robot wheels after each command—such data may then be treated as one of the sensors rather than as kinematics. Non-static environments, such as those containing other vehicles or pedestrians, continue to present research challenges.[16][17]SLAM with DATMO is a model which tracks moving objects in a similar way to the agent itself.[18] Loop closure is the problem of recognizing a previously-visited location and updating beliefs accordingly. This can be a problem because model or algorithm errors can assign low priors to the location. Typical loop closure methods apply a second algorithm to compute some type of sensor measure similarity, and reset the location priors when a match is detected. For example, this can be done by storing and comparingbag of wordsvectors ofscale-invariant feature transform(SIFT) features from each previously visited location. Active SLAMstudies the combined problem of SLAM with deciding where to move next to build the map as efficiently as possible. The need for active exploration is especially pronounced in sparse sensing regimes such as tactile SLAM. Active SLAM is generally performed by approximating theentropyof the map under hypothetical actions. "Multi agent SLAM" extends this problem to the case of multiple robots coordinating themselves to explore optimally. In neuroscience, thehippocampusappears to be involved in SLAM-like computations,[19][20][21]giving rise toplace cells, and has formed the basis for bio-inspired SLAM systems such as RatSLAM. Collaborative SLAMcombines sensors from multiple robots or users to generate 3D maps.[22]This capability was demonstrated by a number of teams in the2021 DARPA Subterranean Challenge. An extension of the common SLAM problem has been applied to the acoustic domain, where environments are represented by the three-dimensional (3D) position of sound sources, termed aSLAM (AcousticSimultaneousLocalization andMapping).[23]Early implementations of this technique have used direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimates of the sound source location, and rely on principal techniques ofsound localizationto determine source locations. An observer, or robot must be equipped with amicrophone arrayto enable use of Acoustic SLAM, so that DoA features are properly estimated. Acoustic SLAM has paved foundations for further studies in acoustic scene mapping, and can play an important role in human-robot interaction through speech. To map multiple, and occasionally intermittent sound sources, an acoustic SLAM system uses foundations in random finite set theory to handle the varying presence of acoustic landmarks.[24]However, the nature of acoustically derived features leaves Acoustic SLAM susceptible to problems of reverberation, inactivity, and noise within an environment. Originally designed for human–robot interaction, Audio-Visual SLAM is a framework that provides the fusion of landmark features obtained from both the acoustic and visual modalities within an environment.[25]Human interaction is characterized by features perceived in not only the visual modality, but the acoustic modality as well; as such, SLAM algorithms for human-centered robots and machines must account for both sets of features. An Audio-Visual framework estimates and maps positions of human landmarks through use of visual features like human pose, and audio features like human speech, and fuses the beliefs for a more robust map of the environment. For applications in mobile robotics (ex. drones, service robots), it is valuable to use low-power, lightweight equipment such as monocular cameras, or microelectronic microphone arrays. Audio-Visual SLAM can also allow for complimentary function of such sensors, by compensating the narrow field-of-view, feature occlusions, and optical degradations common to lightweight visual sensors with the full field-of-view, and unobstructed feature representations inherent to audio sensors. The susceptibility of audio sensors to reverberation, sound source inactivity, and noise can also be accordingly compensated through fusion of landmark beliefs from the visual modality. Complimentary function between the audio and visual modalities in an environment can prove valuable for the creation of robotics and machines that fully interact with human speech and human movement. Various SLAM algorithms are implemented in theopen-source softwareRobot Operating System(ROS) libraries, often used together with thePoint Cloud Libraryfor 3D maps or visual features fromOpenCV. Inrobotics,EKF SLAMis a class of algorithms which uses theextended Kalman filter(EKF) for SLAM. Typically, EKF SLAM algorithms are feature based, and use the maximum likelihood algorithm for data association. In the 1990s and 2000s, EKF SLAM had been the de facto method for SLAM, until the introduction ofFastSLAM.[26] Associated with the EKF is the gaussian noise assumption, which significantly impairs EKF SLAM's ability to deal with uncertainty. With greater amount of uncertainty in the posterior, the linearization in the EKF fails.[27] Inrobotics,GraphSLAMis a SLAM algorithm which uses sparse information matrices produced by generating afactor graphof observation interdependencies (two observations are related if they contain data about the same landmark).[27]It is based on optimization algorithms. A seminal work in SLAM is the research of Smith and Cheeseman on the representation and estimation of spatial uncertainty in 1986.[28][29]Other pioneering work in this field was conducted by the research group ofHugh F. Durrant-Whytein the early 1990s.[30]which showed that solutions to SLAM exist in the infinite data limit. This finding motivates the search for algorithms which are computationally tractable and approximate the solution. The acronym SLAM was coined within the paper, "Localization of Autonomous Guided Vehicles" which first appeared inISRin 1995.[31] The self-driving STANLEY and JUNIOR cars, led bySebastian Thrun, won the DARPA Grand Challenge and came second in the DARPA Urban Challenge in the 2000s, and included SLAM systems, bringing SLAM to worldwide attention. Mass-market SLAM implementations can now be found in consumer robot vacuum cleaners[32]andvirtual reality headsetssuch as theMeta Quest 2andPICO 4for markerless inside-out tracking.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneous_localization_and_mapping
Trusted timestampingis the process ofsecurelykeeping track of the creation and modification time of a document. Security here means that no one—not even the owner of the document—should be able to change it once it has been recorded provided that the timestamper's integrity is never compromised. The administrative aspect involves setting up a publicly available, trusted timestamp management infrastructure to collect, process and renew timestamps. The idea of timestamping information is centuries old. For example, whenRobert HookediscoveredHooke's lawin 1660, he did not want to publish it yet, but wanted to be able to claim priority. So he published theanagramceiiinosssttuvand later published the translationut tensio sic vis(Latin for "as is the extension, so is the force"). Similarly,Galileofirst published his discovery of the phases of Venus in the anagram form. Sir Isaac Newton, in responding to questions fromLeibnizin a letter in 1677, concealed the details of his"fluxional technique"with an anagram: Trusted digital timestamping has first been discussed in literature byStuart HaberandW. Scott Stornetta.[1] There are many timestamping schemes with different security goals: Coverage in standards: For systematic classification and evaluation of timestamping schemes see works by Masashi Une.[2] According to the RFC 3161 standard, a trusted timestamp is atimestampissued by aTrusted Third Party(TTP) acting as aTime Stamping Authority(TSA). It is used to prove the existence of certain data before a certain point (e.g. contracts, research data, medical records, ...) without the possibility that the owner can backdate the timestamps. Multiple TSAs can be used to increase reliability and reduce vulnerability. The newerANSI ASC X9.95 Standardfortrusted timestampsaugments the RFC 3161 standard with data-level security requirements to ensuredata integrityagainst a reliable time source that is provable to any third party. This standard has been applied to authenticating digitally signed data forregulatory compliance, financial transactions, and legal evidence. The technique is based ondigital signaturesandhash functions. First a hash is calculated from the data. A hash is a sort of digital fingerprint of the original data: a string of bits that is practically impossible to duplicate with any other set of data. If the original data is changed then this will result in a completely different hash. This hash is sent to the TSA. The TSA concatenates a timestamp to the hash and calculates the hash of this concatenation. This hash is in turndigitally signedwith theprivate keyof the TSA. This signed hash + the timestamp is sent back to the requester of the timestamp who stores these with the original data (see diagram). Since the original data cannot be calculated from the hash (because thehash functionis aone way function), the TSA never gets to see the original data, which allows the use of this method for confidential data. Anyone trusting the timestamper can then verify that the document wasnotcreatedafterthe date that the timestamper vouches. It can also no longer be repudiated that the requester of the timestamp was in possession of the original data at the time given by the timestamp. To prove this (see diagram) thehashof the original data is calculated, the timestamp given by the TSA is appended to it and the hash of the result of this concatenation is calculated, call this hash A. Then thedigital signatureof the TSA needs to be validated. This is done by decrypting the digital signature using public key of TSA, producing hash B. Hash A is then compared with hash B inside the signed TSA message to confirm they are equal, proving that the timestamp and message is unaltered and was issued by the TSA. If not, then either the timestamp was altered or the timestamp was not issued by the TSA. With the advent ofcryptocurrencieslikebitcoin, it has become possible to get some level of secure timestamp accuracy in adecentralizedand tamper-proof manner. Digital data can be hashed and the hash can be incorporated into a transaction stored in theblockchain, which serves as evidence of the time at which that data existed.[3][4]Forproof of workblockchains, the security derives from the tremendous amount of computational effort performed after the hash was submitted to the blockchain. Tampering with the timestamp would require more computational resources than the rest of the network combined, and cannot be done unnoticed in an actively defended blockchain. However, the design and implementation of Bitcoin in particular makes its timestamps vulnerable to some degree of manipulation, allowing timestamps up to two hours in the future, and accepting new blocks with timestamps earlier than the previous block.[5] The decentralized timestamping approach using the blockchain has also found applications in other areas, such as indashboard cameras, to secure the integrity of video files at the time of their recording,[6]or to prove priority for creative content and ideas shared on social media platforms.[7]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_timestamping
"Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common by the time of theRenaissanceinvolving a knife hidden beneath acloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue,secrecy,espionage, or mystery. The earliest written use of the phrase can be attributed to English poetGeoffrey Chaucerin "The Knight's Tale", published around 1400.[1] Taken literally, the phrase could[according to whom?]refer to using the cloak and dagger inhistorical European martial arts. The purpose of the cloak was to obscure the presence or movement of the dagger, to provide minor protection from slashes, to restrict the movement of the opponent's weapon, and to provide a distraction. Fencing masterAchille Marozzotaught and wrote about this method of combat in his book,Opera Nova.[2]Fighting this way was not necessarily seen as a first choice of weapons, but may have become a necessity in situations of self-defense if one were not carrying a sword, with the cloak being a common garment of the times that could be pressed into use as a defensive aid. Both Marozzo and other masters such asDi Grassialso taught the use of the cloak with the rapier.[3][4] The metaphorical meaning of the phrase dates from the early 19th century. It is a translation from theFrenchde cape et d'épée[5]andSpanishde capa y espada("of cloak and sword"). These phrases referred to a genre ofswashbucklerdramain which the main characters wore these items. In 1840,Henry Wadsworth Longfellowwrote, "In the afternoon readLa Dama DuendeofCalderón– a very good comedy of 'cloak and sword'."Charles Dickenssubsequently used the phrase "cloak and dagger" in his workBarnaby Rudgea year later as a sarcastic reference to this style of drama.[6] The imagery of the two items became associated with the archetypal spy orassassin: thecloak, worn to hide one's identity or remain hidden from view, and thedagger, a concealable and silent weapon.[citation needed] The sword fight inPeter Martins' ballet ofRomeo + Julietculminates in Romeo stabbing Tybalt repeatedly in the back with a dagger, having flung his cloak over the latter's head.[citation needed] Cloak and Daggerare also the names of twoMarvel Comicscharacters debuting in 1982.[citation needed] The Spy inTeam Fortress 2owns a wristwatch called "The Cloak and Dagger", alluding to his affinity towards knives and backstabbing.[7] SEAL Team ONE's unit logo features a seal wrapped in a cloak, holding a dagger, referencing the nature of their clandestine missions.[citation needed] In theaction role-playing video gameDeus Ex: Human Revolution, "Cloak & Daggers" is a title of a side quest with similarly-namedachievement.[8][better source needed] In theMultiplayer online battle arenaDota 2, "Cloak & Dagger" is the name of the hero Riki's ultimate ability, which turns him invisible and grants him additional damage attacking from behind.[9]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloak_and_dagger
TheEconomic Espionage Act of 1996(Pub. L.104–294 (text)(PDF), 110Stat.3488, enactedOctober 11, 1996) was a 6 titleAct of Congressdealing with a wide range of issues, including not onlyindustrial espionage(e.g., thetheftormisappropriationof atrade secretand theNational Information Infrastructure Protection Act), but theinsanity defense, matters regarding theBoys & Girls Clubs of America, requirements forpresentence investigation reports, and theUnited States Sentencing Commissionreports regarding encryption or scrambling technology, and other technical and minor amendments. The act makes the theft or misappropriation of a trade secret a federal crime. Unlike theEspionage Act of 1917(found at18 U.S.C.§§ 792–799), the offense involves commercial information, not classified or national defense information. "Trade secrets" are defined in the act consistent with generally accepted legal definitions such as those used in theUniform Trade Secrets Actand state laws based on the UTSA. Specifically it declares: (3) the term "trade secret" means all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans, compilations, program devices, formulas, designs, prototypes, methods, techniques, processes, procedures, programs, or codes, whether tangible or intangible, and whether or how stored, compiled, or memorialized physically, electronically, graphically, photographically, or in writing if— TheUnited States Department of Justice Criminal Divisionhas issued a prosecution policy relating to enforcement of the Act.[1]In general, it states: The EEA is not intended to criminalize every theft of trade secrets for which civil remedies may exist under state law. It was passed in recognition of the increasing importance of the value of intellectual property in general, and trade secrets in particular to the economic well-being and security of the United States and to close a federal enforcement gap in this important area of law. Appropriate discretionary factors to be considered in deciding whether to initiate a prosecution under § 1831 or § 1832 include: The availability of a civil remedy should not be the only factor considered in evaluating the merits of a referral because the victim of a trade secret theft almost always has recourse to a civil action. The universal application of this factor would thus defeat the Congressional intent in passing the EEA. The Act can be employed to accomplish several purposes: InUnited States v. Lange,[3][4]the EEA was used to protect a victim company that had learned that Lange, a disgruntled former employee, had been offering to sell its secret manufacturing processes to third parties. The company reported Lange to the FBI, and Lange was arrested and subsequently convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison. The case was successful in large part because the company undertook reasonable measures to keep its information secret, including:[2] The EEA has also been used to prosecute aBoeingmanager, together with an employee he hired fromLockheed Martinwith the offer of a higher salary in return for his inside information on Lockheed Martin's pricing.[2][5]Although the EEA charges were later dropped, the matter resulted in Boeing being denied $1 billion in contracts from theUnited States Air Force, as well as it paying a $615 million settlement to the US Government.[6] In February 2010, formerBoeingengineer Dongfan "Greg" Chung was sentenced to 16 years in prison, following the first ever trial conviction under the 1996 Economic Espionage Act. Chung, a native of China, was convicted by theUS District Court for the Central District of Californiaof stealing Boeing trade secrets related to theUS Space Shuttle programand theDelta IVrocket. He spent over 30 years providing U.S. aerospace technologies to China. Chung was convicted on charges related to 350,000 pages of sensitive documents and Chinese Intelligence Service tasking letters found concealed in crawl spaces underneath and inside his home. The trade secrets misappropriated by Chung for China were valued over $2 billion. The investigation, led by Special Agent Kevin Moberly of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, resulted in Chung's arrest in February 2008. Charges included conspiracy to commit economic espionage, six counts of economic espionage to benefit a foreign country, one count of acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China, and one count of making false statements to the FBI. The 16-year sentence was viewed as a life sentence for Chung who was 74 years old. Chung subsequently died in 2020 at age 84 fromcoronavirus-related complicationswhile incarcerated at theFederal Correctional Complex, Butner.[7][8] Chung worked forRockwell Internationalfrom 1973 until its defense and space unit was acquired by Boeing in 1996, and he continued to work for Boeing as an employee and then as a contractor through 2006. Chung's investigation was initially predicated on evidence discovered during an investigation intoChi Mak, a Chinese-American engineer convicted in 2007 of conspiring to export sensitive naval technologies to China and sentenced to more than 24 years in prison. At Chung's sentencing, presiding judge, Cormac Carney, said that he could not "put a price tag" on national security, and that with the long sentence for Chung he wanted to send a signal to China to "stop sending your spies here."[9] In April 2012, Chung's conviction was upheld by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[10][11] Most prosecutions under the Economic Espionage Act have been for violation of Section 1832 (Trade Secret Theft). The first such prosecution was of Daniel and Patrick Worthing, maintenance workers at PPG Industries in Pennsylvania who stole blueprints and diskettes. Both pleaded guilty in early 1997.[12]For another example, see the first conviction in California, that of David Brian Kern.[13] After an August, 2007 plea of guilt for (one count) of violating the Economic Espionage Act and one count of violating theArms Export Control Act,San JoseU.S. District CourtJudgeJeremy Fogel sentencedCanadiancitizen Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, 44, to 24 months infederal prison, 3 years ofparoleand a $10,000 fine, with forfeiture of computer equipment seized. Meng was indicted in December 2006, with 36 counts, "for stealing military software from aSilicon Valleydefense contractor and trying to sell it to theChinese military." The first to be convicted of Economic Espionage (Section 1831), Meng admitted "illegally obtaining a program used for military training fromQuantum3Dand later using the program in a demonstration to thePeople's Liberation Army Navyafter he no longer worked for the firm; he attempted to sell the fighter-pilot training software programs to theRoyal Thai Air Force, theRoyal Malaysian Air Forceand the Navy Research Center in China." He paid $500,000 bond, for temporary liberty, until August 18 when he begins serving sentence.[14] On June 18, 2008, Meng was the first individual sentenced under the Economic Espionage statute. Meng was the first person convicted of both the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 and theArms Export Control Act. He received a 24-month sentence and $10,000 fine, which included a sentencing departure for cooperation, according to news reports.[15][16][17] TheInternational Trade Commissionhas used the EEA's definition of misappropriation to support its enforcement of US trade laws that prohibit "unfair methods of competition and unfair acts in the importation of articles ... in the United States."[18]InTianrui Group Company Limited LLC v International Trade Commission, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuitheld that the manufacture abroad of products using a process that was developed in the United States, protected under domestic trade secret law, and misappropriated abroad, violated section 337 of theTariff Act of 1930,19 U.S.C.§ 1337. The ITC therefore had the authority to bar the importation of such products into the United States.[19][20][21] The extent to which trade secrets are covered under § 1832 was expanded in 2012, following the reversal of a conviction in April 2012 by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitinUnited States v.Aleynikov.[22]In that case, it was held that the theft of the source code for a proprietary system atGoldman Sachswas never intended to be placed in interstate or foreign commerce. As Goldman had no intention of selling or licensing its system, § 1832 (as it was written at that time) did not apply.[23]The provision was promptly amended on December 28, 2012 with the passage of the Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012, so that it now applies to products or services that are used or intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce.[24]The amendment led to a conviction inUnited States v. Agrawal. On January 24, 2013, § 1831 was amended to increase the maximum fines: On May 11, 2016, in whatForbescalled "the single most important intellectual property development since Congress enacted theAmerica Invents Act,"[26]theDefend Trade Secrets Act(Pub. L.114–153 (text)(PDF)) expanded the EEA's reach. In cases filed after that date: This legislation has created much debate within thebusiness intelligencecommunity regarding the legality and ethics of various forms of information gathering designed to provide business decision-makers with competitive advantages in areas such as strategy, marketing, research and development, or negotiations.[citation needed]Most business intelligence (also known ascompetitive intelligencepractitioners) rely largely on the collection and analysis ofopen source informationfrom which they identify events, patterns, and trends of actionable interest. However, some techniques focus on the collection of publicly available information that is in limited circulation. This may be obtained through a number of direct and indirect techniques that share common origins in the national intelligence community. The use of these techniques is often debated from legal and ethical standpoints based on this Act. One such example is the collection and analysis ofgray literature. The techniques for developing actionable intelligence from limited circulation / limited availability documents such as selected corporate publications can raise difficult legal and ethical questions under both intellectual property laws and the Economic Espionage Act. The Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals provides training and publications which outline a series of guidelines designed to support business intelligence professionals seeking to comply with both the legal restrictions of the EEA as well as the ethical considerations involved. In 1999, the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals published itsPolicy Analysis on Competitive Intelligence and the Economic Espionage Actwhich explained how the Economic Espionage Act will not affect legitimate competitive intelligence.[27]TheNational Law Journalof March 29, 2000, reviewed the Policy Analysis and reported that the Policy Analysis' conclusion was that the EEA's "impact on legitimate competitive intelligence would be negligible" and that "nearly four years" after the EEA's passage, "it appears that the [Policy Analysis'] predictions were on target."[28] The EEA was developed on the basis of a national philosophy that emphasizes a "level playing field" for all business competitors that arose in no small part due to the size and diversity of the Americanprivate sector. Many other nations not only lack such legislation, but actively supportindustrial espionageusing both their national intelligence services as well as less formal mechanisms includingbriberyandcorruption. The United StatesOffice of the National Counterintelligence Executivepublishes an annual report on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage mandated by the U.S. Congress which outlines these espionage activities of many foreign nations. The United States does not engage in state-sanctioned industrial espionage. In 2000, in response to European concerns, a former U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, James Woolsy, said (in the March 17, 2000 Wall Street Journal editorial) that if there is collection, it's usually focused onbriberyby European companies, not on access to technologies. Woolsey said "most European technology just isn't worth our stealing." As DCI, Woolsey testified before Congress that he was reluctant to engage in economic espionage as the endeavor is "fraught with complexities, legal difficulties (and) foreign policy difficulties." In 2000, theEuropean Parliamentvoted to carry out an investigation into the international surveillance projectECHELON. That same year the French government also began an official investigation into allegations that several collaborating nations may be using the program for illegal purposes. U.S.Central Intelligence Agencydocuments had been revealed to the British press, showing that the U.S. has been using the technology to monitor European business communications. The French and European allegations centered on the suspicion that such information was being passed to U.S. firms. The U.S. stated that monitoring was focused on the participation of European firms in supplying foreign WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs, such as the Iran nuclear program, on evading sanctions in Iran and Libya, and on the bribery of foreign officials, such as French payments to Saudi Defense officials.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Espionage_Act_of_1996
Espionage,spying, orintelligence gatheringis the act of obtaining secret orconfidential information(intelligence). A person who commits espionage is called anespionage agentorspy.[1]Any individual or spy ring (a cooperating group of spies), in the service of agovernment,company,criminal organization, or independent operation, can commit espionage. The practice isclandestine, as it is by definition unwelcome. In some circumstances, it may be a legal tool oflaw enforcementand in others, it may beillegaland punishable by law. Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term tends to be associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies formilitarypurposes. Spying involvingcorporationsis known ascorporate espionage. One way to gather data and information about a targeted organization is by infiltrating its ranks. Spies can then return information such as the size and strength ofenemy forces. They can also finddissidentswithin the organization and influence them to provide further information or to defect.[2]In times of crisis, spies steal technology andsabotagethe enemy in various ways.Counterintelligenceis the practice of thwarting enemy espionage and intelligence-gathering. Almost allsovereign stateshave strict laws concerning espionage, including those who practice espionage in other countries, and the penalties for being caught are often severe. Theoriginaldefinition of intelligence (in English) was as to be synonymous withjournalismandnews, and has morphed and transformed into whatever uses it has today.[3][4] "Here it is up front: intelligence is, with thanks to Constantine FitzGibbon, knowledge of the enemy. No sooner is it written than the readers' rejoinders flash in the mind, form on the lips, strike the air: No, it's wrong, inadequate, misleading, or impolitic; or, So, what else is new?Rest assured, dear rejoinder-ers, that these objections will be handled long before the last page is reached... so many of those intelligencers who have tried to define intelligence have grievously botched the job. Finally, unless intelligence is properly understood, the country's intelligence agencies, faced with changing targets and priorities, may lose sight of their proper task." That modern definition of intelligence as "knowledge of the enemy" is considered problematic.[5]Scholars argue that it does not include any sort of inclusion of who gathers intelligence and for what purpose.[6]Can police detectives, inspectors, or federal agents be considered as gathering intelligence? In which case, what is the difference between a spy and a detective?[7]Who is the enemy?[8] "The debate withinIntelligence studiesover its central conceptual term is by no means a discipline-specific problem.International securityexperts have debated the term “terrorism” ad nauseam, whilebiologistshave been at war over the term “species” for over two centuries. In contrast to these parallel debates over the respective essences of “terrorism” or “species”, scholars of intelligence add that intelligence is under-theorized. In short, they posit the following: if we think harder we could get a better, more functional, definition of intelligence." For centuries, there has been no single definition of intelligence, nor indeed espionage.[9]The definition depends on thescholar, the practitioner, thegovernment, thecitizen, or any of the otherstakeholderswho might be making remarks upon the practices of spies orintelligence agencies.[10]Some scholars have written that the definition of intelligence is confused by the fact that intelligence agencies today are engaged in many more activities than intelligence gathering,[11]and ask whetherSabotage,Deception,Counterintelligence,Analysis,Financial intelligence,Propaganda, and evenAssassinationmight be considered all forms of espionage. Is intelligence a product, or process?[12] "Formulating a brief definition of so broad a term as intelligence is like making amicroscopicportraitof acontinent, and the product of this effort is likely to have less value than the process of arriving at it, the reexamination of our own thinking as we seek to pinpoint the essentials of the concept." Scholars have also been eager to point out that the United States Intelligence Community does not own the definition of intelligence, nor espionage.[13] "Indeed, even today, we have no accepted definition of intelligence. The term is defined anew by each author who addresses it, and these definitions rarely refer to one another or build off what has been written before. Without a clear idea of what intelligence is, how can we develop a theory to explain how it works?...For producers of intelligence, however, the equation "intelligence = information" is too vague to provide real guidance in their work. To professionals in the field, mere data is not intelligence; thus these definitions are incomplete. Think of how many names are in the telephone book, and how few of those names anyone ever seeks. It is what people do with data and information that gives them the special quality that we casually call "intelligence."" Espionage has been recognized as of importance in military affairs since ancient times. The oldest known classified document was a report made by a spy disguised as adiplomatic envoyin the court ofKing Hammurabi, who died in around 1750 BC. Theancient Egyptianshad a developed secret service, and espionage is mentioned in theIliad, theBible, and theAmarna letters.[14]Espionage was also prevalent in theGreco-Roman world, when spies employed illiterate subjects incivil services.[15][16][17] The thesis that espionage and intelligence has a central role inwaras well aspeacewas first advanced inThe Art of Warand in theArthashastra. "The Art of War," identifies five types of spies that are essential for gathering intelligence and achieving victory:local spies(citizeninformantswithin the enemy's territory),inward spies(recruiteddouble agentswithin the enemy ranks), converted spies (recruiteddefectorsconverted to serve your side), doomed spies (expendablefabricatorsused to spread disinformation; acts as decoy for counter-intelligence), and surviving spies (spies that provide accurate intelligence after gathering information from the enemy). In theMiddle AgesEuropean states excelled at what has later been termed counter-subversionwhen Catholicinquisitionswere staged to annihilateheresy. Inquisitions were marked by centrally organised massinterrogationsand detailed record keeping. Western espionage changed fundamentally during the Renaissance when Italiancity-statesinstalled residentambassadorsincapital citiesto collect intelligence. RenaissanceVenicebecame so obsessed with espionage that theCouncil of Ten, which was nominally responsible forsecurity, did not even allow thedogeto consult governmentarchivesfreely. In 1481 the Council of Ten barred all Venetian government officials from making contact with ambassadors or foreigners. Those revealingofficial secretscould face thedeath penalty. Venice became obsessed with espionage because successfulinternational tradedemanded that the city-state could protect itstrade secrets. Under QueenElizabeth Iof England (r.1558–1603),Francis Walsingham(c.1532–1590) was appointed foreign secretary and intelligence chief.[18]The novelist and journalistDaniel Defoe(died 1731) not only spied for the British government, but also developed a theory of espionage foreshadowing modernpolice-statemethods.[19] During theAmerican Revolution,Nathan HaleandBenedict Arnoldachieved their fame as spies, and there was considerable use ofspies on both sides during the American Civil War.[20]Though not a spy himself,George Washingtonwas America's first spymaster, utilizing espionage tactics against the British.[14] In the 20th century, at the height ofWorld War I, allgreat powersexcept theUnited Stateshad elaborate civilian espionage systems, and all national military establishments had intelligence units. In order to protect the country against foreign agents, theU.S. Congresspassed theEspionage Act of 1917.Mata Hari, who obtained information for Germany by seducing French officials, was the most noted espionage agent of World War I. Prior toWorld War II,GermanyandImperial Japanestablished elaborate espionage nets. In 1942 theOffice of Strategic Serviceswas founded by Gen.William J. Donovan. However, the British system was the keystone of Allied intelligence. Numerous resistance groups such as the AustrianMaier-Messner Group, theFrench Resistance, theWitte Brigade,Milorgand the PolishHome Armyworked against Nazi Germany and provided the Allied secret services with information that was very important for the war effort. Since the end ofWorld War II, the activity of espionage has enlarged, much of it growing out of theCold Warbetween the United States and theformer USSR. TheRussian Empireand its successor, theSoviet Union, have had a long tradition of espionage ranging from theOkhranato theKGB(Committee for State Security), which also acted as a secret police force. In the United States, the 1947 National Security Act created theCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) to coordinate intelligence and the National Security Agency for research into codes and electronic communication. In addition to these, the United States has 13 other intelligence gathering agencies; most of the U.S. expenditures for intelligence gathering are budgeted to various Defense Dept. agencies and their programs. Under the intelligence reorganization of 2004, the director of national intelligence is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities and budgets of the U.S. intelligence agencies. In theCold War, espionage cases includedAlger Hiss,Whittaker Chambersand the Rosenberg Case. In 1952 the Communist Chinese captured two CIA agents and in 1960Francis Gary Powers,flying a U-2 reconnaissance missionover the Soviet Union for the CIA, was shot down and captured. During the Cold War, many Soviet intelligence officials defected to the West, including Gen.Walter Krivitsky,Victor Kravchenko,Vladimir Petrov, Peter Deriabin, Pawel Monat andOleg Penkovskyof theGRU. Among Western officials who defected to the Soviet Union areGuy BurgessandDonald D. Macleanof Great Britain in 1951,Otto Johnof West Germany in 1954,William H. MartinandBernon F. Mitchell, U.S. cryptographers, in 1960, and Harold (Kim) Philby of Great Britain in 1962. U.S. acknowledgment of its U-2 flights and the exchange of Francis Gary Powers forRudolf Abelin 1962 implied the legitimacy of some espionage as an arm of foreign policy. Chinahas a very cost-effective intelligence program that is especially effective in monitoring neighboring countries such asMongolia,RussiaandIndia. Smaller countries can also mount effective and focused espionage efforts. For instance, theVietnamese communistshad consistently superior intelligence during theVietnam War. Some Islamic countries, includingLibya,IranandSyria, have highly developed operations as well.SAVAK, the secret police of thePahlavi dynasty, was particularly feared by Iranian dissidents before the 1979Iranian Revolution. Today, spy agencies target theillegal drug tradeandterroristsas well as state actors.[21] Intelligence services value certain intelligence collection techniques over others. The former Soviet Union, for example, preferredhuman sourcesoverresearch in open sources, while the United States has tended to emphasize technological methods such asSIGINTandIMINT. In the Soviet Union, both political (KGB) andmilitary intelligence(GRU)[22]officers were judged by the number of agents they recruited. Espionage agents are usually trained experts in a targeted field so they can differentiate mundane information from targets of value to their own organizational development. Correct identification of the target at its execution is the sole purpose of the espionage operation.[citation needed] Broad areas of espionage targeting expertise include:[citation needed] Although the news media may speak of "spy satellites" and the like, espionage is not a synonym for all intelligence-gathering disciplines. It is a specific form of human source intelligence (HUMINT). Codebreaking (cryptanalysisorCOMINT), aircraft or satellite photography (IMINT), and analysis of publicly available data sources (OSINT) are all intelligence gathering disciplines, but none of them is considered espionage. Many HUMINT activities, such as prisonerinterrogation, reports from militaryreconnaissancepatrols and from diplomats, etc., are not considered espionage. Espionage is the disclosure of sensitive information (classified) to people who are not cleared for that information or access to that sensitive information. Unlike other forms ofintelligence collection disciplines, espionage usually involves accessing the place where the desired information is stored or accessing the people who know the information and will divulge it through some kind ofsubterfuge. There are exceptions to physical meetings, such as theOslo Report, or the insistence ofRobert Hanssenin never meeting the people who bought his information. The US defines espionage towards itself as "the act of obtaining, delivering, transmitting, communicating, or receiving information about the national defence with an intent, or reason to believe, that the information may be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation".Black's Law Dictionary(1990) defines espionage as: "... gathering, transmitting, or losing ... information related to thenational defense". Espionage is a violation of United States law,18 U.S.C.§§ 792–798and Article 106a of theUniform Code of Military Justice.[23]The United States, like most nations, conducts espionage against other nations, under the control of theNational Clandestine Service. Britain's espionage activities are controlled by theSecret Intelligence Service. Source:[24] A spy is a person employed to seek out secret information from a source.[25]Within theUnited States Intelligence Community, "asset" is more common usage. Acase officerorSpecial Agent, who may havediplomatic status(i.e.,official coverornon-official cover), supports and directs the human collector. Cut-outs arecourierswho do not know the agent or case officer but transfer messages. Asafe houseis a refuge for spies. Spies often seek to obtain secret information from another source. In larger networks, the organization can be complex with many methods to avoid detection, includingclandestine cell systems. Often the players have never met. Case officers are stationed in foreign countries to recruit and supervise intelligence agents,[25]who in turn spy on targets in the countries where they are assigned. A spy need not be a citizen of the target country and hence does not automatically committreasonwhen operating within it. While the more common practice is to recruit a person already trusted with access to sensitive information, sometimes a person with a well-prepared synthetic identity (cover background), called alegend[25]intradecraft, may attempt to infiltrate a target organization. These agents can be moles (who are recruited before they get access to secrets),defectors(who are recruited after they get access to secrets and leave their country) ordefectors in place(who get access but do not leave). Alegendis also employed for an individual who is not an illegal agent, but is an ordinary citizen who is "relocated", for example, a "protected witness". Nevertheless, such a non-agent very likely will also have a case officer who will act as a controller. As in most, if not all synthetic identity schemes, for whatever purpose (illegal or legal), the assistance of a controller is required. Spies may also be used to spread disinformation in the organization in which they are planted, such as giving false reports about their country's military movements, or about a competing company's ability to bring a product to market. Spies may be given other roles that also require infiltration, such assabotage. Many governments spy on their allies as well as their enemies, although they typically maintain a policy of not commenting on this. Governments also employ private companies to collect information on their behalf such asSCG International Risk,International Intelligence Limitedand others. Many organizations, both national and non-national, conduct espionage operations. It should not be assumed that espionage is always directed at the most secret operations of a target country. National and terrorist organizations and other groups are also targeted.[26]This is because governments want to retrieve information that they can use to be proactive in protecting their nation from potential terrorist attacks. Communications both are necessary to espionage andclandestine operations, and also a great vulnerability when the adversary has sophisticated SIGINT detection and interception capability. Spies rely on COVCOM or covert communication through technically advanced spy devices.[14]Agents must also transfer money securely. Industrial espionage, also known aseconomic espionage,corporate spying, orcorporate espionage, is a form of espionage conducted forcommercialpurposes instead of purelynational security.[27]While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governments and is international in scope, industrial or corporate espionage is more often national and occurs between companies orcorporations. It may include the acquisition ofintellectual property, such as information on industrial manufacture, ideas, techniques and processes, recipes and formulas. Or it could include sequestration of proprietary or operational information, such as that on customer datasets, pricing, sales, marketing, research and development, policies, prospective bids, planning or marketing strategies or the changing compositions and locations of production. It may describe activities such as theft oftrade secrets,bribery,blackmailand technological surveillance. As well as orchestrating espionage on commercial organizations, governments can also be targets – for example, to determine the terms of a tender for a government contract. ReportedlyCanadais losing $12 billion[28]andGermancompanies are estimated to be losing about €50 billion ($87 billion) and 30,000 jobs[29]to industrial espionage every year. In espionage jargon, an "agent" is the person who does the spying. They may be a citizen of a country recruited by that country to spy on another; a citizen of a country recruited by that country to carry outfalse flagassignments disrupting his own country; a citizen of one country who is recruited by a second country to spy on or work against his own country or a third country, and more. In popular usage, this term is sometimes confused with anintelligence officer,intelligence operative, orcase officerwho recruits and handles agents. Among the most common forms of agent are: Less common or lesser known forms of agent include: Espionage against a nation is a crime under thelegal codeof many world states. In the United States, it is covered by theEspionage Act of 1917. The risks of espionage vary. A spy violating the host country's laws may be deported, imprisoned, or even executed. A spy violating its own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage or/andtreason(which in the United States and some other jurisdictions can only occur if they take up arms or aids the enemy against their own country during wartime), or even executed, as theRosenbergswere. For example, whenAldrich Ameshanded a stack of dossiers of U.S.Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) agents in theEastern Blocto his KGB-officer "handler", the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the U.S.Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), he faced life in prison; his contact, who haddiplomatic immunity, was declaredpersona non grataand taken to the airport. Ames' wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence.Hugh Francis Redmond, a CIA officer in China, spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage—and died there—as he was operating without diplomatic cover and immunity.[33] In United States law, treason,[34]espionage,[35]and spying[36]are separate crimes. Treason and espionage have graduated punishment levels. The United States inWorld War Ipassed the Espionage Act of 1917. Over the years, many spies, such as theSoble spy ring,Robert Lee Johnson,the Rosenberg ring,Aldrich Hazen Ames,[37]Robert Philip Hanssen,[38]Jonathan Pollard,John Anthony Walker,James Hall III, and others have been prosecuted under this law. In modern times, many people convicted of espionage have been given penal sentences rather than execution. For example,Aldrich Hazen Amesis an American CIA analyst, turned KGB mole, who was convicted of espionage in 1994; he is serving alife sentencewithout the possibility of parole in the high-securityAllenwood U.S. Penitentiary.[39]Ames was formerly a 31-yearCIAcounterintelligenceofficer and analyst who committed espionage against his country byspyingfor theSoviet UnionandRussia.[40]So far as it is known, Ames compromised the second-largest number of CIA agents, second only toRobert Hanssen, who also served a prison sentence until his death in 2023.[41] Espionage laws are also used to prosecute non-spies. In the United States, the Espionage Act of 1917 was used against socialist politicianEugene V. Debs(at that time the Act had much stricter guidelines and amongst other things banned speech against military recruiting). The law was later used to suppress publication of periodicals, for example ofFather CoughlininWorld War II. In the early 21st century, the act was used to prosecutewhistleblowerssuch asThomas Andrews Drake,John Kiriakou, andEdward Snowden, as well as officials who communicated with journalists for innocuous reasons, such asStephen Jin-Woo Kim.[42][43] As of 2012[update], India and Pakistan were holding several hundred prisoners of each other's country for minor violations like trespass or visa overstay, often with accusations of espionage attached. Some of these include cases where Pakistan and India both deny citizenship to these people, leaving themstateless.[citation needed]The BBC reported in 2012 on one such case, that of Mohammed Idrees, who was held under Indian police control for approximately 13 years for overstaying his 15-day visa by 2–3 days after seeing his ill parents in 1999. Much of the 13 years were spent in prison waiting for a hearing, and more time was spent homeless or living with generous families. The IndianPeople's Union for Civil LibertiesandHuman Rights Law Networkboth decried his treatment. The BBC attributed some of the problems to tensions caused by theKashmir conflict.[44] From ancient times, the penalty for espionage in many countries was execution. This was true right up until the era ofWorld War II; for example,Josef Jakobswas a Nazi spy who parachuted into Great Britain in 1941 and was executed for espionage. Espionage is illegal in the UK under theNational Security Act 2023, which repealed prior Official Secrets Acts and creates three separate offences for espionage. A person is liable to be imprisoned for life for committing an offence under Section 1 of the Act, or 14 years for an offence under Sections 2 and 3 Government intelligence is very much distinct from espionage, and is not illegal in the UK, providing that the organisations of individuals are registered, often with the ICO, and are acting within the restrictions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). 'Intelligence' is considered legally as "information of all sorts gathered by a government or organisation to guide its decisions. It includes information that may be both public and private, obtained from much different public or secret sources. It could consist entirely of information from either publicly available or secret sources, or be a combination of the two."[45] However, espionage and intelligence can be linked. According to the MI5 website, "foreign intelligence officers acting in the UK under diplomatic cover may enjoy immunity from prosecution. Such persons can only be tried for spying (or, indeed, any criminal offence) if diplomatic immunity is waived beforehand. Those officers operating without diplomatic cover have no such immunity from prosecution". There are also laws surrounding government and organisational intelligence and surveillance. Generally, the body involved should be issued with some form of warrant or permission from the government and should be enacting their procedures in the interest of protecting national security or the safety of public citizens. Those carrying out intelligence missions should act within not only RIPA but also the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act. However, there are spy equipment laws and legal requirements around intelligence methods that vary for each form of intelligence enacted. In war, espionage is considered permissible as many nations recognize the inevitability of opposing sides seeking intelligence each about the dispositions of the other. To make the mission easier and successful,combatantsweardisguisesto conceal their true identity from the enemy while penetrating enemy lines for intelligence gathering. However, if they are caught behind enemy lines in disguises, they are not entitled toprisoner-of-warstatus and subject toprosecutionand punishment—includingexecution. TheHague Convention of 1907addresses the status of wartime spies, specifically within "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: Chapter II Spies".[46]Article 29 states that a person is considered a spy who, acts clandestinely or on false pretences, infiltrates enemy lines with the intention of acquiring intelligence about the enemy and communicate it to thebelligerentduring times of war. Soldiers who penetrate enemy lines in proper uniforms for the purpose of acquiring intelligence are not considered spies but arelawful combatantsentitled to be treated as prisoners of war upon capture by the enemy. Article 30 states that a spy captured behind enemy lines may only be punished following a trial. However, Article 31 provides that if a spy successfully rejoined his own military and is then captured by the enemy as a lawful combatant, he cannot be punished for his previous acts of espionage and must be treated as a prisoner of war. This provision does not apply to citizens who committedtreasonagainst their own country or co-belligerents of that country and may be captured and prosecuted at any place or any time regardless whether he rejoined the military to which he belongs or not or during or after the war.[47][48] The ones that are excluded from being treated as spies while behind enemy lines are escaping prisoners of war and downedairmenasinternational lawdistinguishes between a disguised spy and a disguised escaper.[24]It is permissible for these groups to wear enemy uniforms or civilian clothes in order to facilitate their escape back to friendly lines so long as they do not attack enemy forces, collect military intelligence, or engage in similar military operations while so disguised.[49][50]Soldiers who are wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes simply for the sake of warmth along with other purposes rather than engaging in espionage or similar military operations while so attired are also excluded from being treated as unlawful combatants.[24] Saboteursare treated as spies as they too wear disguises behind enemy lines for the purpose of waging destruction on an enemy's vital targets in addition to intelligence gathering.[51][52]For example, duringWorld War II, eight German agents entered the U.S. in June 1942 as part ofOperation Pastorius, a sabotage mission against U.S. economic targets. Two weeks later, all were arrested in civilian clothes by theFBIthanks to two German agents betraying the mission to the U.S. Under the Hague Convention of 1907, these Germans were classified as spies and tried by amilitary tribunalinWashington D.C.[53]On August 3, 1942, all eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. Five days later, six were executed byelectric chairat the District of Columbia jail. Two who had given evidence against the others had their sentences reduced by PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltto prison terms. In 1948, they were released by PresidentHarry S. Trumanand deported to theAmerican Zone of occupied Germany. The U.S. codification of enemy spies is Article 106 of theUniform Code of Military Justice. This provides a mandatory death sentence if a person captured in the act is proven to be "lurking as a spy or acting as a spy in or about any place, vessel, or aircraft, within the control or jurisdiction of any of the armed forces, or in or about any shipyard, any manufacturing or industrial plant, or any other place or institution engaged in work in aid of the prosecution of the war by the United States, or elsewhere".[54] Spies have long been favorite topics for novelists and filmmakers.[55]An early example of espionage literature isKimby the English novelistRudyard Kipling, with a description of the training of an intelligence agent in theGreat Gamebetween theUKandRussiain 19th centuryCentral Asia. An even earlier work wasJames Fenimore Cooper's classic novel,The Spy,written in 1821, about an American spy in New York during theRevolutionary War. During the many 20th-century spy scandals, much information became publicly known about national spy agencies and dozens of real-life secret agents. These sensational stories piqued public interest in a profession largely off-limits tohuman interest news reporting, a natural consequence of the secrecy inherent in their work. To fill in the blanks, the popular conception of the secret agent has been formed largely by 20th and 21st-century fiction and film. Attractive and sociable real-life agents such asValerie Plamefind little employment in serious fiction, however. The fictional secret agent is more often a loner, sometimes amoral—anexistentialhero operating outside the everyday constraints of society. Loner spy personalities may have been a stereotype of convenience for authors who already knew how to write lonerprivate investigatorcharacters that sold well from the 1920s to the present.[56] Johnny Fedoraachieved popularity as a fictional agent of earlyCold War espionage, butJames Bondis the most commercially successful of the many spy characters created by intelligence insiders during that struggle. Other fictional agents include Le Carré'sGeorge Smiley, andHarry Palmeras played byMichael Caine. Jumping on the spy bandwagon, other writers also started writing about spy fiction featuring female spies as protagonists, such asThe Baroness, which has more graphic action and sex, as compared to other novels featuring male protagonists. Spy fiction has permeated thevideo gameworld as well, in games such asPerfect Dark,GoldenEye 007,No One Lives Forever,Tom Clancy's Splinter Celland theMetal Gearseries. Espionage has also made its way into comedy depictions. The 1960s TV seriesGet Smart, the 1983 Finnish filmAgent 000 and the Deadly Curves, andJohnny Englishfilm trilogy portrays an inept spy, while the 1985 movieSpies Like Usdepicts a pair of none-too-bright men sent to the Soviet Union to investigate a missile. The historical novelThe Emperor and the Spyhighlights the adventurous life of U.S. ColonelSidney Forrester Mashbir, who during the 1920s and 1930s attempted to prevent war with Japan, and when war did erupt, he became General MacArthur's top advisor in the Pacific Theater of World War Two.[57][58] Black Widow is also a fictional agent who was introduced as aRussianspy, an antagonist of the superheroIron Man. She later became an agent of the fictional spy agencyS.H.I.E.L.D.and a member of the superhero team theAvengers. Real espionage is actually quite boring work.[59]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage
TheEspionage Act of 1917is aUnited States federal lawenacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United Statesentered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found inTitle 50of the U.S. Code (War & National Defense) but is now found under Title 18 (Crime & Criminal Procedure):18 U.S.C.ch. 37(18 U.S.C.§ 792et seq.). It was intended to prohibit interference withmilitary operationsorrecruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of enemies of the United States during wartime. In 1919, theSupreme Court of the United Statesunanimously ruled throughSchenck v. United Statesthat the act did not violate thefreedom of speechof those convicted under its provisions. Theconstitutionalityof the law, its relationship to free speech, and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since. Among those charged with offenses under the Act were: Austrian-American socialist congressman and newspaper editorVictor L. Berger; labor leader and five-timeSocialist Party of AmericacandidateEugene V. Debs,anarchistsEmma GoldmanandAlexander Berkman, formerWatch Tower Bible & Tract SocietypresidentJoseph Franklin Rutherford(whose conviction was overturned on appeal),[1]communistsJulius and Ethel Rosenberg,Pentagon PaperswhistleblowerDaniel Ellsberg,CablegatewhistleblowerChelsea Manning,WikiLeaksfounderJulian Assange,Defense Intelligence AgencyemployeeHenry Kyle Frese, andNational Security Agency(NSA) contractor whistleblowerEdward Snowden. Although the most controversial amendments, called theSedition Act of 1918, were repealed on December 13, 1920, the original Espionage Act was left intact.[2]Between 1921 and 1923, PresidentsWarren G. HardingandCalvin Coolidgereleased all those convicted under the Sedition and Espionage Acts.[3] The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed, along with theTrading with the Enemy Act, just after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. It was based on theDefense Secrets Act of 1911, especially the notions of obtaining or delivering information relating to "national defense" to a person who was not "entitled to have it". The Espionage Act law imposed much stiffer penalties than the 1911 law, including the death penalty.[4] PresidentWoodrow Wilson, in his December 7, 1915,State of the Unionaddress, asked Congress for the legislation.[5]Congress moved slowly. Even after the U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Germany, when the Senate passed a version on February 20, 1917, the House did not vote before the then-current session of Congress ended. After the declaration of war in April 1917, both houses debated versions of the Wilson administration's drafts that included press censorship.[6]That provision aroused opposition, with critics charging it established a system of "prior restraint" and delegated unlimited power to the president.[7]After weeks of intermittent debate, the Senate removed the censorship provision by a one-vote margin, voting 39 to 38.[8]Wilson still insisted it was needed: "Authority to exercise censorship over the press....is absolutely necessary to the public safety", but signed the Act without the censorship provisions on June 15, 1917,[9]after Congress passed the act on the same day.[10] Attorney GeneralThomas Watt Gregorysupported passage of the act but viewed it as a compromise. The President's Congressional rivals were proposing to remove responsibility for monitoring pro-German activity, whether espionage or some form of disloyalty, from theDepartment of Justiceto theWar Departmentand creating a form of courts-martial of doubtful constitutionality. The resulting Act was far more aggressive and restrictive than they wanted, but it silenced citizens opposed to the war.[11]Officials in the Justice Department who had little enthusiasm for the law nevertheless hoped that even without generating many prosecutions it would help quiet public calls for more government action against those thought to be insufficiently patriotic.[12]Wilson was denied language in the Act authorizing power to the executive branch for press censorship, but Congress did include a provision to block distribution of print materials through the Post Office.[4] It made it a crime: The Act also gave thePostmaster Generalauthority to impound or refuse to mail publications the postmaster determined to violate its prohibitions.[13] The Act also forbids the transfer of any naval vessel equipped for combat to any nation engaged in a conflict in which the United States is neutral. Seemingly uncontroversial when the Act was passed, this later became a legal stumbling block for the administration ofFranklin D. Roosevelt, when he sought to provide military aid to Great Britain before the United States enteredWorld War II.[14] The law was extended on May 16, 1918, by the Sedition Act of 1918, actually a set of amendments to the Espionage Act, which prohibited many forms of speech, including "any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States ... or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy".[11] Because the Sedition Act was an informal name, court cases were brought under the name of the Espionage Act, whether the charges were based on the provisions of the Espionage Act or the provisions of the amendments known informally as the Sedition Act. On March 3, 1921, the Sedition Act amendments were repealed, but many provisions of the Espionage Act remain, codified underU.S.C.Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 37.[15] In 1933, after signals intelligence expertHerbert Yardleypublished a popular book about breaking Japanese codes, the Act was amended to prohibit the disclosure of foreign code or anything sent in code.[16]The Act was amended in 1940 to increase the penalties it imposed, and again in 1970.[17] In the late 1940s, the U.S. Code was re-organized and much of Title 50 (War) was moved to Title 18 (Crime). TheMcCarran Internal Security Actadded18 U.S.C.§ 793(e)in 1950 and18 U.S.C.§ 798was added the same year.[18] In 1961, CongressmanRichard Poffsucceeded after several attempts in removing language that restricted the Act's application to territory "within the jurisdiction of the United States, on the high seas, and within the United States"18 U.S.C.§ 791. He said the need for the Act to apply everywhere was prompted byIrvin C. Scarbeck, a State Department official who was charged with yielding to blackmail threats inPoland.[19] In 1989, CongressmanJames Traficanttried to amend18 U.S.C.§ 794to broaden the application of the death penalty.[20]SenatorArlen Specterproposed a comparable expansion of the use of the death penalty the same year.[21]In 1994,Robert K. Dornanproposed the death penalty for the disclosure of a U.S. agent's identity.[22] Progressive Era Red Scare Anti-warandcivil rightsmovements Contemporary Defunct Much of the Act's enforcement was left to the discretion of localUnited States Attorneys, so enforcement varied widely. For example, SocialistKate Richards O'Haregave the same speech in several states but was convicted and sentenced to prison for five years for delivering her speech in North Dakota. Most enforcement activities occurred in the Western states where theIndustrial Workers of the Worldwas active.[23]Finally, a few weeks before the end of the war, the U.S. Attorney General instructed U.S. Attorneys not to act without his approval. A year after the Act's passage,Eugene V. Debs,Socialist Partypresidential candidate in 1904, 1908, and 1912 was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for making a speech that "obstructed recruiting". He ran for president again in 1920 from prison. President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence in December 1921 when he had served nearly five years.[24] InUnited States v. Motion Picture Film(1917), a federal court upheld the government's seizure of a film calledThe Spirit of '76on the grounds that its depiction of cruelty on the part of British soldiers during the American Revolution would undermine support for America's wartime ally. The producer, Robert Goldstein, a Jew of German origins, was prosecuted under Title XI of the Act and received a ten-year sentence plus a fine of $5000. The sentence was commuted on appeal to three years.[25] Postmaster GeneralAlbert S. Burlesonand those in his department played critical roles in the enforcement of the Act. He held his position because he was a Democratic party loyalist and close to the President and the Attorney General. When the Department of Justice numbered its investigators in the dozens, the Post Office had a nationwide network in place. The day after the Act became law, Burleson sent a secret memo to all postmasters ordering them to keep "close watch on ... matter which is calculated to interfere with the success of ... the government in conducting the war".[26]Postmasters inSavannah, Georgia, andTampa, Florida, refused to mail theJeffersonian, the mouthpiece ofTom Watson, a southern populist, an opponent of the draft, the war, and minority groups. When Watson sought an injunction against the postmaster, the federal judge who heard the case called his publication "poison" and denied his request. Government censors objected to the headline "Civil Liberty Dead".[27]In New York City, the postmaster refused to mailThe Masses, a socialist monthly, citing the publication's "general tenor".The Masseswas more successful in the courts, where JudgeLearned Handfound the Act was applied so vaguely as to threaten "the tradition of English-speaking freedom". The editors were then prosecuted for obstructing the draft, and the publication folded when denied access to the mails again.[28]Eventually, Burleson's vigorous enforcement overreached when he targeted supporters of the administration. The president warned him to exercise "the utmost caution", and the dispute proved the end of their political friendship.[29] In May 1918, sedition charges were laid under the Espionage Act againstWatch Tower Bible and Tract Societypresident"Judge" Joseph Rutherfordand seven other Watch Tower directors and officers over statements made in the society's book,The Finished Mystery, published a year earlier. According to the bookPreachers Present Armsby Ray H. Abrams, the passage (from page 247) found to be particularly objectionable reads: "Nowhere in the New Testament is patriotism (a narrowly minded hatred of other peoples) encouraged. Everywhere and always murder in its every form is forbidden. And yet under the guise of patriotism civil governments of the earth demand of peace-loving men the sacrifice of themselves and their loved ones and the butchery of their fellows, and hail it as a duty demanded by the laws of heaven."[30]The officers of the Watchtower Society were charged with attempting to cause insubordination, disloyalty, refusal of duty in the armed forces and obstructing the recruitment and enlistment service of the U.S. while it was at war.[31]The book had been banned in Canada since February 1918 for what aWinnipegnewspaper described as "seditious and antiwar statements"[32]and described by Attorney General Gregory as dangerous propaganda.[33]On June 21 seven of the directors, including Rutherford, were sentenced to the maximum 20 years' imprisonment for each of four charges, to be served concurrently. They served nine months in theAtlanta Penitentiarybefore being released on bail at the order of Supreme Court JusticeLouis Brandeis. In April 1919, an appeal court ruled they had not had the "intemperate and impartial trial of which they were entitled" and reversed their conviction.[34]In May 1920 the government announced that all charges had been dropped.[35] During theRed Scareof 1918–19, in response to the1919 anarchist bombingsaimed at prominent government officials and businessmen, U.S.Attorney GeneralA. Mitchell Palmer, supported byJ. Edgar Hoover, then head of the Justice Department's Enemy Aliens Registration Section, prosecuted several hundred foreign-born known and suspected activists in the United States under theSedition Act of 1918. This extended the Espionage Act to cover a broader range of offenses. After being convicted, persons includingEmma GoldmanandAlexander Berkmanwere deported to the Soviet Union on a ship the press called the "Soviet Ark".[4][36][37] Many of the jailed had appealed their convictions based on the U.S. constitutional right to the freedom of speech. The Supreme Court disagreed. The Espionage Act limits on free speech were ruled constitutional in the U.S. Supreme Court caseSchenck v. United States(1919).[38]Schenck, an anti-war Socialist, had been convicted of violating the Act when he sent anti-draft pamphlets to men eligible for the draft. Although Supreme Court JusticeOliver Wendell Holmesjoined the Court majority in upholding Schenck's conviction in 1919, he also introduced the theory that punishment in such cases must be limited to such political expression that constitutes a "clear and present danger" to the government action at issue. Holmes' opinion is the origin of the notion that speech equivalent to "falselyshouting fire in a crowded theater" is not protected by the First Amendment. Justice Holmes began to doubt his decision due to criticism from free speech advocates. He also met the Harvard Law professorZechariah Chafeeand discussed his criticism ofSchenck.[37][39] Later in 1919, inAbrams v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a man who distributed circulars in opposition to American intervention in Russia following theRussian Revolution. The concept ofbad tendencywas used to justify speech restriction. The defendant was deported. Justices Holmes and Brandeis dissented, the former arguing "nobody can suppose that the surreptitious publishing of a silly leaflet by an unknown man, without more, would present any immediate danger that its opinions would hinder the success of the government arms or have any appreciable tendency to do so".[37][40] In March 1919, President Wilson, at the suggestion of Attorney GeneralThomas Watt Gregory, pardoned or commuted the sentences of some 200 prisoners convicted under the Espionage Act or the Sedition Act.[41]By early 1921, the Red Scare had faded, Palmer left government, and the Espionage Act fell into relative disuse. Prosecutions under the Act were much less numerous during World War II than during World War I. The likely reason was not that Roosevelt was more tolerant of dissent than Wilson but rather that the lack of continuing opposition after the Pearl Harbor attack presented far fewer potential targets for prosecutions under the law. Associate JusticeFrank Murphynoted in 1944 inHartzel v. United States: "For the first time during the course of the present war, we are confronted with a prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917." Hartzel, a World War I veteran, had distributed anti-war pamphlets to associations and business groups. The court's majority found that his materials, though comprising "vicious and unreasoning attacks on one of our military allies, flagrant appeals to false and sinister racial theories, and gross libels of the President", did not urge mutiny or any of the other specific actions detailed in the Act, and that he had targeted molders of public opinion, not members of the armed forces or potential military recruits. The court overturned his conviction in a 5–4 decision. The four dissenting justices declined to "intrude on the historic function of the jury" and would have upheld the conviction.[42]InGorin v. United States(early 1941), the Supreme Court ruled on many constitutional questions surrounding the act.[43] The Act was used in 1942 to deny a mailing permit to FatherCharles Coughlin's weeklySocial Justice, effectively ending its distribution to subscribers. It was part of Attorney GeneralFrancis Biddle's attempt to close down what he called "vermin publications". Coughlin had been criticized for virulently anti-Semitic writings.[44][45][46]Later, Biddle supported use of the Act to deny mailing permits to bothThe Militant, which was published by theSocialist Workers Party, and theBoise Valley HeraldofMiddleton, Idaho, an anti-New Deal and anti-war weekly. The paper had also criticized wartime racism against African Americans and Japanese internment.[47] The same year, aJune front-page storybyStanley Johnstonin theChicago Tribune, headlined "Navy Had Word of Jap Plan to Strike at Sea", implied that the Americans had broken the Japanese codes before theBattle of Midway. Before submitting the story, Johnson asked the managing editor, Loy “Pat” Maloney, and Washington Bureau Chief Arthur Sears Henning if the content violated the Code of Wartime Practices. They concluded that it was in compliance because the code had said nothing about reporting the movement of enemy ships in enemy waters.[48] The story resulted in the Japanese changing their codebooks and callsign systems. The newspaper publishers were brought before agrand juryfor possible indictment, but proceedings were halted because of government reluctance to present a jury with the highly secret information necessary to prosecute the publishers.[49][50]In addition, the Navy had failed to provide promised evidence that the story had revealed "confidential information concerning the Battle of Midway". Attorney General Biddle confessed years later that the final result of the case made him feel "like a fool".[48] In 1945, six associates ofAmerasiamagazine, a journal of Far Eastern affairs, came under suspicion after publishing articles that bore similarity toOffice of Strategic Servicesreports. The government proposed using the Espionage Act against them. It later softened its approach, changing the charge to Embezzlement of Government Property (now18 U.S.C.§ 641). A grand jury cleared three of the associates, two associates paid small fines, and charges against the sixth man were dropped. SenatorJoseph McCarthysaid the failure to aggressively prosecute the defendants was a communist conspiracy. According to Klehr and Radosh, the case helped build his later notoriety.[51] Navy employee Hafis Salich sold Soviet agent Mihail Gorin information regarding Japanese activities in the late 1930s.Gorin v. United States(1941) was cited in many later espionage cases for its discussion of the charge of "vagueness", an argument made against the terminology used in certain portions of the law, such as what constitutes "national defense" information. Later in the 1940s, several incidents prompted the government to increase its investigations into Soviet espionage. These included theVenona projectdecryptions, theElizabeth Bentleycase, theatomic spiescases, theFirst LightningSoviet nuclear test, and others. Many suspects were surveilled, but never prosecuted. These investigations were dropped, as seen in theFBI Silvermaster Files. There were also many successful prosecutions and convictions under the Act. In August 1950,Julius and Ethel Rosenbergwere indicted under Title 50, sections 32a and 34, in connection with giving nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.Anatoli Yakovlevwas indicted as well. In 1951,Morton SobellandDavid Greenglasswere indicted. After a controversial trial in 1951, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death. They were executed in 1953.[52][53][54]In the late 1950s, several members of theSoble spy ring, includingRobert Soblen, andJackandMyra Soble, were prosecuted for espionage. In the mid-1960s, the act was used against James Mintkenbaugh andRobert Lee Johnson, who sold information to the Soviets while working for the U.S. Army in Berlin.[55][56] In 1948, some portions of theUnited States Codewere reorganized. Much of Title 50 (War and National Defense) was moved toTitle 18(Crimes and Criminal Procedure). Thus Title 50 Chapter 4, Espionage, (Sections 31–39), became Title 18, 794 and following. As a result, certain older cases, such as theRosenbergcase, are now listed under Title 50, while newer cases are often listed under Title 18.[52][57] In 1950, during theMcCarthy Period, Congress passed theMcCarran Internal Security Actover PresidentHarry S. Truman's veto. It modified a large body of law, including espionage law. One addition was793(e), which had almost exactly the same language as793(d). According to Edgar and Schmidt, the added section potentially removes the "intent" to harm or aid requirement. It may make "mere retention" of information a crime no matter the intent, covering even former government officials writing their memoirs. They also describe McCarran saying that this portion was intended directly to respond to the case ofAlger Hissand the "Pumpkin Papers".[18][58][59] Court decisions of this era changed the standard for enforcing some provisions of the Espionage Act. Though not a case involving charges under the Act,Brandenburg v. Ohio(1969) changed the "clear and present danger" test derived fromSchenckto the "imminent lawless action" test, a considerably stricter test of the inflammatory nature of speech.[60] In June 1971,Daniel EllsbergandAnthony Russowere charged with afelonyunder the Espionage Act of 1917 because they lacked legal authority to publish classified documents that came to be known as thePentagon Papers.[61]The Supreme Court inNew York Times Co. v. United Statesfound that the government had not made a successful case for prior restraint of Free Speech, but a majority of the justices ruled that the government could still prosecute theTimesand thePostfor violating the Espionage Act in publishing the documents. Ellsberg and Russo were not acquitted of violating the Espionage Act. They were freed due to a mistrial based on irregularities in the government's case.[62] The divided Supreme Court had denied the government's request to restrain the press. In their opinions, the justices expressed varying degrees of support for the First Amendment claims of the press against the government's "heavy burden of proof" in establishing that the publisher "has reason to believe" the material published "could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation".[63] The case prompted Harold Edgar and Benno C. Schmidt Jr. to write an article on espionage law in the 1973Columbia Law Review. Their article was entitled "The Espionage Statutes and Publication of Defense Information". Essentially, they found the law poorly written and vague, with parts of it probably unconstitutional. Their article became widely cited in books and in future court arguments on Espionage cases.[63] United States v. Dedeyanin 1978 was the first prosecution under793(f)(2)(Dedeyan 'failed to report' that information had been disclosed). The courts relied onGorin v. United States(1941) for precedent. The ruling touched on several constitutional questions, including vagueness of the law and whether the information was "related to national defense". The defendant received a 3-year sentence.[64][65] In 1979–80, Truong Dinh Hung (akaDavid Truong) andRonald Louis Humphreywere convicted under 793(a), (c), and (e) as well as several other laws. The ruling discussed several constitutional questions regarding espionage law, "vagueness", the difference betweenclassified informationand "national defense information", wiretapping and the Fourth Amendment. It also commented on the notion of bad faith (scienter) being a requirement for conviction even under 793(e); an "honest mistake" was said not to be a violation.[65][66] Alfred Zehe, a scientist fromEast Germany, was arrested in Boston in 1983 after being caught in a government-run sting operation in which he had reviewed classified U.S. government documents in Mexico and East Germany. His attorneys contended without success that the indictment was invalid, arguing that the Espionage Act does not cover the activities of a foreign citizen outside the United States.[67][68]Zehe then pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He was released in June 1985 as part of an exchange of four East Europeans held by the U.S. for 25 people held in Poland and East Germany, none of them American.[69] One of Zehe's defense attorneys claimed his client was prosecuted as part of "the perpetuation of the 'national-security state' by over-classifying documents that there is no reason to keep secret, other than devotion to the cult of secrecy for its own sake".[70] The media dubbed 1985 "Year of the Spy". U.S. Navy civilianJonathan Pollardwas charged with violating18 U.S.C.§ 794(c), for selling classified information to Israel. His 1986 plea bargain did not get him out of a life sentence, after a 'victim impact statement' including a statement byCaspar Weinberger.[71]Larry Wu-Tai Chin, at CIA, was also charged with violating18 U.S.C.§ 794(c)for selling information to China.[72]Ronald Peltonwas prosecuted for violating18 U.S.C.§ 794(a),794(c), &798(a), for selling information to the Soviets, and interfering withOperation Ivy Bells.[73]Edward Lee Howardwas an ex-Peace Corps and ex-CIA agent charged under17 U.S.C.§ 794(c)for allegedly dealing with the Soviets. The FBI's website says the 1980s was the "decade of the spy", with dozens of arrests.[74] Seymour Hershwrote an article entitled "The Traitor" arguing against Pollard's release.[75] Samuel Loring Morisonwas a government security analyst who worked on the side forJane's, a British military and defense publisher. He was arrested on October 1, 1984,[76]though investigators never demonstrated any intent to provide information to a hostile intelligence service. Morison told investigators that he sent classified satellite photographs toJane'sbecause the "public should be aware of what was going on on the other side", meaning that the Soviets' new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would transform the USSR's military capabilities. He said that "if the American people knew what the Soviets were doing, they would increase the defense budget". British intelligence sources thought his motives were patriotic. American prosecutors emphasized his economic gain and complaints about his government job.[77] Morison's prosecution was used in a broader campaign against leaks of information as a "test case" for applying the Act to cover the disclosure of information to the press. A March 1984 government report had noted that "the unauthorized publication of classified information is a routine daily occurrence in the U.S." but that the applicability of the Espionage Act to such disclosures "is not entirely clear".[78]Timesaid that the administration, if it failed to convict Morison, would seek additional legislation and described the ongoing conflict: "The Government does need to protect military secrets, the public does need information to judge defense policies, and the line between the two is surpassingly difficult to draw."[78] On October 17, 1985, Morison was convicted in Federal Court on two counts of espionage and two counts of theft of government property.[78]He was sentenced to two years in prison on December 4, 1985.[79]The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 1988.[80]Morison became "the only [American] government official ever convicted for giving classified information to the press" up to that time.[81]Following SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihan's 1998 appeal for a pardon for Morison, PresidentBill Clintonpardoned him on January 20, 2001, the last day of his presidency,[81]despite the CIA's opposition to the pardon.[80] The successful prosecution of Morison was used to warn against the publication of leaked information. In May 1986, CIA DirectorWilliam J. Casey, without citing specific violations of law, threatened to prosecute five news organizations–The Washington Post,The Washington Times,The New York Times,TimeandNewsweek.[82] Christopher John BoyceofTRW, and his accompliceAndrew Daulton Lee, sold out to the Soviets and went to prison in the 1970s. Their activities were the subject of the movieThe Falcon and the Snowman. In the 1980s, several members of theWalker spy ringwere prosecuted and convicted of espionage for the Soviets. In 1980,David Henry Barnettwas the first active CIA officer to be convicted under the act. In 1994, CIA officerAldrich Ameswas convicted under18 U.S.C.§ 794(c)of spying for the Soviets; Ames had revealed the identities of several U.S. sources in the USSR to the KGB, who were then executed.[83] FBI agentEarl Edwin Pittswas arrested in 1996 under18 U.S.C.§ 794(a)and18 U.S.C.§ 794(c)of spying for the Soviet Union and later for the Russian Federation.[84][85][86][87] In 1997, senior CIA officerHarold James Nicholsonwas convicted of espionage for the Russians. In 1998, NSA contractorDavid Sheldon Boonewas charged with having handed over a 600-page technical manual to the Sovietsc.1988–1991 (18 U.S.C.§ 794(a)). In 2000, FBI agentRobert Hanssenwas convicted under the Act of spying for the Soviets in the 1980s and Russia in the 1990s. In the 1990s, SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihandeplored the "culture of secrecy" made possible by the Espionage Act, noting the tendency of bureaucracies to enlarge their powers by increasing the scope of what is held "secret".[88] In the late 1990s,Wen Ho LeeofLos Alamos National Laboratory(LANL) was indicted under the Act. He and other national security professionals later said he was a "scapegoat" in the government's quest to determine if information about theW88nuclear warhead had been transferred to China.[89]Lee had madebackupcopies at LANL of his nuclear weapons simulations code to protect it in case of a system crash. The code was markedPARD, sensitive but not classified. As part of aplea bargain, he pleaded guilty to one count under the Espionage Act. The judge apologized to him for having believed the government.[90]Lee later won more than a million dollars in a lawsuit against the government and several newspapers for their mistreatment of him.[89] In 2001, retiredArmy ReserveColonelGeorge Trofimoff, the most senior U.S. military officer to be indicted under the Act, was convicted of conducting espionage for the Soviets in the 1970s–1990s.[91] Kenneth Wayne Ford Jr. was indicted under18 U.S.C.§ 793(e)for allegedly having a box of documents in his house after he left NSA employment around 2004. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2006.[92] In 2005, Pentagon Iran expertLawrence Franklin and AIPAC lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissmanwere indicted under the Act. Franklin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to disclose national defense information to the lobbyists and an Israeli government official.[93]Franklin was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, but the sentence was later reduced to 10 months of home confinement.[94] Under theObamaandfirst Trump administrations, at least eightEspionage Act prosecutionswere related not to traditionalespionagebut either withholding information or communicating with members of the press. Out of a total of eleven prosecutions under the Espionage Act against government officials accused of providing classified information to the press, seven have occurred since Obama took office.[95]"Leaks related to national security can put people at risk", he said at a news conference in 2013. "They can put men and women in uniform that I've sent into the battlefield at risk. I don't think the American people would expect me, as commander in chief, not to be concerned about information that might compromise their missions or might get them killed."[96] Some have criticized the use of the Espionage Act against national security leakers. A 2015 study by thePEN American Centerfound that almost all of the non-government representatives they interviewed, including activists, lawyers, journalists, and whistleblowers, "thought the Espionage Act had been used inappropriately in leak cases that have a public interest component". PEN wrote: "Experts described it as 'too blunt an instrument,' 'aggressive, broad and suppressive,' a 'tool of intimidation,' 'chilling of free speech,' and a 'poor vehicle for prosecuting leakers and whistleblowers.'"[150] Pentagon PaperswhistleblowerDaniel Ellsbergsaid, "the current state of whistleblowing prosecutions under the Espionage Act makes a truly fair trial wholly unavailable to an American who has exposed classified wrongdoing", and that "legal scholars have strongly argued that the US Supreme Court – which has never yet addressed the constitutionality of applying the Espionage Act to leaks to the American public – should find the use of it overbroad and unconstitutional in the absence of a public interest defense".[151]Professor at American UniversityWashington College of Lawand national security law expertStephen Vladeckhas said that the law “lacks the hallmarks of a carefully and precisely defined statutory restriction on speech".[150]Trevor Timm, executive director of theFreedom of the Press Foundation, said, "basically any information the whistleblower or source would want to bring up at trial to show that they are not guilty of violating the Espionage Act the jury would never hear. It's almost a certainty that because the law is so broadly written that they would be convicted no matter what."[150]AttorneyJesselyn Radack, who has represented four whistleblowers charged under the Espionage Act, notes that the law was enacted "35 years before the word 'classification' entered the government's lexicon" and believes that "under the Espionage Act, no prosecution of a non-spy can be fair or just".[152]She added that mounting a legal defense to the Espionage Act is estimated to "cost $1 million to $3 million".[152]In May 2019, thePittsburgh Post-Gazetteeditorial board published an opinion piece making the case for an amendment to allow a public-interest defense, as "the act has since become a tool of suppression, used to punish whistleblowers who expose governmental wrongdoing and criminality".[153] In an interview withFairness & Accuracy in Reporting, journalist Chip Gibbons said that it was "almost impossible, if not impossible, to mount a defense" against charges under the Espionage Act. Gibbons said defendants are not allowed to use the term "whistleblower", mention theFirst Amendment, raise the issue of over-classification of documents, or explain the reasons for their actions.[137]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917
Eyes onlyisjargonused with regard toclassified information. Whereas a classified document is normally intended to be available to readers with the appropriate security clearance and a need to know, an "eyes only" designation, whether official or informal, indicates that the document is intended only for a specific set of readers. As such the document should not be read by other individuals even if they otherwise possess the appropriate clearance. Another meaning is that the document is under no circumstances to be copied or photographed, "eyes only" meaning that it is to be physically read by cleared personnel and nothing more, to ensure that no unauthorized copies of the text are made which might be unaccounted for. EYES ONLY may be used as part of thenational caveatsin English-speaking countries, as an addition to the security classification. The caveat designates assets of particular sensitivity to, say, the UK, or where dissemination is restricted to individuals from specific foreign nations. Unless explicitly named, information bearing a national caveat will not be sent to foreign governments, overseas contractors or international organisations or released to any foreign nationals. British regulations require notices on the document to specify a level ofclassification("TOP SECRET", e.g.) and a "caveat", separated by a hyphen, e.g., "TOP SECRET – UK / US EYES ONLY" and centered horizontally on the page.[1] Thislaw-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_only
TheFive Eyes(FVEY) is anAnglosphereintelligencealliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[1]These countries are party to the multilateralUKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation insignals intelligence.[2][3][4]Informally, "Five Eyes" can refer to the group of intelligence agencies of these countries. The term "Five Eyes" originated as shorthand for a "AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US Eyes Only" (AUSCANNZUKUS)releasability caveat.[5] The origins of the FVEY can be traced to informal, secret meetings during World War II between British and Americancode-breakersthat took place before the US formally entered the war.[6]The alliance was formalized in the post-war era by the UKUSA Agreement in 1946. As theCold Wardeepened, the intelligence sharing arrangement was formalised under theECHELONsurveillance system in the 1960s.[7]This system was developed by the FVEY to monitor the communications of theSoviet UnionandEastern Bloc; it is now used to monitor communications worldwide.[8][9]The FVEY expanded its surveillance capabilities during the course of the "war on terror", with much emphasis placed on monitoring theInternet. The alliance has grown into a robust global surveillance mechanism, adapting to new domains such as internationalterrorism,cyberattacks, and contemporary regional conflicts. The alliance's activities, often shrouded in secrecy, have occasionally come under scrutiny for their implications on privacy and civil liberties, sparking debates and legal challenges. In the late 1990s, the existence ofECHELONwas disclosed to the public, triggering a debate in theEuropean Parliamentand, to a lesser extent, theUnited States CongressandBritish Parliament. FormerNSAcontractorEdward Snowdendescribed the Five Eyes as a "supra-national intelligence organisation that does not answer to the known laws of its own countries".[10]Disclosures in the 2010srevealed FVEY was spying on one another's citizens and sharing the collected information with each other, although the FVEY nations maintain this was done legally.[11][12] Five Eyes is among the most comprehensive espionage alliances.[13]Since processed intelligence is gathered from multiple sources, the information shared is not restricted to signals intelligence (SIGINT) and often involvesmilitary intelligence(MILINT),human intelligence(HUMINT), andgeospatial intelligence(GEOINT). Five Eyes remains a key element in the intelligence and security landscape of each member country, providing them a strategic advantage in understanding and responding to global events. The following table provides an overview of most of the FVEY agencies thatshare data.[2] The informal origins of the Five Eyes alliance were secret meetings between British and US code-breakers at the British code-breaking establishmentBletchley Parkin February 1941, before the US entry into the war.[14]The first record of these meetings is a February 1941 diary entry fromAlastair Denniston, head of Bletchley Park, reading "The Ys are coming!" with "Ys" referring to "Yanks". An entry from 10 February reads "Ys arrive". British and US intelligence shared extremely confidential information, including that the British had broken the GermanEnigmacode and that the US had broken the JapanesePurplecode. For the rest of the war, key figures like Denniston and code-breaking expertAlan Turingtravelled back and forth across the Atlantic. The informal relationship established for wartime signals intelligence developed into a formal, signed agreement at the start of theCold War.[15] The formal Five Eyes alliance can be traced back to the August 1941Atlantic Charter, which laid outAlliedgoals for thepost-warworld. On 17 May 1943, the UK and US governments signed the British–US Communication Intelligence Agreement, also known as theBRUSA Agreement, to facilitate co-operation between theUS War Departmentand the BritishGovernment Code and Cypher School. On 5 March 1946, the two governments formalized theirsecret treatyas theUKUSA Agreement, the basis for allsignal intelligencecooperation between theNSAandGCHQup to the present.[16][17] UKUSAwas extended to include Canada in 1948, followed by Norway in 1952, Denmark in 1954, West Germany in 1955, and Australia and New Zealand in 1956.[17]These countries participated in the alliance as "third parties". By 1955, a newer version of theUKUSA Agreementofficially acknowledged the formal status of the remaining Five Eyes countries with the following statement: At this time only Canada, Australia and New Zealand will be regarded as UKUSA-collaboratingCommonwealthcountries.[17] During theCold War,GCHQand theNSAshared intelligence on theSoviet Union, China, and several eastern European countries known as "Exotics".[18]Over the course of several decades, theECHELONsurveillance network was developed to monitor the military anddiplomatic communicationsof the Soviet Union and itsEastern Blocallies.[19] In 1953,SISand theCIAjointlyorchestrated the overthrowofIran'sPrime MinisterMohammad Mosaddegh.[20][21][22][23] From 1955 through 1975 during theVietnam War, Australian and New Zealander operators in theAsia-Pacificregion worked to directly support the United States whileGCHQoperators stationed inBritish Hong Kongas part ofGCHQ Hong Kongwere tasked with monitoringNorth Vietnameseair defence networks.[24][25] In 1961,SISand theCIAjointly orchestrated theassassinationof the Congolese independence leaderPatrice Lumumba, an operation authorized by out-goingUS PresidentDwight D. Eisenhowerthe year before in 1960.[26][27][28] In 1973, theASISand theCIAjointly orchestrated theoverthrowof Chile'sPresidentSalvador Allende.[29][30][31][32] Over a period of at least five years in the 1970s, a senior officer named Ian George Peacock, who was in the counterespionage unit of Australia'sASIO, stole highly classified intelligence documents that had been shared with Australia and sold them to theSoviet Union. Peacock held the title of supervisor-E (espionage) and had top-secret security clearance. He retired from the ASIO in 1983 and died in 2006.[33] During theFalklands Warin 1982, the United Kingdom received intelligence data from its FVEY allies as well as from third parties like Norway and France.[34][35][36] In 1989, during theTiananmen Square protests,SISand theCIAtook part inOperation Yellowbirdto exfiltrate dissidents fromChina.[37] In the aftermath of theGulf Warin 1991, anASIStechnician bugged Kuwaiti government offices forSIS.[35] By the end of the 20th century, the FVEY members had developed theECHELONsurveillance network into a global system capable of collecting massive amounts of private and commercial communications includingtelephone calls,fax,email, and otherdata traffic. The network's information comes from intercepted communication bearers such as satellite transmissions andpublic switched telephone networks.[38] Two of the FVEY information collection mechanisms are thePRISMprogram and theUpstream collectionsystem. The PRISM program gathers user information from technology firms such asGoogle,Apple, andMicrosoft; while the Upstream system gathers information directly from civilian communications as they travel through infrastructure likefiber cables.[39]The program was first disclosed to the public in 1972 when a formerNSAcommunications analyst reported toRampartsmagazine that the Agency had developed technology that "could crack all Soviet codes".[40] In a 1988 piece in theNew Statesmancalled "Somebody's listening",Duncan Campbellrevealed the existence ofECHELON, an extension of theUKUSA Agreementon globalsignals intelligence. The story detailed how eavesdropping operations were not only being employed in the interests of 'national security,' but were regularly abused forcorporate espionagein the service of US business interests.[41]The piece passed largely unnoticed outside of journalism circles.[42] In 1996, New Zealand journalistNicky Hagerprovided a detailed description ofECHELONin a book titledSecret Power – New Zealand's Role in the International Spy Network. TheEuropean Parliamentcited the book in a 1998 report titled "An Appraisal of the Technology of Political Control" (PE 168.184).[43]On 16 March 2000, the Parliament called for aresolutionon the Five Eyes and its ECHELON surveillance network which would have called for the "complete dismantling of ECHELON".[44] Three months later, the European Parliament established theTemporary Committee on ECHELONto investigate the ECHELON surveillance network. However, according to a number of European politicians such asEsko Seppänenof Finland, theEuropean Commissionhindered these investigations .[45] In the United States,congressionallegislatorswarned that the ECHELON system could be used to monitorUS citizens.[46]On 14 May 2001, the US government cancelled all meetings with the Temporary Committee on ECHELON.[47]According to aBBCreport from May 2001, "The US Government still refuses to admit that Echelon even exists."[19] In the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attackson theWorld Trade Centerandthe Pentagon, Five Eyes members greatly increased their surveillance capabilities as part of the globalwar on terror. During the run-up to theIraq War, the communications ofUN weapons inspectorHans Blixwere monitored by the Five Eyes.[48][49]Around the same time,Britishagents bugged the office ofUNSecretary-GeneralKofi Annan.[50][51]AnNSAmemo detailed Five Eyes plans to increase surveillance on the UN delegations of six countries as part of a "dirty tricks" campaign to pressure these six countries to vote in favour of using force against Iraq.[50][52][53] SISand theCIAformed a surveillance partnership with Libya'sleaderMuammar Gaddafito spy on Libyan dissidents in theWestin exchange for permission to use Libya as a base forextraordinary renditions.[54][55][56][57][58] As of 2010[update], Five Eyes-affiliated agencies also have access toSIPRNet, the US government's classified version of the Internet.[59] In 2013, documents leaked by the formerNSAcontractorEdward Snowdenrevealed the existence of numerous surveillance programs jointly operated by the Five Eyes. The following list includes several notable examples reported in the media: In March 2014, theInternational Court of Justice(ICJ) ordered Australia to stop spying onEast Timor. This marks the first such restrictions imposed on a member of the FVEY.[67] On 1 December 2018, Canadian authorities arrestedMeng Wanzhou, aHuaweiexecutive, atVancouver International Airportto face charges of fraud and conspiracy in the United States.[68]China responded by arresting two Canadian nationals. According to theSouth China Morning Post, analysts saw this conflict as the beginning of a direct clash between China's government and governments of the Five Eyes alliance.[69]In the months that followed, the United States restricted technology exchanges with China.[70]The newspaper reported that these events were seen by Beijing as a "fight ... waged with the world’s oldest intelligence alliance, the Five Eyes."[71] Starting in 2019, Australian parliamentarians as well asUS Secretary of StateMike Pompeoprompted the United Kingdom not to useHuaweitechnology in its5G network.[72]In 2021, theUK Governmentannounced it no longer planned to use Huawei's 5G technology.[73] In November 2020, the Five Eyes alliance criticised China's rules disqualifying elected legislators in Hong Kong.[74] In mid-April 2021, theNew Zealand Foreign MinisterNanaia Mahutaissued a statement that New Zealand would not let the Five Eyes alliance dictate itsbilateral relationshipwith China and that New Zealand was uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the intelligence grouping. In response, the Australian Government expressed concern that Wellington was undermining collective efforts to combat what it regarded as Chinese aggression.[75][76]New Zealand Prime MinisterJacinda Ardernechoed Mahuta's remarks and claimed that while New Zealand was still committed to the Five Eyes alliance, it would not use the network as its first point of communication for non-security matters. WhileThe Telegraph'sdefence editorCon Coughlinand BritishConservativeMember of ParliamentBob Seelycriticised New Zealand for undermining the Five Eyes' efforts to present a united front against Beijing, the ChineseGlobal Timespraised New Zealand for putting its ownnational interestsover the Five Eyes.[77][78][79]Following the2023 New Zealand general election, the new New Zealand Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime MinisterWinston Peterspromised closer cooperation with Five Eyes partners.[80]According toThe EconomistandForeign Policymagazine, New Zealand foreign policy under the newNational-led coalition governmenthad shifted away from China in favour of closer relations with its traditional Five Eyes partners.[81]During an interview withThe Economist, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that he was looking to "diversify New Zealand's diplomatic and trade relationships away from itsrelianceon China".[82] In late April 2021, theGlobal Timesreported that China'sMinistry of State Securitywill monitor employees of companies and organisations considered to be at risk of foreign infiltration while they travel to the Five Eyes countries. These employees will be required to report their travel destinations, agendas, and meetings with foreign personnel to Chinese authorities. Other security measures include undergoing "pre-departure spying education", and using different electronic devices while at home and while abroad.[83][84] In mid-December 2021, theUnited States Secretary of State, the Foreign Ministers ofAustralia,Canada, andNew Zealand, and theUK Foreign Secretaryissued a joint statement criticising the exclusion of opposition candidates byHong Kong national security lawand urging China to respect human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong in accordance with theSino-British Joint Declaration.[85][86]In response, the Chinese Government claimed the Hong Kong elections were fair and criticised the Five Eyes for interfering in Hong Kong'sdomestic affairs.[87][88] The Five Eyes leaders held their first known public meeting[89]atStanford University'sHoover Institution[90]inCaliforniain the US. They had been meeting privately nearby inPalo Alto. Present were: They made public statements on topics such as the death in Canada ofHardeep Singh Nijjar[90]andChinese state-backed hackers.[89] The Five Eyes alliance is sort of an artifact of the postWorld War IIera where theAnglophonecountries are the major powers banded together to sort of co-operate and share the costs of intelligence gathering infrastructure. ... The result of this was over decades and decades some sort of asupra-nationalintelligence organisation that doesn't answer to the laws of its own countries. One of the Five Eyes' core principles is that members do not spy on other governments in the alliance. USDirector of National IntelligenceAdmiralDennis C. Blairsaid in 2013, "We do not spy on each other. We just ask."[92] However, in recent years, FVEY documents have shown that member agencies are intentionally spying on one another's private citizens and sharing the collected information with each other.[11][93]Shami Chakrabarti, director of theadvocacy groupLiberty, claimed that the FVEY alliance increases the ability of member states to "subcontract their dirty work" to each other.[94]FVEY countries maintain that all intelligence sharing is done legally, according to the domestic law of the respective nations.[95][12][96] As a result of Snowden's disclosures, the FVEY alliance has become the subject of a growing amount of controversy in parts of the world: Beginning with its founding by the United States and United Kingdom in 1946, the alliance expanded twice, inducting Canada in 1948 and Australia and New Zealand in 1956, establishing the Five Eyes as it is today. Additionally, there are nations termed "Third Party Partners" that share their intelligence with the Five Eyes despite not being formal members. While the Five Eyes is rooted in a particular agreement with specific operations among the five nations, similar sharing agreements have been set up independently and for specific purposes; for example, according to Edward Snowden, the NSA has a "massive body" called the Foreign Affairs Directorate dedicated to partnering with foreign countries beyond the alliance.[104][105][106] Several countries have been prospective members of the Five Eyes including Israel,[107]South Korea and Japan, that have collaborated with FVEY. NSA whistleblowerEdward Snowdenleaked documents from the NSA that showed Singapore, one of the world's biggest digital telecommunications hubs, is a key “third party” working with the “Five Eyes” intelligence partners,[108]and continue to collaborate intensively with the alliance, though Singapore, Israel, South Korea and Japan are formally non-members.[109][110] According to Frenchnews magazineL'Obs, in 2009, the United States propositioned France to join the treaty and form a subsequent "Six Eyes" alliance. The French President at the time,Nicolas Sarkozy, requested that France have the same status as the other members, including the signing of a "no-spy agreement". This proposal was approved by the director of the NSA, but rejected by the director of the CIA and by PresidentBarack Obama, resulting in a refusal from France.[111] New Yorkmagazine reported in 2013 that Germany was interested in joining the Five Eyes alliance.[112][113]At the time, several members of the United States Congress, includingTim RyanandCharles Dent, were pushing for Germany's entry to the Five Eyes alliance.[114] As of 2018 through an initiative sometimes termed "Five Eyes Plus 3", Five Eyes has agreements with France, Germany, and Japan to introduce an information-sharing framework to counter China and Russia.[115][116]Five Eyes plus France, Japan and South Korea share information about North Korea's military activities, including ballistic missiles, in an arrangement sometimes dubbed "Five Eyes Plus".[117] The Nine Eyes is a different group that consists of the Five Eyes members as well as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Norway.[105][106] According to a document leaked by Edward Snowden, there is another working agreement among 14 nations officially known as "SIGINT Seniors Europe", or "SSEUR".[118]This "14 Eyes" group consists of the Nine Eyes members plus Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden.[105][106] AsPrivacy Internationalexplains, there are a number of issue-specific intelligence agreements that include some or all of the above nations and numerous others, such as:[119][120]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
TheGolden Shield Project(Chinese:金盾工程;pinyin:jīndùn gōngchéng), also namedNational Public Security Work Informational Project,[a]is theChinesenationwide network-security fundamental constructional project by thee-governmentof thePeople's Republic of China. This project includes a security management information system, a criminal information system, an exit and entry administration information system, a supervisor information system, a traffic management information system, among others.[1][non-primary source needed] The Golden Shield Project is one of the 12 important"golden" projects. The other "golden" projects are Golden Customs (also known as Golden Gate) (for customs), Golden Tax (for taxation), Golden Macro, Golden Finance (for financial management), Golden Auditing, Golden Security, Golden Agriculture (for agricultural information), Golden Quality (for quality supervision), Golden Water (for water conservancy information), Golden Credit, and Golden Discipline projects.[2][b][3][non-primary source needed] The Golden Shield Project also manages the Bureau of Public Information and Network Security Supervision,[c]which is a bureau that is widely believed, though not officially claimed, to operate a subproject called theGreat Firewall of China(GFW)[d][4]which is acensorshipandsurveillanceproject that blocks data from foreign countries that may be unlawful in the PRC. It is operated by theMinistry of Public Security(MPS) of thegovernment of China. This subproject was initiated in 1998 and began operations in November 2003.[5]It has also seemingly been used to attack international web sites usingMan-on-the-sideDDoS, for exampleGitHub on 2015/03/28.[6] The political and ideological background of the Golden Shield Project is considered to be one ofDeng Xiaoping's favorite sayings in the early 1980s: "If you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in."[e]The saying is related to a period of economic reform in China that became known as the "socialist market economy". Superseding thepolitical ideologiesof theCultural Revolution, the reform led China towards amarket economyand opened up the market for foreign investors. Nonetheless, despite the economic freedom, values and political ideas of theChinese Communist Partyhave had to be protected by "swatting flies" of other unwanted ideologies.[7] TheInternet in Chinaarrived in 1994,[8]as the inevitable consequence of and supporting tool for the "socialist market economy". As availability of the Internet has gradually increased, it has become a common communication platform and tool for trading information. The Ministry of Public Security took initial steps to control Internet use in 1997, when it issued comprehensive regulations governing its use. The key sections, Articles 4–6, are the following: Individuals are prohibited from using the Internet to: harm national security; disclose state secrets; or injure the interests of the state or society. Users are prohibited from using the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit information that incites resistance to the PRC Constitution, laws, or administrative regulations; promotes the overthrow of the government or socialist system; undermines national unification; distorts the truth, spreads rumors, or destroys social order; or provides sexually suggestive material or encourages gambling, violence, or murder. Users are prohibited from engaging in activities that harm the security of computer information networks and from using networks or changing network resources without prior approval.[9] In 1998, the Chinese Communist Party feared that theChina Democracy Party(CDP) would breed a powerful new network that the party elites might not be able to control.[10]The CDP was immediately banned, followed by arrests and imprisonment.[11]That same year, the Golden Shield project was started. The first part of the project lasted eight years and was completed in 2006. The second part began in 2006 and ended in 2008. On 6 December 2002, 300 people in charge of the Golden Shield project from 31provincesandcitiesthroughout China participated in a four-day inaugural "Comprehensive Exhibition on Chinese Information System".[12]At the exhibition, many western high-tech products, includingInternet security,video monitoringand humanface recognitionwere purchased. It is estimated that around 30,000-50,000 police are employed in this gigantic project.[13] A subsystem of the Golden Shield has been nicknamed "the Great Firewall" (防火长城) (a term that first appeared in a Wired magazine article in 1997)[14]in reference to its role as anetwork firewalland to the ancientGreat Wall of China. This part of the project includes the ability to block content by preventingIP addressesfrom being routed through and consists of standard firewalls andproxy serversat the sixInternetgateways.[15]The system also selectively engages inDNS cache poisoningwhen particular sites are requested. The government does not appear to be systematically examining Internet content, as this appears to be technically impractical.[16]Because of its disconnection from the larger world of IP routing protocols, the network contained within the Great Firewall has been described as "the Chinese autonomousrouting domain".[17] During the2008 Summer Olympics, Chinese officials told Internet providers to prepare to unblock access from certainInternet cafés, access jacks in hotel rooms and conference centers where foreigners were expected to work or stay.[18] The Golden Shield Project is distinct from theGreat Firewall(GFW), which has a different mission. The differences are listed below: Politically, Technically, The Golden Shield Project contains an integrated, multi-layered system, involving technical, administrative, public security, national security, publicity and many other departments. This project was planning to finish within five years, separated into two phases. The first phase of the project focused on the construction of the first-level, second-level, and the third-level information communication network, application database, shared platform, etc. The period was three years. According to theXinhua News Agency, since September 2003, thePublic Securitydepartment of China has recorded 96% of the population information of mainland China into the database. In other words, the information of 1.25 billion out of 1.3 billion people has recorded in the information database of thePublic Securitydepartment of China.[20]Within three years, phase I project has finished the first-level, second-level, and the third-level backbone network and access network. This network has covered public security organs at all levels. The grass-roots teams of public security organs have accessed to the backbone network with the coverage rate 90%, that is to say, every 100 police officers have 40 computers connected to the network of the phase I project. TheMinistry of Public Security of the People's Republic of Chinasaid that the phase I project had significantly enhanced the combat effectiveness of public security.[citation needed] Members participated in the phase I project includeTsinghua Universityfrom China, and some high-tech companies from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Israel, etc.Cisco Systemsfrom the United States of America has provided massive hardware devices for this project, and therefore was criticized by some members of theUnited States Congress.[21]According to an internal Cisco document, Cisco viewed China's Great Firewall and its Internet censorship as an opportunity to expand its business with China.[22] According toChina Central Television, phase I cost 6.4 billionyuan. On 6 December 2002, there came the "2002 China Large Institutions Informationization Exhibition", 300 leaders from theMinistry of Public Security of the People's Republic of Chinaand from otherpublic security bureausof 31 provinces or municipalities attended the exhibition. There were many western high-tech products, including network security, video surveillance and face recognition.[23]It was estimated that about 30000 police officers have been employed to maintain the system. There was a multi-level system to track netizens violating the provisions. Netizens who want to use the internet in a cybercafé are required to show theirResident Identity Cards. If some violating event happened, the owner of the cybercafé can send the personal information to the police through the internet. It is called a public security automation system, but it is actually an integrated, multi-layered, internet blocking and monitoring system, involving the technical, administrative, public security, national security, publicity, etc. The features are known as: readable, listenable, and thinkable.[citation needed] The phase II project started in 2006. The main task was to enhance the terminal construction, and the public security business application system, trying to informatize of the public security work. The period was two years.[24] Based on the phase I project, phase II project expanded the information application types of public security business, and informationized further public security information. The key points of this project included application system construction, system integration, the expansion of information centre, and information construction in central and western provinces. The system of was planning to strengthen the integration, to share and analysis of information. It would greatly enhance the information for the public security work support.[24] Mainland ChineseInternet censorshipprograms have censored Web sites that include (among other things): Blocked web sites are indexed to a lesser degree, if at all, by some Chinesesearch engines. This sometimes has considerable impact on search results.[26] According toThe New York Times,Googlehas set up computer systems inside China that try to access Web sites outside the country. If a site is inaccessible, then it is added toGoogle China's blacklist.[27]However, once unblocked, the Web sites will be reindexed. Referring to Google's first-hand experience of the great firewall, there is some hope in the international community that it will reveal some of its secrets.Simon Davies, founder of London-based pressure groupPrivacy International, is now challenging Google to reveal the technology it once used at China's behest. "That way, we can understand the nature of the beast and, perhaps, develop circumvention measures so there can be an opening up of communications." "That would be a dossier of extraordinary importance to human rights," Davies says. Google has yet to respond to his call.[28] Because the Great Firewall blocks destination IP addresses and domain names and inspects the data being sent or received, a basic censorship circumvention strategy is to use proxy nodes and encrypt the data. Most circumvention tools combine these two mechanisms.[29] Reporters Without Borderssuspects that countries such asAustralia,[32][33][34]Cuba,Vietnam,ZimbabweandBelarushave obtained surveillance technology from China although the censorships in these countries are not much in comparison to China.[35] Since at least 2015, the RussianRoskomnadzoragency collaborates with Chinese Great Firewall security officials in implementing its data retention and filtering infrastructure.[36][37][38]Since the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in order to combat disinformation and enforce thewar censorship law, Russia authorities began improving and widening the capabilities of this system.[39]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Shield_Project
TheGovernment Security Classifications Policy(GSCP) is a system for classifyingsensitive government datain theUnited Kingdom. Historically, theGovernment Protective Marking Schemewas used by government bodies in the UK; it divides data into UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT, RESTRICTED, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET. This system was designed for paper-based records; it is not easily adapted to modern government work and is not widely understood.[1] The GSCP uses three levels of classification: OFFICIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET.[2]This is simpler than the old model and there is no direct relationship between the old and new classifications. "Unclassified" is deliberately omitted from the new model. Government bodies are not expected to automatically remark existing data, so there may be cases where organisations working under the new system still handle some data marked according to the old system. Information Asset Owners continue to be responsible for information. The new policy does not specify particular IT security requirements – IT systems should be built and used in accordance with existing guidance fromCESG.[3] Everybody who works with government – including contractors and suppliers – is responsible for protecting information they work with, regardless of whether it has a protective marking. Aggregation does not automatically trigger an increase in protective marking. For instance, a database with thousands of records which are individually OFFICIAL should not be relabeled as a SECRET database. Instead, information owners are expected to make decisions aboutcontrolsbased on arisk assessment, and should consider what the aggregated information is,who needs to accessit, and how. OFFICIAL includes most public-sector data, including a wide range of information on day-to-day government business. It is not subject to any special risks. Personal data would usually be OFFICIAL.[4]The data should be protected bycontrolsbased on commercial best practice instead of expensive, difficult specialist technology and bureaucracy. There is no requirement to mark every document as "OFFICIAL" – it is understood that this is the default for government documents.[5] Organisations may add "descriptors" to highlight particular types of official data, for instance commercially sensitive information about contracts, or diplomatic data which should not be seen by locally hired embassy staff. These descriptors do not automatically require special controls. "OFFICIAL" will usually include the kinds of data that were previously UNCLASSIFIED, RESTRICTED, or CONFIDENTIAL; but this may vary. The threat model for OFFICIAL data is similar to typical large private-sector organisations; it anticipates that individual hackers, pressure groups, criminals, and investigative journalists might attempt to get information. The threat model does not guarantee protection against very persistent and skilled attacks, for instance by organised crime groups or by foreign governments; these are possible, but normal controls would make them more difficult, and much stronger controls would be disproportionate. People with routine access to OFFICIAL information should be subject toBPSSscreening. OFFICIAL may include data which is subject to separate regulatory requirements, such as theData Protection Act(personal data) orPCI DSS(card payments). OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE is an additional caveat for OFFICIAL data where it is particularly important to enforceneed to knowrules. OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE documents should be marked, but they are not necessarily tracked. It is not a classification.[6]‘Sensitive’ is a handling caveat for a small subset of information marked OFFICIAL that require special handling by staff. "Very sensitive information", which might (for example) seriously harm national defence or crime investigations. Data should only be marked as SECRET if the Senior Information Risk Owner (which is a board level position in an organisation) agrees that it is high-impactandthat the data must be protected against very capable attackers. Although some specialist technology might be used to protect the data, there is still strong emphasis on reuse of commercial security tools. SECRET is a big step up from OFFICIAL; government bodies are warned against being overcautious and applying much stricter rules when OFFICIAL would be sufficient. People with routine access to SECRET information should usually haveSC clearance. SECRET data may often be exempt fromFOIAdisclosure. Data with exceptionally high impact levels; compromise would have very serious impacts – for instance, many deaths. This requires an extremely high level of protection, and controls are expected to be similar to those used on existing "Top Secret" data, including CESG-approved products. Very little risk can be tolerated in TOP SECRET, although no activity is completely risk-free.[7] People with routine access to TOP SECRET information should usually haveDV clearance. TOP SECRET information is assumed to be exempt fromFOIAdisclosure. Disclosure of such information is assumed to be above the threshold forOfficial Secrets Actprosecution.[8] Special handling instructions are additional markings which used in conjunction with a classification marking to indicate the nature or source of its content, limit access to designated groups, and / or to signify the need for enhanced handling measures. In addition to a paragraph near the start of the document special handling instructions include Descriptors, Codewords, Prefixes and national caveats.[2] A DESCRIPTOR is used with the security classification to identify certain categories of sensitive information and indicates the need for common sense precautions to limit access. The normal descriptors are 'COMMERCIAL’, 'LOCSEN’ and 'PERSONAL’.[2] A Codeword is a single word expressed in CAPITAL letters that follows the security classification to providing security cover for a particular asset or event. They are usually only applied to SECRET and TOP SECRET assets.[2] The UK prefix is added to the security classification of all assets sent to foreign governments or international organisations. This prefix designates the UK as the originating country and that the British Government should be consulted before any possible disclosure.[2] National caveats follow the security classification. Unless explicitly named, information bearing a national caveat is not sent to foreign governments, overseas contractors, international organisations or released to any foreign nationals.[2]Example With the exception of British Embassies and Diplomatic Missions or Service units or establishments, assets bearing the UK EYES ONLY national caveat are not sent overseas.[2] As per the previous GPMS model, the choice of classification relates only to the data's confidentiality. Unlike the old model it replaces however, the GSCP does not consider the consequence of a compromise as the primary factor, but instead is based on the capability and motivation of potential threat actors (attackers) and the acceptability of that risk to the business. Where a capable and motivated attacker such as a Foreign Intelligence Service, or Serious and Organised Crime are considered to be in scope of the data to be classified, the business must implicitly accept this risk to classify the data as OFFICIAL. If they do not or cannot accept this risk they must at least initially consider the data to be SECRET, though it may be reduced to OFFICIAL or increased to TOP SECRET later when the consequences of a compromise are also considered. The implication of this approach and the binary nature of determining if a risk from capable and motivated attackers is acceptable or not, means that data cannot easily progress through the GSCP in a linear fashion as it did through GPMS. This is a complexity often lost on Information Asset Owners previously used to the strictly hierarchical tiered rising structure of GPMS (e.g. UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT, RESTRICTED, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, TOP SECRET). By contrast GSCP data starts either with an OFFICIALORSECRET classification depending on the nature of threat and its acceptability to the business, and thereafter moves up or down accordingly based on consequence of compromise. OFFICIAL data may therefore rise to TOP SECRET, but cannot be SECRET unless the risk previously accepted for a capable attacker is revised. SECRET data may be reduced to OFFICIAL where no serious consequences can be identified from a potential breach, or SECRET can also rise to TOP SECRET if serious consequences could arise. Impact levels also consider integrity and availability, but CESG's system of Business Impact Levels (BIL) is under review too and in most practical contexts have now fallen into disuse. It is therefore no longer strictly the case that the greater the consequences if the data confidentiality were to be compromised, the higher the classification, since data with a high impact (including material which could result in threat to life) may still be classified as OFFICIAL if the relevant business owner believes it is not necessary to protect this from an attacker who has the capabilities of a Foreign Intelligence Service or Serious and Organised Crime. Conversely some data with much lower consequences (for example ongoing Police investigations into a criminal group, or intelligence information relating to possible prosecutions) but where the business will not accept compromise from such an attacker could be classified as SECRET. Guidance issued in April 2014 at the implementation of the GSCP and still available on Gov.UK sources[9]suggested that UK Government information systems would continue to be accredited much as before, normally using CESGInformation Assurance Standard 1 & 2. This has however been progressively discarded through GDS and NCSC blog statements since May 2014 and the IS1 & 2 standard itself is no longer maintained or mandated. Accreditation has also been largely replaced by alternative models of assurance aligned to various commercial practices. The NAO report "Protecting Information across Government" (Sep 2016) was somewhat critical of the move to this model and the adoption of GSCP overall[10] Existing published guidance continues to suggest that storage media which hold UK government data should still be destroyed or purged according toHMG IA Policy No. 5, however terminology in this guidance and other material has not been updated fully to reflect the changes from GPMS protective markings to GSCP classifications and as such its value is now arguably somewhat reduced as a published standard. Higher classifications still tend to require stricterpersonnel vetting. The Government Security Classifications Policy was completed and published in December 2012; additional guidance and supporting processes were developed over time. The policy came into effect on 2 April 2014.Government procurementprocedures took account of the new policy from 21 October 2023 so that new security requirements could be taken into account in contracts let from that date.[11]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Security_Classifications_Policy
Anillegal numberis a number that represents information which is illegal to possess, utter, propagate, or otherwise transmit in somelegal jurisdiction. Any piece of digital information is representable as a number; consequently, if communicating a specific set of information is illegal in some way, then the number may be illegal as well.[1][2][3] A number may represent some type ofclassified informationortrade secret, legal to possess only by certain authorized persons. AnAACS encryption key(09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0) that came to prominence in May 2007 is an example of a number claimed to be a secret, and whose publication or inappropriate possession is claimed to be illegal in the United States. It assists in the decryption of anyHD DVDorBlu-ray Discreleased before this date. The issuers of a series of cease-and-desist letters claim that the key itself is therefore a copyright circumvention device,[4]and that publishing the key violates Title 1 of the USDigital Millennium Copyright Act. In part of theDeCSScourt order[5]and in the AACS legal notices, the claimed protection for these numbers is based on their mere possession and the value or potential use of the numbers. This makes their status and legal issues surrounding their distribution quite distinct from that ofcopyright infringement.[5] Any image file or an executable program[6]can be regarded as simply a very largebinary number. In certain jurisdictions, there are images that are illegal to possess,[7]due toobscenityor secrecy/classified status, so the corresponding numbers could be illegal.[1][8] In 2011, Sony suedGeorge Hotzand members of fail0verflow forjailbreakingthePlayStation 3.[9]Part of the lawsuit complaint was that they had published PS3 keys. Sony also threatened to sue anyone who distributed the keys.[10]Sony later accidentally retweeted an olderdonglekey through its fictionalKevin Butlercharacter.[11] As a protest of the DeCSS case, many people createdsteganographicversions of the illegal information (i.e., hiding them in some form in flags etc.). Dave Touretzky of Carnegie Mellon University created the Gallery of DeCSS Descramblers. In theAACS encryption key controversy, aFree Speech Flagwas created. Some illegal numbers are so short that a simple flag (shown in the image) could be created by using triples ofcomponentsas describingred-green-bluecolors. The argument is that if short numbers can be made illegal, then any representation of those numbers also becomes illegal, like simple patterns of colors, etc. In theSony Computer Entertainment v. Hotzcase, many bloggers (including one atYale Law School) made a "new free speech flag" in homage to the AACS Free Speech Flag. Most of these were based on the "dongle key" rather than the keys Hotz actually released.[12]Several users of other websites posted similar flags.[13] Anillegal primeis an illegal number which is alsoprime. One of the earliest illegal prime numbers was generated in March 2001 byPhil Carmody. Itsbinaryrepresentation corresponds to acompressedversion of theCsource codeof acomputer programimplementing theDeCSSdecryption algorithm, which can be used by a computer to circumvent a DVD'scopy protection.[14] Protests against the indictment of DeCSS authorJon Lech Johansenand legislation prohibiting publication of DeCSS code took many forms.[15]One of them was the representation of the illegal code in a form that had anintrinsically archivablequality. Since the bits making up a computer program also represent a number, the plan was for the number to have some special property that would make it archivable and publishable (one method was to print it on a T-shirt). Theprimalityof a number is a fundamental property ofnumber theoryand is therefore not dependent on legal definitions of any particular jurisdiction. The large prime database of thePrimePageswebsite records the top 20 primes of various special forms; one of them is proof of primality using theelliptic curve primality proving(ECPP)algorithm. Thus, if the number were large enough and proved prime using ECPP, it would be published. There are other contexts in which smaller numbers have run afoul of laws or regulations, or drawn the attention of authorities.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_number
AnOfficial Secrets Act(OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection ofstate secretsand official information, mainly related tonational security. However, in its unrevised form (based on the UKOfficial Secrets Act 1911[1]), it can include all information held by government bodies. OSAs are currently in-force in over 40 countries (mostly formerBritish colonies) includingBangladesh,Kenya,Pakistan,Hong Kong,India,Ireland,Myanmar,Uganda,Malaysia,Singaporeand theUnited Kingdom, and have previously existed inCanadaandNew Zealand. There were earlier English and British precedents, long before the acts enumerated here. As early as the16th Century, followingFrancis Drake's circumnavigation,Queen Elizabeth Ideclared that all written accounts of Drake's voyages were to become the "Queen's secrets of the Realm".[citation needed]In addition, Drake and the other participants of his voyages were sworn to their secrecy on the pain of death; the Queen intended to keep Drake's activities away from the eyes of rival Spain. Australiapreviously had Part VII of theCrimes Act 1914(Commonwealth), entitledOfficial Secrets and Unlawful Soundings, since repealed and replaced with Part 5.6 – Secrecy of Information of the Criminal Code Act (1995).[2][3] The BritishOfficial Secrets Act 1889(52 & 53 Vict. c. 52) was adopted inCanadawith minor modifications in 1890. Its provisions became part of theCriminal Codein 1892. TheOfficial Secrets Act (Canada) 1939replaced the Criminal Code provisions and utilised the provisions of the British Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1920. Amendments were made in 1950, 1967, 1970 and 1973. TheOfficial Secrets Act (Canada) 1981was the final version of that law adopted by the House of Commons. In 2001, the Act was repealed and replaced by theSecurity of Information Act, created in the wake ofSeptember 11, 2001 attacksto replace the vaguely-worded Official Secrets Act.[4] Twenty-two prosecutions occurred under theOfficial Secrets Actin Canada, over half of which were in relation to theGouzenko Affair. In 1989,Stephen Joseph Ratkaiwas charged and convicted under the Act, of espionage in relation to theSOSUSnetwork site atNaval Station ArgentiainNewfoundland. Hong Konghas theOfficial Secrets Ordinance 1997(Cap. 521), in which it is largely based on the BritishOfficial Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989.[5] Irelandhas theOfficial Secrets Act 1963,[6]that repealed the previous British legislation of 1911 and 1920. The Official Secrets Act, as amended, applies to allcivil servantsand potentially anyone within the state. A suit may only be instigated at the approval of theAttorney General of Ireland, additionally proceedings may occurin camerabut the verdict and any sentence must occur in public.[citation needed] Jerseyhas theOfficial Secrets (Jersey) Law 1952. Malaysiahas theOfficial Secrets Act 1972, prohibiting the collection, possession or distribution of information marked as an official secret – an action which can be made by any public officer. The certification of a document as an official secret is not subject tojudicial review, and a violation of the act is punishable with between one and seven years' imprisonment. The act has been controversial for its use to silence dissent and stifling anti-corruption activities.[7] InNew Zealand, theOfficial Secrets Act 1951[8]was repealed by theOfficial Information Act 1982. InSingapore, the Official Secrets Act (Cap. 213, 2012 Rev. Ed.) prohibits the disclosure of official documents and information.[9][10] The Act was first introduced to Singapore in 1935 as the Official Secrets Ordinance.[11]Section 5 of the Act prohibits the wrongful communication of information that is considered sensitive by the government.[12][13][14] The Official Secrets Acts (OSA) of theUKcomprise several laws aimed at the protection of state secrets and the prevention ofespionage. The key Acts are theOfficial Secrets Act 1889,1911,1920,1939and1989. Individuals working with sensitive information are often required to sign a statement affirming their agreement to adhere to the restrictions of the OSA, colloquially known as "signing the Official Secrets Act". However, signing this statement does not alter the legal obligations, as the Act is alaw, not acontract, and its provisions apply irrespective of whether an individual has signed the statement. The signature serves primarily as a reminder of the obligations under the Act.[citation needed] The now-repealedNaval Discipline Act 1957also played a role in protecting sensitive information by making it an offence to spy on-boardRoyal Navyships or overseas bases, punishable by life imprisonment, and previously acapital offenceuntil 1981. Jarvis provides a critical analysis of these Acts.[15]He highlights that the laws have been criticised for being outdated and not adequately addressing contemporary issues related to information technology and modern espionage. Jarvis points out the lack of a 'public interest' defence in the current legislation, which has been a significant point of contention among legal experts, media, and public advocacy groups. According to Jarvis, the current framework allows the government to wield the OSA in a manner that can prevent politically embarrassing disclosures rather than purely safeguarding national security. This has led to calls for reform, including recommendations from theLaw Commissionto modernise the Acts, introduce clearer language, and incorporate provisions that balancestate securitywithtransparencyandpublic interest.[16] In response to ongoing concerns and to address the evolving landscape of national security threats, the UK enacted theNational Security Act 2023. This new legislation aims to modernise the country's approach to safeguarding official data and combatingespionage, reflecting the recommendations put forth by theLaw Commissionand other stakeholders. The National Security Act 2023 introduces several key features aimed at addressing contemporary security challenges. It modernises the language and definitions used in previous Official Secrets Acts, making them relevant to current threats and technologies. The Act expands the scope of espionage to includecyber threatsand other modern tactics, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all potential security risks. Notably, it introduces a public interest defence for the first time, allowing individuals to argue that their disclosure was justified in the public interest, thereby protectingwhistleblowerswho expose government wrongdoing or illegal activities. Additionally, the Act imposes stricter penalties for breaches of national security, reflecting the gravity of these offences in today's context. To ensureaccountabilityandtransparency, an independent statutory commissioner is established to oversee investigations into alleged breaches of the Act. TheUnited Statesdoes not have a broad-reaching Official Secrets Act, although theEspionage Act of 1917has similar components. Much of the Espionage Act remains in force, although some has been struck down by theSupreme Courtasunconstitutionalbecause of theFirst Amendment(seeUnited States v. The Progressive,Brandenburg v. Ohio,New York Times Co. v. United States).18 U.S.C.§ 798, enacted in 1951, makes dissemination of secret information involvingcryptography,espionage, andsurveillanceillegal for all people, and is thus an "official secrets act" limited to those subjects.[17]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Secrets_Act
Thestate secrets privilegeis anevidentiary rulecreated byUnited Stateslegalprecedent. Application of the privilege results in exclusion of evidence from alegal casebased solely onaffidavitssubmitted by the government stating that court proceedings might disclose sensitive information which might endanger national security.[1][2]United States v. Reynolds,[3]which involved alleged military secrets, was the first case that saw formal recognition of the privilege. Following a claim of "state secrets privilege", the court rarely conducts anin cameraexamination of the evidence to evaluate whether there is sufficient cause to support the use of this doctrine. This results in court rulings in which even the judge has not verified the veracity of the assertion. The privileged material is completely removed from the litigation, and the court must determine how the unavailability of the privileged information affects the case.[4] The purpose of the state secrets privilege is to prevent courts from revealing state secrets in the course of civil litigation. The government may intervene in any civil suit, including when it is not a party to the litigation, to ask the court to exclude state secrets evidence. While the courts may examine such evidence closely, in practice they generally defer to theExecutive Branch. Once the court has agreed that evidence is subject to the state secrets privilege, it is excluded from the litigation. Often, as a practical matter, the plaintiff cannot continue the suit without the privileged information, and drops the case.[5] The state secrets privilege is related to, but distinct from, several other legal doctrines: the principle of non-justiciability in certain cases involving state secrets (the so-called "Totten Rule");[6]certain prohibitions on the publication of classified information (as inNew York Times Co. v. United States, thePentagon Paperscase); and the use of classified information in criminal cases (governed by the Classified Information Procedures Act). The doctrine was effectively imported fromEnglish common lawwhich has the similarpublic-interest immunity.[1]It is debatable whether the state secrets privilege is based upon the President's powers ascommander-in-chiefand leader offoreign policy(as suggested inUnited States v. Nixon) or derived from the idea of separation of powers (as suggested inUnited States v. Reynolds).[7]It seems that the US privilege "has its initial roots inAaron Burr'strial for treason". In this case, it was alleged that a letter from GeneralJames Wilkinsonto PresidentThomas Jeffersonmight contain state secrets and could therefore not be divulged without risk to national security.[7] The privilege was first officially recognized by theSupreme Court of the United StatesinUnited States v. Reynolds,345U.S.1(1953). A military airplane crashed. The widows of three civilian crew members sought accident reports on the crash but were told that to release such details would threaten national security by revealing the bomber's top-secret mission.[2][8]The court held that only the government can claim or waive the privilege, but that it “is not to be lightly invoked”[9]and that there “must be a formal claim of privilege, lodged by the head of the department which has control over the matter, after actual personal consideration by that officer.”[7]The court stressed that the decision to withhold evidence is to be made by the presiding judge and not the executive. In 2000, the accident reports were declassified and released, and it was found that the assertion that they contained secret information was untrue.[10] According to formerWhite House Counsel,John Dean: While precise numbers are hard to come by (because not all cases are reported), a recent study reports that the "Bush administration has invoked the state secrets privilege in 23 cases since 2001." By way of comparison, "between 1953 and 1976, the government invoked the privilege in only four cases."[11] These figures were later retracted, as they were based on erroneous information: Correction: In this article, we incorrectly reported that the government invoked the state secrets privilege in 23 cases since 2001. The figure came from the 2005 Secrecy Report Card published by OpenTheGovernment.org. The privilege was actually invoked seven times from 2001 to 2005, according to the corrected 2005 report card, which is not an increase from previous decades.[12] Following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, the privilege is increasingly used to dismiss entire court cases, instead of only withholding the sensitive information from a case.[7]Also in 2001,George W. BushissuedExecutive Order 13233extending the accessibility of the state secrets privilege to also allowformerpresidents, their designated representatives, or representatives designated by their families, to invoke it to bar records from their tenure.[13]An article in theNew York Timesin August 2007, regarding a lawsuit involvingSociety for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, concluded that judges were more willing to ask the government to validate its claims.[14] US Justice Department officials told a federal judge on 24 March 2025 that theTrump administrationwas invoking the state secrets privilege to avoid giving him information about deportation flights from earlier this month that are at the center of a legal dispute over whether the government flouted his judicial commands.[15] Since 2001, there has been mounting criticism of the state secrets privilege. Such criticism generally falls into four categories: Many commentators have expressed concern that the courts never effectively scrutinize executive claims of privilege.[7]Lacking independent national security expertise, judges frequently defer to the judgment of the executive and never subject executive claims to meaningful scrutiny. Commentators have suggested that the state secrets privilege might be used to prevent disclosure of embarrassing facts as often as it is invoked to protect legitimate secrets.[7][2][16]In the words of Professors William G. Weaver and Robert M. Pallitto in aPolitical Science Quarterlyarticle: [T]he incentive on the part of administrators is to use the privilege to avoid embarrassment, handicap political enemies, and to prevent criminal investigation of administrative action.[12][17] In several prominent cases, the evidence that the government successfully excluded was later revealed to contain no state secrets:United States v. Reynolds,Sterling v. Tenet,Edmonds v. Department of Justice, and thePentagon Papers. Some academics and practitioners have criticized the expansion of the state secrets privilege from an evidentiary privilege (designed to exclude certain pieces of evidence) to a justiciability doctrine (designed to exclude entire lawsuits). Under its original formulation, the state secrets privilege was meant only to exclude a very narrow class of evidence whose revelation would harm national security. However, in a large percentage of recent cases, courts have gone a step further, dismissing entire cases in which the government asserts the privilege, in essence converting an evidentiary rule into a justiciability rule. The government response has been that in certain cases, the subject of the case is itself privileged. In these cases, the government argues, there is no plausible way to respond to a complaint without revealing state secrets. Glenn Greenwaldalleges that the Bush administration attempted to expandexecutive power, as evidenced by theunitary executive theorypropagated byJohn Yoo. The theory suggests that the President, asCommander-in-Chief, cannot be bound by Congress or any law, national or international. By invoking the state secrets privilege in cases involving actions taken in thewar on terror(e.g.extraordinary rendition, cases of torture, NSA warrantless surveillance),[18]Greenwald opines the administration tried to evadejudicial reviewof these claims of exceptionalwar powers. In effect, this is preventing a judicial ruling determining whether there is a legal basis for such expansive executive power.[19][20] In recent years, a number of commentators have called for legislative reforms to the state secrets privilege.[21]These reforms center around several ideas: On January 22, 2008, SenatorsEdward Kennedy,Patrick LeahyandArlen SpecterintroducedS. 2533, theState Secrets Protection Act.[24][25] InUnited States v. Reynolds(1953), the widows of three crew members of aB-29 Superfortressbomber that had crashed in 1948 sought accident reports on the crash, but were told the release of such details would threaten national security by revealing the nature of the bomber's top-secret mission. The Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch could bar evidence from the court if it deemed that its release would impair national security. In 1996, the accident reports in question were declassified and released, and when discovered in 2000 were found to contain no secret information.[11]They did, however, contain information about the poor condition of the aircraft itself, which would have been very compromising to the Air Force's case. Many legal experts have alleged government abuse of secrecy in this landmark case.[1] Former DEA agent Richard Horn brought a suit against the CIA for bugging his home. The case was dismissed because of the privilege.[7][8] Richard Horn's case was reinstated on July 20, 2009, by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth on the basis that the CIA had engaged in fraud on the court. On March 30, 2010, as a result of a multimillion-dollar settlement agreement between Horn and the government, Lamberth dismissed the underlying case with prejudice. Subsequently, later that same year, in a September 22 order, Lamberth issued a final order vacating his earlier opinions and orders finding that Arthur Brown, the former CIA station chief in Burma,[26]andGeorge Tenethad committed fraud on the court. Lamberth also specifically ordered that a sentence be removed from his March 30, 2010 Memorandum. The removed sentence had stated that "allegations of wrongdoing by the government attorneys in this case are not only credible, they are admitted". In February 2002, it was invoked in the case of Notra Trulock, who launched adefamationsuit againstLos AlamosscientistWen Ho Lee, falsely charged with stealing nuclear secrets;President Bushstated that national security would be compromised if Trulock were allowed to seek damages from Lee; though it resulted in the case being dismissed, another suit was launched directly attacking then-FBI DirectorLouis Freehfor interfering and falsely invoking the state secrets privilege. The privilege was invoked twice against Sibel Edmonds.[1][8]The first invocation was to prevent her from testifying that the Federal Government had foreknowledge that Al-Qaeda intended to use airliners toattack the United States on September 11, 2001; the case was a $100 trillion action filed in 2002 by six hundred 9/11 victims' families against officials of theSaudigovernment and prominent Saudi citizens. The second invocation was in an attempt to derail her personal lawsuit regarding her dismissal from the FBI, where she had worked as a post-9/11 translator and had been awhistleblower. The privilege was invoked inThomas Burnett vs. Al Barka Investment & Development Corporation(Civil No. 04ms203) a motion to quash a subpoena for the testimony of Sibel Edmonds. The government's motion to quash based on state secrets privilege was granted in part. Jeffrey Sterling was anAfrican-AmericanCIA agent who started a racial discrimination suit. It was thrown out on account of this privilege.[8] The privilege was invoked inSchwartz vs. TRW(Civil No. 96-3065, Central District, California) aqui tamclaim by Schwartz. Intervention and assertion of the state secrets privilege, by the government, resulted in case dismissal.[27] The privilege was invoked in theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuitcase ofCrater Corporation vs.Lucent TechnologiesInc.and AT&T Company, in September 2005.[28]Crater was prevented from proceeding with discovery in itspatent infringementcase (U.S. Patent No. 5,286,129) by the United States' assertion that discovery could cause "extremely grave damage to national security". The infringement case centered on wet-mate underwaterfiber opticcoupling devices beneath the sea. On May 26, 2006, theU.S. Justice Departmentfiled a motion to dismissACLU v. NSA, the ACLU's lawsuit against the NSA by invoking the state secrets privilege.[29]On July 26, 2006, the case was dismissed. In a different case in Michigan, brought by the ACLU against the NSA on behalf of various scholars, journalists, attorneys, and national non-profit organizations, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled on August 17, 2006, that the program was unconstitutional and should be halted. She upheld the doctrine but ruled that the government's public statements concerning the operation were admissible and constituted sufficient proof for the case to continue without any privileged evidence or discovery.[30]On July 6, 2007, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Taylor's decision, ruling 2-1 that the ACLU could not produce evidence to prove that the ACLU had been wrongfully wiretapped by the NSA and therefore did not have the standing to bring such a case to court, regardless of the legality question. On February 19, 2008, the Supreme Court declined to hear the ACLU's appeal. On May 27, 2006, the Justice Department moved to preempt theCenter for Constitutional Rights(CCR)challengeto warrantless domestic surveillance by invoking the state secrets privilege. The Bush administration argued that CCR's case could reveal secrets regarding U.S. national security, and thus the presiding judge must dismiss it without reviewing the evidence. In April 2006, the Bush administration took initial steps to use the state secrets rule to block a lawsuit againstAT&Tand theNational Security Agencybrought by theElectronic Frontier Foundation.[31]The EFF alleged that the government had secret computer rooms conducting broad, illegal surveillance of American citizens.[13]Testifying at a January 29, 2008,House Judiciary Committeehearing on reform of the state secrets privilege, EFF attorneyKevin Bankstoncontended that the administration's interpretation of the privilege was overly broad, and failed to properly consider the evidentiary procedures provided for by Section 1806(f) of theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[32]However, the case was dismissed on June 3, 2009,[33]citing legislation (section 802 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) stating that in the case of a covered civil action, the assistance alleged to have been provided by the electronic communication service provider was in connection with an intelligence activity involving communications that was authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007; designed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation for a terrorist attack, against the United States; and the subject of a written request or directive, or a series of written requests or directives, from the Attorney General or the head of an element of the intelligence community (or the deputy of such person) to the electronic communication service provider indicating that the activity was authorized by the President; and determined to be lawful.[34] In May 2006, the illegal detention case ofKhalid El-Masriwas dismissed based on the privilege, which was invoked by theCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA).Khalid El-Masrialleged that he was falsely held by the CIA for several months (which the CIA acknowledges) and was beaten, drugged, and subjected totorture,degradingandinhumantreatment while in United Statescaptivity. He was ultimately released by the CIA with no charge ever being brought against him by the United States government. JudgeT. S. Ellis IIIof theU.S. District Courtdismissed the case because, according to the court, the simple fact of holding proceedings would jeopardize state secrets, as claimed by the CIA.[4][35]On March 2, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed.[36]On October 9, 2007, theSupreme Courtdeclined to hear an appeal of the Fourth Circuit's decision, letting the doctrine of state secrets privilege stand.[37] The privilege was invoked against a case whereMaher Arar, a wrongfully-accused and tortured victim, sought to sueAttorney GeneralJohn Ashcroftfor his role in deporting Arar toSyriato face torture and extract false confessions. It was formally invoked byDeputy Attorney GeneralJames B. Comeyin legal papers filed in theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The invocation read, "Litigating [the] plaintiff's complaint would necessitate disclosure of classified information", which it later stated included disclosure of the basis for detaining him in the first place, the basis for refusing to deport him to Canada as he had requested, and the basis for sending him to Syria. On January 4, 2007, District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the dismissal ofJane Doe et al. v. CIA, 05 Civ. 7939 based on the state secrets privilege, as it would endanger the "weapons systems [..] of our nation's warships". Jane Doe and her children sued the CIA after her husband's covert employment with the CIA was "terminated immediately for unspecified reasons" and they were forced to leave USA for a country where the plaintiff remains a "virtual prisoner in her home".[38] In July 2013, Greek shipping magnateVictor Restisbrought adefamation lawsuit against UANIfor claiming that his companies were "front men for the illicit activities of the Iranian regime." In March 2015, the case of the Obama administration and Department of Justice stated that details aboutUnited Against Nuclear Iranare subject to U.S. state secrets privilege, and would do "harm to national security if the information were disclosed."[39][40] In the 2011 General Dynamics case, the court unanimously held that "when litigation would end up disclosing state secrets, courts may not try the claims and may not award relief to either party."[41] During 2006 to 2007, the FBI had an informant Craig Monteilh to integrate into the MuslimIslamic Center of IrvineinIrvine, Californiaand plant electronic surveillance within the mosque and members' homes and offices. Monteilh's role was terminated by the FBI after they lost confidence with him, and he ended up in prison on separate drug charges, where he was stabbed repeatedly for being a snitch. He filed suit against the FBI for failing to protect him, revealing extensive details of his informant role. Members of the Islamic Center of Irvine filed suit against the FBI for numerous charges related to violation of their rights in 2011, but the FBI asserted that the case should be dropped by evoking their state secrets privilege, as litigation would be a threat to national security. The district court ruled for the FBI, but the Ninth Circuit reversed in part, stating that under theForeign Intelligence Surveillance ActSection 1806(f), the plaintiffs' right to seek legal action overrode the FBI's privilege.[42]The FBI petitioned to the Supreme Court, which, in March 2022, ruled unanimously that the FISA does not displace the state secrets privilege, overturning the Ninth Circuit's ruling.[43] The state secrets privilege was invoked in anex partediscovery application byGuantánamodetaineeAbu Zubaydahseeking testimony fromJames Elmer Mitchelland John Jessen, two former CIA contractors involved in theCIA torture program. Zubaydah sought to submit the testimonies as evidence in a criminal investigation in Poland into torture he suffered in that country at aCIA black site. However, the CIA objected, claiming that any information about the black site was classified and couldn't be disclosed. On February 21, 2018, Judge Justin L. Quackenbush dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the privilege. While finding that "The Government’s argument that merely confirming a detention site was operated in Poland would pose a grave risk to national security is not convincing" because "The fact of such operation has been widely reported, has been acknowledged by the individual who was President of Poland at the time the site allegedly operated, and has been found by proof beyond a reasonable doubt by the European Court of Human Rights", he nevertheless concluded that "compelling Mitchell and Jessen to answer as to the mere fact of whether operations were conducted in Poland would not seem of much, if any, assistance to a Polish investigation. Rather, counsel for Petitioners said it would be useful if Mitchell and Jessen could identify if there were foreign (Polish) officials at the detention site, and the nature of their roles at the site".[44]However, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuitfound that "the district court erred in quashing the subpoenas in toto rather than attempting to disentangle nonprivileged from privileged information", ruling that "To be a 'state secret,' a fact must first be a 'secret'".[45][46]Despite a dissenting opinion from 12 judges, the Ninth Circuit declined to rehear the caseen banc.[47] On March 3, 2022, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit in a mostly 7–2 vote. JusticeStephen Breyer, joined in full by Chief JusticeJohn Robertsand in part by JusticesBrett KavanaughandAmy Coney Barrett, argued that even if information about the CIAblack sitein Poland had been publicly disclosed, the type of information sought by Zubaydah "would tend to confirm (or deny) the existence of a CIA detention site in Poland" and that there were reasonable grounds for the government to consider any further confirmation a matter of national security, as it could potentially reveal the existence ofblack sitesin other countries. JusticeClarence Thomaswrote a concurring opinion, joined by JusticeSamuel Alito. Thomas said the lawsuit should be dismissed because Zubaydah had not shown that he actually needed the information he sought, and therefore there was no need for the court to decide whether the information was protected by state secrets. JusticeElena Kaganalso wrote a concurring opinion, saying the case should be sent back to the lower court to consider whether some of the informations Zubaydah sought could be separated from state secrets. JusticeNeil Gorsuchwrote the dissenting opinion, joined bySonia Sotomayor. Gorsuch argued that the fact that Zubaydah was held at ablack sitein Poland between 2002 and 2003 was now public knowledge and could therefore no longer be a state secret, and expressed concern about the government's overclassification of information. He also concluded, agreeing with Kagan, that the case should be remanded to District Court to determine what information could be obtained without evoking state secrets.[48][49]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Secrets_Privilege
TheWassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologiesis amultilateral export control regimeestablished on 12 July 1996, inWassenaar, nearThe Hague, Netherlands. According to the Wassenaar Arrangement document, it was "established to contribute to regional and international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms anddual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilizing accumulations. Participating states seek, through their national policies, to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals, and are not diverted to support such capabilities".[1] It is the successor to theCold War–eraCoordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls(CoCom). The Wassenaar Arrangement is considerably less strict than CoCom, focusing primarily on the transparency of national export control regimes and not granting veto power to individual members over organizational decisions. A Secretariat for administering the agreement is located inVienna, Austria. Like CoCom, however, it is not a treaty, and therefore is not legally binding.[2] Every six months member countries exchange information on deliveries of conventional arms to non-Wassenaar members that fall under eight broad weapons categories: battle tanks,armoured fighting vehicles,large-calibre artillery, military aircraft, military helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems, andsmall armsand light weapons. There are 42 participating states including many formerComecon(Warsaw Pact) countries, including Russia.[3] The outline of the arrangement is set out in a document entitled "Guidelines & Procedures, including the Initial Elements".[4]Thelist of restricted technologiesis broken into two parts, the "List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies" (also known as theBasic List) and the "Munitions List". The Basic List is composed of ten categories based on increasing levels of sophistication: Basic List has two nested subsections—Sensitive and Very Sensitive. Items of the Very Sensitive List include materials forstealth technology—i.e., equipment that could be used for submarine detection, advancedradar, andjet enginetechnologies. Within each of the categories, there are 5 types of controlled item. These are approximately as follows: The types of item B, C, D and E typically refer to the type A items, but there are many exceptions, e.g. some materials may be controlled, even though there is no specific good referred to. The Wassenaar Arrangement List's categories are typically processed, and merged with other sources, e.g. Category 5.A.2 maps on to USECCN5A002, and EU control classification 5A002. The Munitions List has 22 categories, which are not labeled. In order for an item to be placed on the lists, member states must take into account the followingcriteria: Admission requires states to: The Arrangement is open on a global and non-discriminatory basis to prospective adherents that comply with the agreed criteria. Admission of new members requires theconsensus of all members. Indiajoined as the 42nd participating state on 7 December 2017. "Wassenaar Arrangement participating states reviewed the progress of a number of current membership applications and agreed at the plenary meeting to admit India which will become the Arrangement's 42nd participating state as soon as the necessary procedural arrangements for joining the WA are completed", the grouping said in a statement.[5][6]India's application was supported by Russia, the United States, France and Germany.[7] In December 2013, the list of export restricted technologies was amended to include Internet-based surveillance systems. New technologies placed under the export control regime include "intrusion software"—software designed to defeat a computer or network's protective measures so as to extract data or information—as well asIPnetwork surveillancesystems. The purpose of the amendments was to prevent Western technology companies from selling surveillance technology to governments known to abuse human rights. However, some technology companies have expressed concerns that the scope of the controls may be too broad, limiting security researchers' ability to identify and correct security vulnerabilities.GoogleandFacebookcriticised the agreement for the restrictions it will place on activities likepenetration testing, sharing information about threats, andbug bounty programs.[8][9]They argue that the restrictions will weaken thesecurityof participating nations and do little to curb threats from non-participant nations.[10][11] During 2022 and 2023, a variety of proposals for modification to the listed items were proposed within Wassenaar, but were not accepted.[12]Several states made unilateral legislation, rather than obtaining harmonisation through the Arrangement, including:[13] The corresponding proposals within WA were not accepted, due to objection from the Russian delegation.[14]Only minor and editorial changes were universally accepted. At the time, Russia facedinternational sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Consequently in mid 2024 and later, many Wassenaar nations have implemented export controls corresponding to the unliateral legislation above. These include UK[15]and Canada.[16]These are classified as 'country specific', although there appears to be harmonisation of these 2024 controls across many advanced economies. The introduction of these controls caused surprise in some circles.[17][18]Other nations largely harmonised their export controls over the course of 2024 and early 2025. The 42 states that have been participating since December 2017 are:[19] –European Unionmember state.–NATOmember. Chilehas been candidate forNuclear Suppliers Groupand Wassenaar Arrangement since 2015 as part of its national commitments with theUNSCresolution 1540 of 2004. In its 2017 report toUNabout prevention of arms proliferation has presented a National Plan of Action (2017-2021) that includes as targets membership to theNuclear Suppliers Groupand theWassenaar Arrangementby 2021.[20]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassenaar_Arrangement
WikiLeaks(/ˈwɪkiliːks/) is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations[13]and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources.[14]It was founded in 2006 byJulian Assange.[15]Kristinn Hrafnssonis itseditor-in-chief.[16][17]Its website states that it has released more than ten million documents and associated analyses.[18]WikiLeaks' most recent publication of original documents was in 2019 and its most recent publication was in 2021.[19]From November 2022, numerous documents on the organisation's website became inaccessible.[19][20]In 2023, Assange said that WikiLeaks is no longer able to publish due to his imprisonment and the effect that US government surveillance and WikiLeaks' funding restrictions were having on potential whistleblowers.[21] WikiLeaks has releaseddocument cachesand media that exposed serious violations ofhuman rightsandcivil libertiesby various governments. It released footage of the12July 2007 Baghdad airstrike, titling itCollateral Murder, in which IraqiReutersjournalists and several civilians were killed by a U.S. helicopter crew.[22]It published thousands of US military field logs from thewar in AfghanistanandIraq war,diplomatic cables from the United StatesandSaudi Arabia,[23][24]andemails from the governments of Syria[25][26]andTurkey.[27][28][29]WikiLeaks has also published documents exposing corruption inKenya[30][31]and atSamherji,[32]cyber warfare and surveillance toolscreated by theCIA,[33][34]and surveillance of the French president by theNational Security Agency.[35][36]During the2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, WikiLeaksreleased emailsfrom theDemocratic National Committee(DNC) and fromHillary Clinton's campaign manager, showing that the party's national committee had effectively acted as an arm of the Clinton campaign during theprimaries, seeking to undercut the campaign ofBernie Sanders. These releases resulted in the resignation of the chairwoman of the DNC and caused significant harm to theClinton campaign.[37]During the campaign, WikiLeaks promoted false conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, theDemocratic Partyand themurder of Seth Rich.[38][39][40] WikiLeaks has won numerous awards and been commended by media organisations, civil society organisations, and world leaders for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, assistingfreedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions. The organisation has been the target of campaigns to discredit it, including aborted ones byPalantirandHBGary. WikiLeaks has also had its donation systems interrupted bypayment processors. As a result, theWau Holland Foundationhelps process WikiLeaks' donations. The organisation has been criticised for inadequately curating content and violating personal privacy. WikiLeaks has, for instance, revealedSocial Security numbers,medical information,credit card numbersand details ofsuicide attempts.[41][42][43]News organisations, activists, journalists and former members have also criticised WikiLeaks over allegations of anti-Clinton and pro-Trump bias and a lack of internal transparency. Some journalists have alleged it had associations with the Russian government. Journalists have also criticised the organisation for promotion of conspiracy theories, and what they describe as exaggerated and misleading descriptions of the contents of leaks. The USCIAandUnited States Congresscharacterised the organisation as a "non-statehostileintelligence service" after the release of CIA tools for hacking consumer electronics inVault 7.[44] The inspiration for WikiLeaks wasDaniel Ellsberg's release of thePentagon Papersin 1971. Assange built WikiLeaks to shorten the time between a leak and its coverage by the media. WikiLeaks was established inAustraliawith the help of Daniel Mathews[45]and its servers were soon moved toSwedenand other countries that provided greater legal protection for the media.[46]Assange described WikiLeaks as an activist organisation and said that "The method is transparency, the goal is justice".[47][48] Thewikileaks.orgdomain namewas registered on 4 October 2006.[46]The website was established and published its first document in December 2006.[49][50]It described its founders as a mixture of Asian dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from theUnited States,Taiwan,Europe,Australia, andSouth Africa.[51][52]In January 2007 WikiLeaks organizer James Chen[53][54][55]toldTIMEthat "We are serious people working on a serious project... three advisors have been detained by Asian government, one of us for over six years."[52]WikiLeaks said that its "primary interests are oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East" but it "also expects to be of assistance to those in the West who wish to reveal unethical behaviour in their own governments and corporations".[56]WikiLeaks was usually represented in public by Julian Assange, who has described himself as "the heart and soul of this organisation".[57][58] Assange formed an informal advisory board in the early days of WikiLeaks, with journalists, political activists and computer specialists as members.[59]In 2007 WikiLeaks said the board was still forming but that it included representatives from expatriate Russian and Tibetan refugee communities, reporters, a former US intelligence analyst and cryptographers."[56]Members of the advisory board includedPhillip Adams, Julian Assange,Wang Dan,Suelette Dreyfus, CJ Hinke, Tashi Namgyal Khamsitsang,Ben Laurie,Xiao Qiang,Chico Whitaker,Wang Youcai, andJohn Young.[59][60] WikiLeaks' advisory board did not meet. According toWired UK, most of the board members to whom they spoke said they had little involvement with WikiLeaks.[59][61]Some said they did not know they were mentioned on the site, nor how they got there.[62]Computer security expert Ben Laurie said he had been a member of the board "since before the beginning", but he was not "really sure what the advisory board means."[59]Former board member Phillip Adams criticised the board, saying that Assange "has never asked for advice. The advisory board was pretty clearly window dressing, so he went for people identified with progressive policies around the place."[63]Assange responded by calling the advisory board "pretty informal".[63] When asked to join their initial advisory board, the promininent critic of secrecySteven Aftergooddeclined; he said toTimethat "they have a very idealistic view of the nature of leaking and its impact. They seem to think that most leakers are crusading do-gooders who are single-handedly battling one evil empire or another."[64] In January 2007 John Young was dropped from the WikiLeaks network after questioning plans for a multimillion-dollar fundraising goal.[65]He accused the organisation of being a CIA conduit and published 150 pages of WikiLeaks emails.[59][66][67]According toWired, the emails document the group's attempts to create a profile for themselves and arguments over how to do so. They also discuss political impact and positive reform and include calls for transparency around the world.[59][68] In January 2010 WikiLeaks shut down its website while management appealed for donations.[69]Previously published material was no longer available, although some could still be accessed on unofficialmirror websites.[70]WikiLeaks stated that it would resume full operation once the operational costs were paid.[69]WikiLeaks said the work stoppage was "to ensure that everyone who is involved stops normal work and actually spends time raising revenue".[71]The organisation planned for funds to be secured by 6 January 2010, and on 3 February that WikiLeaks announced that its fundraising goal had been achieved.[72] In February 2010 WikiLeaks helped propose theIcelandic Modern Media Initiativelegislation to establish a "journalism safe haven" inIceland.[73]In June, the parliament voted unanimously for the resolution.[74] WikiLeaks originally used awikiformat website, and was changed when it relaunched in May 2010. The bloggerRyan Singelclaimed that after the website relaunched, its cryptographic security had degraded.[75][76] In October 2010 the server WikiLeaks used to host its encrypted communications was compromised by hackers that a WikiLeaks spokesperson described as "very skilled". The spokesperson said that "the server got attacked, hacked, and the private keys got out"; they said it was the first breach in WikiLeaks' history.[77]In November 2010, WikiLeaks said that its website was compromised hours before releasingUS diplomatic cables.[78][79][80]In December 2010 Spamhaus reported issued a malware warning for "WikiLeaks.info", a "very loosely" affiliated website that "WikiLeaks.org" redirected to. The website said they could "guarantee that there is no malware on it".[81][82][83] A series of resignations of key members of WikiLeaks began in September 2010, started by Assange's decision to release theIraq War logsthe next month, internal conflicts with other members and his response to sexual assault allegations.[84][85][86][87]According to Herbert Snorrason, "We found out that the level of redactions performed on the Afghanistan documents was not sufficient. I announced that if the next batch did not receive full attention, I would not be willing to cooperate."[87]Some members of WikiLeaks called for Assange to step aside.[88] On 25 September 2010 after being suspended by Assange for "disloyalty, insubordination and destabilisation",Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the German spokesman for WikiLeaks, toldDer Spiegelthat he was resigning. He said "WikiLeaks has a structural problem. I no longer want to take responsibility for it, and that's why I am leaving the project."[89][87]Assange accused Domscheit-Berg of leaking information toNewsweek, with Domscheit-Berg saying that the WikiLeaks team was unhappy with Assange's management and handling of theAfghan wardocument releases.[87][90]Domscheit-Berg said he wanted greater transparency in WikiLeaks finances and the leaks released to the public.[91][92][93] According to various sources, Domscheit-Berg had copied and then deleted over 3,500 unpublished whistleblower communications. Some communications[94]contained hundreds of documents,[95][96][97]including the US government'sNo Fly List,[98]Bank of Americaleaks,[99]insider information from 20 neo-Nazi organisations,[98][100]documents sent byRenata Avilaabout torture and government abuse of a Latin American country[101]and US intercept information for "over a hundred Internet companies".[102]Assange stated that Domscheit-Berg had deleted video files of theGranai massacreby a US Bomber. WikiLeaks had scheduled the video for publication before its deletion.[103]According toAndy Müller-Maguhn, it was an eighteen-gigabyte collection.[104] Domscheit-Berg said he took the files from WikiLeaks because he did not trust its security. In Domscheit-Berg's book he wrote he was "waiting for Julian to restore security, so that we can return the material to him".[105][106][107]The Architect and Domscheit-Berg encrypted the files and gave them to a third party who did not have the key.[104]In August 2011 Domscheit-Berg said he permanently deleted the files "to ensure that the sources are not compromised."[108]He said that WikiLeaks' claims about the Bank of America files were "false and misleading"[109]and they were lost because of an IT problem.[95] The Architect left with Domscheit-Berg, taking the code[110]behind the submission system with him.[111][105][106]WikiLeaks submissions stayed offline until 2015.[112][113]Herbert Snorrason resigned after he challenged Assange on his decision to suspend Domscheit-Berg and was bluntly rebuked.[87]Iceland MPBirgitta Jónsdóttiralso left WikiLeaks, citing lack of transparency, lack of structure, and poor communication flow.[114]James Ballleft WikiLeaks over disputes about Assange's handling of finances, and Assange's relationship toIsrael Shamir, an individual who has promoted antisemitism and holocaust denial.[115][116]According to the British newspaper,The Independent, at least a dozen key supporters of WikiLeaks left the website during 2010.[117]Several staffers who broke with Assange joined with Domscheit-Berg to startOpenLeaks,[118]a new leak organisation and website with a different management and distribution philosophy.[89][119] Sarah Harrison, who stayed with WikiLeaks, later toldAndrew O'Haganshe did not agree with the way he did it, but Domscheit-Berg had a basic point. She added that "you can tell he was probably just trying to say something true and got hated for it. That's the way it is with Julian: he can't listen. He doesn't get it."[120] In early 2010 Assange said that he obtained documents showing that two State Department agents tailed him on a flight from Iceland to Norway. Icelandic journalists were unable to verify Assange's allegations, which were denied by the State Department. Assange did not release the alleged documents.[121][122][123][124]Assange also said that a volunteer was arrested in March and questioned about WikiLeaks. According to Assange, police said that authorities had spied on and photographed a private WikiLeaks meeting. WikiLeaks later admitted that the interrogation did not happen as originally suggested. According to the deputy head of news forRUV, the arrest was unrelated to WikiLeaks but the volunteer mentioned WikiLeaks to the police and said the laptop he had with him was owned by WikiLeaks.[121]Daniel Domscheit-Bergwrote that The rumors that he was being followed originated in part from his overactive imagination. But they also had the advantage of giving him the aura of someone in dire peril, increasing the collective anticipation of every new leak. Julian didn't need a marketing department. Marketing was something he himself knew best.[123][124] AfterJulian Assangewas grantedasylumand entered theEcuadorian embassy in Londonin 2012, newCCTVcameras were installed and security personnel working for UC Global and Promsecurity recorded his activities and interactions, including with his legal team.[125]In a 2017 email, thesurveillancewas justified with suspicions that Assange was "working for theRussian intelligence services."[126]New cameras and microphones were installed in December 2017, and Morales arranged for the United States to have immediate access to the recordings.[127] Writing forThe Guardianin 2010,Nick Daviessaid there was "some evidence of low-level attempts to smear Wikileaks", including false online accusations involving Assange and money.[128]In 2010, Wikileaks published a 2008 US military report that said leaks to WikiLeaks "could result in increased threats to DoD personnel, equipment, facilities, or installations". The report suggested a plan to identify and expose WikiLeaks' sources to "deter others from using WikiLeaks" and "destroy the center of gravity" of Wikileaks by attacking its trustworthiness.[128][129][130]According to Clint Hendler writing in theColumbia Journalism Review, many reactions to the document were "overwrought" and "the spin" by WikiLeaks was "a step too far".[121] In 2010 theBank of Americaemployed the services of a collection ofinformation securityfirms, known as Team Themis, when the bank became concerned about information that WikiLeaks was planning to release about it. Team Themis included private intelligence and security firms HBGary Federal,Palantir Technologiesand Berico Technologies.[131][132][133]In 2011 hacktivist groupAnonymousreleased emails fromHBGary Federalshowing that Team Themis proposed a plan which suggested "[spreading] disinformation" and "disrupting"Glenn Greenwald's support for WikiLeaks.[134]Team Themis planned to expose the workings of WikiLeaks using disinformation and cyberattacks. The plans were not implemented and, after the emails were published, Palantir CEOAlex Karpissued a public apology to "progressive organizations ... and Greenwald" for his company's role.[135][132][136] In December 2010 PayPal suspended the WikiLeaks account after they received a letter from the US State Department that characterised WikiLeaks' activities as illegal in the US.[137]MastercardandVisa Europealso stopped accepting payments to WikiLeaks after pressure from the US.[138]Bank of America,Amazonand Swiss bankPostFinancehad previously stopped dealing with WikiLeaks. Datacell, the IT company that enabled WikiLeaks to accept credit and debit card donations, said Visa's action was the result of political pressure.[137][139]WikiLeaks referred to these actions as a banking blockade.[140]In response to the companies' actions, the hacker groupAnonymouslaunched aseries of cyberattacksagainst the companies, and against theSwedish Prosecution Authorityfor itsattempted extradition of Assange.[141][142]WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said: [Anonymous] is not affiliated with Wikileaks. There has been no contact between any Wikileaks staffer and anyone at Anonymous. Wikileaks has not received any prior notice of any of Anonymous' actions. We neither condemn nor applaud these attacks. We believe they are a reflection of public opinion on the actions of the targets.[143] Cyber-attacks and legal restrictions forced WikiLeaks to changeserver hostsseveral times by 2010.[144][145][146] In December 2011 WikiLeaks launchedFriends of WikiLeaks, a social network for supporters and founders of the website.Friends of WikiLeakswas designed for users to never have more than 12 friends, half local and half international. The site was in beta status.[147] In July 2012 WikiLeaks took credit for a fakeNew York Timeswebsite and article falsely attributed toBill Keller.[148][149][150][151]The hoax prompted criticism from commenters and the public, who said it hurt WikiLeaks' credibility.Glenn Greenwaldwrote inSalonthat it might have been satire but it doesn't strike me as a good idea for a group that relies on its credibility when it comes to the authenticity of what they publish – and which thus far has had a stellar record in that regard – to be making boastful claims that they published forged documents. I understand and appreciate the satire, but in this case, it directly conflicts with, and undermines, the primary value of WikiLeaks.[149][152][153] WikiLeaks said it wanted to bring attention to the banking blockade.[148] In January 2013, shortly afterAaron Swartzdied, WikiLeaks said that Swartz had helped WikiLeaks and had talked to Julian Assange in 2010 and 2011. WikiLeaks also said it had "strong reasons to believe, but cannot prove", he may have been a source, breaking WikiLeaks' rules about source anonymity. Journalists suggested that Wikileaks may have made the statements to imply that Swartz was targeted by the US Attorney's Office and Secret Service in order to get at WikiLeaks.[154][155] In 2013 the organisation assistedEdward Snowdenleave Hong Kong.Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks activist, accompanied Snowden on the flight. According to US investigators, WikiLeaks played an active role in assisting Snowden to disclose acache of NSA documents.[156]Scott Shane ofThe New York Timesstated that the involvement "shows that despite its shoestring staff, limited fund-raising from a boycott by major financial firms, and defections prompted by Mr. Assange's personal troubles and abrasive style, it remains a force to be reckoned with on the global stage."[157] In September 2013 Julian Assange announced the creation of the WikiLeakscounterintelligenceunit. The project surveilled 19 surveillance contractors to understand their business dealings. According to Assange, they were "tracking the trackers" to "counter threats against investigative journalism and the public's right to know."[158][159] TheWikiLeaks Partywas created in 2013 in part to supportJulian Assange's failed bid for a Senate seat inAustraliain the2013 election, where it won 0.62% of the national vote.[160][161]Assange said the party would advance WikiLeaks' objectives of promoting openness in government and politics and that it would combat intrusions on individual privacy.[160][162][163][164]In December 2013, a delegation from the party, including its chairmanJohn Shipton, visited Syria and met with PresidentBashar al-Assad. Shipton said the goal of the meeting was demonstrating "solidarity with the Syrian people and their nation", improving the party's understanding of the country's civil war and told a Syrian TV station that WikiLeaks would be opening an office in Damascus in 2014. The meeting with Assad was criticised by the Australian Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and many WikiLeaks supporters.[165][166][167]Shipton stated that the meeting with al-Assad was "just a matter of good manners" and that the delegation had also met with members of the Syrian opposition.[166]However, these meetings with the opposition have not been verified. The WikiLeaks Party was deregistered by theAustralian Electoral Commissionon 23 July 2015 for lack of members under theElectoral Act.[168][169][170] In 2015 WikiLeaks began issuing "bounties" of up to $100,000 for leaks.[171]Assange had said in 2010 that WikiLeaks didn't but "would have no problem giving sources cash" and that there were systems in Belgium to let them.[71]WikiLeaks has issued crowd-sourced rewards for theTTIPchapters, theTPP[171]and information on theKunduz massacre.[172][173][self-published source]WikiLeaks has issued other bounties for LabourLeaks,[174][self-published source]2016 U.S. Presidential election-related information,[175][176]and information to get a reporter at The Intercept fired over theReality Winner case.[177][self-published source]WikiLeaks has defended the practice with their vetting record, saying "police rewards produce results. So do journalistic rewards."[173][176] Its website stated in 2015 that it had released 10 million documents online.[18] Assange wrote on WikiLeaks in February 2016: "I have had years of experience in dealing withHillary Clintonand have read thousands of her cables. Hillary lacks judgement and will push the United States into endless, stupid wars which spread terrorism. ... she certainly should not become president of the United States."[178]In a 2017 interview byAmy Goodman, Julian Assange said that choosing between Hillary Clinton andDonald Trumpis like choosing betweencholeraorgonorrhea. "Personally, I would prefer neither."[179]WikiLeaks editorSarah Harrisonstated that the site was not choosing which damaging publications to release, rather releasing information available to them.[180]In conversations that were leaked in February 2018, Assange expressed a preference for aRepublicanvictory in the 2016 election, saying that "Dems+Media+liberals would then form a block to reign in their worst qualities. With Hillary in charge, GOP will be pushing for her worst qualities, dems+media+neoliberals will be mute. She's a bright, well connected, sadistic sociopath".[181] Having released information about a broad range of organisations and politicians, WikiLeaks started by 2016 to focus almost exclusively onDemocraticpresidential candidate Hillary Clinton.[182]In the2016 U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks only exposed material damaging to theDemocratic National Committeeand Hillary Clinton. According toThe New York Times, WikiLeaks timed one of its large leaks so that it would happen on the eve of theDemocratic Convention.[183]TheSunlight Foundationsaid that such actions meant that WikiLeaks was no longer striving to be transparent but rather sought to achieve political goals.[184] Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow atJust Security, wrote that Assange had a "hatred of Clinton", whom he said was a "sadistic sociopath". Joscelyn wrote that "WikiLeaks' collusion with Russian government hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign" was "arguably even more consequential" than theIraq War documents leak, theAfghan War documents leakand theUnited States diplomatic cables leak. According to Joscelyn, "Assange made it his goal in 2016 to counter the 'American liberal press,' which he accused of supporting Clinton. He aimed to turn that same press against her. Ultimately, with Russia's help, Assange succeeded."[185] In November 2017 it was revealed that the WikiLeaks Twitter account secretly corresponded withDonald Trump Jr.during the 2016 presidential election.[186][187]The correspondence shows how WikiLeaks actively solicited the co-operation of Trump Jr., a campaign surrogate and advisor in the campaign of his father. WikiLeaks urged the Trump campaign to reject the results of the 2016 presidential election at a time when it looked as if the Trump campaign would lose.[186]WikiLeaks asked Trump Jr. to share a WikiLeaks tweet with the made-up[188]quote "Can't we just drone this guy?" whichTrue Punditsaid Hillary Clinton made about Assange.[186][189]WikiLeaks also shared a link to a site that would help people to search through WikiLeaks documents.[186]Trump Jr. shared both. After the election, WikiLeaks also requested that the president-elect push Australia to appoint Assange asambassador to the US. Trump Jr. provided this correspondence to congressional investigators looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election.[186]Assange repeated his offer of being ambassador to the US after the messages became public, publicly tweeting to Donald Trump Jr. that "I could open a hotel style embassy in DC with luxury immunity suites for whistleblowers. The public will get a turbo-charged flow of intel about the latest CIA plots to undermine democracy. DM me."[190][191] The secretive exchanges led to criticism of WikiLeaks by some former supporters. WikiLeaks tweeted that the Clinton campaign was "constantly slandering" it as "a 'pro-Trump' 'pro-Russia' source". JournalistBarrett Brown, a long-time defender of WikiLeaks, was exasperated that Assange was "complaining about 'slander' of being pro-Trump IN THE ACTUAL COURSE OF COLLABORATING WITH TRUMP". He wrote: "Was 'Wikileaks staff' lying on Nov 10, 2016, when they claimed, 'The allegations that we have colluded with Trump, or any other candidate for that matter, or with Russia, are just groundless and false', or did Assange lie to them?"[192]Brown said Assange had acted "as a covert political operative", thus betraying WikiLeaks' focus on exposing "corporate and government wrongdoing".[192] In 2016 and 2017, WikiLeaks promoted several falseconspiracy theories,[38][39][40]most related to the2016 United States presidential election. WikiLeaks promoted conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.[193][194][195]Unfounded conspiracy theories, spread by some right-wing figures and media outlets, hold that Rich was the source of leaked emails and was killed for working with WikiLeaks.[196]WikiLeaks fuelled such theories when it offered a $20,000 reward for information on Rich's killer and when Assange implied that Rich was the source of the DNC leaks,[197]although no evidence supports that.[198][199]Special Counsel Robert Mueller'sreport into Russian interference in the 2016 electionsaid that Assange "implied falsely" that Rich was the source in order to obscure that Russia was the actual source.[200][201][202] WikiLeaks popularised conspiracy theories about theDemocratic Partyand Hillary Clinton, such as tweeting articles which suggested Clinton campaign chairmanJohn Podestaengaged insatanic rituals,[38][203][204]claiming that Hillary Clinton wanted todrone strikeAssange,[188][205]suggesting that Clinton wore earpieces to debates and interviews,[206]promoting thinly sourced theories about Clinton's health and according toBloombergcreating "anti-Clinton theories out of whole cloth".[40][207] On the day theVault 7documents were first released, WikiLeaks described UMBRAGE as "a substantial library of attack techniques 'stolen' from malware produced in other states including the Russian Federation," and tweeted, "CIA steals other groups virus and malware facilitatingfalse flagattacks."[208]Aconspiracy theorysoon emerged alleging that the CIA framed theRussian governmentforinterfering in the 2016 U.S. elections. Conservative commentators such asSean HannityandAnn Coulterspeculated about this possibility on Twitter, andRush Limbaughdiscussed it on his radio show.[209]Russian foreign ministerSergey Lavrovsaid that Vault 7 showed that "the CIA could get access to such 'fingerprints' and then use them."[208] InThe Washington Postthe cybersecurity researcher Ben Buchanan writes that he is sceptical of those theories and that he believes Russia to have initially obtained the DNC emails.[210] In April 2017 the WikiLeaks Twitter account suggested that theKhan Shaykhun chemical attack, which international human rights organisations attributed to the Syrian government, was afalse flagattack.[211]WikiLeaks stated that "while western establishment media beat the drum for more war in Syria the matter is far from clear", and shared a video by a Syrian activist who said that Islamist extremists were probably behind the attack, not theSyrian government.[211] In 2016 the WikiLeaks Twitter account was criticised for tweets that were seen asantisemitic.[212][213][214] On 17 October 2016 WikiLeaks announced that a "state party" had severed the Internet connection of Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy. WikiLeaks blamed US Secretary of StateJohn Kerryfor pressuring the Ecuadorian government in severing Assange's Internet, an accusation which theUnited States State Departmentdenied.[215]The Ecuadorian government stated that it had "temporarily" severed Assange's Internet connection because of WikiLeaks' release of documents "impacting on the U.S. election campaign," although it also stated that this was not meant to prevent WikiLeaks from operating.[216]TheUnited States Senate Select Committee on Intelligenceconcluded that in 2016, "WikiLeaks actively sought, and played, a key role in theRussian influence campaignand very likely knew it was assisting a Russian intelligence influence effort."[217] In April 2017Attorney GeneralJeff Sessionssaid that the US Government had prioritised its attempts to arrest Assange.[156]On 16 August 2017US RepublicancongressmanDana Rohrabachervisited Assange and told him that Trump would pardon him on condition that he would agree to say that Russia was not involved in the2016 Democratic National Committee email leaks.[218][219]At his extradition hearings in 2020, Assange's defence team alleged in court that this offer was made "on instructions from the president". Trump and Rohrabacher subsequently said they had never spoken about the offer and Rohrabacher said he had made the offer on his own initiative.[218][219][220] In 2017, traffic to the WikiLeaks website was diverted byDNS hijacking.[221][222][223]In 2018, 11,000 messages from a private chat with WikiLeaks and key supporters from May 2015 through November 2017 was leaked. The messages showed WikiLeaks discussing public relations strategy .[181]Later that year, "tens of thousands" of files from WikiLeaks laptops was leaked to theAssociated Press.[14] In January 2019, WikiLeaks sent journalists a "confidential legal communication not for publication" with a list of 140 things not to say about Julian Assange that WikiLeaks said were "false and defamatory".[224][225]Soon after the list was leaked online, WikiLeaks posted a heavily edited version of it.[226]The group was criticised and mocked for the list and their handling of it.[227][228][229][230] In November 2022, much of the content released by WikiLeaks disappeared from the website, bringing the number of documents from around 10 million to around 3,000. Other reported issues with the site included the websites search ability not working and a broken submission page.[19][231] WikiLeaks describes itself as "an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document leaking"[232]with its goal being "to bring important news and information to the public".[233]It is "a project of the Sunshine Press",[234][235][236][self-published source]anon-profit organisationbased in Iceland.[237][238]In 2010, Julian Assange andKristinn Hrafnssonregistered Sunshine Press Productionsehf[239]as a business without a headquarters in Iceland.[240][241] Assange serves as the Director of Sunshine Press Productions ehf and is on the board of directors with Hrafnsson and Ingi Ragnar Ingason.[242][243][244][234][245][235][239]Gavin MacFadyenwas a deputy board member.[243]In 2010, the WikiLeaks team then consisted of five people working full-time and about 800 people who worked occasionally, none of whom were compensated.[71][246]Former WikiLeaks journalistJames Ballsaid in 2011 that "WikiLeaks is not a conventional organisation. It has no board, no governance, and no effective rules."[115] The scholar and internet activistEthan Zuckermansuggested that WikiLeaks' editorial policy changes can be viewed as different stages. In the first stage, Zuckerman says WikiLeaks did very little redacting and almost all leaks were accepted, and the main focus was on leakers protecting their identities.[247][248]In response to early criticism that having no editorial policy would drive out good material with spam and promote "automated or indiscriminate publication of confidential records",[249]WikiLeaks established a policy that only accepted only documents "of political, diplomatic, historical or ethical interest" (and excluded "material that is already publicly available").[250][self-published source]Under the new policy, submissions are reviewed by anonymous WikiLeaks reviewers, and documents that do not meet the editorial criteria are rejected. By 2008, the revised FAQ stated: "Anybody can post comments to it. [...] Users can publicly discuss documents and analyse their credibility and veracity."[251][self-published source]After the 2010 reorganisation, posting new comments on leaks was no longer possible.[75][248][252] According to Zuckerman, the second stage was "anadvocacy journalismphase". Zuckerman gave the 2010 release ofCollateral Murderas an example, whichMIT Technology Reviewdescribed as a "highly curated, produced and packaged political statement ... meant to illustrate a political point of view, not merely to inform". Zuckerman said the third stage involved WikiLeaks working with outside media outlets to curate cables for release.[247][248]In December 2010, Zuckerman speculated that the next stage would be for WikiLeaks to release documents all at once or without redacting them.[248]In 2016, Assange said that "often it's the case that we have to do a lot of exploration andmarketingof the material we publish ourselves to get a big political impact for it".[253] Anembargo agreementWikiLeaks made for the Stratfor leak aimed to ensure that media organisations in smaller countries with less resources that are collaborating with WikiLeaks got a fair shot at covering the stories that involve their country.The Atlanticsuggested that the complexity of the embargo had been a source of confusion amongst media partners.[254]In 2017, WikiLeaks toldForeign Policythat it sometimes scheduled releases around high-profile events.[182] In response to a question in 2010 about whether WikiLeaks would release information that he knew might get someone killed, Assange said that he had instituted a "harm-minimization policy". This meant that people named in some documents might be contacted before publication, but that there were also instances where members of WikiLeaks might have "blood on our hands."[50]One member of WikiLeaks toldThe New Yorkerthey were initially uncomfortable with Assange's editorial policy but changed her mind because she thought no one had been unjustly harmed.[50] In an August 2010 open letter, the non-governmental organisationReporters Without Borderspraised WikiLeaks' past usefulness in exposing "serious violations of human rights and civil liberties" but criticised the organisation over a perceived absence of editorial control.[255] In a 2013 resolution, theInternational Federation of Journalists, a trade union of journalists, called WikiLeaks a "new breed of media organisation".[256][257] Others do not consider WikiLeaks to be journalistic in nature. Media ethicistKelly McBrideof thePoynter Institute for Media Studieswrote in 2011: "WikiLeaks might grow into a journalist endeavor. But it's not there yet."[258]Bill KellerofThe New York Timesconsiders WikiLeaks to be a "complicated source" rather than a journalistic partner.[258]ProminentFirst AmendmentlawyerFloyd Abramswrites that WikiLeaks is not a journalistic organisation, but instead "an organization of political activists; ... a source for journalists; and ... a conduit of leaked information to the press and the public".[259] WikiLeaks is anot-for-profit organisation[13]and is funded by private donations, exclusivity contracts[71]and concessions from their media partners.[260]Assange has said that in some cases legal aid has been donated by media organisations such as theAssociated Press, theLos Angeles Times, and theNational Newspaper Publishers Association.[71]Assange said in early 2010 that WikiLeaks' only revenue consists of donations, but it has considered other options including auctioning early access to documents.[71]In September 2010, Assange said that WikiLeaks received millions of dollars in media partnerships, stating it "win[s] concessions in relation to the number of journalists that will be put on it and how big they'll run with it."[260] In 2010, Assange said the organisation was registered as a library in Australia, a foundation in France, and a newspaper in Sweden, and that it also used two US-based non-profit501c3organisations for funding purposes.[261]According to Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Assange registered Wikileaks ICT in Australia and would not tell anyone how much money was in the Australian fund or what it was being spent on.[262] TheWau Holland Foundation, one of the WikiLeaks' main funding channels, stated that it received more than €900,000 in public donations between October 2009 and December 2010, of which €370,000 has been passed on to WikiLeaks. Hendrik Fulda, vice-president of the Wau Holland Foundation, said that every new WikiLeaks publication brought "a wave of support", and that donations were strongest in the weeks after WikiLeaks started publishing leaked diplomatic cables.[263][264]According to Assange, WikiLeaks' media partnerships for the cables earned them almost $2 million three months after it started publishing.[260]WikiLeaks was paid £150,000 byAl JazeeraandChannel 4for two five-minute video clips about theIraq War Logs.[265][123]In December 2010, Assange said that WikiLeaks received €100,000 a day at its peak[266]and the Wau Holland Foundation stated that Julian Assange and three other permanent employees had begun to receive salaries.[267] During 2010, WikiLeaks received over $1.9 million in donations.[268]In 2011 donations dropped sharply and WikiLeaks received only around $180,000 in donations, while their expenses increased from $519,000 to $850,000.[269]Al Jazeera offered WikiLeaks $1.3 million for access to data.[120]During September 2011 WikiLeaks began auctioning items oneBayto raise funds.[270]Wikileaks started accepting bitcoin in 2011 as a currency which could not be blocked by financial institutions or a government.[271][272][273]In 2012, WikiLeaks raised $68,000 through the Wau Holland Foundation and had expenses more than $507,000.[269]Between January and May, Wau Holland Foundation was only able to cover $47,000 in essential infrastructure for WikiLeaks, but not an additional $400,000 that was submitted "to cover publishing campaigns and logistics in 2012".[269] David Allen Greenwrote inThe New Statesmanin 2011 that there was "no other sensible way of interpreting" leakednon-disclosure agreementsother than WikliLeaks seeing itself "as acommercial organisationin the business of owning and selling leaked information".Becky Hogge, who had signed the agreement, wrote that "the NDA certainly is poorly drafted, and it may be terrible PR. But remember that WikiLeaks is an organisation conceived and run by computer hackers" and suggested that WikiLeaks was attempting to "engage with the commercial media on its own terms".[274][275] On 22 January 2010, the Internet payment intermediaryPayPalsuspended WikiLeaks' account and froze its assets. WikiLeaks said that this had happened before, and was done for "no obvious reason".[276][277]In August 2010, the internet payment companyMoneybookersclosed WikiLeaks' account and sent Assange letters saying the account was closed following an audit "to comply with money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities." According to Moneybookers, initially the "account was suspended due to being accessed from a blacklisted IP address. However, following recent publicity and the subsequently addition of the WikiLeaks entity to blacklists in Australia and watchlists in the USA, we have terminated the business relationship."[278]The blacklisting came a few days after the Pentagon expressed anger at WikiLeaks for publishing theAfghan War logs.[278] In December 2010, PayPal suspended WikiLeaks' account. PayPal said it had taken action after theUS State Departmentsent a letter to Wikileaks stating that Wikileaks' activities were illegal in the US.[137]Hendrik Fulda, vice-president of the Wau Holland Foundation, said that the Foundation had been receiving twice as many donations through PayPal as through normal banks before PayPal's decision to suspend WikiLeaks' account.[263]In this time,Mastercard,Visa Europe,Bank of America,Amazon,Western Unionand Swiss bankPostFinancestopped dealing with WikiLeaks. Datacell, the IT company that enabled WikiLeaks to accept credit and debit card donations, threatened Mastercard and Visa with legal action to enforce the resumption of payments to WikiLeaks. Datacell said Visa's action was the result of political pressure.[137][139] In October 2011 Assange said that the financial blockade had cost WikiLeaks ninety-five per cent of its revenue.[279]In 2012, an Icelandic district court ruled thatValitor, the Icelandic partner ofVisaandMasterCard, was violating the law when it stopped accepting donations to WikiLeaks and that donations to WikiLeaks must resume within 14 days or Valitor would be fined US$6,000 a day.[139]In November 2012, the European Union'sEuropean Commissionsaid Mastercard and Visa were unlikely to have violated EU anti-trust rules.[280]In 2013, Assange said the blockade also effected theWikiLeaks Party.[281] In response to the financial blockade of Wikileaks,Glenn Greenwaldand others created theFreedom of the Press Foundation"to block the US government from ever again being able to attack and suffocate an independent journalistic enterprise the way it did with WikiLeaks".[282]Anonymousalso launched aseries of cyberattacksagainst companies that cut ties with WikiLeaks.[141][142] In 2014,Sunshine Press Productionsehfbegan receiving funds from Wau Holland Foundation for WikiLeaks.[283]From 2014 to 2017 WikiLeaks was reimbursed for project coordination, technical preparation, removing metadata, reviewing information, communicating with media partners costs and a new submission platform and document search.[283][284][285][286]TheDNC emailsandPodesta emailswere not funded by the Wau Holland Foundation.[287]In October 2017, Julian Assange said WikiLeaks had made a 50,000% return onBitcoin.[288]By that December, it had raised at least $25 million in Bitcoin.[289] In 2018, the Wau Holland Foundation reimbursed Sunshine Press Productions for WikiLeaks' publications, as well as public relations and $50,000 for legal expenses in theDemocratic National Committee v. Russian Federationlawsuit.[290] In 2010, the website was available on multiple servers, differentdomain namesand had an officialdark webversion as a result of a number ofdenial-of-service attacksand its removal from differentDomain Name System(DNS) providers.[291][292] Until August 2010, WikiLeaks was hosted byPRQ, a Swedish company providing "highly secure, no-questions-asked hosting services". PRQ was reported byThe Registerto have "almost no information about its clientele and maintains few if any of its ownlogs".[293]That month, WikiLeaks reached an agreement with theSwedish Pirate Partyto host several of their servers.[294][295][296]Later, WikiLeaks was hosted mainly by the Swedish Internet service providerBahnhofin thePionenfacility, a former nuclear bunker in Sweden.[297][298]Other servers were spread around the world with the main server located in Sweden.[299] After the site became the target of adenial-of-service attack, WikiLeaks moved its website toAmazon's servers.[144]Amazon later removed the website.[144]Assange said that WikiLeaks chose Amazon and other hosts knowing it would probably be kicked off the service "to separate rhetoric from reality".[144][300][301]In a public statement, Amazon said WikiLeaks was not following its terms of service. The company stated: There were several parts they were violating. For example, our terms of service state that 'you represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content ... that use of the content you supply does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity.' It's clear that WikiLeaks doesn't own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content.[145] WikiLeaks then moved to servers at French providerOVH.[302]After criticism from the French government, a judge in Paris ruled that there was no need for OVH to cease hosting WikiLeaks without more information.[303] WikiLeaks was dropped byEveryDNSafter distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against WikiLeaks hurt the quality of service for its other customers. Supporters of WikiLeaks waged verbal and DDoS attacks on EveryDNS. Because of a typographical error in blogs mistaking EveryDNS for competitorEasyDNS, the sizeable Internet backlash hit EasyDNS. Despite that, EasyDNS began providing WikiLeaks with DNS service on "two 'battle hardened' servers" to protect the quality of service for its other customers.[146] WikiLeaks has used heavily encrypted files[304][305]to protect their publications against censorship,[306]to pre-release publications,[307]and as protection against arrest.[308][309]The files have been described as "insurance",[304][310][311]a "dead man's switch",[306]"a kind of doomsday option",[308][309]and a "poison pill".[312]The insurance files sometimes come withpre-commitment hashes.[313] WikiLeaks staff have said: insurance files are encrypted copies of unpublished documents submitted to us. We do this periodically, and especially at moments of high pressure on us, to ensure the documents can not be lost and history preserved. You will not be able to see the contents of any of our insurance files, until and unless the we are in a position where we must release the key. But you can download them and help spread them to ensure their safe keeping.[314] On 29 July 2010 WikiLeaks added anAESencrypted "Insurance file" to the Afghan War Diary page.[315]There has been speculation that it was intended to serve as insurance in case the WikiLeaks website or its spokesman Julian Assange are incapacitated, upon which thepassphrasecould be published.[315][316]After the release of theUS diplomatic cables,CBSpredicted that "If anything happens to Assange or the website, a key will go out to unlock the files. There would then be no way to stop the information from spreading like wildfire because so many people already have copies."[317]Assange's lawyer,Mark Stephens, called the files "a thermo-nuclear device in the information age" and said they included information on Guantanamo Bay, aerial video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that allegedly killed civilians, BP reports and Bank of America documents.[318] In August 2013, WikiLeaks posted three insurance files as torrents, totalling 400 gigabytes.[306][319]WikiLeaks said it "encrypted versions of upcoming publication data ("insurance") from time to time to nullify attempts atprior restraint."[306] In June 2016, WikiLeaks posted an 88-gigabyte insurance file.[320]On 16 October 2016, WikiLeaks tweeted an insurance file about Ecuador.[321]In November, it posted insurance files for the US, the UK and Ecuador,[322]and an unlabelled 90-gigabyte insurance file was posted.[313][323] On 7 March 2017, WikiLeaks posted an encrypted file containing theVault 7 Year Zerorelease.[324]The password, "SplinterItIntoAThousandPiecesAndScatterItIntoTheWinds", was a reference to a quote by US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[307][325] In July 2010, it was reported the website had 800 occasional helpers.[246]According toDaniel Domscheit-Berg, WikiLeaks exaggerated the number of volunteers and Assange used manypseudonyms.[326][123]Domscheit-Berg suggested that Assange may have been "Jay Lim", who identified online as an occasional WikiLeaks spokesperson and as its legal advisor.[327][123] Daniel Domscheit-Berg,Sarah Harrison, Kristinn Hrafnsson and Joseph Farrell have been involved in the project.[328][87]Gavin MacFadyenwas acknowledged by Assange as a "beloved director of WikiLeaks" shortly after his death in 2016.[329]Jacob Appelbaumis the only known American member of WikiLeaks, acting as a senior editor and spokesman.[330][331][332]Gottfrid Svartholmhad worked with WikiLeaks as a technical consultant and managed critical infrastructure.[333][334]He was also listed as part of the "decryption and transmission team" onCollateral Murderand credited for "networking" and helped with several other endeavors.[335][336]Rop Gonggrijp,Birgitta Jónsdóttir,Smári McCarthyand Herbert Snorrason are WikiLeaks volunteers and members who the US government has tried to surveil with court orders.[337][338]WikiLeaks was represented in Russia byIsrael Shamirand in Sweden by his sonJohannes Wahlström.[339][340] The WikiLeaks dropbox architecture was rebuilt by a WikiLeaks programmer known to most insiders as "The Architect".[341][342][106]He also instructed another WikiLeaks technician, and some of his colleagues thought he was a computer genius.[111][343][344]According toAndy Greenberg, insiders told him "when The Architect joined WikiLeaks it was a mess. It was two creaking servers without all the flashy security that Assange had promised in interviews with the media. The Architect rebuilt it from scratch."[341]According to Wired, "WikiLeaks had been running on a single server with sensitive backend components like the submission and e-mail archives connected to the public-facingWikipage. The Architect separated the platforms and set up a number of servers in various countries."[105] In August 2011 WikiLeaks volunteerSigurdur Thordarsonbecame the first FBI informant to work from inside WikiLeaks, and gave the FBI several hard drives he had copied from Assange and core WikiLeaks members.[345][346]In November 2011 WikiLeaks dismissed Thordarson due to hisembezzlementof $50,000, to which charge (along with several other offences) he later pleaded guilty in an Icelandic court.[347] Alexa O'Brienbriefly worked for WikiLeaks in 2014, later saying the organization was not a good fit.[348]On 26 September 2018, it was announced that Julian Assange had appointedKristinn Hrafnssonaseditor-in-chiefof WikiLeaks with Assange continuing as its publisher.[17][349] WikiLeaks restructured its process for contributions after its first document leaks did not gain much attention. Assange stated this was part of an attempt to take the voluntary effort typically seen inWikiprojects and "redirect it to ... material that has real potential for change".[350]Before this, the Wikileaks FAQ, under "How will Wikileaks operate?", read as of February 2007:[351][self-published source] To the user, Wikileaks will look very much like Wikipedia. Anybody can post to it, anybody can edit it. No technical knowledge is required. Leakers can post documents anonymously and untraceably. Users can publicly discuss documents and analyze their credibility and veracity. WikiLeaks stopped using a "wiki" communal publication method by May 2010.[75]After the arrest ofChelsea Manningin May 2010, WikiLeaks distanced itself from the idea it actively encouraged people to send classified information, and changed the description of its submission page to say "WikiLeaks accepts a range of material, but we do not solicit it". WikiLeaks removed "classified" from a description of material it accepts and changed the assertion that "submitting confidential material to WikiLeaks is safe, easy and protected by law" to it "is protected by law in better democracies". WikiLeaks also began taking steps to position itself as a news organisation, and portrayed their work as filtering and analyzing documents, not just posting them raw.[352] In 2010 Assange said WikiLeaks received some submissions through the postal mail.[353]That year, Julian Assange said that the servers were located in Sweden and the other countries "specifically because those nations offer legal protection to the disclosures made on the site". He said theSwedish constitutiongives the information–providers total legal protection and that it is forbidden for any administrative authority to make inquiries about the sources of any type of newspaper.[299][354]This could make it difficult for any authority to target WikiLeaks by placing aburden of proofupon any complainant.[293]According to theColumbia Journalism Review, "a variety of Swedish media law experts made it clear that Assange and WikiLeaks had repeatedly misrepresented not only the strength of the law, but its application to WikiLeaks."[327][355] According toAndy GreenbergandWired, The Architect was the engineer who rebuilt the WikiLeaks submission system, separated the sensitive platforms from the public-facing Wiki and set up servers in various countries.[342][105][106]During the2010 reorganisation, The Architect left with Domscheit-Berg, taking the code[110]behind the submission system with him.[111][105][106][356]Assange said that the submission system was temporarily down because its backlog was too big.[357]WikiLeaks later said it was down because of Domscheit-Berg's "acts of sabotage" when he left the organisation, which had forced WikiLeaks to "overhaul the entire submission system", and the staff lacked time to do so.[105] WikiLeaks submissions stayed offline until May 2015.[112][113]While it was offline, WikiLeaks announced it was building a state-of-the-art secure submission system. The launch of the new system was delayed by security concerns aboutSSL certificatesin 2011.[358][359]During this time, WikiLeaks continued to publish documents. These publications originated from material which had been directly shared with WikiLeaks by hackers, or were the result of Wikileaks organising and republishing already-public leaks.[112]In an October 2011 press conference, Assange said that because the submission system did not work, sources "had to establish contacts with the organisation and transmit us the material through other mechanisms".[359]In 2011Forbessuggested thatAndy Müller-Maguhnand Bugged Planet might be WikiLeaks' source for the Spy Files and in 2018 a former WikiLeaks associate said that Müller-Maguhn and a colleague administered the submission server in 2016, though Müller-Maguhn denies this.[359][360]That October, WikiLeaks suggested "lawyer to lawyer" as an alternate submission method, namingMargaret Ratner Kunstler.[187][361] Assange told writerCharles Glassin 2023 that WikiLeaks was no longer able to publish due to his imprisonment and the effect that US government surveillance and WikiLeaks' funding restrictions were having on potential whistleblowers. Assange said that other media outlets were not filling the void.[21] There have been many legal issues in different countries and several investigations surrounding WikiLeaks since it was founded. In August 2010, the internet payment company Moneybookers closed WikiLeaks' account due to publicity over its release of the Afghan war logs and because WikiLeaks had been added to the official US watchlist and an Australian government blacklist.[278] In December 2010, the Australian Prime MinisterJulia Gillardsaid that "I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website – it's a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do".[362]After criticism and a revolt within her party, she said she was referring to "the original theft of the material by a junior U.S. serviceman rather than any action by Mr. Assange".[363][364]TheAustralian Federal Policelater said that the release of the cables by WikiLeaks breached no Australian laws.[365] On 2 September 2011Australia's attorney general,Robert McClellandreleased a statement that theUS diplomatic cablespublished by Wikileaks identified at least one ASIO officer, and that it was a crime in Australia to publish information which could identify an intelligence officer. McClelland said that "On occasions before this week, WikiLeaks redacted identifying features where the safety of individuals or national security could be put at risk. It appears this hasn't occurred with documents that have been distributed across the internet this week." According toThe GuardianandAl Jazeera, this meant "Julian Assange could face prosecution in Australia."[366][367] In 2014, WikiLeaks published information about political bribery allegations, violating a gag order in Australia.[16]According to Peter Bartlett, a media lawyer in Australia, "if Assange ever comes back to Australia, you would expect that he would immediately be charged with breaking a suppression order."[16] In December 2008 WikiLeaks said thatBNDPresidentErnst Uhrlauthreatened WikiLeaks with criminal prosecution if it did not remove "files or reports related to the BND".[368][self-published source]Later that month WikiLeaks published what it said were emails with the BND.[369][self-published source] In March 2009, German police raided the offices of Wikileaks Germany and the homes of Theodor Reppe, who owned the registration for WikiLeaks' German domain while searching for evidence of "distribution of pornographic material".[370]The Register reported that As well as wasting the time of 11 detectives involved in this raid, Wikileaks claim that police requested the passwords to the "wikileaks.de" domain, asked that the entire domain be disabled, failed to inform Mr Reppe of his rights, and then issued false statements claiming that Mr. Reppe had agreed to "not having a witness" present. According to Wikileaks, the Police would give no further information to Mr. Reppe and no contact was made with Wikileaks before or after the search. Wikileaks are therefore in the dark as to exactly why the raid occurred.[370] On 8 February 2018, theUK Supreme Courtunanimously allowed a leaked document that had been published by WikiLeaks to be admitted as evidence. The cable had been excluded from use in an earlier part of the case before the Administrative Court based on the fact that it was a diplomatic communication, which enjoy "inviolable"Vienna Conventionprotections that prevent them from being used in court outside of exceptional circumstances. The Supreme Court ruled that since the document had already been widely disseminated, it had lost any protections it might have had.[371][372][373][374] In early February 2008, theJulius Baer Groupsued WikiLeaks in California to have documents removed from their website. JudgeJeffrey WhiteforcedDynadotto disassociate the site'sdomain namerecords with its servers, preventing use of the domain name to reach the site. Initially, the bank only wanted the documents to be removed (WikiLeaks had failed to name a contact person). After civil rights challenges, the judge lifted the injunction[375]and the bank dropped the case on 5 March 2008.[376] On 20 April 2018, the Democratic National Committee filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit infederal district court in Manhattanagainst Russia, the Trump campaign, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, alleging a conspiracy to disrupt the2016 United States presidential electionin Trump's favour.[377]The suit was dismissedwith prejudiceon 30 July 2019. In his judgement, JudgeJohn Koeltlsaid that WikiLeaks "did not participate in any wrongdoing in obtaining the materials in the first place" and therefore was within the law in publishing the information.[378]The federal judge also wrote The DNC's interest in keeping 'donor lists' and 'fundraising strategies' secret is dwarfed by the newsworthiness of the documents as a whole...If WikiLeaks could be held liable for publishing documents concerning the DNC's political financial and voter-engagement strategies simply because the DNC labels them 'secret' and trade secrets, then so could any newspaper or other media outlet.[379] TheUS Justice Departmentbegan a criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange soon after theleak of diplomatic cables in 2010began.[380]The Washington Postreported that the department was considering charges under theEspionage Act of 1917, an action which former prosecutors characterised as "difficult" because ofFirst Amendmentprotections for the press.[380][381]Several Supreme Court cases, while not conclusive, (e.g.Bartnicki v. Vopper) have established that the AmericanConstitutionprotects the re-publication of illegally gained information provided the publishers did not themselves violate any laws in acquiring it. The question of criminal punishment or a civil injunction after publication, like in the WikiLeaks case, is less established.[382] In 2010, theNSAadded Assange to its Manhunting Timeline.[383]In August 2010, the Pentagon had concluded that theAfghan War documents leakbroke the law. A letter from the Department of Defence general counsel said that "it is the view of the Department of Defence that WikiLeaks obtained this material in circumstances that constitute a violation of US law, and that as long as WikiLeaks holds this material, the violation of the law is ongoing."[384]In November 2010,Harold Koh, theLegal Adviser of the Department of State, wrote that theUnited States diplomatic cables leak"were provided in violation of US law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action" and "as long as WikiLeaks holds such material, the violation of the law is ongoing".[385][386] On 14 December 2010 theUnited States Department of Justiceissued asubpoena directing Twitterto provide information for accounts registered to or associated with WikiLeaks.[387]Twitter decided to notify its users.[388] In 2011 aWikiLeaks volunteerbecame an FBI informant[389][390][391]and Google was served with search warrants for the contents of email accounts belonging to WikiLeaks volunteers Herbert Snorrason and Smari McCarthy.[392][393][394]The NSA discussed categorising WikiLeaks as a "malicious foreign actor" for surveillance purposes.[383][395] In March 2012, Google was served with search warrants for the contents of email accounts and other information belonging to WikiLeaks staff membersSarah Harrison,Joseph Farrell, andKristinn Hrafnssonas part of a criminal investigation with alleged offences includingespionage, conspiracy to commit espionage, the theft or conversion of property belonging to the United States government, violation of theComputer Fraud and Abuse Act, andcriminal conspiracy.[396][397]According to Daniel Domscheit-Berg in 2010, the WikiLeaks email accounts for Kristinn Hrafnsson and a young WikiLeaks staffer had automatically forwarded to their Google account, opening the organisation to surveillance risks.[93][123] By 2013,Jérémie Zimmermann,Smári McCarthy,Jacob Appelbaum, David House andJennifer Robinsonhad been detained and interrogated or approached when attempts were made to recruit them as informants.[398] In 2014, FBI and CIA officials lobbied the White House to designate Wikileaks as an "information broker" to allow for more investigative tools against it and according to former officials "potentially paving the way" for its prosecution.Laura Poitraslater described attempts to classify herself and Assange as "information brokers" rather than journalists as "a threat to journalists worldwide".[399][400] In April 2017, prosecutors began drafting a memo that considered charging members of WikiLeaks with conspiracy, theft of government property or violating the Espionage Act.[401]That month, CIA directorMike Pompeocalled WikiLeaks "a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia". In December 2019, Congress designated Wikileaks andJulian Assangeas a "non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors" that "should be treated as such a service by the United States" in theNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. In the opinion of some former officials, the designation allowed theCIAto launch and plan operations that did not require presidential approval or congressional notice.[402][403][404][400] In 2017 in the wake of the Vault 7 leaks, the CIA discussed plans to kidnap or assassinate Julian Assange, according toYahoo! Newsin September 2021. It also planned to spy on associates of WikiLeaks, sow discord among its members, and steal their electronic devices.[400]Former CIA DirectorMike Pompeostated that the US officials who had spoken to Yahoo should be prosecuted for exposing CIA activities.[405] In November 2018, an accidental filing with Assange's name was seen to indicate there were undisclosed charges against him.[406]On 11 April 2019, Assange was charged in a computer hacking conspiracy.[407]On 23 May, a superseding indictment was filed with charges of Conspiracy to Receive National Defense Information, Obtaining National Defense Information, Disclosure of National Defense Information, and Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion.[408]On 24 June 2020, another superseding indictment was filed which added to the allegations but not the charges.[409] The day after charging Assange, prosecutors contacted Domscheit-Berg. Prosecutors also spoke with David House for about 90 minutes, who had previously testified to the grand jury in exchange for immunity. House testified about helping run political operations for WikiLeaks and that Assange wanted him "to help achieve favorable press for Chelsea Manning." According to House, the grand jury "wanted full insight into WikiLeaks, what its goals were and why I was associated with it. . . . It was all related to disclosures around the war logs." House said he had contact with Assange until 2013 and with WikiLeaks until 2015.[410][411]Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond refused to testify for the grand jury.[412][413] In early 2019, theMueller reportwrote the Special Counsel's office considered charging WikiLeaks or Assange "as conspirators in the computer-intrusion conspiracy and that there were "factual uncertainties" about the role that Assange may have played in the hacks or their distribution that were "the subject of ongoing investigations" by the US Attorney's Office.[414][415][416] In June 2023,The Agereported that the FBI is seeking to gather new evidence in the case, based on a request from the FBI to interviewAndrew O'Hagan, who refused the request.[417] In June 2024, Assange pled guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act.[418]Under the plea deal, he was sentenced to time served and released. He agreed to instruct Wikileaks to destroy or return unpublished documents.[419] In April 2011 the US Department of Justice warned military lawyers acting for Guantanamo Bay detainees against clicking of links on sites such asThe New York Timesthat might lead to classified files published by WikiLeaks.[420]In June the same year the US Department of Justice ruled that attorneys acting for Guantanamo Bay detainees could cite documents published by WikiLeaks. The use of the documents was subject to restrictions.[421][422] The initial tranche of WikiLeaks' documents came from a WikiLeaks' activist who owned a server that was a node in theTor network. After they noticed that Chinese hackers used the network to gather information from foreign governments, the activist began recording the information. This let Assange show potential contributors that WikiLeaks was viable and say it had "received over one million documents from thirteen countries".[50] In September 2009 Wikileaks published theMinton Report, a scientific report about the2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste dump. The oil-trading firmTrafigurahad illegally exported toxic waste and then had it dumped inAbidjan, resulting in deaths and severe health problems in the local population. 30,000 claimants sued Trafigura in London, in one of the largest class-action suits brought before a British court.[456][457]The company had its law firmCarter‑Ruckobtain asuper-injunctionto prevent discussion by the media of either the contents of the report or the existence of the injunction itself.[262]Assange published two editorials on Wikileaks about the situation, writing:[262][458] On September 14, WikiLeaks released the full Minton report in an attempt to undermine the injunction. The UK press was then left in the Kafkaesque position where neither the Minton report, nor the injunction against it could be mentioned, despite the report appearing on the front page of WikiLeaks. Wikileaks maintained the report on its site and encouraged British journalists on the social networkTwitterto break the censorship brought about by the injunction. After a question had been tabled about the report in theHouse of Commonsunderparliamentary privilege, Trafigura's law firm Carter‑Ruck said the injunction wassub judice, which MPs worried could prevent discussion of the affair in parliament itself.[262][459][460]The publicity generated about the easy availability of the report on the Wikileaks website, and subsequently its publication by the Norwegian broadcasterNRK, led Carter-Ruck to agree to a modification of the injunction. The affair prompted a wider discussion in the British press about the continued use of super-injunctions.[262][461][462][463] In February WikiLeaks published a leaked diplomatic cable from the United States Embassy in Reykjavik relating to theIcesave dispute.[464]The cable, known asReykjavik 13, was the first of the classified documents WikiLeaks published among those allegedly provided to them byChelsea Manning.[465][466] In March WikiLeaks released a secret 32-pageUS Department of DefenseCounterintelligence Analysis Report, written in March 2008, that discusses the leaking of material by WikiLeaks and how it could be deterred.[467][468]It also released aCIAreport about the public relations strategies that would best be employed to shore up support for the Afghan war in Europe.[469][470][471]The Nationreferred to it as a "call to arms for a propaganda war",[470]and Albert Stahel of the Strategic Studies Institute in Zurich toldDeutsche Wellethat it is "a marketing concept. And the object of it is to manipulate the public".[471] In April a classified video of the12 July 2007 Baghdad airstrikewas released, showing twoReutersemployees being fired at after the pilots mistakenly thought the men were carrying weapons, which were in fact cameras.[472]After the men were killed, the video shows US forces firing on a family van that stopped to pick up the bodies.[473]Press reports of the number killed in the attacks vary from 12 to "over 18".[474][475]Among the dead were two journalists and two children were also wounded.[476][477] In June Manning was arrested after alleged chat logs were given to United States authorities by former hackerAdrian Lamo, in whom she had confided. Manning reportedly told Lamo she had leaked the"Collateral Murder" video, a video of theGranai airstrikeand about 260,000 diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.[478]Manning later said that before WikiLeaks, she tried approachingThe Washington Post,The New York TimesandPolitico.[479] In July WikiLeaks released92,000 documentsrelated to thewar in Afghanistanbetween 2004 and the end of 2009 to the publicationsThe Guardian,The New York TimesandDer Spiegel. The documents detail individual incidents including "friendly fire" and civilian casualties.[480]WikiLeaks asked thePentagonand human-rights groups to help remove names from the documents to reduce the potential harm caused by their release but did not receive assistance.[481]WikiLeaks only reviewed about 2,000 documents in detail and used a tagging and keyword system. Assange said that a court might decide somethings were crimes, but added that "army personnel are basically engineers, who build roads and fire guns. They are frank and direct, and the top people mostly won't lie to you unless they're repeating a lie that someone else told them".[482] After theLove Parade stampedeinDuisburg, Germany, on 24 July 2010, a local resident published internal documents of the city administration regarding the planning of Love Parade. The city government reacted by securing acourt orderon 16 August forcing the removal of the documents from the website on which it was hosted.[483]On 20 August 2010, WikiLeaks released 43 internal documents regarding the Love Parade 2010.[484] After the leak of information concerning the Afghan War, in October 2010, around400,000 documentsrelating to theIraq Warwere released. TheUS Department of Defensereferred to the Iraq War Logs as "the largest leak of classified documents in its history". Media coverage of the leaked documents emphasised claims that the US government had ignored reports oftortureby the Iraqi authorities during the period after the2003 war.[485] On 28 November 2010 WikiLeaks andEl País,Le Monde,Der Spiegel,The Guardian, andThe New York Timesstarted simultaneously to publish the first 220 of 251,287 leaked documents labelled confidential – but not top-secret – and dated from 28 December 1966 to 28 February 2010.[486][487] Thecontents of the diplomatic cablesinclude numerous unguarded comments and revelations regarding: US diplomats gathering personal information aboutBan Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and other top UN officials; critiques and praises about the host countries of various United States embassies; political manoeuvring regardingclimate change; discussion and resolutions towards ending ongoing tension in the Middle East; efforts and resistance towardsnuclear disarmament; actions in theWar on Terror; assessments of other threats around the world; dealings between various countries; United Statesintelligenceandcounterintelligenceefforts; and other diplomatic actions.Reactions to the United States diplomatic cables leakvaried. Theoverthrow of the presidency in Tunisiaof 2011 has been attributed partly to reaction against the corruption revealed by leaked cables.[488][489] According to the formerUS AmbassadortoCameroonfrom 2004 to 2007,Niels Marquardt, Marafa Hamidou Yaya was arrested on "entirely unproven corruption charges", subjected to a "kangaroo court", and given a 25-year prison sentence. Marquardt said Marafa's only crime was having told him that he "might be interested" in the presidency one day. According to Marquardt, when Wikileaks released the cable in which this was mentioned, it became front-page news in Cameroon and led directly to Marafa's arrest.[490]The U.S. ambassador at the time,Robert Jackson, said Marafa's trial did not specify the evidence against him.[490] In August 2010, Assange gaveGuardianjournalistDavid Leighanencryption keyand a URL where he could locate the file containing the U.S. diplomatic cables. In February 2011 David Leigh andLuke HardingofThe Guardianpublished the bookWikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecycontaining the encryption key. Leigh said he believed the key was a temporary one that would expire within days. Wikileaks supporters disseminated the encrypted files tomirror sitesin December 2010 after Wikileaks experienced cyber-attacks. When Wikileaks learned what had happened it notified theUS State Department. On 25 August 2011 the German magazineDer Freitagpublished an article giving details which would enable people to piece the information together.[491] WikiLeaks posted some unredacted cables before their media partners edited them, but later redacted them.[492] In January 2011, several unredacted cables not on the WikiLeaks website were posted online by an associate of WikiLeaks,Israel Shamir. The cables included the names of people implied to be connected to bribery, and highly suggestive clues about the identity of an American informant. Shamir explained: "Handing confidential and secret information to everybody is the thing of Wikileaks. That's what it is about. Your question is like asking police why they catch thieves. That is what they are for."[493][492]Yulia Latynina, writing inThe Moscow Times,alleged that Shamir concocted a cable which allegedly quoted European Union diplomats' plans to walk out of theDurban IIspeech by Iranian presidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad, for publication in the pro-PutinRussian Reporterin December 2010.[494][495][496]Shamir has denied this accusation.[496] On 29 August, WikiLeaks published over 130,000 unredacted cables.[497][498][499]On 31 August, WikiLeaks tweeted[500]a link to a torrent of the encrypted data.[501][502]On 1 September 2011, WikiLeaks announced that an encrypted version of the un-redacted US State Department cables had been available viaBitTorrentfor months and that thedecryption keywas available. WikiLeaks said that on 2 September it would publish the entire, unredacted archive in searchable form on its website.[491][503][504]According to Assange, Wikileaks did this so that possible targets could be informed and better defend themselves and to provide a reliable source for the leaks.[505][506][507]Glenn Greenwald wrote that "the best and safest course was to release all the cables in full, so that not only the world's intelligence agencies but everyone had them, so that steps could be taken to protect the sources and so that the information in them was equally available".[508][509] The US cited the release in the opening of its request for extradition of Assange, saying his actions put lives at risk.[510]The defence gave evidence it said would show that Assange was careful to protect lives.[511][512]John Young, the owner and operator of the websiteCryptometestified at Assange's extradition hearing that the unredacted cables were published by Cryptome on 1 September, the day before Wikileaks. Young testified that "no US law enforcement authority has notified me that this publication of the cables is illegal, consists or contributes to a crime in any way, nor have they asked for them to be removed".[513] TheGuardianwrote that the decision to publish the cables in a searchable form was made by Assange alone, a decision that it, and its four previous media partners, condemned.[514][515]According toThe Guardian, several thousand files in the archive were marked "strictly protect" which indicated officials thought sources could be endangered by their release.[515][516]In a joint statement,The Guardian,El País,New York TimesandDer Spiegelsaid they "deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk" and "we cannot defend the needless publication of the complete data – indeed, we are united in condemning it."[515][516]Le Mondesaid it would also sign the statement.[515]In response, WikiLeaks accusedThe Guardianof false statements and nepotism.[515]Out of concern for those involved,Reporters Without Borderstemporarily suspended their WikiLeaks mirror.[515][517]According toThe Guardian, "the newly published archive" contained "more than 1,000 cables identifying individualactivists; several thousand labelled with a tag used by the US to mark sources it believes could be placed in danger; and more than 150 specifically mentioningwhistleblowers".[514] According to media reports, after WikiLeaks published the unredacted cables, Ethiopian journalist Argaw Ashine was interrogated several times about a reference to him in a cable talking to a government source. The source told him about plans to arrest the editors of the critical Ethiopian weeklyAddis Neger, who fled the country a month after talking to Ashine. Ashine was subjected to government harassment and intimidation and was forced to flee the country.[518][519][520] The U.S. established an Information Review Task Force (IRTF) to investigate the impact of WikiLeaks' publications. According to IRTF reports, the leaks could cause "serious damage" and "the lives of cooperating Afghans, Iraqis, and other foreign interlocutors have been placed at increased risk".[521]In 2013, the task force's head, Brigadier General Robert Carr, testified atChelsea Manning's sentencing hearing. Carr said under questioning from the defence counsel that the task force had no specific examples of anyone who had lost their life due to WikiLeaks' publication of material provided by Manning.[522][523][524][525]Ed Pilkington wrote inThe Guardianthat Carr's testimony significantly undermined the argument that WikiLeaks' publications put lives at risk.[522]In 2020, a lawyer for the US said that "sources, whose redacted names and other identifying information was contained in classified documents published by Wikileaks, who subsequently disappeared, although the US can't prove at this point that their disappearance was the result of being outed by Wikileaks."[526][527][528] In late April 2011, files related to the Guantanamo prison were released.[529][530][531][532][533]In December 2011, WikiLeaks started to release theSpy Files.[534]On 27 February 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" companyStratfor,[535][536][537][538]and on 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing theSyria Files, both had given to WikiLeaks byAnonymous.[539][540][541][542]Outlets reported that the Stratfor emails had malware.[543][544][545][546][547][548][549]On 25 October 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Detainee Policies, files covering the rules and procedures for detainees in US military custody.[550][551]In April 2013 WikiLeaks republished more than 1.7 million declassified US diplomatic and intelligence documents from the 1970s, including theKissinger cables, from theNational Archives and Records Administration.[552] In September 2013, WikiLeaks published "Spy Files 3", 250 documents from more than 90 surveillance companies.[553]On 13 November 2013, a draft of theTrans-Pacific Partnership's Intellectual Property Rights chapter was published by WikiLeaks.[554][555]In September 2014, WikiLeaks published files from Gamma Group International, including what WikiLeaks called "weaponisedmalware".[556]On 10 June 2015, WikiLeaks published the draft on theTrans-Pacific Partnership's Transparency for Healthcare Annex, along with each country's negotiating position.[557]On 19 June 2015 WikiLeaks began publishing documents from the Saudi Foreign Ministry that contain secret communications from various Saudi Embassies.[558][559][560] In June and July 2015, WikiLeaks published aseries of documents on NSA spying, which showed thatNSAspied on the French,[561]German,[562]Brazilian[563]and Japanese[564]governments. The documents also detailed an economic espionage against French companies and associations and extensive monitoring of the Japanese economy and Japanese companies such asMitsubishiandMitsui.[564][565] On 29 July 2015, WikiLeaks published a top-secret letter from theTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement(TPP) Ministerial Meeting in December 2013 which illustrated the position of negotiating countries on "state-owned enterprises" (SOEs).[566]On 21 October 2015 WikiLeaks published some ofJohn O. Brennan's emails, including a draft security clearance application which contained personal information.[567] During the 2016US Democratic Partypresidential primaries, WikiLeaks hostedemailssent or received by presidential candidateHillary Clintonfrom her personal mail server while she wasSecretary of State. The emails had been released by theUS State Departmentunder aFreedom of informationrequest in February 2016.[568]WikiLeaks also created a search engine to allow the public to search through Clinton's emails.[569]In July 2016, just prior to the publication of the UK government'sIraq Inquiryreport, WikiLeaks published a selection of the emails referencing theIraq War.[570] On 19 July 2016, in response to theTurkish government's purgesthat followed the coup attempt,[571]WikiLeaks released 294,548 emails from Turkey's rulingJustice and Development party(AKP).[572]According to WikiLeaks, the material, which it said was the first batch from the "AKP Emails", was obtained a week before theattempted coup in the countryand "is not connected, in any way, to the elements behind the attempted coup, or to a rival political party or state".[573][574][575]After WikiLeaks announced that it would release the emails, the organisation was for over 24 hours under a "sustained attack".[576]Following the leak, the Turkish government ordered the site to be blocked nationwide.[577][578][579][580] On 22 July 2016, WikiLeaks released approximately 20,000 emails and 8,000 files sent from or received byDemocratic National Committee(DNC) personnel. Some of the emails contained personal information of donors, including home addresses andSocial Security numbers.[581]Other emails appeared to criticiseBernie Sandersor showed favouritism towards Clinton during the primaries.[582][583]In July 2016,Debbie Wasserman Schultzresigned as chairwoman of the DNC because the emails released by WikiLeaks showed that the DNC was "effectively an arm of Mrs. Clinton's campaign" and had conspired to sabotage Sanders's campaign.[584] On 7 October 2016, WikiLeaks started releasing series of emails and documents sent from or received by Hillary Clinton campaign manager,John Podesta, including Hillary Clinton's paid speeches to banks, includingGoldman Sachs. The BBC reported that the release "is unlikely to allay fears among liberal Democrats that she is too cosy with Wall Street".[585][586][587]The DNC and Podesta files allegedly came from Russian state-sponsored hackers, which WikiLeaks denied. According to a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, "By dribbling these out every day WikiLeaks is proving they are nothing but a propaganda arm of the Kremlin with a political agenda doingVladimir Putin's dirty work to help elect Donald Trump."[588]President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was being falsely accused.[589][590] On 25 November 2016, WikiLeaks released emails and internal documents that provided details on the US military operations inYemenfrom 2009 to March 2015.[591]In a statement accompanying the "Yemen Files", Assange said about theUS involvement in the Yemen war: "Although the United States government has provided most of the bombs and is deeply involved in the conduct of the war itself reportage on the war in English is conspicuously rare".[591] In December 2016, WikiLeaks published over 57,000 emails from Erdogan's son-in-law,Berat Albayrak, who was Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The emails show the inner workings of the Turkish government.[29]According to WikiLeaks, the emails had been first released byRedhack.[592] On 16 February 2017, WikiLeaks released a purported report on CIA espionage orders (marked asNOFORN) for the2012 French presidential election.[593][594]The order called for details of party funding, internal rivalries and future attitudes toward the United States. The Associated Press noted that "the orders seemed to represent standard intelligence-gathering."[595] On 7 March 2017, WikiLeaks started publishing content code-named "Vault 7", describing it as containing CIA internal documentation of their "massive arsenal" of hacking tools including malware, viruses, weaponised "zero day" exploits and remote control systems.[596][597][598]Leaked documents, dated from 2013 to 2016, detail the capabilities of the USCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) to perform electronic surveillance andcyber warfare, such as the ability to compromisecars,smart TVs,[598]web browsers,[599][600]andoperating systems.[601]In July 2022,Joshua Schultewas convicted of leaking the files.[602] In September 2017, WikiLeaks released "Spy Files Russia," revealing "how aSt. Petersburg-based technology company calledPeter-Servicehelped state entities gather detailed data onRussian cellphoneusers, part of a national system of online surveillance calledSystem for Operative Investigative Activities."[603] In November 2019, WikiLeaks released an email from an unnamed investigator from theOrganisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons(OPCW) team investigating the 2018chemical attack in Douma (Syria). The investigator accused the OPCW of covering up discrepancies.[604]Robert Fisksaid that documents released by WikiLeaks indicated that the OPCW "suppressed or failed to publish, or simply preferred to ignore, the conclusions of up to 20 other members of its staff who became so upset at what they regarded as the misleading conclusions of the final report that they officially sought to have it changed in order to represent the truth".[605]The head of OPCW, Fernando Arias, described the leak as containing "subjective views" and stood by the original conclusions.[604]In April 2018, WikiLeaks had offered a $100,000 reward for confidential information about "the alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria."[606]In a November 2020 interview with BBC, WikiLeaks' alleged source declined to say if he took money from the organisation.[607][608] On 12 November 2019, WikiLeaks began publishing what it called theFishrot Files(Icelandic: Samherjaskjölin), a collection of thousands of documents and email communication by employees of one of Iceland's largest fish industry companies,Samherji, that indicated that the company had paid hundreds of millionsIcelandic krónato officials inNamibiawith the objective of acquiring the country's coveted fishing quota.[609]The files were given to WikiLeaks byJóhannes Stefánsson. In 2021, WikiLeaks made a searchable database of 17,000 publicly available documents, which it calledThe Intolerance Network, from the ultra-conservative Spanish Catholic organisation Hazte Oir and its international arm,CitizenGo. The documents reveal the internal workings of the organisations, their network of donors and their relationship with theVatican. The release also includes documents from the secretCatholicorganisationEl Yunque. The editor of WikiLeaks,Kristinn Hrafnsson, said "As ultra right-wing political groups have gained strength in recent years, with increasing attacks on women's and LGBT rights, it is valuable to have access to documents from those who have lobbied for those changes on a global basis".[610]According to WikiLeaks, the documents were first released in 2017.[611][612] According toThe New Yorker, when WikiLeaks posted its first document in December 2006, "Assangeand the others were uncertain of its authenticity, but they thought that readers, usingWikipedia-like features of the site, would help analyse it. ... The document's authenticity was never determined, and news about WikiLeaks quickly superseded the leak itself."[50]When someone said they were misidentified in a Julius Baer document as having a secret Swiss bank account Assange and Domscheit-Berg added a caveat to the document saying, "according to three independent sources" the information might be false or misleading. Domscheit-Berg later wrote that they made up the "three independent sources" and that the source had "included some background information he had researched about the bank's clients" that misidentified a Swiss account holder as a German man with a similar name.[613][614] In 2008, the WikiLeaks website said "Wikileaks does not pass judgement on the authenticity of documents".[75]Wired reported that in 2009, a "whistleblower" submitted fabricated documents to WikiLeaks. The documents were published and flagged by WikiLeaks as potential fakes.[59] WikiLeaks stated in 2010 that it has never released a misattributed document and that documents are assessed before release. In response to concerns about the possibility of misleading or fraudulent leaks, WikiLeaks has stated that misleading leaks "are already well-placed in the mainstream media. WikiLeaks is of no additional assistance."[615]The FAQ in 2010 stated that: "The simplest and most effective countermeasure is a worldwide community of informed users and editors who can scrutinise and discuss leaked documents."[616]In 2010, Assange said submitted documents were vetted by five reviewers with expertise in different topics such as language orprogramming, who also investigated the leaker's identity if known.[617]Assange had the final say in document assessment.[617] Daniel Domscheit-Berg wrote that before WikiLeaks started working with media partners most verification of submissions was doing Google searches.[613][614]According to theColumbia Journalism Review, Assange "outsourced the burden of verification" of theAfghan War documents leak, theIraq War documents leakandCablegateto the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel.[618][619]Yulia Latyninaalleged inThe Moscow Timesthat WikiLeaks associateIsrael Shamirconcocted aleaked diplomatic cablefor publication in the pro-PutinRussian Reporterin December 2010.[494][495][496]Shamir has denied this accusation.[496] In 2012, WikiLeaks released a statement about theSyria Filessaying that: In such a large collection of information, it is not possible to verify every single email at once; however, WikiLeaks and its co-publishers have done so for all initial stories to be published. We are statistically confident that the vast majority of the data are what they purport to be.[620][621][622] Columnist Eric Zorn wrote in 2016 "So far, it's possible, even likely, that every stolen email WikiLeaks has posted has been authentic," but cautioned against assuming that future releases would be equally authentic.[623]WriterGlenn Greenwaldwrote in 2016 that WikiLeaks had a "perfect, long-standing record of only publishing authentic documents."[624]Cybersecurity experts have said that it would be easy for a person to fabricate an email or alter it, as by changing headers and metadata.[623]Some released emails containDKIMheaders. This allows them to be verified as genuine to some degree of certainty.[625][better source needed] In July 2016, theAspen Institute's Homeland Security Group, a bipartisan counterterrorism organisation, warned that hackers who stole authentic data might "salt the files they release with plausible forgeries."[623]According to Douglas Perry, Russian intelligence agencies have frequently useddisinformationtactics. He wrote in 2016 that "carefully faked emails might be included in the WikiLeaks dumps. After all, the best way to make false information believable is to mix it in with true information."[626] In September 2016,The Daily Dotreported that WikiLeaks'Syria Filesexcluded "records of a €2 billion transaction between theSyrianregime and a government-owned Russian bank," citing court documents.[627] The media and civil society organisations have commended Wikileaks for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, assistingfreedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions.[628][629][630][631][632][633][634] WikiLeaks wonThe Economist's New Media Award in 2008 at the Index on Censorship Awards[635]andAmnesty International's UK Media Award in 2009.[636][637]Julian Assange received the 2010Sam Adams Awardfor Integrity in Intelligence for releasing secret U.S. military reports on the Iraq and Afghan wars[638]and was named the Readers' Choice forTIME's Person of the Yearin 2010.[639] In 2010, the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rightsexpressed concern over what they referred to as a cyber war against WikiLeaks,[640]and in a joint statement with theOrganization of American Statesthe UNSpecial Rapporteurcalled on states and others to keep international legal principles in mind.[641]In 2010, a UKInformation Commissionersaid that "WikiLeaks is part of the phenomenon of the online, empowered citizen",[642]and anInternet petitionin support of WikiLeaks attracted more than six hundred thousand signatures.[643] On 16 April 2019,Mairead Maguireaccepted the 2019GUE/NGLAward for Journalists, Whistleblowers & Defenders of the Right to Information on Julian Assange's behalf.[644] During the early years of WikiLeaks, members of the media and academia commended it for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, assistingfreedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions.[645][646][647][648][649][650][651] In 2010, the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rightsexpressed concern over what they referred to as a cyber war against WikiLeaks,[652]and in a joint statement with theOrganization of American Statesthe UNSpecial Rapporteurcalled on states and others to keep international legal principles in mind.[653] Since 2011,[654]WikiLeaks has facedallegations of association with the Russian governmentwhich peaked during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. WikiLeaks said it had no connection with Russia.[655]Several associates of WikiLeaks including Julian Assange,[656][657][658][659]Smári McCarthy,[660][661][662]andSigurdur Thordarsonhave facedallegations related to hacking.[663][664][665][666]WikiLeaks has been criticised for makingmisleading claims about the contents of its leaks,[667][668]including theStratfor email leak,[669][670]the AKP emails[671][672][673]andVault 7.[674]The group was criticised for attempting to auction information[675][59]and drew intense criticism from supporters includingAnonymousfor putting theGlobal Intelligence filesbehind a paywall.[676][677][678][679]WikiLeaks has drawn criticism forinadequate curation and violations of personal privacy[42]fromtransparencyadvocates such asEdward Snowden,[43]Glenn Greenwald,[680]Amnesty International,[681]Reporters Without Borders,[255][515][517]theSunlight Foundation[682]and theFederation of American Scientists.[683][41] WikiLeaks has often been criticised for demanding absolute secrecy about its activities, but openness in others.[262] In 2010, former advisory board memberJohn Youngaccused the organisation of a lack of transparency regarding its fundraising and financial management. He stated his belief that WikiLeaks could not guarantee whistleblowers the anonymity or confidentiality it said it did and that he "would not trust them with information if it had any value, or if it put me at risk or anyone that I cared about at risk."[684]He later became supportive of the organisation again.[59] Those working for WikiLeaks are reportedly required to sign sweepingnon-disclosure agreementscovering all conversations, conduct, and material, with Assange having sole power over disclosure.[685]The penalty for non-compliance in one such agreement was reportedly £12 million.[685]WikiLeaks has been challenged for this practice, as it is seen to be hypocritical for an organisation dedicated to transparency to limit the transparency of its inner workings and limit theaccountabilityof powerful individuals in the organisation.[685][686][687] In 2010, after WikiLeaks' release of classified U.S. government documents leaked byChelsea Manning, thenU.S. Vice-PresidentJoe Bidensaid that he "would argue it is closer to being a high-tech terrorist than thePentagon Papers". Biden said Assange "has done things that have damaged and put in jeopardy the lives and occupations of people in other parts of the world."[688][689][690]RepresentativePete Hoekstracalled for decisive action against WikiLeaks.[691]SenatorsJoseph LiebermanandJohn McCaincalled WikiLeaks publications the "most damaging security breach in the history of this country" and RepresentativePeter T. Kingsaid WikiLeaks should be designated aterrorist organisation.[691][692][693]Sarah Palin,William KristolandRick Santorumcompared WikiLeaks to a terrorist group.[694]SenatorJohn Ensignproposed amending the Espionage Act to target WikiLeaks.[695] An internal U.S. government review in found that the redacted diplomatic cables leak was embarrassing but caused only limited damage to U.S. interests abroad. In January 2011, a congressional official said they thought the Obama administration felt compelled to say publicly that the release caused severe damage in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers.[696]In 2012, Representative Ron Paul defended WikiLeaks in a floor speech.[691] In 2015, RepresentativeMac Thornberrysaid WikiLeaks publications had done "enormous" damage and helped the country's "primary adversaries".[691]In 2016, former U.S. representativeConnie Macksaid the U.S. public has "a right to know" the contents of the diplomatic documents and said criticism of WikiLeaks was a way of distracting from the revelations contained in WikiLeaks' publications.[697] Several Republicans who had once been highly critical of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange began to speak fondly of him after WikiLeaks published the DNC leaks and started to regularly criticise Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.[698][699]Having called WikiLeaks "disgraceful" in 2010, President-elect Donald Trump praised WikiLeaks in October 2016, saying, "I love WikiLeaks."[700][701]In 2019, Trump said "I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing."[702]Newt Gingrich, who called for Assange to be "treated as an enemy combatant" in 2010, praised him as a "down to Earth, straight forward interviewee" in 2017.[698]Sarah Palin, who had described Assange as an "anti-American operative with blood on his hands" in 2010, praised Assange in 2017.[703] In 2019,Tulsi Gabbardspoke of the "chilling effect on investigative journalism", first of the US government's reclassification of WikiLeaks from "news organization" to "hostile intelligence service", then of Assange's arrest.[704]TheNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020said that “It is thesense of Congressthat WikiLeaks and the senior leadership of WikiLeaks resemble a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors and should be treated as such a service by the United States".[705] Release of United States diplomatic cables was followed by the creation of a number of other organisations based on the WikiLeaks model. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson responded to the idea positively, saying that having more organisations like WikiLeaks was good.[715][716]In 2012, Andy Greenberg said there were more than 50 spin-offs including BaltiLeaks, BritiLeaks, BrusselsLeaks, Corporate Leaks, CrowdLeaks, EnviroLeaks,FrenchLeaks,GlobaLeaks,Indoleaks, IrishLeaks, IsraeliLeaks, Jumbo Leaks, KHLeaks, LeakyMails, Localeaks, MapleLeaks, MurdochLeaks, Office Leaks,Porn WikiLeaks, PinoyLeaks, PirateLeaks, QuebecLeaks, RuLeaks, ScienceLeaks, TradeLeaks, and UniLeaks.[341][717][104]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks
TheUnited Kingdom – United States of America Agreement(UKUSA,/juːkuːˈsɑː/yoo-koo-SAH)[1][note 1]is a multilateral agreement for cooperation insignals intelligencebetweenAustralia,Canada,New Zealand, theUnited Kingdom, and theUnited States. The alliance of intelligence operations is also known as theFive Eyes.[3][4][5]In classification markings this is abbreviated as FVEY, with the individual countries being abbreviated as AUS, CAN, NZL, GBR, and USA, respectively. Emerging from an informal agreement related to the 1941Atlantic Charter, thesecret treatywas renewed with the passage of the1943 BRUSA Agreement, before being officially enacted on 5 March 1946 by the United Kingdom and the United States. In the following years, it was extended to encompass Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Other countries, known as "third parties", such asWest Germany, thePhilippines, and severalNordic countries, also joined the UKUSA community in associate capacities, although they are not part of the mechanism for automatic sharing of intelligence that exists between the Five Eyes.[6] Much of the sharing of information is performed via the ultra-sensitiveSTONEGHOSTnetwork, which has been claimed to contain "some of the Western world's most closely guarded secrets".[7]Besides laying down rules for intelligence sharing, the agreement formalized and cemented the "Special Relationship" between the UK and the US.[8] Due to its status as a secret treaty, its existence was not known to theprime minister of Australiauntil 1973,[9]and it was not disclosed to the public until 2005.[10]On 25 June 2010, for the first time in history, the full text of the agreement was publicly released by the United Kingdom and the United States, and can now be viewed online.[11]Shortly after its release, the seven-page UKUSA Agreement was recognized byTimemagazine as one of theCold War's most important documents, with immense historical significance.[10] Theglobal surveillance disclosurebyEdward Snowdenhas shown that the intelligence-sharing activities between theFirst Worldallies of the Cold War are rapidly shifting into the digital realm of theInternet.[12][13] The parties agree to the exchange of the products of the following operations relating to foreign communications:- The agreement originated from a ten-page 1943 British–US Communication Intelligence Agreement,BRUSA.[14]The UKUSA Agreement connected the signal intercept networks of the UKGovernment Communications Headquarters(GCHQ) and the USNational Security Agency(NSA) at the beginning of theCold War.[15]The document was signed on 5 March 1946 by Colonel Patrick Marr-Johnson for the UK's London Signals Intelligence Board and Lieutenant GeneralHoyt Vandenbergfor the US State–Army–Navy Communication Intelligence Board. Although the original agreement states that the exchange would not be "prejudicial to national interests", the United States often blocked information sharing fromCommonwealthcountries. The full text of the agreement was released to the public on 25 June 2010.[16] The "Five Eyes" term has its origins as a shorthand for a "AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US EYES ONLY" classification level.[17] Under the agreement, the GCHQ and the NSA shared intelligence on theSoviet Union, thePeople's Republic of China, and severalEastern Bloccountries (known as Exotics).[18]The network was expanded in the 1960s into theEcheloncollection and analysis network.[8] The treaty was extended to include Canada (1948), Australia (1956) and New Zealand (1956). In 1955, the agreement was updated to designate Canada, Australia and New Zealand as "UKUSA-collaboratingCommonwealthcountries".[16]Other countries that joined as "third parties" wereNorway(1952),Denmark(1954) and West Germany (1955). In the aftermath of the1973 Murphy raidson the headquarters of theAustralian Security Intelligence Organisation(ASIO), the existence of the UKUSA Agreement was revealed to Australia's Prime MinisterGough Whitlam. After learning about the agreement, Whitlam discovered thatPine Gap, a secret surveillance station close toAlice Springs,Northern Territory, had been operated by the USCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA).[19][20][21][22] At the height of the1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the use and control of Pine Gap by the CIA was strongly opposed by Whitlam, who fired the chief of the ASIO before being dismissed as prime minister.[23] The existence of several intelligence agencies of theFive Eyeswas not revealed until the following years: In 1999, the Australian government acknowledged that it "does co-operate with counterpart signals intelligence organisations overseas under the UKUSA relationship."[31][32] The existence of the UKUSA Agreement, however, was not publicly revealed until 2005.[10]The contents of the agreement were officially disclosed to the public on 25 June 2010. Four days later, the agreement was described byTimemagazine as one of the "most important documents in the history of theCold War."[10] In July 2013, as part of the2013 Edward Snowden revelations, it emerged that the NSA is paying GCHQ for its services, with at least £100 million of payments made between 2010 and 2013.[33] On 11 September 2013,The Guardianreleased aleaked document provided by Edward Snowdenwhich reveals a similar agreement between the NSA and Israel'sUnit 8200.[34] According toThe Sydney Morning Herald, Australia operates clandestine surveillance facilities at its embassies "without the knowledge of most Australian diplomats". These facilities are part of an international espionage program known asSTATEROOM.[35] Although the UKUSA alliance is often associated with theECHELONsystem, processed intelligence is reliant on multiple sources of information and the intelligence shared is not restricted tosignals intelligence. The following table provides an overview of the government agencies involved and their respective responsibilities within the "Five Eyes" community:[17] Although precise assignments are classified, it is generally known that each member of the UKUSA alliance takes lead responsibility for intelligence collection and analysis in different parts of the globe. TheFive Eyes(often abbreviated asFVEY) are anintelligencealliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation insignals intelligence.[17][36] Australia monitorsSouth AsiaandEast Asia.[17] Canada's geographical proximity to theSoviet Unionprovided considerable eavesdropping advantages during theCold War. Canada continues to monitor the Russian and Chinese interior while managing intelligence assets inLatin America.[17] In addition toSoutheast Asia, New Zealand is responsible for the westernPacific[17]and maintains listening posts in theSouth IslandatWaihopai Valleyjust south-west ofBlenheim, and on theNorth IslandatTangimoana. Europe,European Russia, Middle East, and Hong Kong.[17] The US is focused on theMiddle East, Russia, and China, in addition to theCaribbeanandAfrica.[17] The "Five Eyes" community is part of an extensive alliance ofWestern countriessharingsignals intelligencewith each other. These allied countries includeNATOmembers, other European countries such as Sweden, and allies in the Pacific, in particularSingaporeandSouth Korea.[17][6] In the 1950s several Nordic countries joined the community as "third party" participants. They were soon followed by Denmark (1954) andWest Germany(1955).[6][38] According toEdward Snowden, the NSA has a "massive body" called the Foreign Affairs Directorate that is responsible for partnering with otherWestern alliessuch asIsrael.[39] Unlike the "second party" members (that is, the Five Eyes themselves), "third party" partners are not automatically exempt from intelligence targeting. According to an internal NSA document leaked by Snowden, "We (the NSA) can, and often do, target the signals of most 3rd party foreign partners."[40] The Five Eyes are cooperating with various 3rd Party countries in at least two groups: Germany is reportedly interested in moving closer to the inner circle: an internal GCHQ document from 2009 said that the "Germans were a little grumpy at not being invited to join the 9-Eyes group." Germany may even wish to join Five Eyes.[43]Referring to Five Eyes, former French PresidentFrançois Hollandehas said that his country is "not within that framework and we don't intend to join."[44]According to a former top US official, "Germany joining would be a possibility, but not France – France itself spies on the US far too aggressively for that."[45] During the2013 NSA leaksInternet spying scandal, the surveillance agencies of the "Five Eyes" have been accused of intentionally spying on one another's citizens and willingly sharing the collected information with each other, allegedly circumventing laws preventing each agency from spying on its own citizens.[46][47][48] The 2013 NSA leaks are not entirely new, but rather, they are a confirmation of earlier disclosures about the UK-US espionage alliance. For example, the British newspaperThe Independentreported back in 1996 that the USNational Security Agency"taps UK phones" at the request of the British intelligence agencyMI5, thus allowing British agents to evade restrictive limitations on domestic telephone tapping.[49] The mutual surveillance and sharing of information between allies of the UK and US resurfaced again during the2013 mass surveillance disclosures. As described by the news magazineDer Spiegel, this was done to circumvent domestic surveillance regulations: Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency can spy on anyone but British nationals, the NSA can conduct surveillance on anyone but Americans, and Germany's BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) foreign intelligence agency can spy on anyone but Germans. That's how a matrix is created of boundless surveillance in which each partner aids in a division of roles. They exchanged information. And they worked together extensively. That applies to the British and the Americans, but also to the BND, which assists the NSA in its Internet surveillance.[50] In 2013, Canadian federal judgeRichard Mosleystrongly rebuked theCanadian Security Intelligence Service(CSIS) for outsourcing its surveillance of Canadians to overseas partner agencies. A 51-page ruling says that the CSIS and other Canadian federal agencies are illegally enlisting US and British allies inglobal surveillancedragnets, while keeping domestic federal courts in the dark.[51] The following documents were jointly released by the NSA and the GCHQ in 2010: The following documents were leaked byEdward Snowdenduring the course of the2013 Global surveillance disclosure:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement
Thejoint defense privilege, orcommon-interest rule, is an extension ofattorney–client privilege.[1]Under "common interest" or "joint defense" doctrine, parties with shared interest in actual or potentiallitigationagainst a common adversary may share privileged information without waiving their right to assert attorney–client privilege.[2]Because the joint defense, "privilege sometimes may apply outside the context of actual litigation, what the parties call a 'joint defense' privilege is more aptly termed the 'common interest' rule."[3] "The need to protect the free flow of information from client to attorney logically exists whenever multiple clients share a common interest about a legal matter."[1]The common interest rule serves to protect theconfidentialityof communications passing from one party to the attorney for another party where a joint defense effort or strategy has been decided upon and undertaken by the parties and their respective counsel.[1] The joint defense privilege does not merely protect statements made by attorney to client or attorney to attorney. The privilege also is held to cover communications made to certain agents of an attorney, including accountants hired to assist in the rendition oflegal services.[1]Furthermore, a person need not be a litigant to be a party to a joint defense agreement. The joint defense privilege also applies to "parties or potential parties sharing a common interest in the outcome of a particular claim.[3]Only those communications made in the course of an ongoing common enterprise and intended to further the enterprise are protected.[1][2] A party seeking to assert the joint defense privilege must demonstrate that: For "common interest" or "joint defense" doctrine to apply, to permit parties with common interest in actual or potential litigation to share privileged information without waiving their right to assert privilege, parties' common interest must be identical and not merely similar, and must be legal and not solely commercial.[2]Furthermore, the protection of the privilege "extends only to communications and not to facts."[4]While a client may refuse to answer questions regarding what it said or wrote to its attorney, it may not refuse to disclose relevant facts "merely because [it] incorporated a statement of such fact into [its] communication to [its] attorney."[4]The joint defense privilege, like the attorney–client privilege, does not protect "underlying facts embodied in a communication between attorney and client."[5] Generally, a client waives the attorney–client privilege when he voluntarily discloses privileged communications to third party.[2]Waiver under joint defense doctrine is essentially the same as that under attorney client privilege. The only difference is that a co-defendant's communication with the other attorney is not a waiver of the confidentiality of that communication.Voluntary disclosureto a third party of purportedly privileged communications has long been considered inconsistent with the privilege. It is well settled that when a party voluntarily discloses privileged communications to a third party, the privilege is waived.[3]Similarly, when a party discloses a portion of otherwise privileged material but withholds the remainder, the privilege is waived only as to those communications actually disclosed, unless a partial waiver would be unfair to the party's adversary.[3]Disclosure alone, without intent, may constitute waiver of the attorney–client privilege. ... "under traditional waiver doctrine a voluntary disclosure ... to a third party waives the attorney–client privilege even if the third party agrees not to disclose the communications to anyone else."[3]InMassachusetts, when an attorney represents more than one client in a particular matter, one client's communication made to the attorney in the presence of the other client or clients is not privileged, as between the clients.[6]InThompson v. Cashmana lawyer who was acting for both plaintiff and defendant was allowed to testify to a conversation between the lawyer, plaintiff, and defendant.[6][7]But not all disclosure results inwaiver. "Under joint defense privilege, communications between client and his own lawyer remain protected by attorney–client privilege when disclosed to co-defendants or their counsel for purposes of common defense.".[1][3][8] The burden for showing joint defense is the same as the burden for showingattorney client privilege. The party asserting the joint defense agreement always bears the burden of demonstrating its existence by establishing each element of the attorney-client privilege.[9]Likewise, the party asserting privilege, both in the context of joint defense agreements and otherwise, bears the burden of proving the applicability of the privilege.[3] "No written agreement is generally required to invoke joint defense privilege."[8]And, although "privileges should be narrowly construed and expansions cautiously extended," courts have found that an oral joint defense agreement may be valid.[3] Joint defense agreements are not contracts which create whatever rights that signatories chose, but are written notice of defendants' invocation of privileges set forth in common law.[8]As a result, joint defense agreements cannot extend greater protections than legal privileges on which they rest.[8]"A joint defense agreement which purports to [extend greater protections than legal privileges on which it rests] does not accurately set forth the protections which would be given to defendants who sign. InUnited States v. Stepney,[10]unless the joint defense privilege recognized in this Circuit imposes a duty of loyalty on attorneys who are parties to a joint defense agreement, the duty of loyalty set forth in the proposed agreement would have no effect other than misinforming defendants of the actual scope of their rights.[8]Joint defense privilege did not impose general duty of loyalty to all signing defendants, and thus duty of loyalty set forth in proposed joint defense agreement had no effect other than misinforming defendants of actual scope of their rights.[8]"The proposed joint defense agreement explicitly imposes on signing attorneys not only a duty of confidentiality, but a separate general duty of loyalty to all signingdefendants. Such a duty has no foundation in law and, if recognized, would offer little chance of a trial unmarred by conflict of interest and disqualification."[8]When there is a conflict, under "joint defense" doctrine, joint defendant must consent to waiver of conflict of interest for waiver to be effective.[2]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_defense_privilege
Amandated reporteris a person who is required by law to reportcrimes, typically if they know or suspect achildorvulnerable adulthas been or is at risk of being abused or neglected. Mandatory reporting laws can also extend tovulnerable adultsdue to adisability,mental illness, orold age. If a mandated reporter does not report these crimes, they may be subject tocivilandcriminalpenalties for failing to report. Mandated reporters include people with professions involving children, vulnerable adults, and emergency services (i.e.,teachers,physicians, andpolice officers), while other states consider all adults to be mandated reporters regardless of their profession. In 1962, United States doctorsC. Henry Kempeand Brandt Steele published "The Battered Child Syndrome",[1][2]which helped doctors identifychild abuse, its effects, and the need to report seriousphysical abuseto legal authorities. Its publication changed the prevalent views in the United States, where child abuse was previously seen as uncommon, and not a regular issue.[3]In 1974, theUnited States Congresspassed theChild Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act(CAPTA), which provides funds to states for development of CPS andhotlinesto prevent serious injuries to children. These laws and the media and advocacy coverage and research brought about a gradual change in societal expectations on reporting in the United States and, at different rates, in other western nations.[4][5] Originally created to respond to physical abuse, reporting systems in various countries began to expand to addresssexual abuseandemotional abuse,child neglect, and exposure todomestic abuse. This expansion was accompanied by broader requirements for reporting abuse: previously reports were only submitted when an incident caused serious physical injury, but as the definitions changed, more minor physical injuries and developmental andpsychological traumabegan to be included as well.[6] In the U.S. as of 2013, there had been a huge increase of reporting over the decades with enormous numbers of unsubstantiated cases.[7]Referrals increased each year, but the actual substantiated cases remained low and are approximately the same or declined each year.[8]A Swedish commentator wrote that "media and commentators often take the number of referrals to be synonymous with the number of cases of actual child maltreatment", which makes the problem appear larger than it is.[9][better source needed] In 2014, in response to thePenn State sex abuse scandal, then-GovernorTom Corbettpassed a bill which extended the state's mandatory reporting obligations to include additional professionals as a measure to increase reports concerning child abuse. However, an article published byNBC NewsandProPublicafound in the first half of the 2010s (before the changes), there were 29,766 children investigated with only 10,410 being substantiated. In the later half of the decade, after the changes, the number of reported children was 42,366, but only 10,399 were sustained. Critics of mandatory reporting laws point out the number of fatalities relating to child abuse rose from 96 in 2014 to 194 in 2021 (seven years after the implementation).[10] The criteria for reporting vary significantly based on jurisdiction.[11]Typically, mandatory reporting applies to people who have reason to suspect the abuse or neglect of a child, but it can also apply to people who suspect abuse or neglect of a dependent adult or the elderly,[12]or to any members of society (sometimes called Universal Mandatory Reporting [UMR]).[13][14]A large majority of European countries – 86 percent – have some form of mandatory reporting; 77 percent of African countries do; 72 percent of Asian countries and 90 percent of the Americas do.[15] InAustralia,theNorthern Territoryrequires all citizens to report suspected child abuse,[16]and the other states and territories have mandatory reporting for designated work roles.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] InBrazil, notification is mandatory in the health system, in schools and by the Child Protection Councils (CPC) network, present in many municipalities.[24] InMalaysia, TheChild Act 2001requires any medical officer or medical practitioner, childcare provider or member of the family to notify his/her concerns, suspicions or beliefs that a child may have been abused or neglected to the appropriate child protection authority in the country. Failure to do so can result in criminal charges.[25] InSouth Africa, Section 110 of theChildren's Act, 2005mandates 'Any correctional official, dentist, homeopath, immigration official, labour inspector, legal practitioner, medical practitioner, midwife, minister of religion, nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychologist, religious leader, social service professional, social worker, speech therapist, teacher, traditional health practitioner, traditional leader or member of staff or volunteer worker at a partial care facility, drop-in centre or child and youth care centre' to report when they suspect that a child has been abused 'in a manner causing physical injury, sexually abused or deliberately neglected'. TheSexual Offences Act, 1957, compels all citizens who are aware of the sexual exploitation of children to report the offence to the police.[26] UnderUKlaw only local authority social workers, health and social service board social workers (Northern Ireland) and police have a duty to report suspicions that a child is in need of care and protection. Local child protection guidelines and professional codes of conduct may expect other professionals, such as teachers and medical staff, to report, but they do not have to do so as a matter of law.[13]Front-line professionals are also required to report cases offemale genital mutilation.[27][28] In theUnited States,states frequently amend their laws, but as of April 2019 all states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have statutes identifying persons who are required to report suspected child maltreatment to an appropriate agency.[29] Approximately 48 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands designate professions the members of which are mandated by law to report child maltreatment.[29] As of April 2019, in 18 states and Puerto Rico, any person who suspects child abuse or neglect is required to report suspected abuse or neglect regardless of profession.[30]In all other States, territories, and the District of Columbia, any non-mandated person is also allowed to report.[29] Canadaimposes a mandatory requirement on all citizens, except in the Yukon Territory where it is restricted to those who come in contact with children in their professional roles.[31] Mexicoalso has legislative reporting duties.[31] TheCouncil of Europehas urged all countries to have mandatory reporting of child abuse, but several European countries do not: As of 2015, 15 member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, as well as the United Kingdom, whichhas left the EUon 31 January 2020) have reporting obligations in place for all professionals. In 10 member states (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Slovakia) existing obligations only address certain professional groups such as social workers or teachers.[32] As of 2015, specific reporting obligations existed also for civilians, to report cases of child abuse, neglect and/or exploitation existed in more than half (15) of the EU member states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden). In many member states without specific provisions, general provisions on the obligation for all citizens to report acriminal actunder national law apply, but with no specific obligation to report a child at risk of abuse.[33] Notably, as of March 2014 Germany, Malta and the Netherlands had no reporting obligations in place. Malta created a new draft Child Protection Act (Out of Home Care),[34]introducing the obligation of mandatory reporting for all professionals and volunteers.[32] The processes for reporting vary greatly among jurisdictions. Mandated reporters are usually required to give their name when they make a report. This allows investigators to contact them for further details if needed, and protects the mandated reporter from accusations that they did not report as required by law.[6][29][31] Typically, reporters are encouraged to report their suspicions and not to investigate or wait for absolute proof, which can lead to further harm directed at the suspected victim, and allow for perpetrators to prepare their defence through intimidation. The investigation of the abuse is then left to professionals. Some jurisdictions allow clear protections for reports made in good faith, protecting the disclosure of the reporter's name.[6][29][31] Innocence should be presumed unless and until evidence establishing guilt is obtained and it must be remembered that only suspicions are being reported.[35] Mandated reporting requirements generally apply to professions that have frequent contact with children, although in some jurisdictions all citizens are required to report suspicions of some forms of abuse. Other jurisdictions have mandated requirements only of doctors or medical professionals. Jurisdictions may note that, while these groups arelegally required(mandated) to report, most jurisdictions allow forvoluntaryreports by any concerned people. Conflicts between a mandated reporter's duties and someprivileged communicationstatutes are common but, in general,attorney–client privilegesand clergy–penitent privileges are exempt from mandatory reporting in many jurisdictions. In some states in the US, psychiatrist and psychologists are also exempt from mandatory reporting.[36] "Clergy–penitent privilege" is privileged communication that protects communication between a member of the clergy and a communicant, who shares information in confidence. When applied, neither the minister nor the "penitent" can be forced to testify in court, by deposition, or other legal proceedings, about the contents of the communication.[37]Most US states provide the privilege, typically in rules of evidence or civil procedure, and the confidentiality privilege has also been extended to non-catholic clergy and non-Sacramental counseling.[38] In 2015–16, of the total number of notifications (355,935), 164,987 cases (involving 115,024 children) of child abuse were investigated or were in the process of being investigated. Of these investigations, 60,989 cases were substantiated[39] Brazil has a mandatory reporting system for child maltreatment that is enforced by the health and educational systems, but due to the absence of national prevalence surveys, the difference between data generated by such mandatory reports and actual incidence of abuse is not known, although it is believed that mandatory report systems may result in underreporting. While specific data on mandatory reporting is unavailable, data collected from 314 municipalities (out of 5564) across the country revealed that in the second half of 2005 alone, 27,986 children received attention from the Social Welfare Centers: either because of sexual abuse (13,240), psychological violence (4,340), neglect (4,073), physical violence (3,436) and sexual exploitation (2,887). Most victims were in the 7–14 years group (17,738). 4,936 were under 6 years old.[24] Canada provides data on substantiations but not reports.[40]In Canada in 2008,[40]36% of all investigations were substantiated, with a further 8% of investigations where maltreatment remained suspected by the worker at the conclusion of the investigation and a further 5% with a risk of future maltreatment. 30% of investigations were unfounded and 17% resulted in no risk of future maltreatment was indicated. England provides data on substantiations but not reports.[41]In 2012, the UK reports 50,573 children were on child protection registers or subject to a child protection plan: England (42,850), Scotland (2,706), Wales (2,890), Northern Ireland (2,127).[42] In the US there was a 2348% increase in hotline calls from 150,000 in 1963 to 3.3 million in 2009.[7]In 2011, there were 3.4 million calls.[8]From 1992 to 2009 in the US, substantiated cases of sexual abuse declined 62%, physical abuse decreased 56% and neglect 10%. Although the referrals increase each year, about 1% of the child population is affected by any form of substantiated maltreatment.[43] In the US, there are approximately 3.6 million calls each year: 9,000/day, 63,000/week,[8]affecting on average 1 out of 10 U.S. families with children under the age of 18 each year (there are 32.2 million such families).[44]From 1998 to 2011 there were a total of 43 million hotline calls.[8]Of those substantiated, over half are minor situations and many are situations where the worker thinks something may happen in the future. The largest category was neglect.[8] Each year in the US, approximately 85% of hotline calls either do not warrant investigation or are not substantiated. Approximately 78% of all investigations are unsubstantiated and approximately 22% are substantiated, with around 9% where "alternative responses" are offered in some states, which have a focus on working with the family to address issues rather than confirming maltreatment.[45] Originally created to respond to physical abuse, reporting systems in various countries have expanded the reportable incidents, when it was recognised that sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic abuse also have profound impacts on children's wellbeing.[6]Critics of investigations into reports of child abuse state that Critics state that mandatory reporting may also They also state that mandatory reporting laws have had unintended consequences for the accused. Individuals, including juveniles, who have never been convicted of anything may be placed on CPS Central Registries/databases (different fromSex Abuse Registries) for decades, limiting educational and employment opportunities due to background checks.[citation needed]There is a 1.2–12.3% recidivism rate (repeat substantiations within 6 months of initial substantiations).[52]Some parents who have successfully managed a drug addiction and who are still receiving treatment have been subject to mandatory reporting, even though there was no suspicion of abuse of children or of drugs.[53]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_reporting
Anear miss,near death,near hit, orclose callis an unplanned event that has the potential to cause, but does not actually result in human injury, environmental or equipment damage, or an interruption to normal operation.[1] OSHAdefines a near miss as an incident in which no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained, but where, given a slight shift in time or position, damage or injury easily could have occurred. Near misses also may be referred to as near accidents, accident precursors, injury-free events and, in the case of moving objects, near collisions.[2]A near miss is often an error, with harm prevented by other considerations and circumstances.[3] There are factors for a near miss related to the operator, and factors related to the context. Fatigue is an example for the former. The risk of a car crash after a more than 24h shift for physicians has been observed to increase by 168%, and the risk of near miss by 460%.[4]Factors relating to the context include time pressures, unfamiliar settings, and in the case of health care, diverse patients, and high patient-to-nurse staffing ratios.[5] Most safety activities are reactive and not proactive. Many organizations wait for losses to occur before taking steps to prevent a recurrence. Near miss incidents often precede loss producing events but are largely ignored because nothing (no injury, damage or loss) happened. Employees are not enlightened to report these close calls as there has been no disruption or loss in the form of injuries or property damage. Thus, many opportunities to prevent the accidents that the organization has not yet had are lost. Recognizing and reporting near miss incidents can make a major difference to the safety of workers within organizations. In the heavy construction industry, near miss reporting software allows crews to find and document opportunities that help reduce safety risks as the software tracks, analyzes and calls attention to near misses on the job site to help prevent future incidents.[6]History has shown repeatedly that most loss producing events (accidents) were preceded by warnings or near accidents, sometimes also called close calls, narrow escapes or near hits.[7] In terms of human lives and property damage, near misses are cheaper, zero-cost learning opportunities (compared to learning from actual death, injury or property loss events) Getting a very high number of near misses reported is the goal as long as that number is within the organization's ability to respond and investigate - otherwise it is merely a paperwork exercise and a waste of time; it is possible to achieve a ratio of 100 near misses reported per loss event.[8] Achieving and investigating a high ratio of near miss reports will find the causal factors and root causes of potential future accidents, resulting in about 95% reduction in actual losses.[8] An ideal near miss event reporting system includes both mandatory (for incidents with high loss potential) and voluntary, non-punitive reporting by witnesses. A key to any near miss report is the "lesson learned". Near miss reporters can describe what they observed of the beginning of the event, and the factors that prevented loss from occurring. The events that caused the near miss are subjected toroot cause analysisto identify the defect in the system that resulted in theerrorand factors that may either amplify or ameliorate the result.[citation needed] To prevent the near miss from happening again, the organization must institute teamwork training, feedback on performance and a commitment to continued data collection and analysis, a process calledcontinuous improvement.[citation needed] Near misses are smaller in scale, relatively simpler to analyze and easier to resolve. Thus, capturing near misses not only provides an inexpensive means of learning, but also has some equally beneficial spin offs:[citation needed] In a near miss, all the involved parties are alive to provide detailed information. In fatal incidents much of the critical information may be lost. In some cases the survivors may provide useful information on how a fatality was avoided.[citation needed] Reporting of near misses by observers is an established error reduction technique in many industries and organizations: In the United States, theAviation Safety Reporting System(ASRS) has been collecting confidential voluntary reports of close calls from pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers since 1976. The system was established afterTWA Flight 514crashed on approach toDulles International Airportnear Washington, D.C., killing all 85 passengers and seven crew in 1974. The investigation that followed found that the pilot misunderstood an ambiguous response from the Dullesair traffic controllers, and that earlier another airline had told its pilots, but not other airlines, about a similar near miss. The ASRS identifies deficiencies and provides data for planning improvements tostakeholderswithout regulatory action. Some familiar safety rules, such as turning off electronic devices that can interfere with navigation equipment, are a result of this program. Due to near miss observations and other technological improvements, the rate of fatal accidents has dropped about 65 percent, to one fatal accident in about 4.5 million departures, from one in nearly 2 million in 1997.[11]Furthermore, according to a report in The New York Times on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 in response to a series of near collisions, the Federal Aviation Administration sought the input of external experts. The experts recommended addressing the shortage of air traffic controllers and upgrading outdated technology.[12] In the United Kingdom, an aviation near miss report is known as an "airmiss"[13]or an "airprox", an air proximity hazard,[14]by theCivil Aviation Authority. Since reporting began, aircraft near misses continue to decline.[15] The rate of fire fighter fatalities and injuries in the United States is unchanged for the last 15 years despite improvements inpersonal protective equipment, apparatus and a decrease in structure fires.[16]In 2005, theNational Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting Systemwas established, funded by grants from the U.S. Fire Administration and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, and endorsed by the International Associations of Fire Chiefs and Fire Fighters. Any member of the fire service community is encouraged to submit a report when he/she is involved in, witnesses, or is told of a near-miss event. The report may be anonymous, and is not forwarded to any regulatory agency.[17] A total of 1,439 U.S. law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 61 hours or 144 per year. There were 123 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2015.[18]In 2014, the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Near Miss Reporting System was established, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office).[19]Since its launch, the LEO Near Miss system has established endorsements and partnerships with theNational Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Fund(NLEOMF), theInternational Association of Chiefs of Police(IACP), the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), theOfficer Down Memorial Page(ODMP) and the Below 100 organization.[19]ThePolice Foundation, a national, independent non-profit organization, operates the system and has received additional support from theMotorolaSolutions Foundation.[20]Law enforcement members are to submit voluntary reports when involved in or having witnessed or become aware of a near-miss event. Near miss reports take minutes to submit, can be submitted anonymously and are not forwarded to regulatory or investigative agencies, but are used to provide analysis, policy and training recommendations to the law enforcement community. AORN, a US-based professional organization of perioperative registered nurses, has put in effect a voluntary near miss reporting system calledSafetyNetcovering medication or transfusion reactions, communication or consent issues, wrong patient or procedures, communication breakdown or technology malfunctions. An analysis of incidents allows safety alerts to be issued to AORN members.[21] TheUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) and theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) developed thePatient Safety Reporting Systemmodeled upon the Aviation Safety Reporting System to monitorpatient safetythrough voluntary, confidential reports.[22] CIRAS(the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System) is a confidential reporting system modelled upon ASRS and originally developed by theUniversity of Strathclydefor use in the Scottish rail industry. However, after theLadbroke Grove rail crash,John Prescottmandated its use throughout the whole UK rail industry. Since 2006 CIRAS has been run by an autonomous Charitable trust.[23] There is a significant difference between professional and recreational diving. Professional diving has long established systems for risk assessment, incident mitigation, codes of practice and industry regulation, which have made it an acceptably safe occupation, but at considerable cost.[24]The professional diving industry delivers materials such asIMCA Safety flashes, which are anonymised reports of accidents and near misses from the offshore diving industry published byInternational Marine Contractors Associationwhich inform the industry and encourage independent evaluation of the incidents.[25] Recreational divers are personally responsible for their own actions and are largely unregulated. Risk awareness and personal and peer group attitudes are determining factors in triggering dive accidents. Recreational scuba diving operations are exposed to risks which can develop into incidents, injury or death of participants, with associated risk of liability for the operator and participants.[24]Certifying and safety agencies gather risk data reported in the recreational scuba diving industry, but there is no published research specifically regarding recreational divers and dive centres attitudes and perceptions of safety.[24]Avoidable accidents continue to occur in recreational diving in spite of long established education by the training agencies, which is mainly focused on essential skills specified by training standards. More awareness of risk, and a changed attitude toward safety would help to reduce the number of such incidents.[24] There is a combination of a factors hindering the reporting of near misses in the recreational diving industry. There is a lack of structured reporting mechanisms, a lack of clarity of what would constitute a near miss, or reportable incident, as most recreational divers have very little personal background and no training in workplace health and safety, and not much more from the service providers. The competitive nature of the industry and in some countries litigious nature of the population, tends to discourage sharing of information which legal advisors may consider risky, and resource constraints contributes to the underreporting of near misses in recreational diving.[26]Safety requirements are generally imposed by certification agencies and to a lesser extent by commercial level occupational health and safety authorities. The service provider is mostly uninvolved beyond basic compliance with rules. Changing these attitudes would require either a cultural shift towards prioritizing safety and collaboration the major stakeholders in the diving community, or a clear threat to profits.[26]There are a few non-profit organisations involved in recreational diver safety, such asDivers Alert Network,British Sub-Aqua Club, theRebreather Education and Safety Association,National Speleological Society,Cave Diving Group, and some of the member oriented technical diving organisations, which do the majority of research into recreational dive safety, and analyse what information on near misses is available. Part of the problem in getting divers to report near misses is the stigma attached to what are perceived by some as violations of safety rules, without due analysis of why the rules were violated, or even whether they were strictly applicable, as there is a tendency among training agencies to prescribe behaviour as appropriate, correct, and necessary without going into the reasons for the rules, and as a consequence most divers are not in a position to make a fair and informed judgement, or even to know that there may be an alternative or specific scope to the received rules. Researchers recognise that more information on near misses would facilitate analysis of diving safety. A book was published in 2021 providing personal recollections of near misses by a number of well known and influential technical divers to counteract this attitude and show that even the most respected divers are occasionally inattentive, unlucky, or make mistakes, and have survived by luck, skill or a combination of both.[27]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_miss_(safety)
Inscienceandengineering,root cause analysis (RCA)is a method ofproblem solvingused for identifying the root causes of faults or problems.[1]It is widely used inIT operations,manufacturing,telecommunications,industrial process control,accident analysis(e.g., inaviation,[2]rail transport, ornuclear plants),medical diagnosis, thehealthcare industry(e.g., forepidemiology), etc. Root cause analysis is a form of inductive inference (first create a theory, orroot, based on empirical evidence, orcauses) and deductive inference (test the theory, i.e., the underlying causal mechanisms, with empirical data). RCA can be decomposed into four steps: RCA generally serves as input to a remediation process wherebycorrective actionsare taken to prevent the problem from recurring. The name of this process varies between application domains. According toISO/IEC 31010, RCA may include these techniques:Five whys,Failure mode and effects analysis(FMEA),Fault tree analysis,Ishikawa diagrams, andPareto analysis. There are essentially two ways of repairing faults and solving problems in science and engineering. Reactive management consists of reacting quickly after the problem occurs, by treating the symptoms. This type of management is implemented by reactive systems,[3][4]self-adaptive systems,[5]self-organized systems, andcomplex adaptive systems. The goal here is to react quickly and alleviate the effects of the problem as soon as possible. Proactive management, conversely, consists of preventing problems from occurring. Many techniques can be used for this purpose, ranging from good practices in design to analyzing in detail problems that have already occurred and taking actions to make sure they never recur. Speed is not as important here as theaccuracy and precisionof the diagnosis. The focus is on addressing the real cause of the problem rather than its effects. Root cause analysis is often used in proactive management to identify the root cause of a problem, that is, the factor that was the leading cause. It is customary to refer to the "root cause" in singular form, but one or several factors may constitute theroot cause(s)of the problem under study. A factor is considered the "root cause" of a problem if removing it prevents the problem from recurring. Conversely, a "causal factor" is a contributing action that affects an incident/event's outcome but is not the root cause. Although removing a causal factor can benefit an outcome, it does not prevent its recurrence with certainty. A great way to look at the proactive/reactive picture is to consider theBowtie Risk Assessmentmodel. In the center of the model is the event or accident. To the left, are the anticipated hazards and the line of defenses put in place to prevent those hazards from causing events. The line of defense is the regulatory requirements, applicable procedures, physical barriers, and cyber barriers that are in place to manage operations and prevent events. A great way to use root cause analysis is to proactively evaluate the effectiveness of those defenses by comparing actual performance against applicable requirements, identifying performance gaps, and then closing the gaps to strengthen those defenses. If an event occurs, then we are on the right side of the model, the reactive side where the emphasis is on identifying the root causes and mitigating the damage. Imagine an investigation into a machine that stopped because it was overloaded and the fuse blew.[6]Investigation shows that the machine was overloaded because it had a bearing that was not being sufficiently lubricated. The investigation proceeds further and finds that the automatic lubrication mechanism had a pump that was not pumping sufficiently, hence the lack of lubrication. Investigation of the pump shows that it has a worn shaft. Investigation of why the shaft was worn discovers that there is not an adequate mechanism to prevent metal scrap getting into the pump. This enabled scrap to get into the pump and damage it. The apparent root cause of the problem is that metal scrap can contaminate the lubrication system. Fixing this problem ought to prevent the whole sequence of events from recurring. Therealroot cause could be a design issue if there is no filter to prevent the metal scrap getting into the system. Or if it has a filter that was blocked due to a lack of routine inspection, then therealroot cause is a maintenance issue. Compare this with an investigation that does not find the root cause: replacing the fuse, the bearing, or the lubrication pump will probably allow the machine to go back into operation for a while. However there is a risk that the problem will simply recur until the root cause is dealt with. The above does not includecost/benefit analysis: does the cost of replacing one or more machines exceed the cost of downtime until the fuse is replaced? This situation is sometimes referred to asthe cure being worse than the disease.[7][8] As an unrelated example of the conclusions that can be drawn in the absence of the cost/benefit analysis, consider the tradeoff between some claimed benefits of population decline: In the short term there will be fewer payers into pension/retirement systems; whereas halting the population will require higher taxes to cover the cost of building more schools. This can help explain the problem of the cure being worse than the disease.[9] Costs to consider go beyond finances when considering the personnel who operate the machinery. Ultimately, the goal is to prevent downtime; but more so prevent catastrophic injuries. Prevention begins with being proactive. Despite the different approaches among the various schools of root cause analysis and the specifics of each application domain, RCA generally follows the same four steps: To be effective, root cause analysis must be performed systematically. The process enables the chance to not miss any other important details. A team effort is typically required, and ideally all persons involved should arrive at the same conclusion. In aircraft accident analyses, for example, the conclusions of the investigation and the root causes that are identified must be backed up by documented evidence.[10] The goal of RCA is to identify the root cause of the problem with the intent to stop the problem from recurring or worsening. The next step is to trigger long-term corrective actions to address the root cause identified during RCA, and make sure that the problem does not resurface. Correcting a problem is not formally part of RCA, however; these are different steps in a problem-solving process known asfault managementin IT and telecommunications,repairin engineering,remediationin aviation,environmental remediationinecology,therapyinmedicine, etc. Root cause analysis is used in many application domains. RCA is specifically called out in the United States Code of Federal Regulations in many of the Titles. For example: The example above illustrates how RCA can be used inmanufacturing. RCA is also routinely used inindustrial process control, e.g. to control the production of chemicals (quality control). RCA is also used forfailure analysisinengineeringandmaintenance. Root cause analysis is frequently used in IT and telecommunications to detect the root causes of serious problems. For example, in theITILservice management framework, the goal ofincident managementis to resume a faulty IT service as soon as possible (reactive management), whereas problem management deals with solving recurring problems for good by addressing their root causes (proactive management). Another example is thecomputer security incident management process, where root-cause analysis is often used to investigate security breaches.[11] RCA is also used in conjunction withbusiness activity monitoringandcomplex event processingto analyze faults inbusiness processes. Its use in the IT industry cannot always be compared to its use in safety critical industries, since in normality the use of RCA in IT industry isnotsupported by pre-existing fault trees or other design specs. Instead a mixture of debugging, event based detection and monitoring systems (where the services are individually modelled) is normally supporting the analysis. Training and supporting tools like simulation or different in-depth runbooks for all expected scenarios do not exist, instead they are created after the fact based on issues seen as 'worthy'. As a result the analysis is often limited to those things that have monitoring/observation interfaces and not the actual planned/seen function with focus on verification of inputs and outputs. Hence, the saying "there is no root cause" has become common in the IT industry. In the domains ofhealthandsafety, RCA is routinely used inmedicine(diagnosis) andepidemiology(e.g., to identify the source of an infectious disease), where causal inference methods often require both clinical and statistical expertise to make sense of the complexities of the processes.[12] RCA is used inenvironmental science(e.g., to analyze environmental disasters),accident analysis(aviation and rail industry), andoccupational safety and health.[13]In the manufacture of medical devices,[14]pharmaceuticals,[15]food,[16]and dietary supplements,[17]root cause analysis is a regulatory requirement. RCA is also used inchange management,risk management, andsystems analysis. Without delving in the idiosyncrasies of specific problems, several general conditions can make RCA more difficult than it may appear at first sight. First, important information is often missing because it is generally not possible, in practice, to monitor everything and store all monitoring data for a long time. Second, gathering data and evidence, and classifying them along a timeline of events to the final problem, can be nontrivial. In telecommunications, for instance, distributed monitoring systems typically manage between a million and a billion events per day. Finding a few relevant events in such a mass of irrelevant events is asking to find the proverbialneedle in a haystack. Third, there may be more than one root cause for a given problem, and this multiplicity can make the causal graph very difficult to establish. Fourth, causal graphs often have many levels, and root-cause analysis terminates at a level that is "root" to the eyes of the investigator. Looking again at the example above in industrial process control, a deeper investigation could reveal that the maintenance procedures at the plant included periodic inspection of the lubrication subsystem every two years, while the current lubrication subsystem vendor's product specified a 6-month period. Switching vendors may have been due to management's desire to save money, and a failure to consult with engineering staff on the implication of the change on maintenance procedures. Thus, while the "root cause" shown above may have prevented the quoted recurrence, it would not have prevented other – perhaps more severe – failures affecting other machines.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_cause_analysis
Safety engineeringis anengineeringdisciplinewhich assures that engineeredsystemsprovide acceptable levels ofsafety. It is strongly related toindustrial engineering/systems engineering, and the subsetsystem safetyengineering. Safety engineering assures that alife-critical systembehaves as needed, even when componentsfail. Analysis techniques can be split into two categories:qualitativeandquantitativemethods. Both approaches share the goal of finding causal dependencies between ahazardon system level and failures of individual components. Qualitative approaches focus on the question "What must go wrong, such that a system hazard may occur?", while quantitative methods aim at providing estimations about probabilities, rates and/or severity of consequences. The complexity of the technical systems such as Improvements of Design and Materials, Planned Inspections, Fool-proof design, and Backup Redundancy decreases risk and increases the cost. The risk can be decreased to ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) or ALAPA (as low as practically achievable) levels. Traditionally, safety analysis techniques rely solely on skill and expertise of the safety engineer. In the last decademodel-basedapproaches, like STPA (Systems Theoretic Process Analysis), have become prominent. In contrast to traditional methods, model-based techniques try to derive relationships between causes and consequences from some sort of model of the system. The two most common fault modeling techniques are calledfailure mode and effects analysis(FMEA) andfault tree analysis(FTA). These techniques are just ways of finding problems and of making plans to cope with failures, as inprobabilistic risk assessment. One of the earliest complete studies using this technique on a commercial nuclear plant was theWASH-1400study, also known as the Reactor Safety Study or the Rasmussen Report. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a bottom-up,inductiveanalytical method which may be performed at either the functional or piece-part level. For functional FMEA, failure modes are identified for each function in a system or equipment item, usually with the help of a functionalblock diagram. For piece-part FMEA, failure modes are identified for each piece-part component (such as a valve, connector, resistor, or diode). The effects of the failure mode are described, and assigned a probability based on thefailure rateand failure mode ratio of the function or component. This quantization is difficult for software ---a bug exists or not, and the failure models used for hardware components do not apply. Temperature and age and manufacturing variability affect a resistor; they do not affect software. Failure modes with identical effects can be combined and summarized in a Failure Mode Effects Summary. When combined with criticality analysis, FMEA is known asFailure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysisor FMECA. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a top-down,deductiveanalytical method. In FTA, initiating primary events such as component failures, human errors, and external events are traced throughBoolean logicgates to an undesired top event such as an aircraft crash or nuclear reactor core melt. The intent is to identify ways to make top events less probable, and verify that safety goals have been achieved. Fault trees are a logical inverse of success trees, and may be obtained by applyingde Morgan's theoremto success trees (which are directly related toreliability block diagrams). FTA may be qualitative or quantitative. When failure and event probabilities are unknown, qualitative fault trees may be analyzed for minimal cut sets. For example, if any minimal cut set contains a single base event, then the top event may be caused by a single failure. Quantitative FTA is used to compute top event probability, and usually requires computer software such as CAFTA from theElectric Power Research InstituteorSAPHIREfrom theIdaho National Laboratory. Some industries use both fault trees andevent trees. An event tree starts from an undesired initiator (loss of critical supply, component failure etc.) and follows possible further system events through to a series of final consequences. As each new event is considered, a new node on the tree is added with a split of probabilities of taking either branch. The probabilities of a range of "top events" arising from the initial event can then be seen. The offshore oil and gas industry uses a qualitative safety systems analysis technique to ensure the protection of offshore production systems and platforms. The analysis is used during the design phase to identify process engineering hazards together with risk mitigation measures. The methodology is described in theAmerican Petroleum InstituteRecommended Practice 14CAnalysis, Design, Installation, and Testing of Basic Surface Safety Systems for Offshore Production Platforms. The technique uses system analysis methods to determine the safety requirements to protect any individual process component, e.g. a vessel,pipeline, orpump.[1]The safety requirements of individual components are integrated into a complete platform safety system, including liquid containment and emergency support systems such as fire and gas detection.[1] The first stage of the analysis identifies individual process components, these can include: flowlines, headers,pressure vessels, atmospheric vessels,fired heaters, exhaust heated components, pumps,compressors, pipelines andheat exchangers.[2]Each component is subject to a safety analysis to identify undesirable events (equipment failure, process upsets, etc.) for which protection must be provided.[3]The analysis also identifies a detectable condition (e.g.high pressure) which is used to initiate actions to prevent or minimize the effect of undesirable events. A Safety Analysis Table (SAT) for pressure vessels includes the following details.[3][4] Inflow exceeds outflow Gas blowby (from upstream) Pressure control failure Thermal expansion Excess heat input Liquid slug flow Blocked or restricted liquid outlet Level control failure Other undesirable events for a pressure vessel are under-pressure, gas blowby, leak, and excess temperature together with their associated causes and detectable conditions.[4] Once the events, causes and detectable conditions have been identified the next stage of the methodology uses a Safety Analysis Checklist (SAC) for each component.[5]This lists the safety devices that may be required or factors that negate the need for such a device. For example, for the case of liquid overflow from a vessel (as above) the SAC identifies:[6] The analysis ensures that two levels of protection are provided to mitigate each undesirable event. For example, for a pressure vessel subjected to over-pressure the primary protection would be a PSH (pressure switch high) to shut off inflow to the vessel, secondary protection would be provided by apressure safety valve(PSV) on the vessel.[8] The next stage of the analysis relates all the sensing devices, shutdown valves (ESVs), trip systems and emergency support systems in the form of a Safety Analysis Function Evaluation (SAFE) chart.[2][9] X denotes that the detection device on the left (e.g. PSH) initiates the shutdown or warning action on the top right (e.g. ESV closure). The SAFE chart constitutes the basis of Cause and Effect Charts which relate the sensing devices toshutdown valvesand plant trips which defines the functional architecture of theprocess shutdownsystem. The methodology also specifies the systems testing that is necessary to ensure the functionality of the protection systems.[10] API RP 14C was first published in June 1974.[11]The 8th edition was published in February 2017.[12]API RP 14C was adapted as ISO standard ISO 10418 in 1993 entitledPetroleum and natural gas industries — Offshore production installations — Analysis, design, installation and testing of basic surface process safety systems.[13]The latest edition of ISO 10418 was published in 2019.[14] Typically, safety guidelines prescribe a set of steps, deliverable documents, and exit criterion focused around planning, analysis and design, implementation, verification and validation, configuration management, and quality assurance activities for the development of a safety-critical system.[15]In addition, they typically formulate expectations regarding the creation and use oftraceabilityin the project. For example, depending upon the criticality level of a requirement, theUS Federal Aviation AdministrationguidelineDO-178B/Crequirestraceabilityfromrequirementstodesign, and fromrequirementstosource codeand executableobject codefor software components of a system. Thereby, higher quality traceability information can simplify the certification process and help to establish trust in the maturity of the applied development process.[16] Usually a failure in safety-certifiedsystems is acceptable[by whom?]if, on average, less than one life per 109hours of continuous operation is lost to failure.{as per FAA document AC 25.1309-1A} Most Westernnuclear reactors, medical equipment, and commercialaircraftare certified[by whom?]to this level.[citation needed]The cost versus loss of lives has been considered appropriate at this level (byFAAfor aircraft systems underFederal Aviation Regulations).[17][18][19] Once a failure mode is identified, it can usually be mitigated by adding extra or redundant equipment to the system. For example, nuclear reactors contain dangerousradiation, and nuclear reactions can cause so muchheatthat no substance might contain them. Therefore, reactors have emergency core cooling systems to keep the temperature down, shielding to contain the radiation, and engineered barriers (usually several, nested, surmounted by acontainment building) to prevent accidental leakage.Safety-critical systemsare commonly required to permit nosingle event or component failureto result in a catastrophic failure mode. Mostbiologicalorganisms have a certain amount of redundancy: multiple organs, multiple limbs, etc. For any given failure, a fail-over or redundancy can almost always be designed and incorporated into a system. There are two categories of techniques to reduce the probability of failure: Fault avoidance techniques increase the reliability of individual items (increased design margin, de-rating, etc.). Fault tolerance techniques increase the reliability of the system as a whole (redundancies, barriers, etc.).[20] Safety engineering and reliability engineering have much in common, but safety is not reliability. If a medical device fails, it should fail safely; other alternatives will be available to the surgeon. If the engine on a single-engine aircraft fails, there is no backup. Electrical power grids are designed for both safety and reliability; telephone systems are designed for reliability, which becomes a safety issue when emergency (e.g. US911) calls are placed. Probabilistic risk assessmenthas created a close relationship between safety and reliability. Component reliability, generally defined in terms of componentfailure rate, and external event probability are both used in quantitative safety assessment methods such as FTA. Related probabilistic methods are used to determine systemMean Time Between Failure (MTBF), system availability, or probability of mission success or failure. Reliability analysis has a broader scope than safety analysis, in that non-critical failures are considered. On the other hand, higher failure rates are considered acceptable for non-critical systems. Safety generally cannot be achieved through component reliability alone. Catastrophic failure probabilities of 10−9per hour correspond to the failure rates of very simple components such asresistorsorcapacitors. A complex system containing hundreds or thousands of components might be able to achieve a MTBF of 10,000 to 100,000 hours, meaning it would fail at 10−4or 10−5per hour. If a system failure is catastrophic, usually the only practical way to achieve 10−9per hour failure rate is through redundancy. When adding equipment is impractical (usually because of expense), then the least expensive form of design is often "inherently fail-safe". That is, change the system design so its failure modes are not catastrophic. Inherent fail-safes are common in medical equipment, traffic and railway signals, communications equipment, and safety equipment. The typical approach is to arrange the system so that ordinary single failures cause the mechanism to shut down in a safe way (for nuclear power plants, this is termed apassively safedesign, although more than ordinary failures are covered). Alternately, if the system contains a hazard source such as a battery or rotor, then it may be possible to remove the hazard from the system so that its failure modes cannot be catastrophic. The U.S. Department of Defense Standard Practice for System Safety (MIL–STD–882) places the highest priority on elimination of hazards through design selection.[21] One of the most common fail-safe systems is the overflow tube in baths and kitchen sinks. If the valve sticks open, rather than causing an overflow and damage, the tank spills into an overflow. Another common example is that in anelevatorthe cable supporting the car keepsspring-loaded brakesopen. If the cable breaks, the brakes grab rails, and the elevator cabin does not fall. Some systems can never be made fail safe, as continuous availability is needed. For example, loss of engine thrust in flight is dangerous. Redundancy, fault tolerance, or recovery procedures are used for these situations (e.g. multiple independent controlled and fuel fed engines). This also makes the system less sensitive for the reliability prediction errors or quality induced uncertainty for the separate items. On the other hand, failure detection & correction and avoidance of common cause failures becomes here increasingly important to ensure system level reliability.[22]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering
TheData Protection Act, 2012(The Act)[1]islegislationenacted by theParliament of the Republic of Ghanato protect theprivacyandpersonal data of individuals. It regulates the process personal information is acquired, kept, used or disclosed by data controllers and data processors by requiring compliance with certain data protection principles. Non compliance with provisions of the Act may attract either civil liability, or criminal sanctions, or both, depending on the nature of the infraction. The Act also establishes aData Protection Commission, which is mandated to ensure compliance with its provisions, as well as maintain the Data Protection Register. The Act was first introduced in theGhana Parliamentin 2010, but was subsequently withdrawn by the thenMinister of Communications,Haruna Iddrisu, to be revised.[2]Parliament passed the bill in 2012,[3]which then receivedPresidentialassent on May 10, 2012.[4]The notice of the Act was gazetted on 18 May 2012,[4]and in accordance with Section 99, the Act came into effect on 16 October 2012.[5] The Act is made up of 99 sections that are arranged under various headings, as follows: Key terms in the Act are defined in the interpretation section, section 96. Unless the context otherwise requires, section 96 provides the following definitions to the notable terms: “data controller” means a person who either alone, jointly with other persons or in common with other persons or as a statutory duty determines the purposes for and the manner in which personal data is processed or is to be processed “data processor” in relation to personal data means any person other than an employee of the data controller who processes the data on behalf of the data controller “data subject” means an individual who is the subject of personal data “foreign data subject” means data subject information regulated by laws of a foreign jurisdiction sent into Ghana from a foreign jurisdiction wholly for processing “personal data” means data about an individual who can be identified,(a) from the data, or (b) from the data or other information in the possession of, or likely to come into the possession of the data controller “processing” means an operation or activity or set of operations by automatic or other means that concerns data or personal data and the (a) collection, organisation, adaptation or alteration of the information or data, (b) retrieval, consultation or use of the information or data, (c) disclosure of the information or data by transmission, dissemination or other means available, or (d) alignment, combination, blocking, erasure or destruction of the information or data “recipient” means a person to whom data is disclosed, including an employee or agent of the data controller or the data processor to whom data is disclosed in the course of processing the data for the data controller, but does not include a person to whom disclosure is made with respect to a particular inquiry pursuant to an enactment “special purposes” means any one or more of the following: (a) the purpose ofjournalism, (b) where the purpose is in thepublic interest, (c) artistic purposes, and (d) literary purposes The Act is applicable, where Data which originates externally and merely transits through Ghana is however, not protected by the Act (Section 45(4)). The Act applies to the Ghanaian Government, and for that purpose, each government department is treated as a data controller. (Section 91) The Act provides for 8 principles that data processors have to take into account in processing data, in order to protect the privacy of individuals. These principles are similar to the OECD Guidelines[6]and theData Protection Directiveof the European Union.[7] The data protection principles are enumerated at Section 17 as follows: The accountability principle of data protection is seen generally as a fundamental principle of compliance.[8]It requires that a data controller should be accountable for compliance with measures which give effect to data protection principles.[9] The Act requires a person who processes personal data to ensure that the data is processed without infringing the rights of the data subject, and should be processed in a lawful and reasonable manner (Section 18(1)). Where the data to be processed involves a foreign data subject, the data controller or processor must ensure that the personal data is processed according to the data protection laws of the originating jurisdiction (Section 18 (2)). Data processing is lawful where the conditions that justify the processing are present.[10] The Act has a minimality provision, which requires that personal data can only be processed if the purpose for which it is to be processed is necessary, relevant, and not excessive. (Section 19) The prior consent of a data subject is also required before personal data is processed. (Section 20) This requirement is, however, subject to exceptions. For instance, where the purpose for which the personal data is processed is necessary for the purpose of a contract to which the data subject is a party; authorised or required by law, to protect a legitimate interest of the data subject; necessary for the proper performance of a statutory duty or necessary to pursue the legitimate interest of the data controller or a third party to whom the data is supplied (section 20(1)). Consent is also required for the processing of special personal data (Section 37(2) (b)). A data subject also object to the processing of personal data (section 20(2)), and the data processor is required to stop processing the data upon such objection (section 20(3)). In terms of retention of records, the Act prohibits the retention of personal data for a period longer than is necessary to achieve the purpose of the collection, unless, the retention is required by law, is reasonably necessary for a lawful purpose related to a function or activity, is required for contractual purposes, or the data subject has consented to the retention. (Section 24(1)). The retention requirement is, however, not applicable to personal data that is kept for historical, statistical, or research purposes, (section 24(2)), except that such records must be adequately protected against access or used for unauthorized purposes (Section 24(3)). Where a person uses a record of personal data to make a decision about the data subject, the data must only be retained for a period required by law or a code of conduct, and where no such law or code of conduct exists, for a period which will afford the data subject an opportunity to request access to the record. Upon the expiration of the retention period, the personal data must, however, be deleted or destroyed, in a manner that prevents its reconstruction in an intelligible form, or the record of the personal data must be de-identified. (Sections 24(4), (5), (6)). A data subject may also request that a record of personal data about that data subject held by a data controller be destroyed or deleted where the data controller no longer has the authorisation to retain that data. (Section 33(1) (b)) The Act requires that a data controller who collects personal data do so for a specific purpose that is explicitly defined and lawful, and is related to the functions or activity of the person. (Section 22) The data controller who collects data is also required to take necessary steps to ensure that the data subject is aware of the purpose for which the data is collected. (Section 23) The Act requires that where a data controller holds personal data collected in connection with a specific purpose, any further processing of that data must be compatible with the purpose for which the personal data was initially obtained. (Section 25(1)) The circumstances under which processing meets the compatibility requirement include where the data subjects consents to the further processing of the information, the data is in the public domain, further processing is necessary for purposes of fighting crime, for legislation that concerns protection of tax revenue collection, the conduct of court proceedings, protection of national security, public health, or the life or health of the data subject or another person. (Section 25(3)) Under section 26 of the Act, a data controller who processes personal data must ensure that the data is complete, accurate, up to date and not misleading, having regard to the purpose for which that data is collected or processed. The openness principle ensures that individuals know about, and can participate in enforcing their rights under a data protection regime.[11] Section 27(1) makes it mandatory for a data controller who intends to process personal data to register with the Data Protection Commission. The Data Controller who intends to collect data must also ensure that the data subject is aware the nature of data being collected, the persons responsible for the collection, the purpose of the collection as well as whether or not the supply of data is mandatory or discretionary, among other things. (Section 27(2)) Where the data is collected from a third party, the Act requires the data subject to be informed before the data is collected, or as soon as practicable afterwards. (Section 27(3)) The Act provides circumstances under which the notification requirement is exempt, and they include where it is necessary to avoid compromising law enforcement, protect national security, or where it relates to the preparation or conduct of legal proceedings. Section 27(4)) Also, although it is not mandatory, a data controller can appoint a data protection supervisor, who would be responsible for monitoring compliance with the Act.(Section 58(1), (2)) The data protection supervisor may be an employee (Section 58(1)) and must meet the qualification criteria set out by the Data Protection Commission. (Section 58(7)) Under the Act, a data controller has a duty to prevent the loss of, damage to, or unauthorized destruction of personal data, as well as the unlawful access to or unauthorized processing of personal data. The data controller must therefore adopt appropriate, reasonable, technical, and organizational means to take necessary steps to ensure the security of personal data in its possession or control. (Section 28(1)) The data controller is also required to take reasonable measures to identify and forestall any reasonably foreseeable risks, and ensure that any safeguards put in place are effectively implemented and updated continually. (Section 28(2)) The data controller must also observe both generally accepted and industry specific best practices in securing data, (Section 28(3)) as well as ensure that data processors comply with security measures. (Section 30) Where the data processor is not domiciled in Ghana, the data controller must ensure that the data processor complies with the relevant laws of its country. (Section 30(4)) The Act also requires the data controller to, as soon as reasonably practicable, notify the Data Protection Commission and the data subject of any security breaches to its system, and take steps to ensure that the integrity of the system is restored.(Section 31)) A data subject can, subject to proving the data subject's identity, request a data controller to confirm if the data controller holds that data subject's personal data, describe the nature of the personal data held, and the identity of any third party who has or has previously had access to that data (Section 32(1)). The request must however be made in a reasonable manner, within a reasonable time, after paying any prescribed fees and in a form that is generally understandable (Section 32(2)). A data subject can also request a data controller to correct or delete personal data about the data subject that is held by the data controller and which is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, or misleading (Section 33(1)). Upon receipt of the request, the data controller must either comply with the request or provide the data subject with credible evidence in support of the data. (Section 33(2)). Under section 96, "special personal data" means personal data which consists of information that relates to (a) the race, colour, ethnic or tribal origin of the data subject; (b) the political opinion of the data subject; (c) the religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, of the data subject; (d) the physical, medical, mental health or mental condition or DNA of the data subject; (e) the sexual orientation of the data subject; (f) the commission or alleged commission of an offence by the individual; or (g) proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed by the individual, the disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in the proceedings; The Act prohibits the processing of data which relates to children under parental control, or to the religious or philosophical beliefs, ethnic origin, race, trade union membership, political opinions, health, sexual life or criminal behaviour of an individual Section 37(1). Special personal data may, however, be processed where it is necessary or the data subject has given consent to the processing (Section 37(2)). Processing of personal data is necessary where it is to exercise a right, or fulfil an obligation conferred or imposed by law on an employer (Section 37(3)). Special personal data relating to data subjects may also be processed where it is necessary for the protection of the vital interest of the data subject, where it is impossible for the data subject to give consent, or the data controller cannot reasonably be expected to obtain consent, or consent by the data subject has been unreasonably withheld. (Section 37(4)) Processing special personal data is presumed to be necessary where it is required for the purpose of legal proceedings, legal advice and for medical purposes, where it is undertaken by a health professional and subject to a duty of confidentiality between the patient and health professional. (Section 37(6)) The prohibition on processing special personal data relating to religious or philosophical beliefs does not apply where the processing is carried out by a religious organisation of which the data subject is a member or by an institution founded upon the religious or philosophical principles with respect to persons associated with that institution and is necessary to achieve the aims of the institution (Section 38(1)). Under the Act, a data subject has the right to have his personal data corrected (section 33), to access his personal data (section 35); to prevent the processing of personal data that causes or is likely to cause unwarranted damage or distress to him (section 39); to prevent processing of personal data for purposes of direct marketing (section 40); to require a data controller not to take a decision that would significantly affect him solely on the processing by automatic means (section 41); to exempt manual data (Section 42), to be compensated for the data controller's failure to comply with the provisions of the Act, upon proof of damages (Section 43); and to have inaccurate data rectified (Section 44) The Act establishes a Data Protection Commission with two main objects, The functions of the DPC are to: (section 3) The DPC is governed by an 11-member board that is appointed by the President of Ghana, and the Act provides for certain specific institutional representation. (Section 4) Board members are allowed to hold office for a period not exceeding three years and cannot be appointed to more than two terms. (Section 5(1)) Allowances for Board members are approved by the Minister responsible for Communications in consultation with the Minister responsible for Finance. (Section 9) The board was officially sworn in on 1 November 2012,[12]is currently chaired byProf. Justice Samuel Kofi Date-Bah, a retired justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana.[13]The DPC was officially launched on 18 November 2014.[14] The Act also mandates the President to appoint an Executive Director (section 11) who shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the DPC, as well as the implementation of the decisions of the Board. (Section 12). Mrs. Teki Akuetteh Falconer is the current Executive-Director.[13] Under the Act, the sources of the DPC's funds include money approved by parliament, donations and grants, money that accrues to the DPC in the performance of its functions and any money that the Minister responsible for Finance approves. (Section 14) The DPC is also granted power to serve enforcement notices on data controllers requiring them to refrain from contravening the data protection principles. (Section 75) The enforcement notice may be cancelled or varied either by the DPC, on its own motion, or upon application by a recipient of the notice. (Section 76) The Act provides for the establishment of a Data Protection Register which is to be maintained by the DPC and to which data controllers must compulsorily register. (Section 46) Applications for registration as a data controller is to be made in writing and the Act provides for certain particulars, such as the business name and address of applicant, a description of personal data to be collected and a description of purpose for the processing of personal data. (Section 47(1)) Knowingly supplying false information amounts to an offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment. (Section 47(2)) Also, a separate entry in the register must be made for each separate purpose for which the data controller wishes to process the data. (Section 47(3)) The DPC has the right to refuse to grant an application where the particulars provided for inclusion in an entry in the register are insufficient, the data controller has not been able to provide the appropriate safeguards for the protection of the privacy of the data subject, and in the opinion of the DPC the applicant does not merit the grant of the registration. (Section 47(1))Upon refusing a registration application, the DPC is required to inform the applicant of the reasons for the refusal, and in such an event, the applicant may apply to the High Court for judicial review of the decision. (Section 47(2)) Registration as a data controller is subject to renewal every two years (section 50). The DPC also has the power to cancel a registration for good cause. (Section 52) It is an offence to process personal data without registering. (Section 56) The Act also provides for access by the public to the register, upon the payment of the prescribed fee. (Section 54) The Act provides several exemptions for different purposes as follows: The processing of personal data is exempt from the provisions of the Act where it relates to national security (section 60) and in relation to crime and taxation (section 61); the disclosure of personal data relating to health, education and social work; (section 61); is prohibited, unless it is required by law. The provisions of the Act are also not applicable for the protection of members of the public against specified loss or malpractice provisions (section 63) The processing of personal data is prohibited unless the processing is undertaken for the purpose of a literary or artistic material and the data controller reasonably believes the publication would be in the public interest and that compliance with the provision is incompatible with the special purposes. (Section 64) The provisions on non-disclosure do not apply, where the disclosure is required by any law or by a court. (Section 66) Act does not apply where data is processed only for the purpose of managing an individual's domestic affairs. (Section 67) The data protection principles do not apply to personal data if it consists of references given in confidence, for the purposes of education, appointment to an office or the provision of a service by the data subject. (Section 68) The subject information provisions of the Act do not apply to personal data, where it is likely to prejudice the combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces (Section 69); where it is processed to assess the suitability of a person for judicial appointment or to confer a national honour (Section 70) or if it consists of information in respect of a claim to professional privilege or confidentiality. (Section 74) Personal data is exempt from the provisions of the Act where it relates to examinations marks processed by the data controller and is in relation with the individual's results,(Section 72) or consists of information recorded by a candidate for academic purposes (section 73) The Act prohibits the purchase of personal data, the knowing or reckless disclosure of personal data, and the contravention of this provision amounts to an offence. (Section 88) The Act also makes the sale, the offering to sell, and the advertising of the sale of personal data an offence. (Section 89) The Minister responsible for communications may, in consultation with the DPC make regulations for the effective implementation of the Act.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Act,_2012
TheComputer Misuse Act 1990(c. 18) is an act of theParliament of the United Kingdom, introduced partly in response to the decision inR v Gold & Schifreen(1988) 1 AC 1063. Critics of the bill[who?]complained that it was introduced hastily, was poorly thought out, and thatintentionwas often difficult to prove, with the bill inadequately differentiating "joyriding"hackerslikeGoldandSchifreenfrom serious computer criminals. The Act has nonetheless become a model from which several other countries, includingCanadaand theRepublic of Ireland, have drawn inspiration when subsequently drafting their owninformation securitylaws, as it is seen "as a robust and flexible piece of legislation in terms of dealing with cybercrime".[1]Several amendments have been passed to keep the Act up to date. Robert SchifreenandStephen Gold, using conventionalhome computersandmodemsin late 1984 and early 1985, gained unauthorised access toBritish Telecom'sPrestelinteractiveviewdataservice. While at a trade show, Schifreen, by doing what latterly became known asshoulder surfing, had observed the password of a Prestel engineer.[citation needed]The engineer's username was 22222222 and the password used was 1234.[2][3]This later gave rise to accusations that British Telecom (BT) had not taken security seriously. Armed with this information, the pair explored the system, even gaining access to the personal message box ofPrince Philip. Prestel installed monitors on the suspect accounts and passed information thus obtained to the police. The pair were charged under section 1 of theForgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981with defrauding BT by manufacturing a "false instrument", namely the internal condition of BT's equipment after it had processed Gold's eavesdropped password. Tried atSouthwark Crown Court, they were convicted onspecimen charges(five against Schifreen, four against Gold) and fined, respectively, £750 and £600. Although the fines imposed were modest, they elected to appeal to the Criminal Division of theCourt of Appeal. Their counsel cited the lack of evidence showing the two had attempted to obtain material gain from their exploits, and claimed that the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act had been misapplied to their conduct. They were acquitted by the Lord Justice Lane, but the prosecution appealed to theHouse of Lords. In 1988, the Lords upheld the acquittal.[4]Lord Justice Brandonsaid: We have accordingly come to the conclusion that the language of the Act was not intended to apply to the situation which was shown to exist in this case. The submissions at the close of the prosecution case should have succeeded. It is a conclusion which we reach without regret. The Procrustean attempt[5]to force these facts into the language of an Act not designed to fit them produced grave difficulties for both judge and jury which we would not wish to see repeated. The appellants' conduct amounted in essence, as already stated, to dishonestly gaining access to the relevant Prestel data bank by a trick. That is not a criminal offence. If it is thought desirable to make it so, that is a matter for the legislature rather than the courts. The Law Lords' ruling led many legal scholars to believe that hacking was not unlawful as the law then stood. The EnglishLaw Commissionand its counterpart in Scotland both considered the matter. TheScottish Law Commissionconcluded that intrusion was adequately covered in Scotland under thecommon lawrelated to deception, but the English Law Commission believed a new law was necessary. Since the case, both defendants have written extensively about IT matters. Gold, who detailed the entire case at some length inThe Hacker's Handbook, has presented at conferences alongside the arresting officers in the case.[6] Based on the ELC's recommendations, aprivate member's billwas introduced byConservativeMPMichael Colvin. The bill, supported by the government, came into effect in 1990. Sections 1-3 of the Act introduced three criminal offences:[7][full citation needed] (For other offences see§ The amendmentsbelow) The sections 2 and 3 offences are intended to deter the more serious criminals from using a computer to assist in the commission of a criminal offence or from impairing or hindering access to data stored in a computer. The basic section 1 offence is to attempt or achieve access to a computer or the data it stores, by inducing a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access.Hackerswho program their computers to search through password permutations are therefore liable, even if their attempts to log on are rejected by the target computer. The only precondition to liability is that the hacker should be aware that the access attempted is unauthorised. Thus, using another person'susernameoridentifier(ID) andpasswordwithout proper authority to access data or a program, or to alter, delete, copy or move a program or data, or simply to output a program or data to a screen or printer, or to impersonate that other person usinge-mail,online chat, web or other services, constitute the offence. Even if the initial access is authorised, subsequent exploration, if there is a hierarchy of privileges in the system, may lead to entry to parts of the system for which the requisite privileges are lacking and the offence will be committed. Looking over a user's shoulder or using sophisticated electronic equipment to monitor theelectromagnetic radiationemitted byVDUs("electronic eavesdropping") is outside the scope of this offence. The §§2–3 offences are aggravated offences, requiring a specific intent to commit another offence (for these purposes, the other offences are to bearrestable, and so include all the majorcommon lawandstatutoryoffences offraudanddishonesty). So a hacker who obtains access to a system intending to transfer money or shares, intends to committheft, or to obtain confidential information forblackmailorextortion. Thus, the §1 offence is committed as soon as the unauthorised access is attempted, and the §2 offence overtakes liability as soon as specific access is made for the criminal purpose. The §3 offence is specifically aimed at those who write and circulate acomputer virusorworm, whether on aLANor acrossnetworks. Similarly, usingphishingtechniques or aTrojan horseto obtain identity data or to acquire any other data from an unauthorised source, or modifying the operating system files or some aspect of the computer's functions to interfere with its operation or prevent access to any data, including the destruction of files, or deliberately generating code to cause a complete system malfunction, are all criminal "modifications". In 2004, John Thornley pleaded guilty to four offences under §3,[11][12]having mounted an attack on a rival site, and introduced a Trojan horse to bring it down on several occasions, but it was recognized that the wording of the offence needed to be clarified to confirm that all forms ofdenial of serviceattack are included.[citation needed] Although the Act ostensibly targets those who wish to gain unauthorised access to computer systems for various purposes, its implications on previously relatively widespread or well-known industry practices such as the "time-locking" of software have been described in various computing industry publications. Time-locking is the practice of disabling functionality or whole programs in order to ensure that software, potentially delivered on condition of further payment, will "expire" and thus no longer function. In one featured case, a "developer of bespoke systems in the Midlands" activated a time lock on a piece of software over a dispute with a client about an unpaid bill. The client reported this to the police who charged the programmer under Section 3 of the Act, with the outcome being a conviction by a magistrates court, with a conditional discharge given by the magistrate meaning that no punishment was applied on condition that the programmer did not re-offend.[13] Schedule 1 Part II of theCriminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998('Conspiracy') amended Section 8 (relevance of external law), Section 9(2)(b) (British citizenship immaterial: conspiracy) and Section 16 (application to Northern Ireland).[14] In 2004, the All-Party Internet Group published its review of the law and highlighted areas for development. Their recommendations led to the drafting of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Amendment) Bill which sought to amend the CMA to comply with the European Convention on Cyber Crime.[15]Under its terms, the maximum sentence of imprisonment for breaching the Act changed from six months to two years. It also sought to explicitly criminalisedenial-of-service attacksand other crimes facilitated by denial-of-service. The Bill did not receiveRoyal Assentbecause Parliament wasprorogued. Sections 35 to 38 of thePolice and Justice Act 2006contain amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Section 37 ("Making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in computer misuse offences") inserts a new section 3A into the 1990 Act and has drawn considerable criticism from IT professionals, as many of their tools can be used by criminals in addition to their legitimate purposes, and thus fall under section 3A. After theNews International phone hacking scandalin 2011, there were discussions about amending the law to define "smart" phones (i.e. those with web browsers and other connectivity features) as computers under the Act.[citation needed]Such an amendment might also introduce a new offence of "making information available with intent", i.e. publicly disclosing a password for someone's phone or computer so that others can access it illegally.[16][failed verification] In 2015, the Act was further amended by Part 2 sections 41 to 44 (plus others) of theSerious Crime Act 2015.[17] The amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 by Part 5 of the Police and Justice Act 2006[18]are The amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 by Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.[17]are In April 2020,Matt Hancockissued directions givingGCHQtemporary powers overNational Health Serviceinformation systems until the end of 2020 for the purposes of the Act to support and maintain the security of any network and information system which supports, directly or indirectly, the provision of NHS services or public health services intended to addressCOVID-19.[31] In May 2021, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the formal review of the Computer Misuse Act.[32]She also launched a Call for Information on the Act that seeks views on whether there is activity causing harm in the area covered by the Act that is not adequately covered by the offences, including whether the legislation is fit for use following the technological advances since the CMA was introduced, and any other suggestions on how the legislative response to cyber crime could be strengthened.[33] The review of the Act follows growing calls, in recent year, for a complete government review of the Computer Misuse Act, in order to bring about new reforms. In November 2019,Dame Lynne Owens, Director General of theNational Crime Agency(NCA), warned that "the Computer Misuse Act went through Parliament at a time when cyber wasn't the tool that it is now is to enable all sorts of crimes like fraud" and talked about plans to introduce reforms to make sure the law was "fit for purpose in the modern age".[citation needed] In January 2020, the Criminal Law Reform Now Network (CLRNN) published a comprehensive report highlighting the Act's shortcomings and making detailed recommendations for reform.[34] In the same month, the CyberUp Campaign was established with the intention of lobbying the UK government to "update and upgrade" the Act. The Campaign's launch was covered byThe Guardianin an article that echoed the call for "urgent reform".[35]The CyberUp Campaign is made up of a wide coalition of supportive bodies from within the cyber security industry, including the large cyber consultanciesNCC GroupandF-Secureand the cyber industry trade bodyTechUK. In November 2020, the campaign gained the backing of theConfederation of British Industry. The coalition was formed based on the shared view that an update of the UK's cyber crime legislation is necessary to protect national security and to increase economic growth for the UK cyber security industry. The Campaign refers to Section 1 of the Act, "prohibiting unauthorised access to computers", stating that it inadvertently criminalises a large amount of cyber security and threat intelligence research and investigation which is frequently conducted by UK cyber security professionals. The Campaign has called for two key amendments: On 29 June 2020, to celebrate the Act's 30th birthday, the CyberUp Campaign wrote an open letter to the prime minister on behalf of a number of cyber security industry figures to highlight the Act's outdatedness in a time of rapid digital advancement. This was published inThe Daily Telegraph, with the headline "Cyber security experts say they are being prevented from stopping computer fraud".[36][verification needed] In July 2020, theIntelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, responsible for oversight of the UK intelligence services, published theIntelligence and Security Committee Russia reportand recommended that "the Computer Misuse Act should be updated to reflect modern use of personal electronic devices". While the government response to the report said that the Act was regularly reviewed to determine the benefits of legislative change, theShadow Foreign Secretary,Lisa Nandy, highlighted in January 2021 that no progress had been made towards implementing the recommendation. In November 2020, the CyberUp Campaign and TechUK published a new report[37][unreliable source?]on the Computer Misuse Act, which was the first piece of work to quantify and analyse the views of the wider UK security community. The report found that 80 per cent of cyber security professionals have worried about breaking the law when researching vulnerabilities or investigating cyber threat actors. Furthermore, 91 per cent of businesses that responded to the report’s survey suggested they had been put at a competitive disadvantage by the Act, and that reform would allow their organisation to reap significant productivity improvements, growth and resilience benefits. The report recommended that the government consider implementing the two above amendments.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Misuse_Act_1990
TheData Protection Directive,officially Directive 95/46/EC, enacted in October 1995, was aEuropean Union directivewhich regulated the processing ofpersonal datawithin theEuropean Union(EU) and the free movement of such data. The Data Protection Directive was an important component of EUprivacyandhuman rights law. The principles set out in the Data Protection Directive were aimed at the protection offundamental rightsand freedoms in the processing of personal data.[1]TheGeneral Data Protection Regulation, adopted in April 2016, superseded the Data Protection Directive and became enforceable on 25 May 2018.[2] The right toprivacyis a highly developed area of law in Europe. All the member states of theCouncil of Europe(CoE) are also signatories of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights(ECHR).[3]Article 8 of the ECHR provides a right to respect for one's "private and family life, his home and his correspondence", subject to certain restrictions. TheEuropean Court of Human Rightshas given this article a very broad interpretation in its jurisprudence. In 1973, American scholarWillis WarepublishedRecords, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens, a report that was to be influential on the directions these laws would take.[4][5] In 1980, in an effort to create a comprehensive data protection system throughout Europe, theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) issued its "Recommendations of the Council Concerning Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Trans-Border Flows of Personal Data".[6]The seven principles governing theOECD's recommendations for protection of personal data were: TheOECDGuidelines, however, were non-binding, anddata privacylaws still varied widely across Europe. The United States, meanwhile, while endorsing theOECD's recommendations, did nothing to implement them within the United States.[7]However, the first six principles were incorporated into the EU Directive.[7] In 1981, the Members States of theCouncil of Europeadopted theConvention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data(Convention 108) to implement Article 8 of the ECHR. Convention 108 obliges the signatories to enact legislation concerning the automatic processing of personal data, and was modernised and reinforced in 2018 to become "Convention 108+".[8] In 1989 with German reunification, the data the East German secret police (Stasi) collected became well known, increasing the demand for privacy in Germany. At the time West Germany already had privacy laws since 1977 (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz). TheEuropean Commissionrealized that diverging data protection legislation amongst EU member states impeded the free flow of data within the EU and accordingly proposed the Data Protection Directive.[citation needed] The directive regulates the processing of personal data regardless of whether such processing is automated or not. Personal dataare defined as "any information relating to an identified or identifiablenatural person('data subject'); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity" (art. 2 a). This definition is meant to be very broad. Data are "personal data" when someone is able to link the information to a person, even if the person holding the data cannot make this link. Some examples of "personal data" are: address,credit card number, bank statements, criminal record, etc. The notionprocessingmeans "any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organization, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, blocking, erasure or destruction" (art. 2 b). The responsibility for compliance rests on the shoulders of the "controller", meaning thenaturalorartificial person, public authority, agency or any other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data (art. 2 d). The data protection rules are applicable not only when the controller is established within the EU, but whenever the controller uses equipment situated within the EU in order to process data. (art. 4) Controllers from outside the EU, processing data in the EU, will have to follow data protection regulation. In principle, any online business trading with EU residents would process some personal data and would be using equipment in the EU to process the data (i.e. the customer's computer). As a consequence, the website operator would have to comply with the European data protection rules. The directive was written before the breakthrough of the Internet, and to date there is littlejurisprudenceon this subject. Personal data should not be processed at all, except when certain conditions are met. These conditions fall into three categories: transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality. The data subject has the right to be informed when his personal data is being processed. The controller must provide his name and address, the purpose of processing, the recipients of the data and all other information required to ensure the processing is fair. (art. 10 and 11) Data may be processed only if at least one of the following is true (art. 7): Personal data can only be processed for specified explicit and legitimate purposes and may not be processed further in a way incompatible with those purposes. (art. 6 b) The personal data must have protection from misuse and respect for the "certain rights of the data owners which are guaranteed by EU law".[9] Personal data may be processed only insofar as it is adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they are collected and/or further processed. The data must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that data which are inaccurate or incomplete, having regard to the purposes for which they were collected or for which they are further processed, are erased or rectified; The data shouldn't be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data were collected or for which they are further processed. Member States shall lay down appropriate safeguards for personal data stored for longer periods for historical, statistical or scientific use. (art. 6). When sensitive personal data (can be: religious beliefs, political opinions, health, sexual orientation, race, membership of past organisations) are being processed, extra restrictions apply. (art. 8). The data subject may object at any time to the processing of personal data for the purpose of direct marketing. (art. 14) An algorithmic-based decision which produces legal effects or significantly affects the data subject may not be based solely on automated processing of data. (art. 15) A form of appeal should be provided when automatic decision making processes are used. Each member state must set up a supervisory authority, an independent body that will monitor the data protection level in that member state, give advice to the government about administrative measures and regulations, and start legal proceedings when data protection regulation has been violated. (art. 28) Individuals may lodge complaints about violations to the supervisory authority or in a court of law. The controller must notify the supervisory authority before he starts to process data. The notification contains at least the following information (art. 19): This information is kept in a public register. Third countriesis the term used in legislation to designate countries outside theEuropean Union. Personal data may only be transferred to a third country if that country provides an adequate level of protection of the data. Some exceptions to this rule are provided, for instance when the controller himself can guarantee that the recipient will comply with the data protection rules. The Directive's Article 29 created the "Working party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data", commonly known as the "Article 29 Working Party". The Working Party gives advice about the level of protection in the European Union and third countries. The Working Party negotiated with United States representatives about the protection of personal data, theSafe Harbour Principleswere the result. According to critics the Safe Harbour Principles do not provide for an adequate level of protection, because they contain fewer obligations for the controller and allow the contractual waiver of certain rights. In October 2015 the European Court of Justice ruled that the Safe Harbour regime was invalid as a result of an action brought by an Austrian privacy campaigner in relation to the export of subscribers' data by Facebook's European business to Facebook in the United States.[10]The US and European Authorities worked on a replacement for Safe Harbour and an agreement was reached in February 2016, leading to the European Commission adopting theEU–US Privacy Shieldframework on 12 July 2016. This was likewise found invalid in 2020 and replaced with theEU–US Data Privacy Frameworkin 2023. In July 2007, a new, controversial,[11]passenger name record(PNR) agreement between the US and the EU was undersigned.[12] In February 2008,Jonathan Faull, the head of the EU's Commission of Home Affairs, complained about the United States bilateral policy concerning PNR.[13][14][not specific enough to verify]The US had signed in February 2008 a memorandum of understanding[15](MOU) with theCzech Republicin exchange of a visa waiver scheme, without first consulting Brussels.[11]The tensions between Washington and Brussels are mainly caused by the lower level ofdata protectionin the US, especially since foreigners do not benefit from the USPrivacy Act of 1974. Other countries approached for bilateral Memoranda of Understanding included the United Kingdom,Estonia, (Germany) andGreece.[16][not specific enough to verify] EU directives are addressed to the member states, and are not legally binding for individuals in principle. The member states must transpose the directive into internal law. Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data had to be transposed by the end of 1998. All member states had enacted their own data protection legislation. On 25 January 2012, theEuropean Commission(EC) announced it would be unifying data protection law across a unified European Union via legislation called the "General Data Protection Regulation." The EC's objectives with this legislation included:[17] The original proposal also dictated that the legislation would in theory "apply for all non-EU companies without any establishment in the EU, provided that the processing of data is directed at EU residents," one of the biggest changes with the new legislation.[17]This change carried on through to the legislation's final approval on 14 April 2016, affecting entities around the world. "The Regulation applies to processing outside the EU that relates to the offering of goods or services to data subjects (individuals) in the EU or the monitoring of their behavior," according to W. Scott Blackmer of the InfoLawGroup, though he added "[i]t is questionable whether European supervisory authorities or consumers would actually try to sue US-based operators over violations of the Regulation."[2]Additional changes include stricter conditions for consent, broader definition of sensitive data, new provisions on protecting children's privacy, and the inclusion of "rights to be forgotten."[2] The EC then set a compliance date of 25 May 2018, giving businesses around the world a chance to prepare for compliance, review data protection language in contracts, consider transition to international standards, updateprivacy policies, and review marketing plans. As of 2003[update], the United States has no single data protection law comparable to the EU's Data Protection Directive.[18] United States privacy legislation tends to be adopted on anad hocbasis, with legislation arising when certain sectors and circumstances require (e.g., theVideo Privacy Protection Actof 1988, theCable Television Protection and Competition Actof 1992,[19]theFair Credit Reporting Act, and the 1996Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA (US)). Therefore, while certain sectors may already satisfy parts of the EU Directive most do not.[20]The United States prefers what it calls a 'sectoral' approach[21]to data protection legislation, which relies on a combination of legislation, regulation, and self-regulation, rather than governmental regulation alone.[22][23]Former US PresidentBill Clintonand former Vice-PresidentAl Goreexplicitly recommended in their "Framework for Global Electronic Commerce" that the private sector should lead, and companies should implement self-regulation in reaction to issues brought on by Internet technology.[24] The reasoning behind this approach has as much to do with Americanlaissez-faire economicsas with different social perspectives.[25]TheFirst Amendmentof theUnited States Constitutionguarantees the right to free speech.[26]While free speech is an explicit right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, privacy is an implicit right guaranteed by the Constitution as interpreted by theUnited States Supreme Court,[27]although it is often an explicit right in many state constitutions.[28] Europe's extensive privacy regulation is justified with reference to experiences underWorld War II-era fascist governments and post-WarCommunistregimes, where there was widespread unchecked use of personal information.[29][30][31]World War II and the post-War period was a time in Europe when disclosure of race or ethnicity led to secret denunciations and seizures that sent friends and neighbours to work camps and concentration camps.[7]In the age of computers, Europeans' guardedness of secret government files has translated into a distrust of corporate databases, and governments in Europe took decided steps to protect personal information from abuses in the years following World War II.[32](Germany) and France, in particular, set forth comprehensive data protection laws.[33] Critics of Europe's data policies, however, have said that they have impeded Europe's ability to monetize the data of users on the internet and are the primary reason why there are noBig Techcompanies in Europe, with most of them instead being in the United States.[34]Furthermore, withAlibabaandTencentjoining the ranks of the world's 10 most valuable tech companies in recent years,[35]even China is moving ahead of Europe in the performance of its digital economy,[36]which was valued at $5.09 trillion in 2019 (35.8 trillion yuan).[37] Meanwhile, Europe's preoccupation with the US is likely misplaced in the first place, as China and Russia are increasingly identified by European policymakers as "hybrid threat" aggressors, using a combination ofpropagandaon social media and hacking to intentionally undermine the functioning of European institutions.[38]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive
TheFreedom of Information Act 2000(c. 36) is anActof theParliament of the United Kingdomthat creates a public right of access to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation offreedom of information legislationin the United Kingdom on a national level. Its application is limited in Scotland (which has its own freedom of information legislation) to UK Government offices located in Scotland. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of theLabour Partyin the1997 general election, developed byDavid Clarkas a 1997 White Paper. The final version of the Act was criticised by freedom of information campaigners as a diluted form of what had been proposed in the White Paper.[4]The full provisions of the act came into force on 1 January 2005. The Act was the responsibility of theLord Chancellor's Department(now renamed theMinistry of Justice). However, freedom of information policy is now the responsibility of theCabinet Office.[5]The Act led to the renaming of theData Protection Commissioner(set up to administer theData Protection Act 1998), who is now known as theInformation Commissioner. The Office of the Information Commissioner oversees the operation of the Act. A second freedom of information law is in existence in the UK, theFreedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002(asp 13). It was passed by theScottish Parliamentin 2002, to cover public bodies over which the Holyrood parliament, rather than Westminster, has jurisdiction. For these institutions, it fulfils the same purpose as the 2000 Act. Around 120,000 requests were made in the first year that the Act was in force.[6]Private citizens made 60% of them, with businesses and journalists accounting for 20% and 10% respectively. However, requests from journalists tended to be more complex, and, consequently, more expensive. They accounted for around 10% of initial FoI requests made to central government, but 20% of the costs of officials' time in dealing with the requests.[6]The Act cost £35.5 million in 2005.[7] The act implements what was a manifesto commitment of theLabour Partyin the1997 general election. Before its introduction, there had been no right of access to government by the general public, merely a limited voluntary framework for sharing information. The act was preceded by a 1998white paper,Your Right to Know, byDavid Clark. The White paper was met with widespread enthusiasm,[8]and was described at the time as being "almost too good to be true" by one advocate of freedom of information legislation. The final act was substantially more limited in scope than the initial white paper.[9] A draft Bill was published in May 1999; the Bill was extensively debated in theHouse of Commonsand theHouse of Lords, and received royal assent in November 2000. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) modernised theUK Public Records Act of 1958. This act gave the public a general right to access all types of recorded information held by public authorities, much greater than was previously allowed. The FOIA was mainly concerned with the management and preservation of public records.[10] The FOIA reduced the 30-year rule to a 20-year rule,[11]meaning records would be made public earlier. This gave the public the ability to access more recent records without sacrificing national security or personal privacy. A significant part of the FOIA was the establishment of theInformation Commissioner's Office(ICO). This office oversees the upholding of information rights in the public interest, as well as making sure the FOIA is adhered to properly. If you think a public body is intentionally not giving you the information you've asked for, the ICO is the agency to contact. They are essentially the centralized management agency for all things public records. While there was still a waiting period for the public to access records, the FOIA also established a system of real time reporting of records to the National Archives which could be accessed by all UK government agencies. This is also when public records began to become digitised which also meant that the time frame for accessing records was immediate or real-time. This is an ongoing process that started with the advent of the digital age of the 21st century and is today a common practice for all UK public records. The Freedom of Information Act creates a statutory right for access to information in relation to bodies that exercise functions of a public nature. Three different kinds of bodies are covered under the act: Public Authorities, publicly owned companies and designated bodies performing public functions. In principle, the freedom of information act applies to all "public authorities" within the United Kingdom. A full list of "public authorities" for the purposes of the act is included in Schedule 1. Government departments, theHouses of Parliament, theNorthern Ireland Assembly, theWelsh Assembly, the armed forces, local government bodies,National Health Servicebodies, schools, colleges and universities, police authorities and Chief Officers of Police are included within this list, which ranges from theFarm Animal Welfare Councilto the Youth Council for Northern Ireland. A few government departments are expressly excluded from the scope of the act, principallyintelligence services. As government departments are created or closed, the act must be continually updated. Schedule 4 of the Act empowers theSecretary of State for Constitutional Affairsto add a body or officeholder to Schedule 1 as a public authority if they are created statute or prerogative; and its members are appointed by the government.[12] It is important to note that for some public authorities listed under Schedule 1, the act has limited effect. For example, theBBCis subject to the act only for information which is not held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, to prevent its journalistic activities from possible compromise. The scope of this provision was considered in the 2007High Courtdecision ofBBC v Sugar, an internal BBC document examining the BBC coverage of the Middle East for potential bias. The appellants in that case argued that the document had been produced for both operational and journalistic reasons, and so should not be covered by the partial exemption provided in the act. The High Court rejected this argument; Mr Justice Irwin considered that the meaning of journalism within the act meant that any information held for such purposes was covered by the exemption: My conclusion is that the words in the Schedule mean the BBC has no obligation to disclose information which they hold to any significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, whether or not the information is also held for other purposes. The words do not mean that the information is disclosable if it is held for purposes distinct from journalism, art or literature, whilst it is also held to any significant extent for those listed purposes. If the information is held for mixed purposes, including to any significant extent the purposes listed in the Schedule or one of them, then the information is not disclosable. A 4:1 majority (Lord Wilson dissenting) of the Supreme Court upheld this decision, stating that the disclosure of any information held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature was to be excluded - even if the information was predominantly held for other purposes.[13] Companies that fall within the definition of a publicly owned company under s6 of the Act automatically fall within its grasp. S6 provides that a company is publicly owned if: Under Section 5 of the Act, the Secretary of State may designate further bodies as public authorities under the Act, provided that those bodies are exercising a function of a public nature or contracting to provide a service whose provision is a function of a public authority.[14]The first order under section 5 (in November 2011) extended the list of public authorities to also include theAssociation of Chief Police Officers, theFinancial Ombudsman ServiceandUCAS.[15] Schedule 1 of the Act deliberately uses generic descriptions to ensure the legislation's wide application, and does not need to specifically mention every organisation classed as a public authority under FOIA.[16] The act creates a general right of access, on request, to information held by public authorities. On receipt of a freedom of information claim a public authority has two corresponding duties. First, a duty to inform a member of the public whether or not it holds the information requested (s1(1)(a)), and second, if it does hold that information, to communicate it to the person making that request (s1(1)(b)). As the corollary to this, the Act thus grants the equivalent rights to a confirmation or denial and communication of relevant information to an individual making a request under the act. The basic duty is supplemented by an additional duty to aid individuals in making requests and ensuring that they frame their FOI requests appropriately. (s.16(1)) However, there are numerous exemptions. Some of these are absolute bars to disclosure; some are qualified, which means the public authority has to decide whether the public interest in disclosing the relevant information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption. An applicant for information who considers that a request has been wrongly rejected may apply to the Information Commissioner, who has the power to order disclosure. However, such orders can be appealed to a specialist tribunal (theInformation Tribunal) and in some circumstances, the Government has the power to override orders of the Information Commissioner. Any person can request information under the act; this includes legal entities such as companies. There is no special format for a request. Applicants do not need to mention the Act when making a request. Applicants do not have to give a reason for their request. Although the Act covers a wide range of government information, the act contains a variety of provisions that provide for the exemption from disclosure of certain types of information. The act contains two forms of exemption: "absolute" exemptions that are not subject to any public interest assessment, they act as absolute bars to the disclosure of information; and "qualified" exemptions where a public interest test must be made, balancing the public interest in maintaining the exemption against the public interest in disclosing the information. The original Freedom of Information White Paper proposed 15 such exemptions,[17]but the final Bill included 24, and not all of the initial 15 were included. Exemptions designated "absolute exemptions" have no public interest test attached. The act contains eight such exemptions: If information falls within a qualified exemption, it must be subject to a public interest test. Thus, a decision on the application of a qualified exemption operates in two stages. First, a public authority must determine whether or not the information is covered by an exemption and then, even if it is covered, the authority must disclose the information unless the application of a public interest test indicated that the public interest favours non-disclosure. Qualified exemptions can be subdivided into two further categories: class-based exemptions covering information in particular classes, and harm-based exemptions covering situations where disclosure of information would be liable to cause harm. Under these exemptions the exemption applies (subject to the public interest test) if complying with the duty under s.1 would, or would be likely to: A public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious (s14(1)). A request is considered vexatious if it is 'obsessive or manifestly unreasonable', harasses the authority or causes distress to its staff, imposes a significant burden, or if the request lacks any serious value.[18] The Act affects over 100,000 public bodies including government departments, schools and councils. The Act came into force in phases, with the final "general right of access" to public information under the Act coming into force on 1 January 2005.[3][19]As well as the "general right of access", the Act places a duty on public authorities to adopt and maintain pro-active "publication schemes" for the routine release of important information (such as annual reports and accounts). These publication schemes must be approved by the Information Commissioner. In general, public authorities have 20 working days to respond to an information request, though this deadline can be extended in certain cases and/or with the agreement of the requester. Under the Act, public authorities are encouraged to enter into a dialogue with the requester to better determine the information they want, and the format they want it in - in itself, a change in the way UK authorities interact with the public. Requests can be refused if they cost more than £600, including time spent searching for files.[7]The UK Government established theAccess to Information Central Clearing Housein order to ensure consistency across Central Government in the way requests are handled. Three aspects of the UK's Freedom of Information Act differ from the position in many other countries: At the time of the passing of the Act, advocates of freedom of information legislation were critical of the bill for its complexity, limited scope and the inclusion of a ministerial veto.Lord Mackaycriticised the bill in the House of Lords as "toothless" for its inclusion of provisions allowing ministers to veto applications.[20] By contrast,Tony Blair, the prime minister responsible for passing the Act regards it as "One of the biggest mistakes of his career". Blair says that "For political leaders, it's like saying to someone who is hitting you over the head with a stick, 'Hey, try this instead', and handing them a mallet. The information is neither sought because the journalist is curious to know, nor given to bestow knowledge on 'the people'. It's used as a weapon."[21]Labour peerLord Falconerhas criticised the use of the act by journalists for "fishing expeditions" into salacious stories, arguing that "FoI is not for press[,] it is for the people. It needs to be properly used in order to promote good Government. Information needs to be handled responsibly, and I strongly believe that there is a duty of responsibility on behalf of the media as well."[22] In the articleFreedom of Information: A sheep in wolf's clothing?Rodney Austin offers the following criticisms of the substance of the Act: The legislation has also been criticised for "loopholes" that allow authorities to avoid disclosing information in certain situations. Companies owned by one public authority are generally subject to the Act but companies owned by two or more public authorities are not covered.[28][29] Facts that have been brought to light by this Act include: The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill was aprivate member's billintroduced to theBritish House of Commonsin 2007 which failed to become law.ConservativeMPDavid Macleanintroduced the bill to ensure that MPs' correspondence was exempt from freedom of information laws. The leader of theLiberal Democrats,Sir Menzies Campbell, said there should not "be one law for MPs and a different law for everyone else" and that the Bill might make it appear as though "Parliament has something to hide".[33]The bill failed to pass its first reading in the House of Lords. Further to this, Lord Falconer made comments suggesting that time spent deciding whether or not information fell under an exemption clause should be included in the £600 cost limit. Consultation was carried out, with the government saying the change would cut costs and discourage requests for trivial information,[34]although critics said that it was to keep embarrassing information secret.[7][35][36]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_2000
Gaskin v UK(1989) 12 EHRR 36 was a legal case from theUnited Kingdom, heard by theEuropean Court of Human RightsinStrasbourg. Graham Gaskin was placed in public care in the UK as a baby, where he stayed until he reached his maturity. Gaskin claimed he had been abused during his time in care and he requested access to the records kept on him byLiverpoolSocial Services. Liverpool City Council gave Gaskin partial access, claiming that a duty of confidentiality owed to third party contributors prohibited disclosure of the remainder of his records. Gaskin appealed to the Court of Appeal which upheld Liverpool City Council's refusal to give him access. The Court of Appeal held that it was not in the 'public interest' to grant access to Gaskin's records because to do so would inhibit third party informants from coming forward with information to Social Services. Granting access would necessarily reveal the identities of these third parties. The Court of Appeal therefore felt that access would undermine the British system which depends on information being supplied to the Authorities by the public 'in confidence'. Gaskin appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and his case was decided in 1989. The Court decided that Gaskin's Article 8 right to have his private and family life respected by the State had been breached by the British government because there had been noindependentappeal body to which Gaskin could have taken his case. The Court also decided that people in Gaskin's position, who had been in public care as children, should not in principle be obstructed from accessing their care records—these records acted as the memories of parents, to which most individuals had access but to which people in Gaskin's position did not. The Gaskin case has had a substantial impact on British law. TheData Protection Actcontains special provisions whereby social services records are accessible by people formerly in public care irrespective of whether the records are kept electronically or within a paper-based filing system. At the time of the case, only information stored electronically was accessible by individuals under the UK's Data Protection regime; it now covers computer systems and any other filing system. The Information Commission now provides the independent appeal mechanism absent at the time when Gaskin sought access to his case file. In summary, the Gaskin case was a significant victory for individuals who were placed in public care as children. Such individuals now have limited access to their own records to the extent that knowledge and understanding of their childhood and early development will be revealed. However, the case files of individuals who were placed in care with the independent sector (the charities) are not caught by the access provisions of the Data Protection Act. Access to these files can only be obtained with the agreement of these organisations.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaskin_v_United_Kingdom
The following is alist of UK government data losses. It lists reported instances of the loss of personal data by UK central and local government, agencies, non-departmental public bodies, etc., whether directly or indirectly because of the actions of private-sector contractors. Such losses tend to receive widespread media coverage in the UK.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_government_data_losses
ThePrivacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003is a law in theUnited Kingdomwhich made it unlawful to, amongst other things, transmit an automated recorded message fordirect marketingpurposes via a telephone, without prior consent of the subscriber. The law implements anEU directive, thePrivacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002.[1] One of the key tenets of this legislation upholds that it is unlawful to send someone direct marketing if they have not specifically granted permission (via an opt-in agreement) in the absence of a previous relationship between the parties. Organisations cannot merely add people's details to their marketing database and offer an opt out after they have started sending direct marketing. For this reason the regulations offer increasedconsumer protectionfrom direct marketing.[1] The regulations can be enforced against an offending company or individual anywhere in theEuropean Union. TheInformation Commissioner's Officehas responsibility for the enforcement ofunsolicited e-mailsand considers complaints about breaches. A breach of an enforcement notice is a criminal offence subject to a fine of up to £500,000 depending on the circumstances.[1] This article relating tolaw in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions, is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_and_Electronic_Communications_(EC_Directive)_Regulations_2003
Smith v Lloyds TSB Bank plc[2005] EWHC 246was a judicial decision of the English High Court relating to theData Protection Act 1998.[1] The claimant was seeking data from the bank, and he sought to advance two relatively novel lines of argument. The first was referred to in the case as the "once processed always processed" argument, i.e. that even if the respondent no longer held the data in electronic form, if they once held it in electronic form they are obligated to provide it. The second was that if data was held in a non-electronic form but could readily be turned into electronic form, then it constituted data for the purposes of the act.[2]Both arguments failed. The claimant, Mr Smith, was the formermanaging directorand controlling shareholder of a company called Display Electronics Ltd (referred to in the judgment as "DEL"). At some time in 1988, Mr Smith decided to transfer the banking for DEL from Barclays Bank Plc toLloyds Bank. At that time DEL owed Barclays over £250,000. An agreement was entered into between Mr Smith, DEL and Lloyds under which Lloyds would take over the funding of the development, but one of the terms of this agreement was that both Mr Smith's personal borrowings (which at that time were very small) and DEL's borrowings would be subject to asecurity interestover the development in favour of the bank, and also by amortgageon Mr Smith's home. DEL did not prosper, and eventually Lloyds called in its loans. As a result, DEL went intoliquidation, and Mr Smith lost his home. The bank also lodged abankruptcypetition with respect to Mr Smith personally. A number of litigation cases ensued between Mr Smith and Lloyds. One of the assertions Mr Smith made in these cases was that he and Lloyds had entered into anoral agreementto the effect that Lloyds would make available to DEL long term finance in a substantial amount. Lloyds always denied the existence of any such oral agreement. In at least two of the actions findings of fact had been made to the effect that no such oral agreement existed. But Mr Smith believed that certain documentation held by Lloyds will prove his contentions. In the various prior proceedings between Mr Smith and the bank there had been only very limiteddisclosureby Lloyds. Accordingly, Mr Smith felt that the crucial documents evidencing the oral agreement have been withheld from the courts. The purpose of his application was to secure access to them pursuant to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. Specifically he sought a declaration that certain Notes and Memoranda recorded by Lloyds, whether filed under his own name or that of DEL, are Mr Smith's personal data in a relevant filing system, as defined in the 1998 Act, and an order that Lloyds provide copies to Mr Smith of certain documents. Laddie Jcommenced his judgment by noting that Mr Smith's case appeared to run contrary to the two leading decisions in this area of the law: the judgment of theCourt of AppealinDurant v Financial Services Authority[2003] EWCA Civ 1746and a former decision of Laddie J himself inJohnson v Medical Defence Union[2004] EWHC 347 (Ch). Mr Smith sought to advance broadly two arguments:[2] The bank resisted those arguments, and raised two counter-arguments: Laddie J noted that the first point had been previously decided byJohnson, an authority which was binding upon him, and so he was bound to rule against it. Counsel for the claimants accepted this, but noted that he was bound to make that claim in case he wanted to challenge the correctness ofJohnsonin the Court of Appeal. He also rejected the argument relating to physical documents which were convertible into electronic form. Counsel for Mr Smith had argued "that any selection of paper documents is scannable" and therefore should be treated as "data". The Court was unable to accept the width of that submission, as that would mean that every document in the world would be treated as electronic data under the legislation. It was also felt that this construction (apart from being enormously wide) was inconsistent with Recital (27) ofDirective 95/46/ECupon which the Act was based, which stated "nonetheless, as regards manual processing, this Directive covers only filing systems, not unstructured files". Having ruled accordingly, Laddie J acknowledged that "it is not strictly necessary to deal with [the] argument ... that, if the documents here contained data within the meaning of the 1998 Act, it is not personal data." However, because he felt that it was a short point and could be dealt with simply, he did so anyway. He noted that the statutory definition of "personal data" was considered inDurant. Applying the principles of that case, he held that it was clear that the documents held by Lloyds and the information contained within them are not personal to Mr Smith in the relevant sense - the files that do exist all relate to the loans to DEL, and not Mr Smith personally. In the final paragraph of the judgment the court also added that it was not necessary to consider the bank's additional alternative argument that this was not a case where the court's discretion should be exercised in Mr Smith's favour because he intends to use any material obtained from Lloyds for the purpose of re-opening the arguments which he has advanced and lost in at least two earlier sets of proceedings, and that would be anabuse of process.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_v_Lloyds_TSB_Bank_plc
Durant v Financial Services Authority[2003] EWCA Civ 1746is a judicial decision of theEnglish Court of Appealin relation to the provisions of theData Protection Act 1998.[1][2]The case is one of the leading appellate decisions in relation to the application of that Act.[3] Mr Durant had been a customer ofBarclays Bank. There was litigation between Mr Durant and the bank in 1993, which he lost. Subsequently, he has sought disclosure of various records in connection with the dispute giving rise to that litigation, records which, the Court of Appeal recorded "he believes may assist him to re-open his claims against it and/or to secure an investigation of its conduct". In about July or August 2000, he sought the assistance of theFinancial Services Authority(the "FSA") to obtain this disclosure. The FSA investigated his complaint against the Bank, eventually closing that investigation in March 2001, without informing Mr Durant of its outcome, pursuant to its obligation of confidentiality under sections 82 to 85 of theBanking Act 1987. In October 2000, Mr Durant complained about that refusal to the FSA's Complaints Commissioner, who adjudicated upon and dismissed that complaint. In September and October 2001, Mr Durant made two requests to the FSA under section 7 of the Data Protection Act, seeking disclosure of personal data held by it, both electronically and in manual files. In October 2001 the FSA provided Mr Durant with copies of documents relating to him that it held in computerised form, disclosure that went beyond his entitlement under the Act, which is to have communicated to him in an intelligible form "information constituting any personal data" of which he was the subject. However some of the documents were redacted so as not to disclose the names of others. The FSA later made further disclosure of computerised material. But the FSA refused the whole of his request for information held on manual files on the ground that the information sought was not "personal" within the definition of "personal data" in section 1(1) of the 1998 Act, and that, even if it was, it did not constitute "data" within the separate definition of that word in section 1(1)(c). The FSA has since maintained that refusal, which encompasses four categories of file. Mr Durant's application originally came before District Judge Rose who refused to make an order for further disclosure against the FSA. That decision was appealed to His Honour Judge Zeidman QC sitting in the Edmonton County Court, who dismissed that appeal. With the leave ofWard LJ, Mr Durant further appealed to the Court of Appeal. for the purposes of the appeal the FSA provided copies of the relevant documents to the Court. The Court of Appeal also received as fresh evidence a (second) witness statement from an associate in the Enforcement Division of the FSA about its filing system and various files and documents to meet certain points raised for the first time in the appeal. The main decision was given byAuld LJ, who commenced by noting that the primary objective of the1995 Data Protection Directive, upon which the Act was based, was to protect individuals' fundamental rights, notably the right to privacy and accuracy of their personal data held by others ("data controllers") in computerised form or similarly organised manual filing systems. The Court of Appeal held[4]that the appeal raised four important issues of law. In relation to the personal data issue, the Court of Appeal considered the narrow scope applied to personal data inCriminal Proceedings against Lindquist, Case C-101/01 of the European Court of Justice. That case held "that 'personal data' covered the name of a person or identification of him by some other means, for instance by giving his telephone number or information regarding his working conditions or hobbies." Accordingly, the Court held that simply because the FSA's investigation of the matter emanated from a complaint by Mr Durant, that does not of itself render information obtained or generated by that investigation, without more,hispersonal data.[5] The court accepted two fundamental points:[6]first, that the protection given by the legislation is for the privacy of personal data, not documents, the latter mostly retrievable by a far cruder searching mechanism than the former; and second, of the practical reality of the task that the Act imposes on all data controllers of searching for specific and readily accessible information about individuals. Furthermore, to constitute a "relevant filing system" a manual filing system must: 1) relate to individuals; 2) be a "set" or part of a "set" of information; 3) be structured by reference to individuals or criteria relating to individuals; and 4) be structured in such a way that specific information relating to a particular individual is readily accessible. Accordingly, this requires a filing system so referenced or indexed that it enables the data controller's employee responsible to identify at the outset of his search with reasonable certainty and speed the file or files in which the specific data relating to the person requesting the information is located and to locate the relevant information about him within the file or files, without having to make a manual search of them. In relation to the redaction issue the Court also sided with the FSA. Auld LJ held that parliament could not have intended that courts in applications under section 7(9) should be able routinely to second-guess decisions of data controllers, who may be employees of bodies large or small, public or private or be self-employed.[7]To so interpret the legislation in that manner would only encourage litigation and appellate challenge by way of full rehearing on the merits and, in that manner, impose disproportionate burdens on them and their employers in their discharge of their many responsibilities under the Act. The Court noted that based upon its prior conclusions, the issue of discretion was no longer relevant. However, Auld LJ did proceed to comment that "I say only that I agree with the recent observations of Munby J inLord, at para. 160, that the discretion conferred by that provision is general and untrammelled, a view supported, I consider, by the observations of the European Court inLindquist, at paras. 83 and 88, to which I have referred". Buxton LJgave a short concurring judgment.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durant_v_Financial_Services_Authority
Governing doctrines Trustee(or the holding of atrusteeship) is alegal termwhich, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in aposition of trustand so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another. A trustee can also be a person who is allowed to do certain tasks but not able to gain income.[1]Although in the strictest sense of the term a trustee is the holder of property on behalf of abeneficiary,[1]the more expansive sense encompasses persons who serve, for example, on theboard of trusteesof an institution that operates for a charity, for the benefit of the general public, or a person in the local government. Atrustcan be set up either to benefit particular persons or for anycharitable purposes(but not generally for non-charitable purposes): typical examples are awill trustfor thetestator's children and family, apensiontrust (to confer benefits on employees and their families) and a charitable trust. In all cases, the trustee may be a person orcompany, regardless of whether they are a prospective beneficiary. Trustees[2]have certain duties (some of which arefiduciary). These include the duty to: The modern interpretation of fiduciary duty requires the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors as these are long-term investment value drivers.[12]When evaluating whether an institutional investor has delivered on its fiduciary duties, both the outcomes achieved and the process followed are of critical importance. The terms of the instrument that creates the trust may narrow or expand these duties—but in most instances, they cannot be eliminated. Corporate trustees, typically trust departments at large banks, often have very narrow duties, limited to those the trust indenture explicitly defines. A trustee carries the fiduciary responsibility and liability to use the trust assets according to the provisions of the trust instrument (and often regardless of their own or the beneficiaries' wishes). The trustee may find himself liable toclaimants, prospective beneficiaries, or third parties. If a trustee incurs a liability (for example, inlitigation, for taxes, or under the terms of a lease) in excess of the trust property they hold, then they may find themselves personally liable for the excess. Trustees are generally held to a "prudent person" standard in regard to meeting their fiduciary responsibilities, though investment, legal, and other professionals can, in some jurisdictions, be held to a higher standard commensurate with their higher expertise.[13]-Trustees can be paid for their time and trouble in performing their duties only if the trust specifically provides for payment. It is common for lawyers to draft will trusts so as to permit such payment, and to take office accordingly: this may be an unnecessary expense for small estates. In an exception to the duties outlined above,sabbatical officersofstudents' unionswho are also trustees of these organisations they work for do have the right to a salary (and hence profit from their being a trustee). This is an exception explicitly granted in the 1993 act[14] The most comprehensive sense of the termtrusteeapplies to someone held to a fiduciary duty similar in some respects to that of a trustee proper. For example, the directors of a bank may be trustees for thedepositors, directors of acorporationare trustees for thestockholdersand a guardian is trustee of his ward's property. Many corporations call their governing board a board of trustees, though in those cases they act as aboard of directors. In the case of UKcharities, atrusteeis a volunteer who undertakes fiduciary responsibilities on behalf of the charity, subject to the provisions of Charity Law, a branch of trust law, and theCharities Act 1993.[15]For charity trustees, theCharity Commissionof England and Wales,Office of the Scottish Charity Regulatorof Scotland andVoluntary Activity Unitof Northern Ireland often has concurrent jurisdiction with the courts. Many UK charities are alsolimited liability companiesregistered withCompanies House, in this case the trustees are also directors of the company and their liability is limited. This is the preferred model if the charity owns property or employs people. The law on this in England changed considerably with the Charities Act of 2006. An account of the main changes can be found in "Charities Act 2006: A guide to the new law" by Michael King and Ann Phillips[who?]. One of the key changes made was that it introduced theCharitable Incorporated Organisationwhich is basically a limited liability charity. There are thus now two main aspects of corporate management of charities. One is the traditional way in which a corporation is a corporate trustee of a given charity. The second is the new way, in which the charity itself is incorporated as a CIO[clarification needed]. The advantages and disadvantages of the different methods is a complicated matter. According to King and Philips, many of the advantages of incorporating as a CIO are obtained if the trustees are not individuals but a corporate entity.[citation needed] Depending on the state, a trustee is a member of thevillage board of trustees, which is a village's electedlegislative bodyas outlined by local or state law. It can be composed of themayorand a set number of trustees and usually manages village property, finances, safety, health, comfort, and general welfare and leadership of the town (acting as a board of police or fire commissioners or a moderate income housing board, for example).Village board of trusteesis comparable to but distinguished fromcity councilortown council. Small villages have a trustee instead of a mayor, who is elected to manage village business in a similar function. In some states, acivil townshipmay be administered by a trustee or a group of trustees; seeIndiana Township Trusteefor an example. In the United States, when a consumer or business files for bankruptcy all property belonging to the filer becomes property of a newly created entity, the "bankruptcy estate". (See 11 U.S.C. § 541.) For all bankruptcies (consumer or business) filed underChapter 7,12or13ofTitle 11 of the United States Code(the Bankruptcy Code), a trustee (the "trustee in bankruptcy" or TIB) is appointed by theUnited States Trustee, an officer of the Department of Justice that is charged with ensuring the integrity of the bankruptcy system and with representatives in each court, to manage the property of the bankruptcy estate, including bringing actions to avoid pre-bankruptcy transfers of property. In bankruptcies filed underChapter 11, thedebtorcontinues to manage the property of the bankruptcy estate, as "debtor in possession", subject to replacement for cause with a trustee. Chapter 7 trustees in bankruptcy are chosen by the United States Trustee from a panel, and are known as panel trustees. Every judicial district has a permanent Chapter 13 trustee, known as a "standing trustee". As cases under Chapter 12 (for family farmers or fishermen) are filed fairly infrequently, the United States Trustee usually makes trustee appointments in such cases on an ad hoc basis.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trustee
Directors' dutiesare a series of statutory, common law and equitable obligations owed primarily by members of theboard of directorsto thecorporationthat employs them. It is a central part ofcorporate lawandcorporate governance. Directors' duties are analogous to duties owed by trustees to beneficiaries, and by agents to principals. Among different jurisdictions, a number of similarities between the framework for directors' duties exist: Directors havefiduciaryduties under general law in Australia. These are: Directors also have duties underCorporations Act 2001: There is an important distinction between the general law and statute in that there are different consequences when it comes for breach In Canada, a debate exists on the precise nature of directors' duties following the controversial landmark judgment inBCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders. This Supreme Court of Canada decision has raised questions as to the nature and extent to which directors owe a duty to non-shareholders. Scholarly literature has defined this as a "tripartite fiduciary duty", composed of (1) an overarching duty to the corporation, which contains two component duties — (2) a duty to protect shareholder interests from harm, and (3) a procedural duty of "fair treatment" for relevant stakeholder interests. This tripartite structure encapsulates the duty of directors to act in the "best interests of the corporation, viewed as a good corporate citizen".[6] Not all Canadian jurisdictions recognise the "proper purpose" duty as separate from the "good faith" duty. This division was rejected inBritish ColumbiainTeck Corporation v. Millar(1972).[7] Directors are also strictly charged to exercise their powers only for a proper purpose. For instance, were a director to issue a large number of new shares, not for the purposes of raising capital but to defeat a potential takeover bid, that would be an improper purpose.[8] However, in many jurisdictions the members of the company are permitted to ratify transactions that would otherwise fall foul of this principle. It is also largely accepted in most jurisdictions that this principle should be capable of being abrogated in the company's constitution. Directors must exercise their powers for a proper purpose. While in many instances an improper purpose is readily evident, such as a director looking to feather his or her own nest or divert an investment opportunity to a relative, such breaches usually involve a breach of the director's duty to act in good faith. Greater difficulties arise where the director, while acting in good faith, is serving a purpose that is not regarded by the law as proper. The seminal authority in relation to what amounts to a proper purpose is thePrivy Councildecision ofHoward Smith Ltd v. Ampol Ltd.[9]The case concerned the power of the directors to issue newshares.[10]It was alleged that the directors had issued a large number of new shares purely to deprive a particular shareholder of his voting majority. The court rejected an argument that the power to issue shares could only be properly exercised to raise new capital as too narrow, and held that it would be a proper exercise of the director's powers to issue shares to a larger company to ensure the financial stability of the company, or as part of an agreement to exploit mineral rights owned by the company.[7]If so, an incidental result (even desirable) that a shareholder lost his majority, or a takeover bid was defeated would not itself make the share issue improper. But if the sole purpose was to destroy a voting majority, or block a takeover bid, that would be an improper purpose. This represents a considerable departure from the traditional notion that directors' duties are owed only to the company. Previously in the United Kingdom, under theCompanies Act 1985, protections for non-member stakeholders were considerably more limited (see e.g., s.309, which permitted directors to take into account the interests of employees but that could be enforced only by the shareholders, and not by the employees themselves. The changes have therefore been the subject of some criticism.[11]Directors must act honestly and inbona fide. The test is a subjective one—the directors must act in "good faithin what they consider—not what the court may consider—is in the interests of the company..." per Lord Greene MR.[12]However, the directors may still be held to have failed in this duty where they fail to direct their minds to the question of whether in fact a transaction was in the best interests of the company.[13] Difficult questions arise when treating the company too abstractly. For example, it may benefit a corporate group as a whole for a company to guarantee the debts of a "sister" company,[14]even if there is no "benefit" to the company giving the guarantee. Similarly, conceptually at least, there is no benefit to a company in returning profits to shareholders by way of dividend. However, the more pragmatic approach illustrated in the Australian case ofMills v. Millsnormally prevails: "[directors are] not required by the law to live in an unreal region of detached altruism and to act in the vague mood of ideal abstraction from obvious facts which [sic] must be present to the mind of any honest and intelligent man when he exercises his powers as a director."[15] "money which [sic] is not theirs but the company’s, if they are spending it for the purposes which are reasonably incidental to the carrying on of the business of the company. That is the general doctrine. Bona fides cannot be the sole test, otherwise you might have a lunatic conducting the affairs of the company, and paying away its money with both hands in a manner perfectly bona fide yet perfectly irrational… It is for the directors to judge, provided it is a matter which is reasonably incidental to the carrying on of the business of the company… The law does not say that there are to be no cakes and ale, but there are to be no cakes and ale except such as are required for the benefit of the company." Directors cannot, without the consent of the company, fetter theirdiscretionin relation to the exercise of their powers, and cannot bind themselves to vote in a particular way at future board meetings.[16]This is so even if there is no improper motive or purpose, and no personal advantage to the director. This does not mean, however, that the board cannot agree to the company entering into a contract that binds the company to a certain course, even if certain actions in that course will require further board approval. The company remains bound, but the directors retain the discretion to vote against taking the future actions (although that may involve a breach by the company of thecontractthat the board previously approved). Traditionally, the level of care and skill a director must demonstrate has been framed largely with reference to the non-executive director. InRe City Equitable Fire Insurance Co[1925] Ch 407, it was expressed in purely subjective terms, where the court held that: However, this decision was based firmly in the older notions (see above) that prevailed at the time as to the mode of corporate decision making, and effective control residing in the shareholders; if they elected and put up with an incompetent decision maker, they should not have recourse to complain. However, a more modern approach has since developed, and inDorchester Finance Co Ltd v Stebbing[1989] BCLC 498 the court held that the rule inEquitable Firerelated only to skill, and not to diligence. With respect to diligence, what was required was: This was a dual subjective and objective test, and one deliberately pitched at a higher level. More recently, it has been suggested that both the tests of skill and diligence should be assessed objectively and subjectively; in the United Kingdom the statutory provisions relating to directors' duties in the newCompanies Act 2006have been codified on this basis.[17] Directors also owe strict duties not to permit anyconflict of interestor conflict with their duty to act in the best interests of the company. This rule is so strictly enforced that, even where the conflict of interest or conflict of duty is purely hypothetical, the directors can be forced to disgorge all personal gains arising from it. InAberdeen Ry v. Blaikie(1854) 1 Macq HL 461Lord Cranworthstated in his judgment that, "A corporate body can only act by agents, and it is, of course, the duty of those agents so to act as best to promote the interests of the corporation whose affairs they are conducting. Such agents have duties to discharge of a fiduciary nature towards their principal. And it is a rule of universal application that no one, having such duties to discharge, shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has,or can have, a personal interest conflictingor which possibly may conflict, with the interests of those whom he is bound to protect... So strictly is this principle adhered to that no question is allowed to be raised as to the fairness or unfairness of the contract entered into..." As fiduciaries, the directors may not put themselves in a position where their interests and duties conflict with the duties that they owe to the company. The law takes the view that good faith must not only be done, but must be manifestly seen to be done, and zealously patrols the conduct of directors in this regard; and will not allow directors to escape liability by asserting that his decision was in fact well founded. Traditionally, the law has divided conflicts of duty and interest into three sub-categories. By definition, where a director enters into a transaction with a company, there is a conflict between the director's interest (to do well for himself out of the transaction) and his duty to the company (to ensure that the company gets as much as it can out of the transaction). This rule is so strictly enforced that, even where theconflict of interestor conflict of duty is purely hypothetical, the directors can be forced to disgorge all personal gains arising from it. InAberdeen Ry v. Blaikie[18]Lord Cranworthstated in his judgment that: "A corporate body can only act by agents, and it is, of course, the duty of those agents so to act as best to promote the interests of the corporation whose affairs they are conducting. Such agents have duties to discharge of a fiduciary nature towards their principal. And it is a rule of universal application that no one, having such duties to discharge, shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has,or can have, a personal interest conflictingor which possibly may conflict, with the interests of those whom he is bound to protect... So strictly is this principle adhered to that no question is allowed to be raised as to the fairness or unfairness of the contract entered into..." However, in many jurisdictions the members of the company are permitted to ratify transactions which would otherwise fall foul of this principle. It is also largely accepted in most jurisdictions that this principle should be capable of being abrogated in the company's constitution. In many countries there is also a statutory duty to declare interests in relation to any transactions, and the director can be fined for failing to make disclosure.[19] Directors must not, without the informed consent of the company, use for their own profit the company's assets, opportunities, or information. This prohibition is much less flexible than the prohibition against the transactions with the company, and attempts to circumvent it using provisions in the articles have met with limited success. InRegal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver[1942] All ER 378 the House of Lords, in upholding what was regarded as a wholly unmeritorious claim by the shareholders,[20]held that: And accordingly, the directors were required to disgorge the profits that they made, and the shareholders received their windfall. The decision has been followed in several subsequent cases,[21]and is now regarded as settled law. Directors cannot, clearly, compete directly with the company without a conflict of interests arising. Similarly, they should not act as directors of competing companies, as their duties to each company would then conflict with each other. As in most jurisdictions, the law provides for a variety of remedies in the event of a breach by the directors of their duties: S 176 A Duty not to accept benefits from third parties. A director must not accept financial or non financial benefits from third parties.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directors%27_duties
Atcommon law,damagesare aremedyin the form of amonetaryaward to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury.[1]To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury;pure economic lossis rarely recognized for the award of damages.[2] Compensatory damages are further categorized into special damages, which are economic losses such as loss of earnings,property damageand medical expenses, and general damages, which are non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and emotional distress. Rather than being compensatory,[3]atcommon lawdamages may instead be nominal, contemptuous orexemplary.[4] Among theSaxons, a monetary value called aweregildwas assigned to every human being and every piece of property in theSalic Code. If property was stolen or someone was injured or killed, the guilty person had to pay the weregild as restitution to the victim's family or to the owner of the property. Recovery of damages by a plaintiff in lawsuit is subject to the legal principle that damages must be proximately caused by the wrongful conduct of the defendant. This is known as the principle of proximate cause. This principle governs the recovery of all compensatory damages, whether the underlying claim is based on contract, tort, or both.[5]Damages are likely to be limited to those reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. If a defendant could not reasonably have foreseen that someone might be hurt by their actions, there may be no liability. This rule does not usually apply to intentional torts (for example,tort of deceit), and also has stunted applicability to the quantum in negligence where the maxim 'Intended consequences are never too remote' applies: 'never' is inaccurate here but resorts to unforeseeable direct and natural consequences of an act. It may be useful for the lawyers, the plaintiff and/or the defendant to employforensic accountantsor someone trained in the relevant field of economics to give evidence on the value of the loss. In this case, they may be called upon to give opinion evidence as anexpert witness. Compensatory damages are paid to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered by the claimant as a result of another's breach of duty thatcausedthe loss.[6]For example, compensatory damages may be awarded as the result of a negligence claim under tort law.Expectation damagesare used in contract law to put an injured party in the position it would have occupied but for the breach.[7]Compensatory damages can be classified as special damages and general damages.[8] Liability for payment of an award of damages is established when the claimant proves, on the balance of probabilities, that a defendant's wrongful act caused a tangible, harm, loss or injury to the plaintiff. Once that threshold is met, the plaintiff is entitled to some amount of recovery for that loss or injury. No recovery is not an option. The court must then assess the amount of compensation attributable to the harmful acts of the defendant.[9]The amount of damages a plaintiff would recover is usually measured on a "loss of bargain" basis, also known as expectation loss,[10]or "economic loss". This concept reflects the difference between "the value of what has been received and its value as represented".[11] Damages are usually assessed at the date of the wrongful act, but inEngland and Wales, Pelling J has observed that this is not the case if justice requires the assessment of damages to be calculated at some other date. InMurfin v Ford Campbell, an agreement had been entered into whereby company shares were exchanged forloan notes, which could only be redeemed if certain profit thresholds had been achieved in the relevant accounting years. As the thresholds were not met, the loan notes were not redeemable, but at the date of the advisors' breach of contract this could not be known, only the loan notes'face valuecould be known. The conclusion was that in this case valuation could not be done until after the profit performance became known. In his judgement Pelling also referred to the case ofSmith New Court Securities Ltd v Scrimgeour Vickers (Asset Management) Ltd, a case where continuingmisrepresentationaffected the appropriate date for damages to be assessed.[12] Special damagescompensate the claimant for the quantifiable monetary losses he has suffered.[13]For example, extra costs, repair or replacement of damaged property, lost earnings (both historically and in the future), loss of irreplaceable items, additional domestic costs, and so on.[14]They are seen in both personal and commercial actions. Special damages can include direct losses (such as amounts the claimant had to spend to try tomitigatedamages)[15]and consequential or economic losses resulting from lost profits in a business. Damages in tort are awarded generally to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the tort not taken place.[16]Damages for breach of contract are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position in which he would have been had the contract not been breached. This can often result in a different measure of damages. In cases where it is possible to frame a claim in either contract or tort, it is necessary to be aware of what gives the best outcome. If the transaction was a "good bargain", contract generally gives a better result for the claimant. As an example, Neal agrees to sell Mary an antique Rolex watch for £100. In fact the watch is a fake and worth only £50. If it had been a genuine antique Rolex, it would have been worth £500. Neal is in breach of contract and could be sued. In contract, Mary is entitled to an item worth £500, but she has only one worth £50. Her damages are £450. Neal also induced Mary to enter into the contract through a misrepresentation (a tort). If Mary sues in tort, she is entitled to damages that put her back to the same financial position place she would have been in had the misrepresentation not been made. She would clearly not have entered into the contract knowing the watch was fake and is entitled to her £100 back. Thus her damages in tort are £100. (She would have to return the watch, or else her damages would be £50.) If the transaction were a "bad bargain", tort gives a better result for the claimant. If in the above example, Mary had overpaid, paying £750 for the watch, her damages in the contract would still be £450 (giving her the item she contracted to buy), however, in tort damages are £750. Special damages are sometimes divided intoincidental damages, andconsequential damages. Incidental losses include the costs needed to remedy problems and put things right. The largest element is likely to be the reinstatement of property damage. Take for example a factory which was burnt down by the negligence of a contractor. The claimant would be entitled to the direct costs required to rebuild the factory and replace the damaged machinery. The claimant may also be entitled to any consequential losses. These may include the lost profits that the claimant could have been expected to make in the period whilst the factory was closed and rebuilt. On a breach of contract by a defendant, a court generally awards the sum that would restore the injured party to the economic position they expected from performance of the promise or promises (known as an "expectation measure" or "benefit-of-the-bargain" measure of damages). This rule, however, has attracted increasing scrutiny from Australian courts and legal commentators.[17][18][19]A judge arrives compensatory number by considering both the type of contract, and the loss incurred.[20] When it is either not possible or not desirable to award the victim in that way, a court may award money damages designed to restore the injured party to the economic position they occupied at the time the contract was entered (known as the "reliance measure")[21][22]or designed to prevent the breaching party from being unjustly enriched ("restitution") (see below). Parties may contract forliquidated damagesto be paid upon a breach of the contract by one of the parties. Under common law, a liquidated damages clause will not be enforced if the purpose of the term is solely to punish a breach (in this case it is termedpenal damages).[23]The clause will be enforceable if it involves a genuine attempt to quantify a loss in advance and is a good faith estimate of economic loss. Courts have ruled as excessive and invalidated damages which the parties contracted as liquidated, but which the court nonetheless found to be penal. To determine whether a clause is a liquidated damages clause or a penalty clause, it is necessary to consider: Damages in tort are generally awarded to place the claimant in the position that would have been taken had the tort not taken place. Damages intortare quantified under two headings: general damages and special damages. In personal injury claims, damages for compensation are quantified by reference to the severity of the injuries sustained (see below general damages for more details). In non-personal injury claims, for instance, a claim for professional negligence against solicitors, the measure of damages will be assessed by the loss suffered by the client due to the negligent act or omission by the solicitor giving rise to the loss. The loss must be reasonably foreseeable and not tooremote. Financial losses are usually simple to quantify but in complex cases which involve loss of pension entitlements and future loss projections, the instructing solicitor will usually employ a specialist expert actuary or accountant to assist with the quantification of the loss. General damagesare monetary compensation for the non-monetary aspects of the specific harm suffered. These damages are sometimes termed "pain, suffering and loss of amenity". Examples of this include physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship,loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, impairment of mental or physical capacity, hedonic damages or loss of enjoyment of life, etc.[26]This is not easily quantifiable, and depends on the individual circumstances of the claimant. Judges in the United Kingdom base the award on damages awarded in similar previous cases. In 2012 theCourt of Appeal of England and Walesnoted that this court has not merely the power, but a positive duty, to monitor, and where appropriate to alter, the guideline rates for general damages in personal injury actions.[27] General damages in England and Wales were increased by 10% for all cases where judgements were given after 1 April 2013, following changes to the options available to personal injury claimants wanting to cover the cost of their litigation.[28] General damages are generally awarded only in claims brought by individuals, when they have suffered personal harm. Examples would be personal injury (following the tort of negligence by the defendant), or the tort ofdefamation. The quantification of personal injury is not an exact science. In English law solicitors treat personal injury claims as "general damages" for pain and suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA). Solicitors quantify personal injury claims by reference to previous awards made by the courts which are "similar" to the case in hand. TheJudicial College'sGuidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Casesare adjusted following periodic review of the awards which have been made by the courts since the previous review.[29] The guidance which solicitors will take into account to help quantify general damages are: When a personal injury claim is settled either in court or out of court, the most common way the compensation payment is made is by a lump sum award in full and final settlement of the claim. Once accepted there can be no further award for compensation at a later time unless the claim is settled by provisional damages often found in industrial injury claims such as asbestos related injuries. Statutory damagesare an amount stipulated within the statute rather than calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine the value of the harm to the victim. Mere violation of the law can entitle the victim to a statutory award, even if no actual injury occurred. These are different from nominal damages, in which no written sum is specified. Nominal damages are very small damages awarded to show that the loss or harm suffered was technical rather than actual. Perhaps the most famous nominal damages award in modern times has been the $1 verdict against theNational Football League(NFL) in the1986 antitrust suitprosecuted by theUnited States Football League. Although the verdict was automaticallytrebledpursuant toantitrust law in the United States, the resulting $3 judgment was regarded as a victory for the NFL. Historically, one of the best known nominal damage awards was thefarthingthat thejuryawarded toJames Whistlerin his libel suit againstJohn Ruskin. In the English jurisdiction, nominal damages are generally fixed at £5.[31] Many times a party that has been wronged but is not able to prove significant damages will sue for nominal damages. This is particularly common in cases involving alleged violations of constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech. Until 2021, in the United States, there was a circuit split as to whether nominal damages may be used if a constitutional violation had occurred but has since been renderedmoot.[32]The Supreme Court decided 8–1 in the 2021 caseUzuegbunam v. Preczewskithat nominal damages are appropriate means to redress violated rights otherwise now rendered moot.[33][34] Contemptuous damages are a form of damage award available in some jurisdictions. They are similar to nominal damages awards, as they are given when the plaintiff's suit is trivial, used only to settle a point of honor or law.[35]Awards are usually of the smallest amount, usually 1 cent or similar. The key distinction is that in jurisdictions that follow the loser-pays for attorney fees, the claimant in a contemptuous damages case may be required to pay their own attorney fees.[36] Traditionally, the court awarded the smallest coin in the Realm, which in England was one farthing, 1/960 of a pound before decimalisation in the 1970s.Court costsare not awarded.[37] Generally,punitive damages, which are also termedexemplary damagesin the United Kingdom, are not awarded in order to compensate the plaintiff, but in order to reform or deter the defendant and similar persons from pursuing a course of action such as that which damaged the plaintiff. Punitive damages are awarded only in special cases where conduct was egregiously insidious and are over and above the amount of compensatory damages, such as in the event ofmaliceorintent. Great judicial restraint is expected to be exercised in their application. In the United States punitive damages awards are subject to the limitations imposed by thedue process of lawclauses of theFifthandFourteenth Amendmentsto theUnited States Constitution. In England andWales, exemplary damages are limited to the circumstances set out byLord Devlinin the leading case ofRookes v. Barnard. They are: Rookes v Barnardhas been much criticized and has not been followed in Canada or Australia or by thePrivy Council. Punitive damages awarded in a US case would be difficult to get recognition for in a European court, where punitive damages are most likely to be considered to violateordre public.[38] Some jurisdictions recognize a form of damages, called, aggravated damages, that are similar to punitive or exemplary damages. Aggravated damages are not often awarded; they apply where the injury has been aggravated by the wrongdoer's behaviour, for example, their cruelty.[39] In certain areas of the law another head of damages has long been available, whereby the defendant is made to give up the profits made through the civil wrong inrestitution. Doyle and Wright define restitutionary damages as being a monetary remedy that is measured according to the defendant's gain rather than the plaintiff's loss.[40]The plaintiff thereby gains damages which are not measured by reference to any loss sustained. In some areas of the law this heading of damages is uncontroversial; most particularlyintellectual propertyrights and breach of fiduciary relationship. In England and Wales theHouse of Lordscase ofAttorney-General v. Blakeopened up the possibility of restitutionary damages for breach of contract. In this case the profits made by a defecting spy,George Blake, for the publication of his book, were awarded to the British Government for breach of contract. The case has been followed in English courts, but the situations in which restitutionary damages will be available remain unclear. The basis for restitutionary damages is much debated, but is usually seen as based on denying a wrongdoer any profit from his wrongdoing. The really difficult question, and one which is currently unanswered, relates to what wrongs should allow this remedy. In addition to damages, the successful party is often entitled to be awarded their reasonablelegal coststhat they spent during the case. This is the rule in most countries other than the United States. In the United States, a party generally is not entitled to itsattorneys' feesor for hardships undergone during trial unless the parties agreed in a contract that attorney's fees should be covered or a specific statute or law permits recovery of legal fees, such asdiscrimination.[41]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensatory_damages
Governing doctrines Intrust law, aconstructive trustis anequitable remedyimposed by acourtto benefit apartythat has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legalproperty rightwhich they should not possess due tounjust enrichmentorinterference, or due to a breach offiduciary duty, which is intercausative with unjust enrichment and/or property interference.[1][2]It is a type ofimplied trust(i.e., it is created by conduct, not explicitly by asettlor). In the United States (in contrast to England), a constructive trust remedy generally does not recognize or create any continuingfiduciaryrelationship — that is, a constructive trust is not actually a trust except in name. Rather, it is afictiondeclaring that the plaintiff hasequitable titleto the property at issue, and ordering the defendant to transfer legal ownership and possession to the plaintiff.[3]For instance, in some states theslayer ruleis implemented in the form of a constructive trust. Constructive trusts are imposed by operation of law. They are also referred to as implied trusts. They are not subject to formality requirements.[4]Unlike a resulting trust, which also arises by operation of law, a constructive trust does not give effect to the imputed/presumed intention of the parties.[5] Instead, constructive trusts are largely said to be triggered by unconscionability. This is the idea that a defendant would be unjustly enriched if they were allowed to keep property for themselves. The main issue with this argument is that we would have to have a really broad approach to unjust enrichment in order for a constructive trust to come under that underpinning concept in order for us to understand constructive trust.[6]This statement is incoherent and without any basis in law or fact. In a constructive trust thedefendantbreaches a duty owed to theplaintiff. The most common such breach is a breach offiduciary duty, such as when anagentwrongfully obtains or holds property owned by aprincipal.[7]A controversial example is the case ofAttorney General for Hong Kong v Reid,[8]in which a seniorprosecutortook bribes not to prosecute certain offenders. With the bribe money, he purchased property inNew Zealand. His employer, theAttorney-General, sought a declaration that the property was held on constructive trust for it, on the basis of breach of fiduciary duty. ThePrivy Councilawarded a constructive trust. The case is different fromRegal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver,[9]because there was no interference with a profit-making opportunity that properly belonged to the prosecutor.[10] Being a Privy Council decision,Reiddid not overrule the previous decision of theCourt of Appeal of England and WalesinLister v Stubbs[11]which held the opposite, partially because a trust is a very strong remedy that gives proprietary rights to the claimant not enjoyed by the defendant's other creditors. In the event of the defendant's insolvency, the trust assets are untouchable by the general creditors. Supporters ofListersuggested that there was no good reason to put the victim of wrongdoing ahead of other creditors of the estate. There was a tension in English law betweenListerandReidwhich was highlighted inSinclair Investments (UK) Ltd v Versailles Trade Finance Ltd.[12]TheUnited Kingdom Supreme Courtsubsequently overruledSinclairinFHR European Ventures LLP v Cedar Capital Partners LLC,[13]holding thatListerwas no longer good law. InFoskett v McKeown[14]a trustee usedtrust moneytogether with some of his own money to purchase alife insurancepolicy. Then he committed suicide. The insurance company paid out to his family. The defrauded beneficiaries of the trust sought a declaration that the proceeds were held on constructive trust for them. TheHouse of Lordssaid that the beneficiaries could choose between either: (a) a constructive trust over the proceeds for the proportion of the life insurance payout purchased with their money; or (b) anequitable lienover the fund for the repayment of that amount. There is controversy as to what the true basis is of this trust. The House of Lords said that it was to vindicate the plaintiffs' original proprietary rights. However, this reasoning has been criticized as tautologous by some scholars who suggest the better basis is unjust enrichment (see below). This is because there must be a reason why a new property right is created (i.e. the trust) and that must be because otherwise the family would be unjustly enriched by receiving the proceeds of the insurance policy purchased with the beneficiaries' money. "Interference with the plaintiff's property" can justify why the plaintiff can get its property back from a thief, but it cannot explain why new rights are generated in property for which the plaintiff's original property is swapped. InFoskett v McKeown, the plaintiff's original property was an interest in the trust fund. The remedy they obtained was a constructive trust over an insurance payout. It is not obvious why such a new right should be awarded without saying it is to reverse the family's unjust enrichment.[15] InChase Manhattan Bank NA v Israel-British Bank (London) Ltd[16]one bank paid another bank a large sum of money by mistake (note that the recipient bank did not do anything wrong – it just received money not owed to it).Goulding Jheld that the money was held on (constructive) trust for the first bank. The reasoning, in this case, has been doubted, and inWestdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale v Islington London Borough Councilthe House of Lords distanced itself from the idea that unjust enrichment raises trusts in the claimant's favour. This remains an area of intense controversy. These type of trusts are called '"institutional" constructive trusts'. They arise the moment the relevant conduct (breach of duty, unjust enrichment etc.) occurs. They can be contrasted with '"remedial" constructive trusts', which arise on the date of judgment as a remedy awarded by the court to do justice in the particular case. An example is the Australian caseMuschinski v Dodds.[17]Ade factocouple lived in a house owned by the man. They agreed to make improvements to the property by building a pottery shed for the woman to do arts and crafts work in. The woman paid for part of this. They then broke up. TheHigh Courtheld that the man held the property on constructive trust for himself and the woman in the proportions in which they had contributed to the improvements to the land. This trust did not arise the moment the woman commenced improvements – that conduct did not involve a breach of duty or an unjust enrichment etc. The trust arose at the date of judgment, to do justice in the case. InBathurst City Council v PWC Properties, the High Court that as constructive trusts are the most severe remedy in cases of breach of fiduciary duty, they should only be imposed when other remedies are inappropriate in providing relief. Common intention constructive trusts were developed to fulfil the reasonable expectations of parties to family property disputes. Equity follows the law, the legal ownership will generally be regarded as the equitable ownership. However, where there are the cohabitants, the other cohabitant (the one who doesn't have title) may consider they have acquired a beneficial ownership interest through their contributions to the family or improvement of the property.[18] To advance a common intention constructive trust theory, it must be shown that: The question of quantum must also be addressed. There is a presumption of equal sharing which can be rebutted if there was common intention to hold the property in different proportions. FollowingStack v Dowdenequity will look at the entire course of dealing and distribute ownership in the appropriate proportions.[20][21] If there is no evidence of actual intention, the courts will search of inferred or imputed intention. InJones v KernotttheSupreme Courtinferred intention to the parties.[21]Therefore, imputed intention involves a lot more judicial discretion, whereas inferred intention is still supposed to be based on the conduct between the parties. This kind of trust is based on bargain between the claimant and the defendant, as opposed to aspects such as proprietary rights which are based on the word of the defendant to the claimant leading to their reliance on the word hence leading to detriment suffered by the claimant. The focus here is the joint venture between the claimant and the defendant. For there to be a joint venture it would be unconscionable for the defendant to deny the other party's beneficial interest in the property.[22] The three main requirements for a joint venture constructive trust are; (1) an arrangement or understanding between the parties; (2) reliance on that arrangement or understanding; and (3) an inconsistent act.[23] The seller holds land on a constructive trust for the purchaser.[24]However, this is limited. InRayner v Prestonthe claimant had purchased a property from the defendant, but the house was then destroyed in the fire before they could move in. The defendant received a big payout from the insurance company and refused to give that money to the claimant. It was held that the claimant was not entitled to the payout because it was not the trust property, and because of the nature of the dispute, the trustee only had a low standard of care, particularly when you compare it to an express trustee.[25] The purchaser also cannot transfer their beneficial interest before receiving legal title.[26] The court can set aside a gift or disposition where the transfer was made by mistake. The property must have been transferred by deed not an oral agreement.[27] For example, if the defendant steals $100,000 from the plaintiff and uses that money to buy a house, the court can trace the house back to the plaintiff's money and deem the house to be held in trust for the plaintiff. The defendant must then convey title to the house to the plaintiff, even if rising property values had appreciated the value of the house to $120,000 by the time the transaction occurred. If the value of the house had insteaddepreciatedto $80,000, the plaintiff could demand a remedy at law (money damages equal to the amount stolen) instead of an equitable remedy. The situation would be different if the defendant had mixed his own property with that of the plaintiff, for example, adding $50,000 of his own money to the $100,000 stolen from the plaintiff and buying a $150,000 house or using plaintiff's $100,000 to add a room to defendant's existing house. The constructive trust would still be available but in proportion to the contributions, not wholly in the claimant's favour. Alternatively, the claimant could elect for an equitable lien instead, which is like a mortgage over the asset to secure repayment. Because a constructive trust is anequitable device, the defendant can raise all of the available equitable defenses against it, includingunclean hands,laches,detrimental reliance, andundue hardship.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_trust
Thecorporate opportunitydoctrine is the legal principle providing thatdirectors, officers, and controlling shareholders of acorporationmust not take for themselves any business opportunity that could benefit the corporation.[1]The corporate opportunity doctrine is one application of thefiduciaryduty of loyalty.[2] The corporate opportunity doctrine does not apply to all fiduciaries of a corporation; rather, it is limited to directors, officers, and controlling shareholders.[3]The doctrine applies regardless of whether the corporation is harmed by the transaction; indeed, it applies even if the corporation benefits from the transaction.[4]The corporate opportunity doctrine only applies if the opportunity was not disclosed to the corporation. If the opportunity was disclosed to the board of directors and the board declined to take the opportunity for the corporation, the fiduciary may take the opportunity for themself.[5]When the corporate opportunity doctrine applies, the corporation is entitled to all profits earned by the fiduciary from the transaction.[6]In the leadingEnglish lawcase ofRegal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver[1942] UKHL 1it was held that "The rule of equity which insists on those who by use of a fiduciary position make a profit, being liable to account for that profit, in no way depends on fraud, or absence ofbona fides... or whether the plaintiff has in fact been damaged or benefited by his action." A business opportunity is a corporate opportunity if the corporation is financially able to undertake the opportunity, the opportunity is within the corporation's line of business, and the corporation has an interest or expectancy in the opportunity.[7]TheDelaware Court of Chanceryhas stated, "An opportunity is within a corporation's line of business . . . if it is an activity as to which the corporation has fundamental knowledge, practical experience and ability to pursue."[8]InIn reeBay, Inc.Shareholders Litigation, investing in varioussecuritieswas held to be in a line of business of eBay despite the fact that eBay's primary purpose is to provide an online auction platform.[9]Investing was in a line of business of eBay because eBay "consistently invested a portion of its cash on hand in marketable securities."[10]A corporation has an interest or expectancy in a business opportunity if the opportunity would further an established business policy of the corporation.[11]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_opportunity
Acourt of equity, also known as anequity courtorchancery court, is a court authorized to apply principles ofequityrather than principles of law to cases brought before it. These courts originated from petitions to theLord Chancellor of Englandand primarily heard claims for relief other than damages, such asspecific performanceandextraordinary writs. Over time, most equity courts merged with courts of law,[1]and the adoption of various Acts granted courts combined jurisdiction to administer common law and equity concurrently. Courts of equity are now recognized for complementing thecommon lawby addressing its shortcomings and promotingjustice. In the early years of the United States, some states followed theEnglish traditionof maintaining separate courts for law and equity. Others combined both types of jurisdiction in their courts, as theUS Congressdid forfederal courts.[2]United States bankruptcy courtsserve as an example of a US federal court that operates as a court of equity. A few common law jurisdictions, such as the U.S. states ofDelaware,Mississippi,New Jersey,South Carolina, andTennessee, continue to preserve the distinctions between law and equity as well as between courts of law and courts of equity. In New Jersey, this distinction is upheld between the civil and general equity divisions of theNew Jersey Superior Court.[3] The unique nature of courts of equity is a result of their historical evolution.[4]This history has been crucial in shaping their application incase law, reflecting the values that have developed the equitable jurisdiction.[5]The transformation of these courts demonstrates the evolution of equity's doctrines and remedies, changes in its dominant nature and traits, and the influence of social and political environments on its operation and underlying issues injurisprudence. Equity is currently recognized as a distinct body of law, administered by various modern courts.[6]The evolution of procedures within courts of equity has guided the application of equitable principles. Originating from the diverse rules of the earlyCourts of Chancery, today's courts can exercise equitable jurisdiction while maintaining their inherent discretionary abilities to address new forms of injustice.[6]Equity is not an independent body of law; rather, it is synonymous with corrective justice and complements common law to counterbalance its inflexible rules.[7] The historical emergence of equity occurred during three significant periods: the medieval period (13th–15th centuries), the formative period (16th–17th centuries), and the period of systematization (17th–19th centuries).[8]Throughout these periods, equity developed progressively from the Chancellor providing equitable relief based on personal conscience to an established and organized body of law governed by courts.[9][10] TheChancery Divisionwas established in the 13th century by theKingafter the separation of theSupreme Court of Judicature.[10]Under the Chancellor's authority, the "King's law" prevailed in local courts.[11]The division did not handle actual cases but performed functions associated with the King's secretarial department.[12]Although the Chancery Division did not function as a court, judicial activity was still present.[13]Limited discretionary power was provided, determining the validity of writs issued in courts and permitting only those inconsimili casu.[12]These were enforced temporarily and could be overridden by the courts of law if deemed to conflict with the actuallaw of the land.[14]As the administrative operations of the division expanded through its implicit control of the King's residual influence, the Chancellor became responsible for addressing "prayers" and "petitions",[15]including letters of remedy, relief, and grants on behalf of the King. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Chancery developed into an independent and extensivebureaucracy.[16]Its formalized role involved issuing writs regardinginheritanceor property transfers, which served as the justice's authorization for initiatingclaimsin theKing's courts.[16] In the 16th century, the modern system of equity and the Chancellor evolved into a body with recognized judicial features.[17]Consequently, the jurisdiction within the courts experienced greater autonomy. This involved the Court of Chancery issuing decrees independently of theKing's Council, the Chancellors becoming proficient in law, and a more systematized role in resolving petitions. As it developed into a substantive judicial court with increased power, other common law courts became wary and defensive towards their jurisdiction. The court was one of specific jurisdiction with distinct procedures compared to common law courts,[18]such as the Court of Chancery issuing a common injunction rather than common lawinjunctive relief.[19] The systemisation of equity is often credited toLord Eldonand the introduction of theJudicature Actsin 1873. He rationalized the rules and principles found in modern equity today, to provide enhanced consistency and certainty.[20]As a result, equity existed in conjunction with the common law. Prior to this, the Courts of Chancery experienced shortcomings and a "period of decline and stagnation" during the early 18th century.[21]Such defects included jurisdictional delays, administrative complications, costly proceedings and burdensome processes.[22] By the early 1500s, a vast proportion of the court's workload was attributed to cases concerning equity.[23]W.S. Holdsworthbelieved that the principles of equity were developed by and through the Chancery, and recognised three factors that influenced the evolution of such jurisdiction: antagonism to the rigidity of the common law; ideas about the function of conscience in determining equitable rules; and a procedure, distinct from that of common law, that allowed the chancellor to decide the most equitable course to take in each individual case.[24][25] The passing of theEnglish Judicature Act 1873established the newHigh Court of JusticeandCourt of Appealdivision to substitute the old Chancery,Common Pleas,Queen's BenchandExchequer Courts.[26]Subsequently, changes in the court's administration included the ability for separate divisions to obtain coexisting jurisdiction in relation to common law and equitable principles. AsLord Watsonstated, the main purpose of this Act was to provide parties to a litigation "all remedies to which they are entitled".[27]This prevents the need to recourse to another court and reduces the unnecessary profusion oflegal proceedings. Prior to the enactments of the Judicature Acts, equity courts occupied a discrete jurisdiction to the common law. It was prohibited to transfer an action, and if proceedings were initiated in the incorrect court, the entire case must be brought again from the beginning.[28]The administrative inefficiency created by the operation of separate courts became excessively onerous, that it demanded a comprehensive overhaul of the system.[29] As a result of the post-judicature systems andEarl of Oxford's case(1615) allowing an overlapping of claims brought before the merged modern courts, equity would prevail over the common law (common injunctions will be upheld) in situations of conflict or discrepancy between the opposing principles.[28] Prior to the introduction of the Judicature systems, the enforcement of equitable claims could only occur in a Court of Chancery who held the power to grant relief, and not by the common law.[30]Equating to new rights,exclusive jurisdictionprovided relief against breaches of legal privileges which were not preserved by equity within the concurrent jurisdiction.[31]Such intervention was sanctioned as it ensured irreversible injury was effectively compensated by damages, and it prevented the multiplicity of claims regarding the same issue. The body of law/court acts without right where it interferes with the other who has exclusive jurisdiction; allowing for the relevant sovereign to be curtailed.[32]The nature of the exclusive jurisdiction was defined by Ashburner as: The claim of the plaintiff was one which before the Judicature Act would have given him no right whatever against the defendant in any court but the Court of Chancery, and the court of Chancery, in granting relief was said to exercise its exclusive jurisdiction.[33] Concurrent jurisdictionrecognises situations where the facts in a pleading brought by a party produces both common law and equity actions, with the same relief issued at either.[34]The requirement post-Judicature system allowed a claimant to attend only one court, rather than two, to enforce both the common law and equitable principles regarding the breach and remedy. Associated with new remedies, this jurisdiction empowers an applicant to pursue equitable relief where it can be established that the appropriate relief under common law is insufficient to do justice.[31]There is no rivalry between the two jurisdictions; given that they can freely undertake proceedings as though the other didn't exist, and no grievances or restraints are made between them regarding the validity of their operations.[32]The objective of this jurisdiction is to provide "a more perfect remedy or to apply a more perfect procedure than the other court could give or apply".[35] Associated with new procedure, auxiliary jurisdiction recognises situations of equity assisting in proceedings through the enforcement of legal rights where it did not have concurrent jurisdiction over the matter.[36]The Court of Chancery did not arbitrate where adequate relief was accessible at common law and the adjudication of thelegalityof the litigant's claim was left to the responsibility of common law courts.[37]This meant that the common law was binding on equity. Auxiliary jurisdiction merely acted "as ancillary to the administration of justice in other courts".[38]Related to pre-trial, the court of equity has the power to produce documents which common law courts could not as a tool fordiscovery procedures.[39]The court is required to maintain the present state of affairs, without any direct relief, until the parties’ rights are dictated at common law.[36]It also has the authority after settlement to aid in relief by deliberating a more effective remedy on the litigant, who previously attained common law relief.[36] The courts of equity inEnglandare recognised for operatingin personam, while the common law courts actin rem.[40]This means that the court of equity's jurisdiction constitutes acts only against theconscienceof a person or a number of persons, rather than a claim against an item of property.[41]Yet, there are several exceptions to this. Given that equity does not pertain definitive or formal rules, the courts are required to assess explicit conduct through its flexible nature and discretionary powers.[42]The courts address fundamental principles ofgood faith, generosity,morality, honesty and integrity, while also evaluating the relative fairness between the parties.[42]Provided the latitude of the Chancellor's discretion and scope of equitable remedies, it has allowed the courts to consider the interests of the public at large when providing or refusing relief to the plaintiff.[43] In contrast to the rulings in the King's or Common Bench where the judgements are binding upon the rights of a party, equitable decrees only bind the person to obedience.[44]Although the Chancellor has the authority to compel a person topunishmentuntil they obey, the decree can also serve as adefenceto future cases (regarding the same claim) in the Court of Chancery to provide a satisfactory reason why the Chancellor should not consider it again.[45] As equity is perceived in an ethical context, the courts often encapsulate this as fair, moral,ethicaland just conduct.[46]AsAristotlehighlighted, equitable conduct can be said to be just as it promotes the improvement of the deficiencies of the universal concept.[46]He concludes that equity's role within the courts "is to prevent the law from adhering too rigidly to its own rules and principles when those rules and principles produce injustice".[47]Given that equitable principles are not absolute in nature, it is acceptable for the courts to depart from any rules when they conflict with justice.[48]Unlike legal justice, equitable justice develops on an individualised and case-by-case basis within the courts for the purpose of enhancing just outcomes and to adequately judge the requirements of specific circumstances.[49] As the jurisdiction of the equity courts evolved, it was no longer limited to the protection of prescribed rights and eventually took cognizance of cases not generally conforming with its jurisdiction – such as criminal cases.[50]Given thatdefamationhighly concerns personal rights, post-Judicature Act has allowed a court of equity to exercise its jurisdiction to prevent the publication of false declarations determined to cause harm to an individual's trade.[51]A limitation to a court of equity's jurisdiction in this area is its inability to prohibit the publication of false or derogatory statements detrimental to a plaintiff's profession or title to property – whereby such assertions are not attendant to threats, coercion, intimidation, or any direct attack.[52] The judicature system has been implemented acrossAustralia, withSouth Australiabeing the first to enact it in 1853.[53]Corresponding Acts to theSupreme Court of Judicature Act 1873(UK) include Supreme Court Act 1935 (SA) ss 17-28, Civil Proceedings Act 2011 (Qld) s 7, Supreme Court Act 1935 (WA) ss 24–25, Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) s 29, Supreme Court Civil Procedure Act 1932 (Tas) ss 10–11, Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) ss 57–62 and Law Reform (Law and Equity) Act 1972 (NSW).[54] Despite there being a singleSupreme Court of New South Waleswith complete jurisdiction within both common law and equity prior to the adoption of the Judicature Act in NSW, they remained being treated as separate courts.[55] Unlike most countries, the equity jurisdiction always operated and was administered in conjunction with the law in India, through the courts, and not in resistance to it.[56]Following the British codification of the law in India, equitable principles were embedded in the judicial frameworks of the courts.[56]The courts have relied on equity "as a source of law to devise a new principle in a situation where the statute or codified law had no answer to a given situation".[57]TheSupreme Court of Indiarecognised this fusion of the law by further expanding the application of its equitable and remedial powers in the areas of environmental degradation, tort law, strict liability doctrines and human rights.[58] As there is no separate court inScotlandwhich exclusively operates an equity jurisdiction, the country's legal system is classified as mixed.[59]TheCourt of Sessioncontrols both jurisdictions, by differentiating between common law and equity throughout cases brought before it.[60]This provides greater certainty to parties, given that the court has the power to provide relief in either equity or common law where the party is not entitled to one or the other. As the two jurisdictions became indistinguishable, "what in effect was a rule in equity became in practice considered as common law".[61]Scottish lawyers have raised concern that this system would create unjust decisions where cases are approached in terms of combining equity and common law reasoning.[62]Others followed Lord Kames's view of a dual approach, whereby equity in the court existed for the purpose of creating "new equitable rules which gradually hardened into common law by virtue of their usage across time".[63][64] The period after theAmerican Revolutionsaw the abolition of chancery courts (or their merger with courts of law) in American states such asMassachusetts, New York, andVirginia.[65]That was the result of equity being disfavoured and rejected until, late in the 19th century, federal judges revived the equitable injunction.[65]The early amendments of theUnited States Constitutionexplicitly acknowledged common law and equity as being clear divisions of jurisprudence. However, Rule 2 of theFederal Rules of Civil Procedurecame into effect in 1938 to unite common law with equitable claims.[66]Other states maintained their courts of equity, although many have more recently merged them with their courts of law. Only Delaware, Mississippi and Tennessee still have separate equity courts, such as theDelaware Court of Chancery.[67]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_equity
Equitable remediesarejudicial remediesdeveloped by courts ofequityfrom about the time ofHenry VIIIto provide more flexible responses to changing social conditions than was possible inprecedent-basedcommon law.[1][2][3] Equitable remedies were granted by theCourt of ChanceryinEngland, and remain available today in mostcommon lawjurisdictions.[4]In many jurisdictions, legal and equitable remedies have been merged and a single court can issue either, or both, remedies. Despite widespread judicial merger, the distinction between equitable and legal remedies remains relevant in a number of significant instances. Notably, theUnited States Constitution'sSeventh Amendmentpreserves the right to a jury trial in civil cases over $20 to cases "at common law". Equity is said to operate on the conscience of the defendant, so an equitable remedy is always directed at a particular person, and that person's knowledge, state of mind and motives may be relevant to whether a remedy should be granted or not. Equitable remedies are distinguished from "legal" remedies (which are available to a successful claimant as of right) by the discretion of the court to grant them. In common law jurisdictions, there are a variety of equitable remedies, but the principal remedies are: The two main equitable remedies areinjunctionsand specific performance, and in casual legal parlance references to equitable remedies are often expressed as referring to those two remedies alone. Injunctions may be mandatory (requiring a person to do something) or prohibitory (stopping them doing something). Specific performance requires a party to perform a contract, for example by transferring a piece of land to the claimant. The award of specific performance requires that the two following criteria must be satisfied:[9](i) Common law damages must be an inadequate remedy. For instance, when damages for a breach of contract found in favour of a third party are an inadequate remedy.[10](ii) No bars to equitable relief prevent specific performance. A bar to relief arises for example, when the court's continuous supervision of the defendant is not feasible.[11] An account of profits is usually ordered where payment of damages would still leave the wrongdoerunjustly enrichedat the expense of the wronged party. However, orders for an account are not normally available as of right, and only arise in certain circumstances.[12] Rescission and rectification are remedies in relation tocontracts(or, exceptionally,deeds) which may become available. Constructive trusts and tracing remedies are usually used where the claimant asserts that property has been wrongly appropriated from them, and then either (i) the property has increased in value, and thus they should have an interest in the increase in value which occurred at their expense, or (ii) the property has been transferred by the wrongdoer to an innocent third party, and the original owner should be able to claim a right to the property as against the innocent third party. Equitable liens normally only arise in very specific factual circumstances, such as unpaid vendor's lien. Equitable principlescan also limit the granting of equitable remedies. This includes"he who comes to equity must come with clean hands"(that is, the court will not assist a claimant who is himself in the wrong or acting for improper motives),laches(equitable remedies will not be granted if the claimant has delayed unduly in seeking them), "equity will not assist a volunteer" (meaning that a person cannot litigate against a settlor without providing the appropriate consideration, for example, Money) and that equitable remedies will not normally be granted wheredamageswould be an adequate remedy. The most important limitation relating to equitable remedies is that an equitable remedy will not lie against abona fide purchaser for value without notice. Damages can also be awarded in "equity" as opposed to "at law",[13]and in some legal systems, by historical accident, interest on damages can be awarded on a compound basis only on equitable damages, but not on damages awarded at law.[14]However, most jurisdictions either have ended this anachronism, or evinced an intention to do so, by modernising legislation. Two versions of the legislation are in force in Australian jurisdiction with one version placing emphasis on "commission of a wrongful act" and the other omits the reference to wrongdoing.[15] The classification of a remedy as equitable has various consequences. For example, equitable remedies may be enforced by contempt,[16]and equitable remedies are subject to equitable defenses.[17]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_remedy
Anescrowis acontractualarrangement in which a third party (thestakeholderorescrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacting parties. Examples include an account established by abrokerfor holding funds on behalf of the broker'sprincipalor some other person until the consummation or termination of a transaction;[1]or, a trust account held in the borrower's name to pay obligations such as property taxes and insurance premiums. The word derives from theOld Frenchwordescroue, meaning a scrap of paper or a scroll of parchment; this indicated the deed that a third party held until a transaction was completed.[2] Escrow generally refers to money held by a third party on behalf of transacting parties. It is mostly used regarding the purchase of shares of a company. It is best known in the United States in the context of thereal estateindustry (specifically inmortgageswhere the mortgage company establishes an escrow account to payproperty taxandinsuranceduring the term of the mortgage).[3]Escrow is an account separate from the mortgage account where deposit of funds occurs for payment of certain conditions that apply to the mortgage, usually property taxes and insurance. The escrow agent has the duty to properly account for the escrow funds and ensure that usage of funds is explicitly for the purpose intended. Since a mortgage lender is not willing to take the risk that a homeowner may not pay property tax, escrow is usually required under the mortgage terms. Escrow companies are also commonly used in the transfer of high value personal and business property such aswebsitesand businesses and in the completion of person-to-person remoteauctions(such aseBay), although the advent of new low-cost online escrow services has meant that even low-cost transactions are now starting to benefit from use of escrow. In the UK escrow accounts are often used during private property transactions to hold solicitors' clients' money, such as the deposit, until such time as the transaction is completed.[4]Other examples include: Internet escrow has existed since the beginning of Internet auctions and commerce. It was one of the many developments that allowed trust to be established in the online sphere.[5] As with traditional escrow, Internet escrow works by placing money in the control of an independent and licensed third party in order to protect both the buyer and seller in a transaction. When both parties verify the transaction has been completed per terms set, the money is released. If at any point there is a dispute between the parties in the transaction, the process moves along to dispute resolution. The outcome of the dispute resolution process will decide what happens to money in escrow. With the growth of both business and individual commerce on the web, traditional escrow companies have been supplanted by new technologies. In the US, theCalifornia Department of Business Oversightenacted Internet escrow companies as a licensed class effective 1 July 2001.[6]The first Internet escrow company to be licensed wasEscrow.com,[7]founded byFidelity National Financialin 1999.[8] In theEuropean Union, thePayment Services Directive, which commenced on 1 November 2009, has for the first time allowed the introduction of very low-cost Internet escrow services that are properly licensed and government-regulated. The regulatory framework in the EU allows these web-based escrow services, which operate along the lines of expensiveletter of creditservice run by banks for international buyers and sellers but at a cost in cents rather than thousands of Euros, the ability to enhance security in commercial transactions.[9] Bogus escrowmethods have been employed online. In an effort to persuade a wary Internet auction participant, the perpetrator will propose the use of a third-party escrow service. The victim is unaware that the perpetrator has actually created an escrow site that closely resembles a legitimate escrow service. The victim sends payment to the fraudulent escrow company and ends up receiving nothing in return. Alternatively, a victim may send merchandise to the subject and waits for his/her payment through the escrow site, which is never received because it is illegitimate.[10]Genuine online escrow companies will be listed on a government register, and users are generally advised not to use an online escrow service without first verifying that it is genuine by independently viewing a government on-line register. Currently, the US Federal Government does not offer a license for online escrow services. However, certain states offer their own license for online escrow services; such as the California Department of Business[11]and the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions.[12] Escrow is used in the field of automatic banking and vending equipment. One example isautomated teller machines(ATMs), and is the function which allows the machine to hold the money deposited by the customer separately, and in case he or she challenges the counting result, the money is returned. Another example is avending machine, where the customer's money is held in a separate escrow area pending successful completion of the transaction. If a problem occurs and the customer presses the refund button, the coins are returned from escrow; if no problem occurs, they fall into the coin vault of the machine.[13] Source code escrowagents holdsource codeofsoftwarein escrow just as other escrow companies hold cash. Sometimes one may not own or have any rights to the software (including source code) that they are accessing under the terms of a regularSaaSor desktop software agreement. This arrangement does not usually become an issue until technical problems start to arise, i.e. unexpected service interruptions, downtime, loss of application functionality and loss of data. This can add significant costs to one's business, as they remain reliant upon the software supplier to resolve these issues, unless an escrow agreement is in place. Escrow is when the software source code is held by a third party—an escrow agent—on behalf of the customer and the supplier.[citation needed]Information escrow agents, such as theInternational Creative Registry, hold in escrow intellectual property and other information. Examples include song music and lyrics, manufacturing designs and laboratory notebooks, and television and movie treatments and scripts. This is done to establish legal ownership rights, with the independent escrow agents attesting to the information's ownership, contents, and creation date. Escrow is also known in the judicial context. So-called escrow funds are commonly used to distribute money from a cash settlement in aclass actionor environmental enforcement action. This way the defendant is not responsible for distribution of judgment monies to the individual plaintiffs or the court-determined use (such asenvironmental remediationormitigation). The defendant pays the total amount of the judgment (or settlement) to the court-administered or appointed escrow fund, and the fund distributes the money (often reimbursing its expenses from the judgment funds). In the US,escrow paymentis a common term referring to the portion of amortgagepayment that is designated to pay forreal property taxesandhazard insurance. It is an amount "over and above" theprincipalandinterestportion of a mortgage payment. Since the escrow payment is used to pay taxes and insurance, it is referred to as "T&I", while the mortgage payment consisting of principal and interest is called "P&I". The sum total of all elements is then referred to as "PITI", for "Principal, Interest, Tax, and Insurance". Some mortgage companies require customers to maintain an escrow account that pays the property taxes and hazard insurance. Others offer it as an option for customers. Some types of loans, most notablyFederal Housing Administration(FHA) loans, require the lender to maintain an escrow account for the life of the loan. Even with a fixedinterest rate, monthly mortgage payments may change over the life of the loan due to changes in property taxes and insurance premiums. For instance, if a hazard insurance premium increases by $120 per year, the escrow payment will need to increase by $10 per month to account for this difference (in addition to collection for the resulting escrow shortage when the mortgage company paid $120 more for the hazard insurance premium than what was anticipated). ByRESPAguidelines the escrow payment must be recomputed at least once every 12 months to account for increases in property taxes or insurance. This is called an escrow analysis. The escrow payment used to pay taxes and insurance is a long-term escrow account that may last for years or for the life of the loan. Escrow can also refer to a shorter-term account used to facilitate the closing of a real estate transaction. In this type of escrow, the escrow company holds all documents and money related to closing the transaction, rather than having the buyer and the seller deal directly with each other. When and if the transaction is ready to close, the escrow company distributes all funds and documents to their rightful recipients, and records the deed with the appropriate authorities.[14] Courts sometimes act as stakeholders, holding property while litigation between the possible owners resolves the issue in which one is entitled to the property. Escrow arrangement is often used as a part ofmergers and acquisitionsa supplement that warranties and indemnities offered by the seller(s).[15]This will be particularly likely where thecredit riskof the seller(s) is of poor quality and the buyer is concerned about their ability to recover any sums that may become due. Unlike many other forms of escrow, escrow arrangements in corporate transactions are often designed to last for extended periods rather than simply to complete the transfer of an asset. There is also commonly the requirement for an escrow agent to adjudicate on the validity of a claim on the escrow funds, which can lead to the risk of the dispute between the parties. Due to the length that the funds are held, the escrow arrangements need to take into account different considerations to those for other escrow arrangements, for example (i) information provision to the parties; (ii) application ofinterestearned on the funds; and (iii)credit worthinessof thefinancial institution. For example, two people maybeton the outcome of a future event. They ask a third, disinterested, neutral person—the stakeholder—to hold the money ("stakes") they have wagered ("staked"). After the event occurs, the stakeholder distributes the stakes to one or both of the original (or other) parties according to the outcome of the event and according to the previously decided conditions. Trustees also often act as stakeholders, holding property until beneficiaries come of age, for example. Not all escrow agreements impose the duties of a legal trustee on the escrow agent, and in many such agreements, escrow agents are held to a meregross negligencestandard and benefit fromindemnityandhold harmlessprovisions. If the escrow agent is licensed by governmental authority,[where?]then much higher legal standards may apply.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escrow
Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc., 506 A.2d 173 (Del. 1986),[1]was alandmark decisionof theDelaware Supreme Courtonhostile takeovers. The Court declared that, in certain limited circumstances indicating that the "sale" or "break-up" of the company is inevitable, thefiduciaryobligation of thedirectorsof a target corporation are narrowed significantly, the singular responsibility of the board being to maximize immediate stockholder value by securing the highest price available. The role of the board of directors transforms from "defenders of the corporate bastion to auctioneers charged with getting the best price for the stockholders at a sale of the company."[2]Accordingly, the board's actions are evaluated in a different frame of reference. In such a context, that conduct can not be judicially reviewed pursuant to the traditionalbusiness judgment rule, but instead will be scrutinized for reasonableness in relation to this discrete obligation. The force of this statement spurred a corporate takeover frenzy, since directors believed that they were compelled to conduct an auction whenever their corporation appeared to be "in play," so as to not violate their fiduciary duties to the shareholders. Colloquially, the board of a firm that is "inRevlonmode" acquires certainRevlonduties, which requires the firm to be auctioned or sold to the highest bidder. The Court reached this holding in affirming the issuance by theDelaware Court of Chancerybelow of a preliminary injunction precluding Revlon, Inc. from consummating a proposed transaction with one of two competing bidders that effectively ended an active and ongoing auction to acquire the company. CEORonald PerelmanofPantry Prideapproached theRevloncorporation, proposing either a negotiated transaction or, if necessary, ahostiletender offer, at a price of between $42 and $45 per share. Revlon's board rejected the negotiated transaction, fearing that the acquisition would be financed byjunk bondsand result in the corporation's dissolution. To prevent thehostiletender offer, the Revlon board promptly undertook defensive action. Most notably, it adopted a Note Purchase Rights Plan, a variation on the traditionalpoison pillthat, when triggered, resulted in the issuance of debt rather than equity rights to existing shareholders other than the unapproved bidder. Shortly thereafter, Pantry Pride declared a hostile cash tender offer for any or all Revlon shares at a price of $47.50, subject to its ability to secure financing and to the redemption of the rights issued to shareholders under the newly adopted Rights Plan. The Revlon board responded by advising shareholders to reject the offer as inadequate, and it commenced its own offer to repurchase a significant percentage of its own outstanding shares in exchange for senior subordinated notes and convertible preferred stock valued at $100 per share. The offer was quickly oversubscribed and in exchange for 10 million of its own tendered shares, the company issued notes that contained covenants restricting Revlon's ability to incur debt, sell assets or issue dividends going forward. The successful consummation of the Revlon repurchase program effectively thwarted Pantry Pride's outstanding tender offer. A few weeks later, however, Pantry Pride issued a new one that, taking into account the completed exchange offer, reflected value essentially equivalent to its first offer. Following rejection of this offer by the Revlon board, Pantry Pride repeatedly revised its offer over the course of the next several weeks, raising the offer price to $50, and later to $53 per share. During this same period, the Revlon board had commenced discussions with Forstmann, Little regarding a possible leveraged buyout led by Forstmann as an alternative to the acquisition by Pantry Pride. It quickly reached agreement in principle on a transaction at a price of $56. The terms of the proposed deal importantly included a waiver of the restrictive covenants contained in the notes issued by Revlon in the earlier repurchase. The announcement of the proposed deal, and in particular the anticipated waiver of the covenants, sent the trading value of the notes into a steep decline, engendering threats of litigation from now irate noteholders. Pantry Pride promptly raised the price of its offer to $56.25 per share. It further announced publicly that it would top any ensuing bid that Forstmann might make, if only by a fraction. In light of this, Forstmann expressed reluctance to reenter the bidding without significant assurances from Revlon that any resulting deal would close. The Revlon board assuaged Forstmann's concern. Less than a week following Pantry Pride's $56.25 offer, it struck a deal with Forstmann pursuant to which Forstmann would pay $57.25 per share conditioned on its receipt of a lock-up option to purchase one of Revlon's important business divisions at a discounted price should another acquirer secure 40% or more of Revlon's outstanding stock, a $25 million termination fee, a restrictive no-shop provision precluding the Revlon board from negotiating with Pantry Pride or any other rival bidder except under very narrow circumstances, removal of the Note Purchase Rights, and waiver of the restrictive covenants contained in the recently issued notes. Forstmann for its part agreed to support the par value of the Notes, still falling in value in the market, by exchanging them for new notes, presumably at the initial values of the Notes when they had been first issued. Pantry Pride raised its offer to $58 per share. Simultaneously, it filed a claim in the Court of Chancery, seeking interim injunctive relief to nullify the asset option, the no-shop, the termination fee and the Rights. It argued that the board had breached its fiduciary duty by foreclosing Revlon stockholders from accepting its higher cash offer. The Court of Chancery granted the requested relief, finding the Revlon directors had acted to lock up the Forstmann deal by way of the challenged deal provisions out of concern for their potential liability to Revlon's disaffected and potentially litigious noteholders, a concern that would be allayed by Forstmanns agreement to restore the full value of the notes in connection with the new deal. The Court of Chancery found that, by thus pursuing their personal interests rather than maximizing the sale price for the benefit of the shareholders, the Revlon directors had breached their duty of loyalty. The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the judgment below. First, the Court reviewed Pantry Pride's challenges to the Revlon board's defensive actions: the adoption of a poison pill and the consummation of the repurchase program. Referencing its recent decision inUnocal v. Mesa Petroleum, the Court observed initially that the business judgment rule, while generally applicable to a board's approval of a proposed merger, does not apply to a board's decision to implement anti-takeover measures, given the omnipresent specter that the board, in so doing, is serving its own interests in remaining in office at the expense of the interests of shareholders in securing maximum value.[3]Rather, it is the directors' threshold burden to establish that they had a reasonable basis for perceiving the need for defensive actions (typically by showing good faith and reasonable investigation) and that the action taken was reasonable in relation to the threat posed. Applying this test, the Court found, first, that the Revlon board had acted reasonably and proportionately in adopting the Note Purchase Rights Plan in the face of a demonstrably inadequate offer of $45 per share, particularly since it retained the flexibility to redeem the rights in the event an acceptable offer should later appear and since the effect of such an action was to create bargaining leverage that resulted in significantly more favorable offers. It reached the same conclusion with respect to the exchange offer, for many of the same reasons. However, a different legal standard applied once the board authorized the negotiations of a merger with Forstmann, the break-up of the company or its sale to one suitor or another became inevitable, and the board clearly recognized that the company was for sale. Now it was no longer charged with protecting the shareholders and the corporate entity from perceived threats to its ability to continue to perform, but instead became obligated to the maximize the company's immediate monetized value for the benefit of shareholders. It was this new and far more narrow duty that the Revlon directors were found to have violated. By having agreed to structure the most recent Forstmann transaction in a way that effectively destroyed the ongoing bidding contest between Forstmann and Pantry Pride, the Revlon board was held to have acted contrary to its newly acquired, auctioneer-like obligation to pursue and secure the highest purchase price available for shareholders. The Court was not swayed by defendants' claims that its concessions to Forstmann in fact resulted in a higher price than would otherwise have been available, while simultaneously enhancing the interests of noteholders by shoring up the sagging market for its outstanding notes. The opinion provides two main passages meant to guide the actions of future boards, regarding when duties attach that lead to enhanced judicial scrutiny. The first of these passages explains that When Pantry Pride increased its offer to $50 per share, and then to $53, it became apparent to all that the break-up of the company was inevitable. The Revlon board's authorization permitting management to negotiate a merger [*513] or buyout with a third party was a recognition that the company was for sale. The duty of the board had thus changed from the preservation of Revlon as a corporate entity to the maximization of the company's value at a sale for the stockholders' benefit. This significantly altered the board's responsibilities under the Unocal standards. It no longer faced threats to corporate policy and effectiveness, or to the stockholders' interests, from a grossly inadequate bid. The whole question of defensive measures became moot. The directors' role changed from defenders of the corporate bastion to auctioneers charged with getting the best price for the stockholders at a sale of the company.[4] The other portion of the opinion which provides guidance can be found in the following: The Revlon board argued that it acted in good faith in protecting the noteholders because Unocal permits consideration of other corporate constituencies ... However, such concern for non-stockholder interests is inappropriate when an auction among active bidders is in progress, and the object no longer is to protect or maintain the corporate enterprise but to sell it to the highest bidder.[2] Given that factual and legal backdrop, the court concluded that the Revlon board impermissibly ended the "intense bidding contest on an insubstantial basis."[5]As a result, not only did the board's activities fail the new Revlon standard, but they also failed the Unocal standard.[6] This opinion was written by Justice Andrew G.T. Moore. Today, there are three levels of judicial review when an action is brought under the allegation of a breach of fiduciary duties.[7]As the court in Golden Cycle, LLC v. Allan stated, these levels are: "the deferentialbusiness judgment rule, the Unocal or Revlon enhanced scrutiny standard [and] the stringent standard of entire fairness." The first and most deferential standard, the business judgment rule, has become virtually a rubber-stamp in Delaware corporate law for corporate boards to meet their duty of care.[8]It is the default standard (i.e., the facts must demonstrate why there should be a deviation from this level of review). The business judgment rule provides a rebuttable presumption "that in making a business decision the directors of a corporation acted on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the company."[9]Thus, at bottom, the business judgment rule reflects little more than process inquiry. TheUnocalandRevlonstandards are similar in that they involve a reasonableness inquiry by the court and are triggered by some factual events.[10]TheUnocalstandard is focused on the erection of defensive tactics by the target board, and involves reasonableness review of legitimate corporate threat and proportionality.[11]The board's case is materially advanced when it can demonstrate that the board was independent, highly informed, and acted in good faith.[12]Revlonduties, on the other hand, are triggered by what may be loosely referred to as a "change in control", and require a general reasonableness standard.[13]This reasonableness standard requires virtually absolute independence of the board, careful attention to the type and scope of information to be considered by the board, good faith negotiation, and a focus on what constitutes the best value for the shareholders.[14]Finding the best value for shareholders may or may not require an auction, depending on the circumstances, and, again, this decision is subjected to a reasonableness inquiry.[15] The entire fairness standard is triggered "where a majority of the directors approving the transaction were interested or where a majority stockholder stands on both sides of the transaction."[16]Directors can be found to be interested if they "appear on both sides of a transaction [or] expect to derive any personal financial benefit from it in the sense of self-dealing, as opposed to a benefit which devolves upon the corporation or all stockholders generally."[17]Once the entire fairness standard is triggered, the corporate board has the burden to demonstrate that the transaction was inherently fair to the shareholders, by both demonstrating fair dealing (i.e., process) and fair price (i.e., substance).[18] Subsequent cases such asParamount v. Time(the Time Warner case) andParamount v. QVCaddressed when a board assumes theRevlonduty to auction the company and forego defensive measures that would otherwise be permissible underUnocal. Expanding the scope of the intermediate enhanced scrutiny standard of judicial review previously announce inUnocalandMoran v. Household International, Inc., the Revlon opinion gave rise to years of academic debate and decisional law with respect to the events that should be deemed to trigger its application. Even today, questions continue to persist as to the extent to which the doctrine has been absorbed into the traditional duty of care, particularly in connection with so-called ownership transactions such as mergers, and its interplay with theUnocaltest traditionally applicable to defensive board action to fend off a hostile acquisition bid, and more recently to deal protection devices contained in merger agreements. SeeOmnicare v. NCS Healthcare, Inc.818 A.2d 914 (Del. 2003); compare, e.g., In re Netsmart Technologies, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, 924 A.2d 171 (Del. Ch. 2007). Despite the expanse of precedent thatRevlonhas engendered in the more than 20 years since its issuance, theRevlondoctrine remains alive, well and surprisingly vague in terms of its scope and its application. Far more certain, however, is the likelihood that as a result of the principles enunciated by theRevlondecision, practitioners can be assured that cash mergers and change of control transactions will engender far closer judicial scrutiny than the broad judicial deference that had been previously regarded as typical and appropriate, as will a board's approval of provisions in merger agreements that unduly restrict the board's ability to entertain more lucrative offers that appear between signing of the merger agreement and its presentation for approval of shareholders. Even actions by independent boards in such circumstances that fail to evidence a reasonable effort and intent to secure the highest and best price reasonably available are likely to invoke searching judicial scrutiny. However, recent Delaware litigation deferred to an independent's board decisions to not engage in negotiations with a competing bidder to try to obtain improved terms after a merger agreement had been signed.[19]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revlon,_Inc._v._MacAndrews_%26_Forbes_Holdings,_Inc.
Self-dealingis the conduct of atrustee,attorney,corporate officer, or otherfiduciarythat consists of taking advantage of their position in a transaction and acting in their own interests rather than in the interests of the beneficiaries of thetrust, corporateshareholders, or their clients. According to the political scientist Andrew Stark, "[i]n self-dealing, an officeholder's official role allows her to affect one or more of her own personal interests." It is a form ofconflict of interest.[1] Self-dealing may involvemisappropriationorusurpationofcorporate assetsoropportunities. Political scientists Ken Kernaghan and John Langford define self-dealing as "a situation where one takes an action in an official capacity which involves dealing with oneself in a private capacity and which confers a benefit on oneself."[2] Examples include "work[ing] for government and us[ing] your official position to secure a contract for a private consulting company you own" or "using your government position to get a summer job for your daughter."[3] Where afiduciaryhas engaged in self-dealing, this constitutes a breach of the fiduciary relationship. The principal of that fiduciary (the person to whom duties are owed) may sue and both recover the principal's lost profits anddisgorgethe fiduciary's wrongful profits. In the United States, repeated self-dealing by a private foundation can result in the involuntary termination of its tax-exempt status.[4] Thislaw-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-dealing
Governing doctrines Atrustis a legal relationship in which the owner ofproperty, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the Englishcommon law, the party who entrusts the property is known as the "settlor", the party to whom it is entrusted is known as the "trustee", the party for whose benefit the property is entrusted is known as the "beneficiary",[1]and the entrusted property is known as the "corpus" or "trust property".[2][3]Atestamentary trustis an irrevocable trust established and funded pursuant to the terms of a deceased person's will. Aninter vivos trustis a trust created during the settlor's life. The trustee is the legalownerof the assets held in trust on behalf of the trust and its beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are equitable owners of the trust property. Trustees have a fiduciary duty to manage the trust for the benefit of the equitable owners. Trustees must provide regular accountings of trust income and expenditures. A court of competent jurisdiction can remove a trustee who breaches their duty. Some breaches can be charged and tried as criminal offenses. A trustee can be anatural person, business entity orpublic body. A trust in the US may be subject to federal and state taxation. The trust is governed by the terms under which it was created. In most jurisdictions, this requires a contractual trust agreement ordeed. It is possible for a single individual to assume the role of more than one of these parties, and for multiple individuals to share a single role. For example, in a living trust it is common for the grantor to be both a trustee and a lifetime beneficiary while naming other contingent beneficiaries.[4] Trusts have existed sinceRomantimes and become one of the most important innovations inproperty law.[5]Specific aspects of trust law vary in different jurisdictions. Some U.S. states are adapting theUniform Trust Codeto codify and harmonize their trust laws, but state-specific variations still remain. An owner placing property into trust turns over part of theirbundle of rightsto the trustee, separating the property's legal ownership and control from its equitable ownership and benefits. This may be done fortax reasonsor to control the property and its benefits if the settlor is absent,incapacitated, or deceased.Testamentary trustsmay be created inwills, defining how money and property will be handled for children or other beneficiaries. While the trustee is given legal title to the trust property, in accepting title the trustee owes a number offiduciary dutiesto the beneficiaries. The primary duties owed are those ofloyalty,prudenceandimpartiality.[6]Trustees may be held to a high standard of care in their dealings to enforce their behavior. To ensure beneficiaries receive their due, trustees are subject to ancillary duties in support of the primary duties, includingopenness,transparency,recordkeeping,accounting, anddisclosure. A trustee has a duty to know, understand, and abide by the terms of the trust and relevant law. The trustee may be compensated and have expenses reimbursed, but otherwise turn over allprofitsfrom the trust and neither endebt nor riskily speculate on the assets without the written, clear permission of all adult beneficiaries. There are strong restrictions regarding a trustee with aconflict of interest. Courts can reverse a trustee's actions, order profits returned, and impose other sanctions if they find a trustee has failed in their duties. Such a failure is a civil breach of trust and can leave a neglectful or dishonest trustee with severe liabilities. It is advisable for settlors and trustees to seek legal advice before entering into, or creating, a trust agreement and trustees must take care in acting or omitting to act to avoid unlawful mistakes. Roman lawhad a well-developed concept of the trust (fideicommissum) in terms of "testamentary trusts" created bywillsbut never developed the concept of theinter vivos(living) trusts which apply while the creator lives. This was created by later common law jurisdictions. Personal trust lawdeveloped in Englandat the time of theCrusades, during the 12th and 13th centuries. In medieval English trust law, the settlor was known as thefeofforto uses, while the trustee was known as thefeoffeeto uses, and the beneficiary was known as thecestui queuse, orcestui quetrust. At the time, land ownership in England was based on thefeudal system. When a landowner left England to fight in the Crusades, he conveyed ownership of his lands in his absence to manage the estate and pay and receive feudal dues, on the understanding that the ownership would be conveyed back on his return. However, Crusaders often encountered refusal to hand over the property upon their return. English common law did not recognize his claim. As far as the King's courts were concerned, the land belonged to the trustee, who was under no obligation to return it. The Crusader had no legal claim. The disgruntled Crusader would then petition the king, who would refer the matter to hisLord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor could decide a case according to his conscience. At this time, the principle ofequitywas born in English law. However, the original notion of equity goes all the way back to Aristotle and is found in book V, chapter 10 of his Ethics. Indeed, the universities of the 13th century often wrote commentaries on Aristotle's works, and it was these universities that gave rise to the lawyers of the time. The Lord Chancellor would consider it "unconscionable" that the legal owner could go back on his word and deny the claims of the Crusader (the "true" owner). Therefore, he would find in favour of the returning Crusader. Over time, it became known that the Lord Chancellor's court (the Court of Chancery) would continually recognize the claim of a returning Crusader. The legal owner would hold the land for the benefit of the original owner and would be compelled to convey it back to him when requested. The Crusader was the "beneficiary" and the acquaintance the "trustee". The term "use of land" was coined, and in time developed into what we now know as atrust. The trust is widely considered to be the most innovative contribution of theEnglish legal system.[7][verification needed]Today, trusts play a significant role in mostcommon lawsystems, and their success has led somecivil lawjurisdictions to incorporate trusts into theircivil codes. InCuraçao, for example, the trust was enacted into law on 1 January 2012; however, the Curaçao Civil Code only allows express trusts constituted bynotarial instrument.[8]France has recently added a similar, Roman-law-based device to its own law with thefiducie,[9]amended in 2009;[10]thefiducie, unlike a trust, is a contractual relationship. Trusts are widely used internationally, especially in countries within theEnglish lawsphere of influence, and whilst most civil law jurisdictions do not generally contain the concept of a trust within their legal systems, they do recognise the concept under theHague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition(partly only the extent that they are parties thereto). The Hague Convention also regulatesconflict of trusts. Although trusts are often associated with intrafamily wealth transfers, they have become very important in American capital markets, particularly through pension funds (in certain countries essentially always trusts) and mutual funds (often trusts).[11] Property of any sort may be held in a trust. The uses of trusts are many and varied, for both personal and commercial reasons, and trusts may provide benefits inestate planning,asset protection, andtaxes. Living trusts may be created during a person's life (through the drafting of atrust instrument) or after death in awill. In a relevant sense, a trust can be viewed as a generic form of a corporation where the settlors (investors) are also the beneficiaries. This is particularly evident in the Delaware business trust, which could theoretically, with the language in the "governing instrument", be organized as acooperativecorporation or a limited liability corporation,[11]: 475–6although traditionally theMassachusetts business trusthas been commonly used in the US. One of the most significant aspects of trusts is the ability to partition and shield assets from the trustee, multiple beneficiaries, and their respective creditors (particularly the trustee's creditors), making it "bankruptcy remote", and leading to its use in pensions, mutual funds, and assetsecuritization[11]as well protection of individualspendthriftsthrough thespendthrift trust. Trusts may be created by the expressed intentions of the settlor also known as the founder (express trusts)[12]or they may be created by operation of law known as implied trusts. Animplied trustis one created by acourt of equitybecause of acts or situations of the parties. Implied trusts are divided into two categories: resulting and constructive. Aresulting trustis implied by the law to work out the presumed intentions of the parties, but it does not take into consideration their expressed intent. Aconstructive trust[13]is a trust implied by law to work out justice between the parties, regardless of their intentions. Common ways in which a trust is created include: In some jurisdictions, certain types of assets may not be the subject of a trust without a written document.[15] The formalities required of a trust depend on the type of trust in question. Generally, a private express trust requires three elements to be certain, which together are known as the "three certainties". These elements were determined inKnight v Knightto be intention, subject matter and objects.[16]The certainty of intention allows the court to ascertain a settlor's true reason for creating the trust. The certainties of subject matter and objects allow the court to administer trust when the trustees fail to do so.[17]The court determines whether there is sufficient certainty by construing the words used in the trust instrument. These words are construed objectively in their "reasonable meaning",[18]within the context of the entire instrument.[16]Despite intention being integral to express trusts, the court will try not to let trusts fail for the lack of certainty.[19] A trust may have multiple trustees, and these trustees are the legal owners of the trust's property, but have afiduciaryduty to beneficiaries and various duties, such as a duty of care and a duty to inform.[20]If trustees do not adhere to these duties, they may be removed through a legal action. The trustee may be either apersonor alegal entitysuch as acompany, but typically the trust itself is not a legal entity and any litigation involving the trust must include the trustee as a party.[21]A trustee has many rights and responsibilities which vary based on the jurisdiction and trust instrument. If a trust lacks a trustee, a court may appoint one. The trustees administer the affairs attendant to the trust. The trust's affairs may include prudently investing the assets of the trust, accounting for and reporting periodically to the beneficiaries, filing required tax returns and other duties. In some cases dependent upon the trust instrument, the trustees must make discretionary decisions as to whether beneficiaries should receive trust assets for their benefit. A trustee may be held personally liable for problems, although fiduciary liability insurance similar todirectors and officers liability insurancecan be purchased. For example, a trustee could be liable if assets are not properly invested. In addition, a trustee may be liable to its beneficiaries even where the trust has made a profit but consent has not been given.[22]However, in the United States, similar to directors and officers, anexculpatory clausemay minimize liability; although this was previously held to be against public policy, this position has changed.[23] In the United States, theUniform Trust Codeprovides for reasonable compensation and reimbursement for trustees subject to review by courts,[24]although trustees may be unpaid. Commercial banks acting as trustees typically charge about 1% of assets under management.[25] The beneficiaries are beneficial (or 'equitable') owners of the trust property. Either immediately or eventually, the beneficiaries will receive income from the trust property, or they will receive the property itself. The extent of a beneficiary's interest depends on the wording of the trust document. One beneficiary may be entitled to income (for example, interest from a bank account), whereas another may be entitled to the entirety of the trust property when they attain a specified age. The settlor has much discretion when creating the trust, subject to some limitations imposed by law. The use of trusts as a means to inherit substantial wealth may be associated with some negative connotations; some beneficiaries who are able to live comfortably from trust proceeds without having to work a job may be jokingly referred to as "trust fund babies" (regardless of age) or "trustafarians".[26] Common purposes for trusts include: Trusts go by many different names, depending on the characteristics or the purpose of the trust. Because trusts often have multiple characteristics or purposes, a single trust might accurately be described in several ways. For example, a living trust is often an express trust, which is also a revocable trust, and might include an incentive trust, and so forth. While trusts originated in England, and thereforeEnglish trusts lawhas had a significant influence, particularly amongcommon lawlegal systems such as those of theCommonwealthor theUnited States, the impact of trust law has been wide and varied. Even under common law systems, the basic notion of a trust has been implemented in strikingly different ways. Trust law in civil law jurisdictions, generally includingContinental Europeonly exists in a limited number of jurisdictions (e.g. Curaçao, Liechtenstein andSint Maarten). The trust may however be recognized as an instrument of foreign law inconflict of lawscases, for example within theBrussels regime(Europe) and the parties to theHague Trust Convention. Tax avoidance concerns have historically been one of the reasons that European countries with a civil law system have been reluctant to adopt trusts.[11] Cyprus legislators enacted theCyprus International Trusts Law of 2012with an aim to facilitate the establishment of trusts by non-Cypriot residents. The Cyprus International Trust is based on common law principles however theCyprus International Trusts Law of 2012introduces certain conditions and requirements to for the trust to qualify under the same law. These conditions are: In addition to above the common law principles of certainty must be present.[40] The Cyprus International Trust Law of 2012 also introduces certain settlor powers which if exercised will not invalidate the trust and or do not need to be inserted in the trust deed for the settlor to exercise them.[40]The powers introduced are: Cyprus does not limit the duration of an international trust and it may be formed for an unspecified duration.[40] In accordance with Section 7, a Cyprus International Trust may be formed for one or more of the following purposes: The law includes specific confidentiality obligations over the trustee, the protector, enforcer or any other person to keep information and details of the trust confidential. This right is waived in the instances that law requires the disclosure of such information or if a judge before which a case is tried in issues a judgment to such effect. Nevertheless, with the changing times, public disclosure of trusts is required in Cyprus.[41]Such public disclosures are required: For a trust to be validly constituted it must be presented to the commissioner of stamp duty and a one-time payment of Euro 430 is made. The commissioner does not keep a copy of the document. The regulation of the industry providing company and trust management functions (ASP) has also brought about the requirement to disclose to the regulator the existence of a Cyprus International Trust. Such obligation burdens the trust company and the information disclosed is the following: For the avoidance of any doubt, the regulator does not require particulars of the Settlor, the Beneficiaries and details of the trusts. Neither does the regulator store in any way the trust deed. On the contrary, they rely on the regulated entity to collect, store and update this information The Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law of 2007-2018[42]introduced mandatory disclosure requirements in respects to trusts. Generally known as the Cyprus Beneficial Ownership Register.[43]Subject to this the following information will be required to be mandatory disclosed: The actual implementation of this law still remains to be seen however the requirements above are expressly extracted from The Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law of 2007–2018. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) a Trustee and or a Trust may be classified as a Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) requiring registration with the IRS and disclosure of results on a yearly basis. Under the Common Reporting Standard decree, a trust would in most cases classify as either a Reporting Financial Institution (FI) or a Passive Non-Financial Entity (Passive NFE). If the trust is an FI the trust or the trustee will have an obligation to report to its local tax authority in Cyprus in respects to the reportable accounts. The income and profits derived within and outside of Cyprus are liable to every possible taxation imposed in Cyprus if the beneficiary is a resident of Cyprus in accordance with the Income Tax Laws of Cyprus. If the beneficiaries are not Cyprus residents then any income and profit derived from Cypriot sources will be subject to tax. Relevant to consider is what income is subject to taxation in Cyprus and the none domicile regime applicable in Cyprus. As noted above, the English trust arose from the court of theLord Chancellor, known as theCourt of Chancery. There are several features which distinguish the modern English trust both from other common law trusts and from civil law approaches. In some ways, the modern English trust is, when compared to other jurisdictions, more conservative in its requirements. For example, it retains the requirement that there be a beneficiary.[44]There are two main exceptions to this rule: charitable purpose trusts andRe Denleytrusts.[45]This contrasts with other jurisdictions like Cyprus,the BVI,the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man,JerseyandGibraltar[46]which allow for non-charitable purpose trusts to be valid. This will normally be done by appointing a somebody to act as the trust'sProtector. These purpose trusts allow for a trust to be created with a purpose (e.g. 'to provide forN's education', whereNis a family member) instead of a named beneficiary. The role of the Protector (also sometimes called an enforcer) is to hold the trustees to account, which the beneficiaries would usually have the right to do. A major use of trusts is to allow for the existence of unincorporated associations. These often are associations or groups of people that come together for a particular (usually non-commercial purpose). Common examples might be local social and sports clubs, somegentlemen's clubs, and some professional associations. The main way that English law supports the existence of these is by understanding them as a form of trust. The association has nolegal personality(i.e. the capacity to enter into legal relations in their own name). This contrasts with the approach taken in many civil law jurisdictions, like Spain[47]or France,[48]where civil or social associations are often accorded legal personhood. Thus, in England, the officers of an association (e.g. its chairman, secretary and treasurer) will be recognised as trustees and will hold the assets of the association on trust for the members of the association with the constitution of the association forming the basis of the rules governing the trust.[49][50] In many ways trusts in South Africa operate similarly to othercommon lawcountries, although thelaw of South Africais actually a hybrid of the British common law system andRoman-Dutch law. InSouth Africa, in addition to the traditional living trusts and will trusts there is a "bewind trust" (inherited from the Roman-Dutchbewindadministered by abewindhebber)[51]in which the beneficiaries own the trust assets while the trustee administers the trust, although this is regarded by modern Dutch law as not actually a trust.[52]Bewindtrusts are created as trading vehicles providing trustees with limited liability and certain tax advantages.[53] In South Africa, minor children cannot inherit assets and in the absence of a trust and assets held in a state institution, the Guardian's Fund, and released to the children in adulthood. Therefore, testamentary (will) trusts often leave assets in a trust for the benefit of these minor children. There are two types of living trusts in South Africa, namely vested trusts and discretionary trusts. In vested trusts, the benefits of the beneficiaries are set out in the trust deed, whereas in discretionary trusts the trustees have full discretion at all times as to how much and when each beneficiary is to benefit. Until recently, there were tax advantages to living trusts in South Africa, although most of these advantages have been removed. Protection of assets from creditors is a modern advantage. With notable exceptions, assets held by the trust are not owned by the trustees or the beneficiaries, the creditors of trustees or beneficiaries can have no claim against the trust. Under the Insolvency Act (Act 24 of 1936), assets transferred into a living trust remain at risk from external creditors for 6 months if the previous owner of the assets is solvent at the time of transfer, or 24 months if he/she is insolvent at the time of transfer. After 24 months, creditors have no claim against assets in the trust, although they can attempt to attach the loan account, thereby forcing the trust to sell its assets. Assets can be transferred into the living trust by selling it to the trust (through a loan granted to the trust) or donating cash to it (any natural person can donate R100 000 per year without attracting donations tax; 20% donations tax applies to further donations within the same tax year). Under South African law living trusts are considered tax payers. Two types of tax apply to living trusts, namely income tax and capital gains tax (CGT). A trust pays income tax at a flat rate of 40% (individuals pay according to income scales, usually less than 20%). The trust's income can, however, be taxed in the hands of either the trust or the beneficiary. A trust pays CGT at the rate of 20% (individuals pay 10%). Trusts do not pay deceased estate tax (although trusts may be required to pay back outstanding loans to a deceased estate, in which the loan amounts are taxable with deceased estate tax).[54] The taxpayer whose residence has been 'locked' into a trust has now been given another opportunity to take advantage of these CGT exemptions. The Taxation Law Amendment Act of 30 September 2009 commenced on 1 January 2010 and granted a 2-year window period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011, affording a natural person the opportunity to take transfer of the residence with advantage of no transfer duty being payable or CGT consequences. Whilst taxpayers can take advantage of this opening of a window of opportunity, it is not likely that it will ever become available thereafter.[55] In the United States, a trust is presumed to be irrevocable unless the instrument or will creating it states it is revocable, except in Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma and Texas (and any other state that has adopted section 602 of theUniform Trust Code), in which trusts are presumed to be revocable unless the instrument or will creating them states they are irrevocable. In the United States,state law, variable from state to state, governs trusts. Many states have adopted theUniform Trust Code, and there are also broad similarities among states' common law of trust. These similarities are summarized in theRestatements of the Law, such as the Restatement of Trusts, Third (2003−08). Additionally, as a practical matter, federal law considerations such as federal taxes administered by theInternal Revenue Servicemay affect the structure and creation of trusts. In the United States the tax law allows trusts to be taxed as corporations, partnerships, or not at all depending on the circumstances, although trusts may be used fortax avoidancein certain situations.[11]: 478For example, thetrust-preferred securityis a hybrid (debt and equity) security with favorable tax treatment which is treated asregulatory capitalon banks' balance sheets. TheDodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Actchanged this somewhat by not allowing these assets to be a part of (large) banks' regulatory capital.[56]: 23 Living trusts, as opposed to testamentary (will) trusts, may help a trustor avoidprobate.[57]Avoiding probate may save costs and maintain privacy and living trusts have become very popular.[58]Probate is potentially costly, and probate records are available to the public while distribution through a trust is private. Both living trusts and wills can also be used to plan for unforeseen circumstances such as incapacity or disability, by giving discretionary powers to the trustee or executor of the will. Negative aspects of using a living trust as opposed to a will and probate include upfront legal expenses, the expense of trust administration, and a lack of certain safeguards. The cost of the trust may be 1% of the estate per year versus the one-time probate cost of 1 to 4% for probate, which applies whether or not there is adrafted will. Unlike trusts, wills must be signed by two to three witnesses, the number depending on the law of the jurisdiction in which the will is executed. Legal protections that apply to probate but do not automatically apply to trusts include provisions that protect the decedent's assets from mismanagement or embezzlement, such as requirements ofbonding,insurance, and itemized accountings of probate assets. Living trusts generally do not shelter assets from theU.S. federal estate tax. Married couples may, however, effectively double the estate tax exemption amount by setting up the trust with a formula clause.[59] For a living trust, the grantor may retain some level of control to the trust, such by appointment asprotectorunder thetrust instrument. Living trusts also, in practical terms, tend to be driven to large extent bytaxconsiderations. If a living trust fails, the property will usually be held for the grantor/settlor onresulting trusts, which in some notable cases, has had high tax consequences.[citation needed]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_(law)
The Uniform Prudent Investor Act(UPIA), which was adopted in 1992 by theAmerican Law Institute's Third Restatement of the Law of Trusts ("Restatement ofTrust 3d"), reflects a "modern portfolio theory" and "total return" approach to the exercise of fiduciary investment discretion. This approach allowsfiduciariesto utilize modern portfolio theory to guide investment decisions and requires risk versus return analysis. Therefore, a fiduciary's performance is measured on the performance of the entire portfolio, rather than individual investments. As of May 2004, theUniform Prudent Investor Acthas been adopted in 44 States and theDistrict of Columbia. Other states may have adopted parts of the Act, but not the entire Act. According to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the most common portion of the Act excluded by states concerns the delegation of investment decisions to qualified and supervised agents. The Uniform Prudent Investor Actdiffers from thePrudent Man Rulein four major ways: As of 2021 the states which have not adopted theUniform Prudent Investor Actor Substantially Similar include: In enacting theUniform Prudent Investor Act, states should have repealed legal list statutes, which specified permissible investments types. (However, guardianship and conservatorship accounts generally remain limited by specific state law.) In those states which adopted part or all of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, investments must be chosen based on their suitability for each account's beneficiaries or, as appropriate, the customer. Although specific criteria for determining "suitability" do not exist, it is generally acknowledged, that the following items should be considered as they pertain to account beneficiaries:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Prudent_Investor_Act
Attorney General v Blake[2000] UKHL 45, [2001] 1 AC 268 is a leadingEnglish contract lawcase on damages forbreach of contract. It established that in some circumstances, where ordinaryremediesare inadequate,restitutionarydamages may be awarded. George Blakewas a member of theSecret Intelligence Service. He signed anOfficial Secrets Act 1911declaration in his employment contract not to disclose information about his work, even after his employment ceased. In 1951, he became a Soviet agent. He was discovered in 1961 and the British government imprisoned him inWormwood Scrubs. He escaped in 1966 and fled to theSoviet Union. He wrote a book about it and his secret services work calledNo Other Choice. He received a publishing contract for its release in 1989, withJonathan CapeLtd. The information in the book was no longer confidential. Blake received advanced payments and was entitled to more.The Crownbrought an action for all the profits he made on the book including those that he had not yet received. It argued a restitutionary principle should apply. Lord Nicholls,Lord Goff of Chieveley,Lord Browne-WilkinsonandLord Steynheld that in exceptional cases, when the normal remedy is inadequate to compensate for breach of contract, the court can order the defendant to account for all profits.[1]This was an exceptional case in contract law, particularly because Blake had harmed the public interest. In addition to his double agency, publication was a further breach of the confidentiality clause, and disclosure of non-confidential information was a criminal offence under the Official Secrets Act 1911. An absolute rule against disclosure was necessary to ensure that the secret service was able to deal in complete confidence. It was in the Crown's legitimate interest to ensure Blake did not benefit from revealing state information. TheHouse of Lordsruled that normal contractual remedies ofdamages,specific performanceorinjunctionwere not enough, and that the publishers should pay any money owing to Blake to the Crown. In his judgment, Lord Nicholls states that a breach of contract allows for the award of damages "when no financial loss flows from the infringement", comparing the present case to that of a case concerning the duty owed by a trustee or fiduciary. Highlighting the fact that "trustees and fiduciaries are financially disinterested in carrying out their duties... to this end they must not make any unauthorised profit," and that trustees and fiduciaries are accountable for "unauthorised profits", regardless of whether the beneficiaries have made a loss, he compared the current case toReading v. Attorney General[1951] AC 507, a case that involved a breach concerning another civil servant. Invoking theChancery Amendment Act 1858, he stated that the court had a jurisdiction to "award damages when declining to grantequitable relief" in equity rather than incommon law. Whilst "the common law courts' jurisdiction to award damages was confined to loss of injury flowing from a cause of action which had accrued before the writ was issued", equity allowed for "damages for loss of a bargaining opportunity or... the price payable for the compulsory acquisition of a right." Outlining the law on remedies for breach, Nicholls states that damages are generally compensatory as perRobinson v Harman. However, damages awarded based on an innocent party's financial loss may not always be "adequate", recognising a party's interest in performance, as in the case ofWrotham Park damages. Whilst the Wrotham Park case concerned strictly property rights, the law had recently been extended to include personal rights in contract as well. Additionally, Nicholls diverged from some cases in allowing for plaintiffs, depending on the situation, to not only recoup profits already made from a breacher of contract but to claim all future profits as well. He states that a breach of confidence is an exceptional situation that allows for an injured party to claim "either compensatory damages or an account of the wrongdoer's profits", that only in similarly exceptional situations where ordinary remedies are inadequate "that any question of accounting for profits will arise", and that the allowing of such claims will require the court to regard: all the circumstances, including the subject matter of the contract, the purpose of the contractual provision which has been breached, the circumstances in which the breach occurred, the consequences of the breach and the circumstances in which relief is being sought. A useful general guide, although not exhaustive, is whether the plaintiff had a legitimate interest in preventing the defendant's profit-making activity and, hence, in depriving him of his profit. It would be difficult, and unwise, to attempt to be more specific.... Lord Woolf, at [1998] Ch 439, 457, 458, also suggested three facts which should not be a sufficient ground for departing from the normal basis on which damages are awarded: the fact that the breach was cynical and deliberate; the fact that the breach enabled the defendant to enter into a more profitable contract elsewhere; and the fact that by entering into a new and more profitable contract the defendant put it out of his power to perform his contract with the plaintiff. I agree that none of these facts would be, by itself, a good reason for ordering an account of profits. On policy reasons, Nicholls states that the present case is one where a claim for profits made can be allowed: Secret information is the lifeblood of these services. In the 1950s Blake deliberately committed repeated breaches of his undertaking not to divulge official information gained as a result of his employment. He caused untold and immeasurable damage to the public interest he had committed himself to serve. In 1990 he published his autobiography, a further breach of his express undertaking. By this time the information disclosed was no longer confidential. In the ordinary course of commercial dealings the disclosure of non-confidential information might be regarded as venial. In the present case disclosure was also a criminal offence under the Official Secrets Acts, even though the information was no longer confidential. Section 1 of theOfficial Secrets Act 1989draws a distinction in this regard between members of the security and intelligence services and other Crown servants. Under section 1(3) a person who is or has been a Crown servant is guilty of an offence if without lawful authority he makes 'a damaging disclosure' of information relating to security or intelligence. The offence is drawn more widely in the case of a present or past member of the security and intelligence services. Such a person is guilty of an offence if without lawful authority he discloses 'any information' relating to security or intelligence which is or has been in his possession by virtue of his position as a member of those services. This distinction was approved in Parliament after debate when the legislation was being enacted. [...] As a footnote I observe that a similar conclusion, requiring the contract-breaker to disgorge his profits, was reached in the majority decision of theUnited States Supreme CourtinSnepp v. United States(1980) 444 U.S. 507. The facts were strikingly similar. A former employee of theCentral Intelligence Agency, whose conditions of employment included a promise not to divulge any information relating to the agency without pre-publication clearance, published a book about the agency's activities inVietnam. None of the information was classified, but an agent's violation of his non-disclosure obligation impaired the agency's ability to function properly. The court considered and rejected various forms of relief. The actual damage was not quantifiable, nominal damages were a hollow alternative, and punitive damages after a jury trial would be speculative and unusual. Even if recovered they would bear no relation to either the government's irreparable loss or Snepp's unjust gain. The court considered that a remedy which required Snepp 'to disgorge the benefits of his faithlessness', was swift and sure, tailored to deter those who would place sensitive information at risk and, since the remedy reached only funds attributable to the breach, it could not saddle the former agent with exemplary damages out of all proportion to his gain. In order to achieve this result the court 'imposed' a constructive trust on Snepp's profits. In this country, affording the plaintiff the remedy of an account of profits is a different means to the same end. Lord Goff and Lord Browne-Wilkinson agreed. Lord Steyn gave a concurring opinion: My Lords, it has been held at first instance and in theCourt of Appealthat Blake is not a fiduciary. This is not an issue before the House. But, as my noble and learned friend Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead has observed, the present case is closely analogous to that of fiduciaries: compareReading v. Attorney-General[1951] AC 507. If the information was still confidential, Blake would in my view have been liable as a fiduciary. That would be so despite the fact that he left the intelligence services many years ago. The distinctive feature of this case is, however, that Blake gave an undertaking not to divulge any information, confidential or otherwise, obtained by him during his work in the intelligence services. This obligation still applies to Blake. He was, therefore in regard to all information obtained by him in the intelligence services, confidential or not, in a very similar position to a fiduciary. The reason of the rule applying to fiduciaries applies to him. Secondly, I bear in mind that the enduring strength of the common law is that it has been developed on a case-by-case basis by judges for whom the attainment of practical justice was a major objective of their work. It is still one of the major moulding forces of judicial decision-making. These observations are almost banal: the public would be astonished if it was thought that judges did not conceive it as their prime duty to do practical justice whenever possible. A recent example of this process at work is White v. Jones [1995] 2 AC 207 where by a majority the House of Lords held that a solicitor who caused loss to a third party by negligence in the preparation of a will is liable in damages. Subordinating conceptual difficulties to the needs of practical justice a majority, and notably Lord Goff of Chieveley, at pp. 259G-260H, upheld the claim. For my part practical justice strongly militates in favour of granting an order for disgorgement of profits against Blake. The decision of the United States Supreme Court inSnepp v. United States(1980) 444 U.S. 507 is instructive. On very similar facts the Supreme Court imposed a constructive trust on the intelligence officer's profits. Our law is also mature enough to provide a remedy in such a case but does so by the route of the exceptional recognition of a claim for disgorgement of profits against the contract breaker. In my view therefore there is a valid claim vesting in the Attorney-General against Blake for disgorgement of his gain. Lord Hobhousedissented. He asserted that the Crown had no proprietary right to the money and as such had suffered no loss so as to receive restitutionary damages. Instead, he argued that compensatory damages, not a full account of profit, were appropriate: I cannot join your Lordships in that conclusion. I have two primary difficulties. The first is the facts of the present case. The speech of my noble and learned friend explores what is the "just response" to the defendant's conduct. The "just response" visualised in the present case is, however it is formulated, that Blake should be punished and deprived of any fruits of conduct connected with his former criminal and reprehensible conduct. The Crown have made no secret of this. It is not a commercial claim in support of any commercial interest. It is a claim relating to past criminal conduct. The way it was put by the Court of Appeal [1998] Ch 439, 464 was: "The ordinary member of the public would be shocked if the position was that the courts were powerless to prevent [Blake] profiting from his criminal conduct." The answer given by my noble and learned friend does not reflect the essentially punitive nature of the claim and seeks to apply principles of law which are only appropriate where commercial or proprietary interests are involved. Blake has made a financial gain but he has not done so at the expense of the Crown or making use of any property of or commercial interest of the Crown either in law or equity. My second difficulty is that the reasoning of my noble and learned friend depends upon the conclusion that there is some gap in the existing state of the law which requires to be filled by a new remedy. He accepts that the term "restitutionary damages" is unsatisfactory but, with respect, does not fully examine why this is so, drawing the necessary conclusions. The cross-appeal has to be determined on the basis that the only civil cause of action which the Crown has against Blake is a bare legal cause of action in contract for breach of contract in that he failed in 1989 to observe the negative undertaking which he gave in 1944. As already observed, it is recognised by Blake that the Crown had at the least a good arguable case for the grant of an injunction against him at that time. In other words it was a breach of contract - breach of a negative undertaking - liable to be restrained by injunction, i.e. specifically enforced. But the Crown did not apply for an injunction at the time it would have done some good and quite probably stopped the publication of the book. This is the source of the problems for the Crown in achieving its purpose in bringing these proceedings.... The concepts of restitution and compensation are not the same though they will on occasions fulfil the same need. Restitution is analogous to property: it concerns wealth or advantage which ought to be returned or transferred by the defendant to the plaintiff. It is a form of specific implement. Its clearest form is an order for the return or transfer of property which belongs in law or in equity to the plaintiff. Property includes an interest in property. Then there are rights recognised in equity such as those which arise from a fiduciary relationship. These rights give rise to restitutionary remedies including the remedy of account which, depending on the circumstances, could also derive from a common law relationship such as agency. Then, again, there are the rights now grouped under the heading of the law of restitution or unjust enrichment. These are still truly restitutionary concepts leading to restitutionary remedies. Typically they require the payment of money by the person unjustly enriched to the person at whose expense that enrichment has taken place. In so far as the appropriate remedy is the payment of money or the delivery up of a chattel or goods is concerned the common law could provide it; insofar as it required some other remedy or the recognition of an equitable right, the chancery jurisdiction had to be invoked. The essential of such rights and their enforcement was the procuring by the courts of the performance by the defendant of his obligations. The plaintiff recovers what he is actually entitled to not some monetary substitute for it. If what the plaintiff is entitled to is wealth expressed in monetary terms, the order will be for the payment of money but this does not alter the character of the remedy or of the right being recognised. He gets the money because it was his property or he was in some other way entitled to it. It is still the enforced performance of an obligation. The same is the case where an injunction is granted or a decree of specific performance or the ordering of an account. It is this class of rights which the Crown is unable to invoke as a result of the judgment of the Vice-Chancellor upheld by the Court of Appeal. There is no obligation of Blake left to perform or which now can be enforced. That time passed with the failure to apply for an injunction in 1989 or 1990. The Crown has no right to an injunction to stop the payment of the royalty to Blake and procure its payment to the Crown instead. The Crown has no right to the royalty and does not now assert one. The law, including equity, provides extensive and effective remedies for protecting and enforcing property rights. It is no criticism of the law that they are not available now to the Crown. The Crown does not have the substantive rights to support such remedies.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_General_v_Blake
Authenticityis a concept of personality in the fields of psychology,existential psychotherapy,existentialist philosophy, andaesthetics. In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which a person's actions are congruent with theirvaluesand desires, despite external pressures to social conformity. Theconscious selfcomes to terms with the condition ofGeworfenheit, of having beenthrowninto anabsurd world(without values and meaning) not of their own making, thereby encountering external forces and influences different from and other thanthe Self.[2]Authenticity has emerged as a central concept in contemporary models of well-being and the good life, serving as a foundational principle in many leading psychological frameworks.[3]A person’s lack of authenticity is consideredbad faithin dealing with other people and with one's self; thus, authenticity is in the instruction of theOracle of Delphi: “Know thyself.”[4]Concerningauthenticity in art, the philosophersJean Paul SartreandTheodor Adornoheld opposing views and opinions aboutjazz, a genre of American music; Sartre said that jazz is authentic and Adorno said that jazz is inauthentic. Many musical subcultures require artistic authenticity, lest the community consider an artist to be aposeurfor lacking authenticity (creative, musical, or personal);[5]artistic authenticity is integral to many genres of music, including but not limited to genres ofrock(such aspunk rockandheavy metal),club music(such ashouseandtechno), andhip-hop.[6] In the 18th century,Romanticphilosophers recommendedintuition, emotion, and a connection to Nature as the necessary counterbalances to theintellectualismof theAge of Enlightenment.[7][clarification needed]In the 20th century, Anglo–American preoccupations with authenticity centered on the writings ofexistentialist philosopherswhose native tongue is not English; therefore, the faithful, true, and accurate translation of the termexistentialismwas much debated, to which end the philosopherWalter Kaufmannassembled a canon of existentialist philosophers. Kaufmann's canon includes the DaneSøren Kierkegaard(1813–1855), the GermanMartin Heidegger(1889–1976), and the FrenchmanJean-Paul Sartre(1905–1980). For these existentialists, theconscious Selfcomes to terms with existence (being and living) in an absurd, materialist world featuring external forces, e.g.Geworfenheit(Thrown-ness), and intellectual influences different from and other than theSelf. Personal authenticity is exhibited in how a person acts and changes in response to the external world's influences upon the Self. Among artists,authenticity in artdescribes a work of art faithful to the artist's values.[8]In the field of psychology, authenticity identifies a person living life in accordance with their trueSelfand personal values rather than according to the external demands of society, such associal conventions,kinship, andduty.[9] To identify, describe, and defineauthenticity, existential philosophers likeKierkegaard,Nietzsche, andMartin Heideggerinvestigated the existential andontologicalsignificance of the social constructs that compose thenormsof society. For a journalist, not blindly accepting social norms contributes to producing intellectually authentic reportage, achieved by the reporter choosing to be true to their professional ethics and personal values. Yet, in the praxis of journalism, the reporter’s authenticity (professional and personal) is continually contradicted by the business requirements of corporate publishing.[10] According to Kierkegaard, personal authenticity depends upon a person finding an authentic faith and, in so doing, being true to themselves.[clarification needed]Moral compromises inherent to the ideologies of bourgeois society and Christianity challenge the personal integrity of a person who seeks to live an authentic life as determined by the self.[11]A mass-culture society[definition needed]diminishes the significance of personal individuality, by way of social “levelling” through news media that provide people with beliefs and opinions constructed by someone other than themselves. A person can attain authentic faith by facing reality and choosing to live according to the facts of the material world,[dubious–discuss]or can deny authentic faith by passively accepting religious faith.[11]Kierkegaard’s philosophy shows that personal authenticity is a personal choice based upon the experience of the real world;[11]inPractice in Christianity(1850), Kierkegaard wrote: Therefore, it is a risk to preach, for as I go up into that holy place — whether the church is packed or as good as empty, whether I, myself, am aware of it or not, I have one listener more than can be seen, an invisible listener, God in heaven, whom I certainly cannot see, but who truly can see me.... Truly, it is a risk to preach! Most people, no doubt, have the idea that stepping out on the stage as an actor to venture into the danger of having all eyes focused on one requires courage. Yet, in one sense, this danger, like everything on the stage, is an illusion because the actor, of course, is personally outside it all; his task is precisely to deceive, to dissemble, to represent someone else, and to reproduce, accurately, someone else’s words. On the other hand, the proclaimer of Christian truth steps forward into a place where, even if the eyes of all are not focused on him, the eye of an omniscient one is. His task is: to be himself, and in a setting, God’s house, which, all eyes and ears, requires only one thing of him — that he should be himself, be true. That he should be accurate, that is, that he, himself, should be what he proclaims [to be], or at least strive to be that, or at least be honest enough to confess, about himself, that he is not that.... How risky it is to be theIwho preaches, the one speaking, anIwho, by preaching and as he preaches, commits himself unconditionally, displays his life so that, if possible, one could look directly into his soul — to be thisI, that is risky! Personal authenticity can be achieved—without religion, which requires accepting pre-determined virtues (eternal valuations) as unquestionably true. In living authentically, a person elevates himself/herself above the mass culture to transcend the limits of conventional morality, thereby personally determining what is and what is notgood and bad, without the pre-determined virtues of conformity “on account of which we hold our grandfathers in esteem”. An authentic life is achieved by avoiding the “herding animal morality”.[12]To “stand alone [is to be] strong and original enough to initiate opposite estimates of value, totransvaluateand invert ‘eternal valuations’”.[12]Common to the existential perspectives of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are “the responsibilities they place on the individual to take an active part in the shaping of one’s beliefs, and then to be willing to act on that belief”.[11] It is difficult to describeauthenticityintelligibly. One possibility is to describe instead thenegative spacesurrounding the condition of beinginauthenticby giving examples.[13]To that end, the novels of Jean-Paul Sartre makeauthenticityconceptually intelligible through the stories ofanti-heroiccharacters, people who base their actions upon external, psychological pressures — such as thesocial pressureto appear to be a certain kind of person; the pressure to adopt a given way of life; and the pressure to prostitute personal integrity (moral values and aesthetic standards) in exchange for the comfort (physical, mental, and moral) of socialconformity. The novelist Sartre explains existential philosophy through characters who do not understand their reasoning for acting as they do—people who ignore crucial facts about their own lives to avoid learning about being aninauthenticperson with an identity defined from outside the self. Absolute freedom is thevertiginousexperience necessary for being authentic, yet such freedom can be so unpleasant as to impel people to choose an inauthentic life. As an aspect of authenticity, absolute freedom determines a person’srelationwith the real world, a relation not based upon or determined by a system of values or an ideology. In this manner, authenticity is connected with creativity, and the will to act must be born of the actor. In that vein, Heidegger speaks of absolute freedom asmodes of livingdetermined by personal choice. Sartre identified, described, and explained what is an inauthentic existence, not to define what is an authentic mode of living.[14] Erich Frommproposed a very different definition of authenticity in the mid-twentieth century.[15]He considered behavior of any kind, even that wholly in accord with societalmores, to be authentic if it results from personal understanding and approval of its drives and origins, rather than merely from conformity with the received wisdom of the society. Thus, a Frommean authentic may behave consistently in accord with cultural norms, if those norms appear on consideration to be appropriate, rather than simply in the interest of conforming with current norms. Fromm thus considers authenticity to be a positive outcome of enlightened and informed motivation, rather than a negative outcome of rejection of the expectations of others. He described the latter condition – the drive primarily to escape external restraints typified by the "absolute freedom" of Sartre – as "the illusion of individuality",[16]as opposed to the genuine individuality that results from authentic living. Some genres of rock music, especially the subcultures ofpunkandheavy metal, require a great deal of artistic authenticity from its musicians and fans and criticize and exclude musicians, composers, and bands they assess as beingposeurs— insufficientlyauthenticor inauthentic as artists.[5]Aposeuris an artist or a musical band who copies the dress, the style of speech, and themannersof the subculture, yet is excluded for not understanding the artistic philosophy, not understanding the sociology, and not understanding thevalue systemof the subculture; talking the talk, without walking the walk.[17] The authenticity of an artist has three bases: (I) long-term dedication to the music scene; (II) historical knowledge of the subculture; and (III) personal integrity (inner voice) for correct artistic choices.[18]At one extreme of the heavy-metal genre, exists the subgenre ofblack metalwhose adherents value above all else, artistic authenticity, emotional sincerity, and extremity of expression. Black metal artists emphatically profess that black metal performances are not for entertainment or spectacle, but rather that the extreme expression of such performances, areritual expression, achieved through transcendence of the body and the self.[19]In light of such systems of moral value in the arts, a working-class band, by accepting a formal recording contract, might appear to besell outswithin the heavy metal and punk rock communities.[6]The academicDeena Weinsteinsaid that “The code of authenticity, which is central to theheavy metal subculture, is demonstrated in many ways”, such as by clothing, an emotional singing voice, and thematic substance to the songs.[17] The philosopherJacob Golombargues that existential authenticity is a way of life incompatible with a system of moral values that comprehends all persons.[20][further explanation needed]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authenticity_(philosophy)
Bodily integrityis the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personalautonomy,self-ownership, andself-determinationof human beings over their own bodies. In the field ofhuman rights, violation of the bodily integrity of another is regarded as an unethical infringement, intrusive, and possibly criminal.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In theRepublic of Ireland, bodily integrity has been recognised by the courts as anunenumerated right, protected by the general guarantee of "personal rights" contained within Article 40 of theIrish constitution. InRyan v Attorney Generalit was pronounced that "you have the right not to have your body orpersonhoodinterfered with. This means that the State may not do anything to harm your life or health. If you are in custody, you have a right not to have your health endangered while in prison".[7][8] In a separate caseM (Immigration - Rights of Unborn) -v- Minister for Justice and Equality & ors,the Irish Supreme Court ruled that the right to bodily integrity extended to the unborn.[9]In a summary of the case in section 5.19, the Supreme Court stated: ...the only right of the unborn child as the Constitution now stands which attracts the entitlement to protection and vindication is that enshrined by the amendments in Article 40.3.3 namely, the right to life or, in other words, the right to be born and, possibly, (and this is a matter for future decision) allied rights such as the right to bodily integrity which are inherent in and inseparable from the right to life itself.[10] TheFourth Amendmentto theUnited States Constitutionstates "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated". Also, theU.S. Supreme Courthas upheld theright to privacy, which, as articulated by Julie Lane, often protects rights to bodily integrity. InGriswold v. Connecticut(1965) the Court supported women's rights to obtain birth control (and thus, retain reproductive autonomy) without marital consent. Similarly, a woman's right to privacy in obtainingabortionswas protected byRoe v. Wade(1973). InMcFall v. Shimp(1978), a Pennsylvania court ruled that a person cannot be forced to donate bone marrow, even if such a donation would save another person's life. The Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade(1973) on June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has also protected the right of governmental entities to infringe upon bodily integrity under certain circumstances. Examples include laws prohibiting the use of drugs, laws prohibitingeuthanasia,[11]laws requiring the use of seatbelts and helmets,strip searchesof prisoners,[12]and forcedblood tests.[13] In general, the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedomsdefends personal liberty and the right not to be interfered with. However, in certain unique circumstances government may have the right to temporarily override the right to physical integrity in order to preserve the life of the person. Such action can be described using the principle of supported autonomy,[14]a concept that was developed to describe unique situations in mental health (examples include theforced feedingof a person dying from theeating disorderanorexia nervosa, or the temporary treatment of a person living with apsychotic disorderwithantipsychoticmedication). One unique example of a Canadian law that promotes bodily integrity is Ontario'sHealth Care Consent Act. This law has to do with the capacity toconsentto medical treatment. The HCCA states that a person has the right to consent to or refuse treatment if they have mental capacity. In order to have capacity, a person must have the ability to understand and appreciate the consequences of the treatment decision. The law says that a person is capable with respect to a treatment, admission to a care facility or a personal assistance service if the person is able tounderstandandappreciatethe information that is relevant to making such a decision. Two key international documents protect these rights: theUniversal Declaration of Human Rightsand theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Furthermore, theConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesalso requires protection of physical and mental integrity.[15] Though bodily integrity is afforded to every human being, women are more often affected in violations of it, via unwanted pregnancy, and limited access tocontraception. These principles were addressed in the 1997 Irish Council for Civil Liberties Working Conference on Women's Rights as Human Rights, which defined bodily integrity as a right deserved by all women: "bodily integrity unifies women and ... no woman can say that it does not apply to them."[16] As defined by the conference participants, the following are bodily integrity rights that should be guaranteed to women: In her bookSextarianism, Maya Mikdashi described the persisting issue of the violation of women's bodily integrity through hyman exams in the Lebanese state.[17] The debate over children's rights to bodily integrity has grown in recent years.[18]In the wake of the highly publicizedJerry Sandusky trial,[19]parents have been increasingly encouraged to promote their child's sense of bodily integrity as a method of reducing children's vulnerability to being victims ofsexual violence,human traffickingandchild prostitution.[20] Methods of increasing children's sense of bodily autonomy include: TheInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rightsstates the following: "No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel,inhuman or degrading treatmentor punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation."[21]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodily_integrity
Indeductive logic, aconsistenttheoryis one that does not lead to a logicalcontradiction.[1]A theoryT{\displaystyle T}is consistent if there is noformulaφ{\displaystyle \varphi }such that bothφ{\displaystyle \varphi }and its negation¬φ{\displaystyle \lnot \varphi }are elements of the set of consequences ofT{\displaystyle T}. LetA{\displaystyle A}be a set ofclosed sentences(informally "axioms") and⟨A⟩{\displaystyle \langle A\rangle }the set of closed sentences provable fromA{\displaystyle A}under some (specified, possibly implicitly) formal deductive system. The set of axiomsA{\displaystyle A}isconsistentwhen there is no formulaφ{\displaystyle \varphi }such thatφ∈⟨A⟩{\displaystyle \varphi \in \langle A\rangle }and¬φ∈⟨A⟩{\displaystyle \lnot \varphi \in \langle A\rangle }. Atrivialtheory (i.e., one which proves every sentence in the language of the theory) is clearly inconsistent. Conversely, in anexplosiveformal system(e.g., classical or intuitionistic propositional or first-order logics) every inconsistent theory is trivial.[2]: 7Consistency of a theory is asyntacticnotion, whosesemanticcounterpart issatisfiability. A theory is satisfiable if it has amodel, i.e., there exists aninterpretationunder which allaxiomsin the theory are true.[3]This is whatconsistentmeant in traditionalAristotelian logic, although in contemporary mathematical logic the termsatisfiableis used instead. In asound formal system, every satisfiable theory is consistent, but the converse does not hold. If there exists a deductive system for which these semantic and syntactic definitions are equivalent for any theory formulated in a particular deductivelogic, the logic is calledcomplete.[citation needed]The completeness of thepropositional calculuswas proved byPaul Bernaysin 1918[citation needed][4]andEmil Postin 1921,[5]while the completeness of (first order)predicate calculuswas proved byKurt Gödelin 1930,[6]and consistency proofs for arithmetics restricted with respect to theinduction axiom schemawere proved by Ackermann (1924), von Neumann (1927) and Herbrand (1931).[7]Stronger logics, such assecond-order logic, are not complete. Aconsistency proofis amathematical proofthat a particular theory is consistent.[8]The early development of mathematicalproof theorywas driven by the desire to provide finitary consistency proofs for all of mathematics as part ofHilbert's program. Hilbert's program was strongly impacted by theincompleteness theorems, which showed that sufficiently strong proof theories cannot prove their consistency (provided that they are consistent). Although consistency can be proved using model theory, it is often done in a purely syntactical way, without any need to reference some model of the logic. Thecut-elimination(or equivalently thenormalizationof theunderlying calculusif there is one) implies the consistency of the calculus: since there is no cut-free proof of falsity, there is no contradiction in general. In theories of arithmetic, such asPeano arithmetic, there is an intricate relationship between the consistency of the theory and itscompleteness. A theory is complete if, for every formula φ in its language, at least one of φ or ¬φ is a logical consequence of the theory. Presburger arithmeticis an axiom system for the natural numbers under addition. It is both consistent and complete. Gödel's incompleteness theoremsshow that any sufficiently strongrecursively enumerabletheory of arithmetic cannot be both complete and consistent. Gödel's theorem applies to the theories ofPeano arithmetic(PA) andprimitive recursive arithmetic(PRA), but not toPresburger arithmetic. Moreover, Gödel's second incompleteness theorem shows that the consistency of sufficiently strong recursively enumerable theories of arithmetic can be tested in a particular way. Such a theory is consistent if and only if it doesnotprove a particular sentence, called the Gödel sentence of the theory, which is a formalized statement of the claim that the theory is indeed consistent. Thus the consistency of a sufficiently strong, recursively enumerable, consistent theory of arithmetic can never be proven in that system itself. The same result is true for recursively enumerable theories that can describe a strong enough fragment of arithmetic—including set theories such asZermelo–Fraenkel set theory(ZF). These set theories cannot prove their own Gödel sentence—provided that they are consistent, which is generally believed. Because consistency of ZF is not provable in ZF, the weaker notionrelative consistencyis interesting in set theory (and in other sufficiently expressive axiomatic systems). IfTis atheoryandAis an additionalaxiom,T+Ais said to be consistent relative toT(or simply thatAis consistent withT) if it can be proved that ifTis consistent thenT+Ais consistent. If bothAand ¬Aare consistent withT, thenAis said to beindependentofT. In the following context ofmathematical logic, theturnstile symbol⊢{\displaystyle \vdash }means "provable from". That is,a⊢b{\displaystyle a\vdash b}reads:bis provable froma(in some specified formal system). LetS{\displaystyle S}be aset of symbols. LetΦ{\displaystyle \Phi }be a maximally consistent set ofS{\displaystyle S}-formulas containingwitnesses. Define anequivalence relation∼{\displaystyle \sim }on the set ofS{\displaystyle S}-terms byt0∼t1{\displaystyle t_{0}\sim t_{1}}ift0≡t1∈Φ{\displaystyle \;t_{0}\equiv t_{1}\in \Phi }, where≡{\displaystyle \equiv }denotesequality. Lett¯{\displaystyle {\overline {t}}}denote theequivalence classof terms containingt{\displaystyle t}; and letTΦ:={t¯∣t∈TS}{\displaystyle T_{\Phi }:=\{\;{\overline {t}}\mid t\in T^{S}\}}whereTS{\displaystyle T^{S}}is the set of terms based on the set of symbolsS{\displaystyle S}. Define theS{\displaystyle S}-structureTΦ{\displaystyle {\mathfrak {T}}_{\Phi }}overTΦ{\displaystyle T_{\Phi }}, also called theterm-structurecorresponding toΦ{\displaystyle \Phi }, by: Define a variable assignmentβΦ{\displaystyle \beta _{\Phi }}byβΦ(x):=x¯{\displaystyle \beta _{\Phi }(x):={\bar {x}}}for each variablex{\displaystyle x}. LetIΦ:=(TΦ,βΦ){\displaystyle {\mathfrak {I}}_{\Phi }:=({\mathfrak {T}}_{\Phi },\beta _{\Phi })}be theterminterpretationassociated withΦ{\displaystyle \Phi }. Then for eachS{\displaystyle S}-formulaφ{\displaystyle \varphi }: There are several things to verify. First, that∼{\displaystyle \sim }is in fact an equivalence relation. Then, it needs to be verified that (1), (2), and (3) are well defined. This falls out of the fact that∼{\displaystyle \sim }is an equivalence relation and also requires a proof that (1) and (2) are independent of the choice oft0,…,tn−1{\displaystyle t_{0},\ldots ,t_{n-1}}class representatives. Finally,IΦ⊨φ{\displaystyle {\mathfrak {I}}_{\Phi }\vDash \varphi }can be verified by induction on formulas. InZFC set theorywith classicalfirst-order logic,[10]aninconsistenttheoryT{\displaystyle T}is one such that there exists a closed sentenceφ{\displaystyle \varphi }such thatT{\displaystyle T}contains bothφ{\displaystyle \varphi }and its negationφ′{\displaystyle \varphi '}. Aconsistenttheory is one such that the followinglogically equivalentconditions hold	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consistency
The right to respect fordigital integrityis an emerging right to protect people's digital lives. Every person (natural or legal) has the right to respect for their physical and moral integrity. Thedigital revolutionhas given rise to the notion ofdigital life. "If human beings have a digital existence, there is reason to consider that their integrity also extends to this dimension"[1] Contained in theright to life, the right to digital integrity is proposed as a justification for alldigital rights. The inclusion of the right to digital integrity infundamental rightsmakes it possible to claim the right to informationalself-determinationat constitutional level. A conference was organised in 2023[2]in theCosta Rican Legislative Assemblyon the theme ofartificial intelligenceandparticipatory democracy, which also presented the evolution of the right to digital integrity. In a speech on 15 June 2017, the President of the French Republic,Emmanuel Macron, referred to the notion of digital integrity in the security context of the digital society: "Cybercrime, cyberattacks and cyber-criminality are the main threats to digital integrity, and France must aim for excellence in this area by protecting personal data and digital integrity".[3] On 7 February 2018, a member of theFrench parliamentproposed an amendment to give data a patrimonial and moral value, so that each person each person has authority over his or her digital integrity[4]but which is not accepted. On 9 December 2024, the City Council of Strasbourg unanimously adopted a motion presented by the Group Strasbourg écologique et citoyenne for the "right to digital integrity of the individual in its main principles in order to guarantee equal and quality access to public services online and offline "[5] On 29 May 2021, thePirate Party Germanyincluded the right to digital integrity in its political programme during theGerman federal elections. The Pirate Party proposes amending Article 2(2) of theBasic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany.[6]The proposed text is "Everyone has the right to life and to physical and digital integrity.Personal freedomis inviolable. These rights may only be infringed by law". The concept of digital integrity has been defended by theSwiss Pirate Party, which regularly denounces attacks on it. TheSocial Democratic Partyhas included the notion of digital integrity in its Internet Policy: "The party is committed to the recognition and protection of citizens' digital integrity. Guaranteeing digital integrity is the main lever for the right to informational self-determination".[7] A draft popular initiative aims to add the right to digital integrity to Article 10 of theSwiss Federal Constitution.[8]The draft popular initiative "For Digital Sovereignty" aims to amend theFederal Constitution of the Swiss Confederationto integrity and digital sovereignty.[full citation needed] A parliamentary initiative to introduce the right to digital integrity into the Federal Constitution was submitted on 29 September 2022 bySamuel Bendahan.[9]In December 2023, the National Council rejected the proposal by 118 votes to 65. The majority which had examined the text beforehand, considered that this addition would have an essentially symbolic impact.[10] In November 2024, several members of theGrand Council of Basel-Stadthave filed a motion[11]requesting to add the right to digital integrity, including the right to an offline life, in the cantonal constitution. In September 2020, the Geneva section ofthe Liberalslaunched a cantonal popular initiative in the canton of Geneva to include a paragraph in the Geneva constitution stipulating that "everyone has the right to safeguard their digital integrity".[12]In November 2020, the initiative was abandoned in favour of a constitutional law. The draft constitutional law was tabled on 28 April 2021 and provides for the addition of a new paragraph identical to the draft initiative. On 22 September 2022, the Geneva Grand Council passed the constitutional law. Finally a popular vote was accepted by more than 94% of the population on 18 June 2023 to add this new right to the constitution of the canton.[13][14] The new constitutional article, art. 21A, also includes additional guarantees for the processing of personal data within the responsibility of the canton and includes the canton's commitment to address the digital divide through promoting digital inclusion, raising public digital awareness, as well as an engagement in the development and implementation of Swiss digital sovereignty.[15] A parliamentary initiative entitled "Guaranteeing digital integrity for everyone" was submitted on 28 September 2022 by Quentin Haas, a member of theJura parliament.[16]This was accepted on 15 February 2023. A draft decree amending the Constitution of the Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel was submitted to the Grand Council of Neuchâtel in January 2023. It was accepted by the Grand Council. The change was submitted to a popular vote on 24 November 2024.[17]The e introduction of digital integrity into the constitution was accepted by 91.51% of the voters.[18] Commission of the Constituent Assembly on the fundamental rights of the Canton of Valais is proposing the introduction of a paragraph in the future Constitution stating that "Every human being has the right to digital integrity".[19][20]Put to the popular vote in March 2024, the revision of the Constitution was rejected.[21] An initiative tabled in January 2023 by around forty members of parliament proposes adding Article 15a Protection of digital integrity in the Vaud constitution.[22] A petition submitted in June 2023 to the parliament by the local political party Pirat[23]proposes adding the right to digital integrity in a new Article 8 bis in the Zug constitution.[24] Canton of Zürich In March 2024, the local politicalPirate Partylaunched a signature campaign for a popular initiative to introduce digital integrity into its cantonal constitution.[25]On August 21, 2024, the initiative was submitted to the Canton of Zurich with 9,841 signatures (6,000 signatures would have been required for it to be valid)[26]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_integrity
Doubtis amental statein which themindremains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, and isuncertainabout them.[1][better source needed]Doubt on anemotionallevel is indecision betweenbeliefanddisbelief. It may involveuncertainty,distrustor lack of conviction on certainfacts, actions, motives, ordecisions. Doubt can result in delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concern for mistakes or missed opportunities. Partial or intermittent negativereinforcementcan create an effectiveclimate of fearand doubt.[2] DescartesemployedCartesian doubtas a pre-eminent methodological tool in his fundamental philosophical investigations. Branches of philosophy likelogicdevote much effort to distinguish the dubious, theprobableand the certain. Much of illogic rests on dubious assumptions, dubious data or dubious conclusions, withrhetoric,whitewashing, anddeceptionplaying their accustomed roles. In his posthumous workOn Certainty(OC),Ludwig Wittgensteindescribes how our everyday use of the words ‘doubt’ and ‘certainty’ function. The two concepts are interwoven into our daily lives such that if we cannot be certain of any fact, then we cannot be certain of the meaning of our words either. (OC §114). Doubt as a path towards (deeper)belieflies at the heart of the story of SaintThomas the Apostle. Note in this respect the theological views ofGeorg Hermes: ... the starting-point and chief principle of every science, and hence of theology also, is not only methodical doubt, but positive doubt. One can believe only what one has perceived to be true from reasonable grounds, and consequently one must have the courage to continue doubting until one has found reliable grounds to satisfy the reason.[3] Doubt that god(s) exist may form the basis ofagnosticism— the belief that one cannot determine the existence or non-existence of god(s). It may also form other brands ofskepticism, such asPyrrhonism, which do not take a positive stance in regard to the existence of god(s), but remain negative. Alternatively, doubt over the existence of god(s) may lead to acceptance of a particular religion: comparePascal's Wager. Doubt of a specific theology, scriptural or deistic, may bring into question the truth of that theology's set of beliefs. On the other hand, doubt as to some doctrines but acceptance of others may lead to the growth ofheresyand/or the splitting off ofsectsor groups of thought. Thusproto-Protestantsdoubtedpapal authority, and substituted alternative methods of governance in their new (but still recognizably similar) churches. Christian existentialistssuch asSøren Kierkegaardsuggest that for one to truly have belief in God, one would also have to doubt one's beliefs about God; the doubt is the rational part of a person's thought involved in weighing evidence, without which the belief would have no real substance. Belief is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to pragmatically justify the kind of total commitment involved in true theological belief or romantic love. Belief involves making that commitment anyway. Kierkegaard thought that to have belief is at the same time to have doubt.[4][5] Mostcriminalcases within anadversarial systemrequire that the prosecution proves its contentionsbeyond a reasonable doubt— a doctrine also called the "burden of proof". This means that the State must present propositions which preclude "reasonable doubt" in the mind of areasonable personas to the guilt of defendant. Some doubt may persist, but only to the extent that it wouldnotaffect a "reasonable person's" belief in the defendant's guilt. If the doubt raiseddoesaffect a "reasonable person's" belief, the jury is not satisfied beyond a "reasonable doubt". Thejurisprudenceof the applicable jurisdiction usually defines the precise meaning of words such as "reasonable" and "doubt" for such purposes. To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. —Henri Poincaré, Science and Hypothesis (1905) (from Dover abridged edition of 1952) Thescientific methodregularly quantifies[citation needed]doubt, and uses it to determine whetherfurther research is needed.Isaac Asimov, in his 1962 essay collectionFact and Fancy, described science as a system for causing and resolving intelligent doubt.[6] Charles Peircesaw doubt as the starting point of any scientific investigation.[7]Karl Popperdeployed scientific doubt as an essential tool: scientists working in the Popperian paradigm doubt any theory so thoroughly that they strive tofalsifythat theory.[8]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubt
Ethicsis thephilosophicalstudy ofmoralphenomena. Also calledmoral philosophy, it investigatesnormativequestions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches includenormative ethics,applied ethics, andmetaethics. Normative ethics aims to find general principles that govern how people should act. Applied ethics examines concrete ethical problems in real-life situations, such asabortion,treatment of animals, andbusiness practices. Metaethics explores the underlying assumptions and concepts of ethics. It asks whether there are objective moral facts, how moral knowledge is possible, and how moral judgments motivate people. Influential normative theories areconsequentialism,deontology, andvirtue ethics. According to consequentialists, an act is right if it leads to the best consequences. Deontologists focus on acts themselves, saying that they must adhere toduties, like telling the truth and keeping promises. Virtue ethics sees the manifestation ofvirtues, likecourageandcompassion, as the fundamental principle of morality. Ethics is closely connected tovalue theory, which studies the nature and types ofvalue, like the contrast betweenintrinsic and instrumental value.Moral psychologyis a related empirical field and investigates psychological processes involved in morality, such asreasoningand the formation ofcharacter.Descriptive ethicsdescribes the dominant moral codes and beliefs in different societies and considers their historical dimension. Thehistory of ethicsstarted in theancient periodwith the development of ethical principles and theories inancient Egypt,India,China, andGreece. This period saw the emergence of ethical teachings associated withHinduism,Buddhism,Confucianism,Daoism, and contributions of philosophers likeSocratesandAristotle. During themedieval period, ethical thought was strongly influenced by religious teachings. In themodern period, this focus shifted to a moresecular approachconcerned with moral experience,reasons for acting, and the consequences of actions. An influential development in the 20th century was the emergence of metaethics. Ethics, also called moral philosophy, is the study of moral phenomena. It is one of the main branches ofphilosophyand investigates the nature ofmoralityand the principles that govern the moralevaluationofconduct,character traits, andinstitutions. It examines whatobligationspeople have, what behavior is right and wrong, and how to lead agoodlife. Some of its key questions are "How should one live?" and "What givesmeaning to life?".[2]In contemporary philosophy, ethics is usually divided intonormative ethics,applied ethics, andmetaethics.[3] Morality is about what people ought to do rather than what they actually do, what they want to do, or whatsocial conventionsrequire. As a rational and systematic field of inquiry, ethics studies practical reasons why people should act one way rather than another. Most ethical theories seek universal principles that express a general standpoint of what is objectively right and wrong.[4]In a slightly different sense, the termethicscan also refer to individual ethical theories in the form of a rational system of moral principles, such asAristotelian ethics, and to a moral code that certain societies, social groups, or professions follow, as inProtestant work ethicandmedical ethics.[5] The English wordethicshas its roots in theAncient Greekwordêthos(ἦθος), meaning'character'and'personal disposition'. This word gave rise to the Ancient Greek wordēthikós(ἠθικός), which was translated intoLatinasethicaand entered the English language in the 15th century through theOld Frenchterméthique.[6]The termmoralityoriginates in the Latin wordmoralis, meaning'manners'and'character'. It was introduced into the English language during theMiddle Englishperiod through the Old French termmoralité.[7] The termsethicsandmoralityare usually used interchangeably but some philosophers distinguish between the two. According to one view, morality focuses on what moral obligations people have while ethics is broader and includes ideas about what is good and how to lead a meaningful life. Another difference is that codes of conduct in specific areas, such as business and environment, are usually termedethicsrather than morality, as inbusiness ethicsandenvironmental ethics.[8] Normative ethics is the philosophical study of ethical conduct and investigates the fundamental principles ofmorality. It aims to discover and justify general answers to questions like "How should one live?" and "How should people act?", usually in the form of universal or domain-independent principles that determine whether an act is right or wrong.[9]For example, given the particular impression that it is wrong to set a child on fire for fun, normative ethics aims to find more general principles that explain why this is the case, like the principle that one should not cause extremesufferingto theinnocent, which may itself be explained in terms of a more general principle.[10]Many theories of normative ethics also aim to guide behavior by helping people make moraldecisions.[11] Theories in normative ethics state how people should act or what kind of behavior is correct. They do not aim to describe how people normally act, what moral beliefs ordinary people have, how these beliefs change over time, or whatethical codesare upheld in certain social groups. These topics belong todescriptive ethicsand are studied in fields likeanthropology,sociology, andhistoryrather than normative ethics.[12] Some systems of normative ethics arrive at a single principle covering all possible cases. Others encompass a small set of basic rules that address all or at least the most important moral considerations.[13]One difficulty for systems with several basic principles is that these principles may conflict with each other in some cases and lead toethical dilemmas.[14] Distinct theories in normative ethics suggest different principles as the foundation of morality. The three most influential schools of thought areconsequentialism,deontology, andvirtue ethics.[15]These schools are usually presented as exclusive alternatives, but depending on how they are defined, they can overlap and do not necessarily exclude one another.[16]In some cases, they differ in which acts they see as right or wrong. In other cases, they recommend the same course of action but provide differentjustificationsfor why it is right.[17] Consequentialism, also called teleological ethics,[18][a]says that morality depends on consequences. According to the most common view, an act is right if it brings the best future. This means that there is no alternative course of action that has better consequences.[20]A key aspect of consequentialist theories is that they provide a characterization of what is good and then define what is right in terms of what is good.[21]For example, classicalutilitarianismsays that pleasure is good and that the action leading to the most overall pleasure is right.[22]Consequentialism has been discussed indirectly since the formulation of classical utilitarianism in the late 18th century. A more explicit analysis of this view happened in the 20th century, when the term was coined byG. E. M. Anscombe.[23] Consequentialists usually understand the consequences of an action in a very wide sense that includes the totality of its effects. This is based on the idea that actions make a difference in the world by bringing about acausalchain of events that would not have existed otherwise.[24]A core intuition behind consequentialism is that the future should be shaped to achieve the best possible outcome.[25] The act itself is usually not seen as part of the consequences. This means that if an act hasintrinsic valueor disvalue, it is not included as a factor. Some consequentialists see this as a flaw, saying that all value-relevant factors need to be considered. They try to avoid this complication by including the act itself as part of the consequences. A related approach is to characterize consequentialism not in terms of consequences but in terms of outcome, with the outcome being defined as the act together with its consequences.[26] Most forms of consequentialism are agent-neutral. This means that the value of consequences is assessed from a neutral perspective, that is, acts should have consequences that are good in general and not just good for the agent. It is controversial whether agent-relative moral theories, likeethical egoism, should be considered as types of consequentialism.[27] There are many different types of consequentialism. They differ based on what type of entity they evaluate, what consequences they take into consideration, and how they determine the value of consequences.[28]Most theories assess the moral value of acts. However, consequentialism can also be used to evaluatemotives,character traits, rules, andpolicies.[29] Many types assess the value of consequences based on whether they promote happiness or suffering. But there are also alternative evaluative principles, such asdesiresatisfaction,autonomy,freedom,knowledge,friendship,beauty, and self-perfection.[30]Some forms of consequentialism hold that there is only asingle source of value.[31]The most prominent among them is classicalutilitarianism, which states that the moral value of acts only depends on thepleasureandsufferingthey cause.[32]An alternative approach says that there are many different sources of value, which all contribute to one overall value.[31]Before the 20th century, consequentialists were only concerned with the total of value or the aggregate good. In the 20th century, alternative views were developed that additionally consider the distribution of value. One of them states that an equal distribution of goods is better than an unequal distribution even if the aggregate good is the same.[33] There are disagreements about which consequences should be assessed. An important distinction is between act consequentialism and rule consequentialism. According to act consequentialism, the consequences of an act determine its moral value. This means that there is a direct relation between the consequences of an act and its moral value. Rule consequentialism, by contrast, holds that an act is right if it follows a certain set of rules. Rule consequentialism determines the best rules by considering their outcomes at a community level. People should follow the rules that lead to the best consequences when everyone in the community follows them. This implies that the relation between an act and its consequences is indirect. For example, if telling the truth is one of the best rules, then according to rule consequentialism, a person should tell the truth even in specific cases where lying would lead to better consequences.[34] Another disagreement is between actual and expected consequentialism. According to the traditional view, only the actual consequences of an act affect its moral value. One difficulty of this view is that many consequences cannot be known in advance. This means that in some cases, even well-planned and intentioned acts are morally wrong if they inadvertently lead to negative outcomes. An alternative perspective states that what matters are not the actual consequences but the expected consequences. This view takes into account that when deciding what to do, people have to rely on their limited knowledge of the total consequences of their actions. According to this view, a course of action has positive moral value despite leading to an overall negative outcome if it had the highestexpected value, for example, because the negative outcome could not be anticipated or was unlikely.[35] A further difference is betweenmaximizingandsatisficingconsequentialism. According to maximizing consequentialism, only the best possible act is morally permitted. This means that acts with positive consequences are wrong if there are alternatives with even better consequences. One criticism of maximizing consequentialism is that it demands too much by requiring that people do significantly more than they are socially expected to. For example, if the best action for someone with a good salary would be to donate 70% of their income to charity, it would be morally wrong for them to only donate 65%. Satisficing consequentialism, by contrast, only requires that an act is "good enough" even if it is not the best possible alternative. According to this view, it is possible to do more than one is morally required to do.[36][b] Mohismin ancientChinese philosophyis one of the earliest forms of consequentialism. It arose in the 5th century BCE and argued that political action should promote justice as a means to increase the welfare of the people.[38] The most well-known form of consequentialism is utilitarianism. In its classical form, it is an act consequentialism that seeshappinessas the only source of intrinsic value. This means that an act is morally right if it produces "the greatest good for the greatest number" by increasing happiness and reducing suffering. Utilitarians do not deny that other things also have value, like health, friendship, and knowledge. However, they deny that these things have intrinsic value. Instead, they say that they have extrinsic value because they affect happiness and suffering. In this regard, they are desirable as a means but, unlike happiness, not as an end.[39]The view that pleasure is the only thing with intrinsic value is called ethical orevaluative hedonism.[40] Classical utilitarianism was initially formulated byJeremy Benthamat the end of the 18th century and further developed byJohn Stuart Mill. Bentham introduced thehedonic calculusto assess the value of consequences. Two key aspects of the hedonic calculus are the intensity and the duration of pleasure. According to this view, a pleasurable experience has a high value if it has a high intensity and lasts for a long time. A common criticism of Bentham's utilitarianism argued that its focus on the intensity of pleasure promotes an immoral lifestyle centered around indulgence in sensory gratification. Mill responded to this criticism by distinguishing between higher and lower pleasures. He stated that higher pleasures, like the intellectual satisfaction of reading a book, are more valuable than lower pleasures, like the sensory enjoyment of food and drink, even if their intensity and duration are the same.[42]Since its original formulation, many variations of utilitarianism have developed, including the difference betweenactandrule utilitarianismand between maximizing and satisficing utilitarianism.[43] Deontology assesses the moral rightness of actions based on a set ofnormsor principles. These norms describe the requirements that all actions need to follow.[44]They may include principles like telling the truth, keepingpromises, and not intentionally harming others.[45]Unlike consequentialists, deontologists hold that the validity of general moral principles does not directly depend on their consequences. They state that these principles should be followed in every case since they express how actions are inherently right or wrong. According to moral philosopherDavid Ross, it is wrong to break a promise even if no harm comes from it.[46]Deontologists are interested in which actions are right and often allow that there is a gap between what is right and what is good.[47]Many focus on prohibitions and describe which acts are forbidden under any circumstances.[48] Agent-centered deontological theories focus on theperson who actsand thedutiesthey have. Agent-centered theories often focus on the motives and intentions behind people's actions, highlighting the importance of acting for the right reasons. They tend to be agent-relative, meaning that the reasons for which people should act depend on personal circumstances. For example, a parent has a special obligation to their child, while a stranger does not have this kind of obligation toward a child they do not know. Patient-centered theories, by contrast, focus on the people affected by actions and the rights they have. An example is the requirement to treat other people as ends and not merely as a means to an end.[49]This requirement can be used to argue, for example, that it is wrong to kill a person against their will even if this act would save the lives of several others. Patient-centered deontological theories are usually agent-neutral, meaning that they apply equally to everyone in a situation, regardless of their specific role or position.[50] Immanuel Kant(1724–1804) is one of the most well-known deontologists.[51]He states that reaching outcomes that people desire, such as being happy, is not the main purpose of moral actions. Instead, he argues that there are universal principles that apply to everyone independent of their desires. He uses the termcategorical imperativefor these principles, saying that they have their source in the structure ofpractical reasonand are true for allrationalagents. According to Kant, to act morally is to act in agreement with reason as expressed by these principles[52]while violating them is both immoral and irrational.[53] Kant provided several formulations of the categorical imperative. One formulation says that a person should only followmaxims[c]that can beuniversalized. This means that the person would want everyone to follow the same maxim as a universal law applicable to everyone. Another formulation states that one should treat other people always as ends in themselves and never as mere means to an end. This formulation focuses on respecting and valuing other people for their own sake rather than using them in the pursuit of personal goals.[55] In either case, Kant says that what matters is to have a good will. A person has a good will if they respect the moral law and form their intentions and motives in agreement with it. Kant states that actions motivated in such a way are unconditionally good, meaning that they are good even in cases where they result in undesirable consequences.[56] Divine command theory says that God is the source of morality. It states that moral laws are divine commands and that to act morally is to obey and followGod's will. While all divine command theorists agree that morality depends on God, there are disagreements about the precise content of the divine commands, and theorists belonging to different religions tend to propose different moral laws.[57]For example, Christian and Jewish divine command theorists may argue that theTen Commandmentsexpress God's will[58]while Muslims may reserve this role for the teachings of theQuran.[59] Contractualists reject the reference to God as the source of morality and argue instead that morality is based on an explicit or implicitsocial contractbetween humans. They state that actual or hypotheticalconsentto this contract is the source of moral norms and duties. To determine which duties people have, contractualists often rely on athought experimentabout what rational people under ideal circumstances would agree on. For example, if they would agree that people should not lie then there is a moral obligation to refrain from lying. Because it relies on consent, contractualism is often understood as a patient-centered form of deontology.[60][d]Famous social contract theorists includeThomas Hobbes,John Locke,Jean-Jacques Rousseau, andJohn Rawls.[62] Discourse ethics also focuses on social agreement on moral norms but says that this agreement is based oncommunicative rationality. It aims to arrive at moral norms for pluralistic modern societies that encompass a diversity of viewpoints. A universal moral norm is seen as valid if all rational discourse participants do or would approve. This way, morality is not imposed by a single moral authority but arises from the moral discourse within society. This discourse should aim to establish anideal speech situationto ensure fairness and inclusivity. In particular, this means that discourse participants arefree to voicetheir different opinions without coercion but are at the same time required to justify them using rational argumentation.[63] The main concern of virtue ethics is howvirtuesare expressed in actions. As such, it is neither directly interested in the consequences of actions nor in universal moral duties.[64]Virtues are positive character traits likehonesty,courage,kindness, andcompassion. They are usually understood asdispositionsto feel, decide, and act in a certain manner by being wholeheartedly committed to this manner. Virtues contrast withvices, which are their harmful counterparts.[65] Virtue theorists usually say that the mere possession of virtues by itself is not sufficient. Instead, people should manifest virtues in their actions. An important factor is the practical wisdom, also calledphronesis, of knowing when, how, and which virtue to express. For example, a lack of practical wisdom may lead courageous people to perform morally wrong actions by taking unnecessary risks that should better be avoided.[66] Different types of virtue ethics differ on how they understand virtues and their role in practical life.Eudaimonismis the original form of virtue theory developed in Ancient Greek philosophy and draws a close relation between virtuous behavior and happiness. It states that people flourish by living a virtuous life. Eudaimonist theories often hold that virtues are positive potentials residing in human nature and that actualizing these potentials results in leading a good and happy life.[67]Agent-based theories, by contrast, see happiness only as a side effect and focus instead on the admirable traits and motivational characteristics expressed while acting. This is often combined with the idea that one can learn fromexceptional individualswhat those characteristics are.[67]Feministethics of careare another form of virtue ethics. They emphasize the importance ofinterpersonal relationshipsand say that benevolence by caring for thewell-beingof others is one of the key virtues.[68] Influential schools of virtue ethics in ancient philosophy wereAristotelianismandStoicism. According toAristotle(384–322 BCE), each virtue[e]is agolden meanbetween two types of vices: excess and deficiency. For example, courage is a virtue that lies between the deficient state ofcowardiceand the excessive state ofrecklessness. Aristotle held that virtuous action leads to happiness and makes people flourish in life.[70]Stoicism emerged about 300 BCE[71]and taught that, through virtue alone, people can achieve happiness characterized by apeaceful state of mindfree from emotional disturbances. The Stoics advocated rationality and self-mastery to achieve this state.[72]In the 20th century, virtue ethics experienced a resurgence thanks to philosophers such asElizabeth Anscombe,Philippa Foot,Alasdair MacIntyre, andMartha Nussbaum.[73] There are many other schools of normative ethics in addition to the three main traditions.Pragmatist ethicsfocuses on the role of practice and holds that one of the key tasks of ethics is to solve practical problems in concrete situations. It has certain similarities to utilitarianism and its focus on consequences but concentrates more on how morality is embedded in and relative to social and cultural contexts. Pragmatists tend to give more importance tohabitsthan to conscious deliberation and understand morality as a habit that should be shaped in the right way.[74] Postmodernethics agrees with pragmatist ethics about thecultural relativityof morality. It rejects the idea that there are objective moral principles that apply universally to all cultures and traditions. It asserts that there is no one coherent ethical code since morality itself is irrational and humans are morally ambivalent beings.[75]Postmodern ethics instead focuses on how moral demands arise in specific situations as one encounters other people.[76] Ethical egoism is the view that people should act in theirself-interestor that an action is morally right if the person acts for their own benefit. It differs frompsychological egoism, which states that people actually follow their self-interest without claiming that they should do so. Ethical egoists may act in agreement with commonly accepted moral expectations and benefit other people, for example, by keeping promises, helping friends, and cooperating with others. However, they do so only as a means to promote their self-interest. Ethical egoism is often criticized as an immoral andcontradictoryposition.[77] Normative ethics has a central placein most religions. Key aspects ofJewish ethicsare to follow the613 commandments of Godaccording to theMitzvahduty found in theTorahand totake responsibility for societal welfare.[78]Christian ethicsputs less emphasis on following precise laws and teaches instead the practice ofselfless love, such as theGreat Commandmentto "Love your neighbor as yourself".[79]TheFive Pillars of Islamconstitute a basic framework of Muslim ethics and focus on the practice offaith,prayer,charity,fasting during Ramadan, andpilgrimage to Mecca.[80] Buddhists emphasize the importance ofcompassionandloving-kindnesstowards all sentient entities.[81]A similar outlook is found inJainism, which hasnon-violenceas its principal virtue.[82]Dutyis a central aspect ofHindu ethicsand is about fulfilling social obligations, which may vary depending ona person's social classandstage of life.[83]Confucianismplaces great emphasis on harmony in society and seesbenevolenceas a key virtue.[84]Taoismextends the importance of living in harmony to the whole world and teaches that people should practiceeffortless actionby followingthe natural flow of the universe.[85]Indigenous belief systems, likeNative American philosophyand the AfricanUbuntu philosophy, often emphasize the interconnectedness of all living beings and the environment while stressing the importance of living in harmony with nature.[86] Metaethics is the branch of ethics that examines the nature, foundations, and scope ofmoral judgments, concepts, and values. It is not interested in whichactionsare right but in what it means for an action to be right and whether moral judgments areobjectiveand can be true at all. It further examines themeaningofmoralityand other moral terms.[87]Metaethics is ametatheorythat operates on a higher level of abstraction than normative ethics by investigating its underlying assumptions. Metaethical theories typically do not directly judge which normative ethical theories are correct. However, metaethical theories can still influence normative theories by examining their foundational principles.[88] Metaethics overlaps with various branches of philosophy. On the level ofontology,[f]it examines whether there areobjectivemoral facts.[90]Concerningsemantics, it asks what the meaning of moral terms are and whether moral statements have atruth value.[91]Theepistemologicalside of metaethics discusses whether and how people can acquire moral knowledge.[92]Metaethics overlaps withpsychologybecause of its interest in how moral judgments motivate people to act. It also overlaps withanthropologysince it aims to explain howcross-cultural differencesaffect moral assessments.[93] Metaethics examines basic ethical concepts and their relations. Ethics is primarily concerned withnormative statementsabout whatoughtto be the case, in contrast todescriptive statements, which are about what is the case.[95][g]Dutiesandobligationsexpress requirements of what people ought to do.[98]Duties are sometimes defined as counterparts of therightsthat always accompany them. According to this view, someone has a duty to benefit another person if this other person has the right to receive that benefit.[99] Obligationandpermissionare contrasting terms that can be defined through each other: to be obligated to do something means that one is not permitted not to do it and to be permitted to do something means that one is not obligated not to do it.[100][h]Some theorists define obligations in terms ofvaluesor what isgood. When used in a general sense,goodcontrasts withbad. When describing people and their intentions, the termevilrather thanbadis often employed.[101] Obligations are used to assess the moral status of actions,motives, andcharacter traits.[102]An action is morally right if it is in tune with a person's obligations and morally wrong if it violates them.[103]Supererogationis a special moral status that applies to cases in which the agent does more than is morally required of them.[104]To bemorally responsiblefor an action usually means that the person possesses and exercises certain capacities or some form ofcontrol.[i]If a person is morally responsible then it is appropriate to respond to them in certain ways, for example, bypraisingorblamingthem.[106] A major debate in metaethics is about the ontological status of morality, questioning whether ethical values and principles are real. It examines whether moralpropertiesexist as objective features independent of the humanmindandculturerather than as subjective constructs or expressions of personal preferences andcultural norms.[107] Moral realistsaccept the claim that there are objective moral facts. This view implies that moral values are mind-independent aspects of reality and that there is an absolute fact about whether a given action is right or wrong. A consequence of this view is that moral requirements have the same ontological status as non-moral facts: it is an objective fact whether there is an obligation to keep a promise just as it is an objective fact whether a thing is rectangular.[107]Moral realism is often associated with the claim that there are universal ethical principles that apply equally to everyone.[108]It implies that if two people disagree about a moral evaluation then at least one of them is wrong. This observation is sometimes taken as an argument against moral realism since moral disagreement is widespread in most fields.[109] Moral relativistsreject the idea that morality is an objective feature of reality. They argue instead that moral principles are human inventions. This means that a behavior is not objectively right or wrong but only subjectively right or wrong relative to a certain standpoint. Moral standpoints may differ between persons, cultures, and historical periods.[110]For example, moral statements like "Slavery is wrong" or "Suicide is permissible" may be true in one culture and false in another.[111][j]Some moral relativists say that moral systems are constructed to serve certain goals such as social coordination. According to this view, different societies and different social groups within a society construct different moral systems based on their diverging purposes.[113]Emotivismprovides a different explanation, stating that morality arises from moral emotions, which are not the same for everyone.[114] Moral nihilistsdeny the existence of moral facts. They reject the existence of both objective moral facts defended by moral realism and subjective moral facts defended by moral relativism. They believe that the basic assumptions underlying moral claims are misguided. Some moral nihilists conclude from this that anything is allowed. A slightly different view emphasizes that moral nihilism is not itself a moral position about what is allowed and prohibited but the rejection of any moral position.[115]Moral nihilism, like moral relativism, recognizes that people judge actions as right or wrong from different perspectives. However, it disagrees that this practice involves morality and sees it as just one type of human behavior.[116] A central disagreement among moral realists is between naturalism and non-naturalism. Naturalism states that moral properties arenaturalproperties accessible toempirical observation. They are similar to the natural properties investigated by thenatural sciences, like color and shape.[117]Some moral naturalists hold that moral properties are a unique and basic type of natural property.[k]Another view states that moral properties are real but not a fundamental part of reality and can be reduced to other natural properties, such as properties describing the causes ofpleasureandpain.[119] Non-naturalism argues that moral properties form part of reality and that moral features are not identical or reducible to natural properties. This view is usually motivated by the idea that moral properties are unique because they express what should be the case.[120]Proponents of this position often emphasize this uniqueness by claiming that it is afallacy to define ethics in terms of natural entitiesor to infer prescriptive from descriptive statements.[121] The metaethical debate between cognitivism and non-cognitivism is about the meaning of moral statements and is a part of the study of semantics. According to cognitivism, moral statements like "Abortion is morally wrong" and "Going to war is never morally justified" are truth-apt, meaning that they all have a truth value: they are either true or false. Cognitivism claims that moral statements have a truth value but is not interested in which truth value they have. It is often seen as the default position since moral statements resemble other statements, like "Abortion is a medical procedure" or "Going to war is a political decision", which have a truth value.[122] There is a close relation between the semantic theory of cognitivism and the ontological theory of moral realism. Moral realists assert that moral facts exist. This can be used to explain why moral statements are true or false: a statement is true if it is consistent with the facts and false otherwise. As a result, philosophers who accept one theory often accept the other as well. An exception iserror theory, which combines cognitivism with moral nihilism by claiming that all moral statements are false because there are no moral facts.[123] Non-cognitivism is the view that moral statements lack a truth value. According to this view, the statement "Murder is wrong" is neither true nor false. Some non-cognitivists claim that moral statements have no meaning at all. A different interpretation is that they have another type of meaning. Emotivism says that they articulate emotional attitudes. According to this view, the statement "Murder is wrong" expresses that the speaker has a negative moral attitude towards murder or disapproves of it.Prescriptivism, by contrast, understands moral statements ascommands. According to this view, stating that "Murder is wrong" expresses a command like "Do not commit murder".[124] The epistemology of ethics studies whether or how one can know moral truths.Foundationalistviews state that some moral beliefs are basic and do not require further justification.Ethical intuitionismis one such view that says that humans have aspecial cognitive facultythrough which they can know right from wrong. Intuitionists often argue that general moral truths, like "Lying is wrong", areself-evidentand that it is possible toknow them without relying on empirical experience. A different foundationalist position focuses on particular observations rather than general intuitions. It says that if people are confronted with a concrete moral situation, they can perceive whether right or wrong conduct was involved.[125] In contrast to foundationalists,coherentistssay that there are no basic moral beliefs. They argue that beliefs form a complex network and mutually support and justify one another. According to this view, a moral belief can only amount to knowledge if it coheres with the rest of the beliefs in the network.[125]Moral skepticssay that people are unable to distinguish between right and wrong behavior, thereby rejecting the idea that moral knowledge is possible. A common objection by critics of moral skepticism asserts that it leads toimmoralbehavior.[126] Thought experimentsare used as amethodin ethics to decide between competing theories. They usually present an imagined situation involving anethical dilemmaand explore how people's intuitions of right and wrong change based on specific details in that situation.[127]For example, inPhilippa Foot'strolley problem, a person can flip a switch to redirect a trolley from one track to another, thereby sacrificing the life of one person to save five. This scenario explores how the difference between doing and allowing harm affects moral obligations.[128]Another thought experiment, proposed byJudith Jarvis Thomson, examines the moral implications ofabortionby imagining a situation in which a person gets connected without their consentto an ill violinist. In this scenario, the violinist dies if the connection is severed, similar to how a fetus dies in the case of abortion. The thought experiment explores whether it would be morally permissible to sever the connection within the next nine months.[129] On the level of psychology, metaethics is interested in how moral beliefs and experiences affect behavior. According tomotivational internalists, there is a direct link between moral judgments and action. This means that every judgment about what is right motivates the person to act accordingly. For example,Socratesdefends a strong form of motivational internalism by holding that a person can only perform an evil deed if they areunawarethat it is evil. Weaker forms of motivational internalism say that people can act against their own moral judgments, for example, because of theweakness of the will. Motivational externalists accept that people can judge an act to be morally required without feeling a reason to engage in it. This means that moral judgments do not always provide motivational force.[130]A closely related question is whether moral judgments can provide motivation on their own or need to be accompanied by othermental states, such as adesireto act morally.[131] Applied ethics, also known as practical ethics,[132]is the branch of ethics andapplied philosophythat examines concrete moral problems encountered in real-life situations. Unlike normative ethics, it is not concerned with discovering or justifying universal ethical principles. Instead, it studies how those principles can be applied to specific domains of practical life, what consequences they have in these fields, and whether additional domain-specific factors need to be considered.[133] One of the main challenges of applied ethics is to breach the gap between abstract universal theories and their application to concrete situations.[134]For example, an in-depth understanding of Kantianism or utilitarianism is usually not sufficient to decide how to analyze the moral implications of amedical procedurelike abortion. One reason is that it may not be clear how the Kantian requirement of respecting everyone'spersonhoodapplies to a fetus or, from a utilitarian perspective, what the long-term consequences are in terms of the greatest good for the greatest number.[135]This difficulty is particularly relevant to applied ethicists who employ a top-downmethodologyby starting from universal ethical principles and applying them to particular cases within a specific domain.[136]A different approach is to use a bottom-up methodology, known ascasuistry. This method does not start from universal principles but from moral intuitions about particular cases. It seeks to arrive at moral principles relevant to a specific domain, which may not be applicable to other domains.[137]In either case, inquiry into applied ethics is often triggered byethical dilemmasin which a person is subject to conflicting moral requirements.[138] Applied ethics covers issues belonging to both theprivate sphere, like right conduct in the family and close relationships, and thepublic sphere, like moral problems posed by new technologies and duties toward future generations.[139]Major branches includebioethics,business ethics, andprofessional ethics. There are many other branches, and their domains of inquiry often overlap.[140] Bioethics covers moral problems associated withliving organismsandbiologicaldisciplines.[141]A key problem in bioethics is how features such asconsciousness, being able to feel pleasure and pain,rationality, and personhood affect the moral status of entities. These differences concern, for example, how to treat non-living entities like rocks and non-sentient entities like plants in contrast to animals, and whether humans have a different moral status than other animals.[142]According toanthropocentrism, only humans have a basic moral status. This suggests that all other entities possess a derivative moral status only insofar as they impact human life.Sentientism, by contrast, extends an inherent moral status to all sentient beings. Further positions includebiocentrism, which also covers non-sentient lifeforms, andecocentrism, which states that all of nature has a basic moral status.[143] Bioethics is relevant to various aspects of life and many professions. It covers a wide range of moral problems associated with topics likeabortion,cloning,stem cell research,euthanasia,suicide,animal testing,intensive animal farming,nuclear waste, andair pollution.[144] Bioethics can be divided intomedical ethics,animal ethics, andenvironmental ethicsbased on whether the ethical problems relate to humans, other animals, or nature in general.[145]Medical ethics is the oldest branch of bioethics. TheHippocratic Oathis one of the earliest texts to engage in medical ethics by establishing ethical guidelines for medical practitioners like aprohibition to harm the patient.[146]Medical ethics often addresses issues related to the start and end of life. It examines the moral status of fetuses, for example, whether they are full-fledged persons and whether abortion is a form ofmurder.[147]Ethical issues also arise about whether a person has the right to end their life in cases of terminal illness or chronic suffering and ifdoctors may help them do so.[148]Other topics in medical ethics includemedical confidentiality,informed consent, research on human beings,organ transplantation, and access tohealthcare.[146] Animal ethics examines how humans should treat other animals. This field often emphasizes the importance ofanimal welfarewhile arguing that humans should avoid or minimize the harm done to animals. There is wide agreement that it is wrong totorture animalsfor fun. The situation is more complicated in cases where harm is inflicted on animals as a side effect of the pursuit of human interests. This happens, for example, during factory farming, when using animals as food, and for research experiments on animals.[149]A key topic in animal ethics is the formulation ofanimal rights. Animal rights theorists assert that animals have a certain moral status and that humans should respect this status when interacting with them.[150]Examples of suggested animal rights include the right to life, the right to be free from unnecessary suffering, and the right to natural behavior in a suitable environment.[151] Environmental ethics deals with moral problems relating to the natural environment including animals, plants,natural resources, andecosystems. In its widest sense, it covers the wholecosmos.[152]In the domain ofagriculture, this concerns the circumstances under which the vegetation of an area may be cleared to use it for farming and the implications of plantinggenetically modified crops.[153]On a wider scale, environmental ethics addresses the problem ofglobal warmingand people's responsibility on the individual andcollective levels, including topics likeclimate justiceand duties towards future generations. Environmental ethicists often promotesustainable practicesand policies directed at protecting and conserving ecosystems andbiodiversity.[154] Business ethics examines the moral implications of business conduct and how ethical principles apply to corporations and organizations.[155]A key topic iscorporate social responsibility, which is the responsibility of corporations to act in a manner that benefits society at large. Corporate social responsibility is a complex issue since many stakeholders are directly and indirectly involved in corporate decisions, such as theCEO, theboard of directors, and theshareholders. A closely related topic is the question of whether corporations themselves, and not just their stakeholders, have moral agency.[156]Business ethics further examines the role of honesty and fairness in business practices as well as the moral implications ofbribery,conflict of interest, protection of investors and consumers,worker's rights,ethical leadership, and corporatephilanthropy.[155] Professional ethics is a closely related field that studies ethical principles applying to members of a specificprofession, likeengineers,medical doctors,lawyers, andteachers. It is a diverse field since different professions often have different responsibilities.[157]Principles applying to many professions include that the professional has the required expertise for the intended work and that they have personal integrity and are trustworthy. Further principles are to serve the interest of their target group, followclient confidentiality, and respect and uphold the client's rights, such as informed consent.[158]More precise requirements often vary between professions. A cornerstone ofengineering ethicsis to protect public safety, health, and well-being.[159]Legal ethicsemphasizes the importance of respect for justice, personal integrity, and confidentiality.[160]Key factors injournalism ethicsinclude accuracy, truthfulness, independence, andimpartialityas well as properattributionto avoidplagiarism.[161] Many other fields of applied ethics are discussed in the academic literature.Communication ethicscovers moral principles ofcommunicative conduct. Two key issues in it arefreedom of speechand speech responsibility. Freedom of speech concerns the ability to articulate one's opinions and ideas without the threats of punishment and censorship. Speech responsibility is about being accountable for the consequences of communicative action and inaction.[162]A closely related field isinformation ethics, which focuses on the moral implications of creating, controlling, disseminating, and usinginformation.[163] Theethics of technologyexamines the moral issues associated with the creation and use of any artifact, from simple spears to high-tech computers andnanotechnology.[164]Central topics in the ethics of technology include the risks associated with creating new technologies, their responsible use, and questions about human enhancement through technological means, such asperformance-enhancing drugsandgenetic enhancement.[165]Important subfields includecomputer ethics,ethics of artificial intelligence,machine ethics,ethics of nanotechnology, andnuclear ethics.[166] Theethics of warinvestigates moral problems of war and violent conflicts. According tojust war theory, waging war is morally justified if it fulfills certain conditions. These conditions are commonly divided into requirements concerning thecause to initiate violent activities, such as self-defense, and theway those violent activities are conducted, such asavoiding excessive harm to civiliansin the pursuit oflegitimate military targets.[167]Military ethics is a closely related field that is interested in the conduct ofmilitary personnel. It governs questions of the circumstances under which they are permitted to kill enemies, destroy infrastructure, and put the lives of their own troops at risk.[168]Additional topics are the recruitment, training, and discharge of military personnel.[169] Other fields of applied ethics includepolitical ethics, which examines the moral dimensions of political decisions,[170]educational ethics, which covers ethical issues related to proper teaching practices,[171]andsexual ethics, which addresses the moral implications ofsexual behavior.[172] Value theory, also called axiology,[l]is the philosophical study of value. It examines the nature and types of value.[174]A central distinction is betweenintrinsic and instrumental value. An entity has intrinsic value if it is good in itself or good for its own sake. An entity has instrumental value if it is valuable as a means to something else, for example, by causing something that has intrinsic value.[175]Other topics include what kinds of things have value and how valuable they are. For instance, axiological hedonists say thatpleasureis the only source of intrinsic value and that the magnitude of value corresponds to the degree of pleasure. Axiological pluralists, by contrast, hold that there are different sources of intrinsic value, such as happiness, knowledge, and beauty.[176] There are disagreements about the exact relation between value theory and ethics. Some philosophers characterize value theory as a subdiscipline of ethics while others see value theory as the broader term that encompasses other fields besides ethics, such asaestheticsandpolitical philosophy.[177]A different characterization sees the two disciplines as overlapping but distinct fields.[178]The termaxiological ethicsis sometimes used for the discipline studying this overlap, that is, the part of ethics that studies values.[179]The two disciplines are sometimes distinguished based on their focus: ethics is about moral behavior or what is right while value theory is about value or what isgood.[180]Some ethical theories, like consequentialism, stand very close to value theory by defining what is right in terms of what is good. But this is not true for ethics in general and deontological theories tend to reject the idea that what is good can be used to define what is right.[181][m] Moral psychology explores the psychological foundations and processes involved in moral behavior. It is anempirical sciencethat studies how humans think and act in moral contexts. It is interested in howmoral reasoningand judgments take place, howmoral characterforms, what sensitivity people have to moral evaluations, and how people attribute and react tomoral responsibility.[183] One of its key topics ismoral developmentor the question of how morality develops on a psychological level from infancy to adulthood.[184]According toLawrence Kohlberg, children go through differentstages of moral developmentas they understand moral principles first as fixed rules governing reward and punishment, then as conventional social norms, and later as abstract principles of what is objectively right across societies.[185]A closely related question is whether and how people can betaught to act morally.[186] Evolutionary ethics, a closely related field, explores howevolutionary processes have shaped ethics. One of its key ideas is thatnatural selectionis responsible for moral behavior and moral sensitivity. It interprets morality as anadaptationtoevolutionary pressurethat augmentsfitnessby offering a selective advantage.[187]Altruism, for example, can provide benefits to group survival by improving cooperation.[188]Some theorists, likeMark Rowlands, argue that morality is not limited to humans, meaning that some non-human animals act based onmoral emotions. Others explore evolutionary precursors to morality in non-human animals.[189] Descriptive ethics, also called comparative ethics,[190]studies existing moral codes, practices, and beliefs. It investigates and compares moral phenomena in differentsocietiesand different groups within a society. It aims to provide avalue-neutraland empirical description without judging or justifying which practices are objectively right. For instance, the question of how nurses think about the ethical implications of abortion belongs to descriptive ethics. Another example is descriptive business ethics, which describes ethical standards in the context of business, including common practices, official policies, and employee opinions. Descriptive ethics also has a historical dimension by exploring how moral practices and beliefs have changed over time.[191] Descriptive ethics is a multidisciplinary field that is covered by disciplines such asanthropology,sociology,psychology, andhistory. Its empirical outlook contrasts with the philosophical inquiry into normative questions, such as which ethical principles are correct and how to justify them.[192] The history of ethics studies how moral philosophy has developed and evolved in the course of history.[193]It has its origin in ancient civilizations. Inancient Egypt, the concept ofMaatwas used as an ethical principle to guide behavior and maintain order by emphasizing the importance of truth, balance, and harmony.[194][n]Inancient Indiastarting in the 2nd millennium BCE,[196]theVedasand laterUpanishadswere composed as the foundational texts ofHindu philosophyand discussed the role ofdutyand theconsequences of one's actions.[197]Buddhist ethicsoriginated in ancient India between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE and advocatedcompassion,non-violence, and the pursuit ofenlightenment.[198]Ancient Chinain the 6th century BCE[o]saw the emergence ofConfucianism, which focuses on moral conduct andself-cultivationby acting in agreement with virtues, andDaoism, which teaches that human behavior should be in harmony with thenatural order of the universe.[200] Inancient Greece,Socrates(c.469–399 BCE)[201]emphasized the importance of inquiry into what a good life is by critically questioning established ideas and exploring concepts like virtue, justice, courage, and wisdom.[202]According toPlato(c.428–347 BCE),[203]to lead a good life means that the different parts of the soul are in harmony with each other.[204]ForAristotle(384–322 BCE),[205]a good life is associated with being happy by cultivating virtues and flourishing.[206]Starting in the 4th century BCE, the close relation between right action and happiness was also explored by theHellenisticschools ofEpicureanism, which recommended a simple lifestyle without indulging in sensory pleasures, andStoicism, which advocated living in tune with reason and virtue while practicing self-mastery and becoming immune to disturbing emotions.[207] Ethical thought in themedieval periodwas strongly influenced by religious teachings.Christian philosophersinterpreted moral principles asdivine commandsoriginating from God.[208]Thomas Aquinas(1224–1274 CE)[209]developednatural lawethics by claiming that ethical behavior consists in following the laws and order of nature, which he believed were created by God.[210]In the Islamic world, philosophers likeAl-Farabi(c.878–950 CE)[211]andAvicenna(980–1037 CE)[212]synthesized ancient Greek philosophy with the ethical teachings of Islam while emphasizing the harmony between reason and faith.[213]In medieval India, Hindu philosophers likeAdi Shankara(c.700–750 CE)[214]andRamanuja(1017–1137 CE)[215][p]saw the practice of spirituality to attainliberationas the highest goal of human behavior.[217] Moral philosophy in the modern period was characterized by a shift toward a secular approach to ethics.Thomas Hobbes(1588–1679)[218]identified self-interest as the primary drive of humans. He concluded that it would lead to "a war of every man against every man" unless asocial contractis established to avoid this outcome.[219]David Hume(1711–1776)[220]thought that only moral sentiments, likeempathy, can motivate ethical actions while he saw reason not as a motivating factor but only as what anticipates the consequences of possible actions.[221]Immanuel Kant(1724–1804),[222]by contrast, saw reason as the source of morality. He formulated adeontological theory, according to which the ethical value of actions depends on their conformity with moral laws independent of their outcome. These laws take the form ofcategorical imperatives, which are universal requirements that apply to every situation.[223] Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770–1831)[224]saw Kant's categorical imperative on its own as an empty formalism and emphasized the role of social institutions in providing concrete content to moral duties.[225]According to the Christian philosophy ofSøren Kierkegaard(1813–1855),[226]thedemands of ethical duties are sometimes suspendedwhen doing God's will.[227]Friedrich Nietzsche(1844–1900)[228]formulated criticisms of both Christian and Kantian morality.[229]Another influential development in this period was the formulation ofutilitarianismbyJeremy Bentham(1748–1832)[230]andJohn Stuart Mill(1806–1873).[231]According to the utilitarian doctrine, actions should promote happiness while reducing suffering and the right action is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people.[232] An important development in20th-century ethicsinanalytic philosophywas the emergence of metaethics.[234]Significant early contributions to this field were made byG. E. Moore(1873–1958),[235]who argued that moral values are essentially different from otherpropertiesfound in the natural world.[236]R. M. Hare(1919–2002)[237]followed this idea in formulating hisprescriptivism, which states that moral statements are commands that, unlike regularjudgments, are neither true nor false.[238]J. L. Mackie(1917–1981)[239]suggested that every moral statement is false since there are no moral facts.[240]An influential argument for moral realism was made byDerek Parfit(1942–2017),[241]who argued that morality concerns objective features of reality that give people reasons to act in one way or another.[242]Bernard Williams(1929–2003)[243]agreed with the close relation between reasons and ethics but defended a subjective view instead that sees reasons as internalmental statesthat may or may not reflect external reality.[244] Another development in this period was the revival of ancientvirtue ethicsby philosophers likePhilippa Foot(1920–2010).[245]In the field of political philosophy,John Rawls(1921–2002)[246]relied onKantian ethicsto analyzesocial justiceasa form of fairness.[247]In continental philosophy,phenomenologistssuch asMax Scheler(1874–1928)[248]andNicolai Hartmann(1882–1950)[249]built ethical systems based on the claim that values have objective reality that can be investigated using the phenomenological method.[250]Existentialists likeJean-Paul Sartre(1905–1980)[251]andSimone de Beauvoir(1908–1986),[252]by contrast, held that values are created by humans and explored the consequences of this view in relation to individual freedom, responsibility, and authenticity.[253]This period also saw the emergence offeminist ethics, which questions traditional ethical assumptions associated with a male perspective and puts alternative concepts, likecare, at the center.[254]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics
Honestyortruthfulnessis a facet ofmoral characterthat connotes positive andvirtuousattributes such asintegrity,truthfulness, straightforwardness (including straightforwardness of conduct:earnestness), along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Honesty also involves being trustworthy,loyal,fair, andsincere. A reputation for honesty is denoted by terms likereputabilityandtrustworthiness. Honesty about one's future conduct, loyalties, or commitments is calledaccountability, reliability,dependability, orconscientiousness. Someone who goes out of their way to tell possibly unwelcome truths extends honesty into the region of candor or frankness. TheCynicsengaged in a challenging sort of frankness like this calledparrhêsia. Honesty is valued in many ethnic and religious cultures.[1]"Honesty is the best policy" is aproverbofEdwin Sandys, while the quote "Honesty is the first chapter in the book ofwisdom" is attributed toThomas Jefferson, as used in a letter toNathaniel Macon.[2]April 30 is nationalHonesty Dayin theUnited States. William Shakespearedescribed honesty as an attribute people leave behind when he wrote that "no legacy is so rich as honesty" in act 3, scene 5 of "All's Well that Ends Well."[3] Tolstoythought that honesty was revolutionary: “No feats of heroism are needed to achieve the greatest and most important changes in the existence of humanity.... it is only needful that each individual should say what he really feels or thinks, or at least that he should not say what he does not think.”[4]Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn("Live Not By Lies," 1974) andVáclav Havel(The Power of the Powerless, 1978) agreed. Havel wrote: The 18th century enlightenment philosopherWilliam Wollastonargued that all religion ultimately reduces to ethics and all ethics reduces to honesty (The Religion of Nature Delineated, 1722). “[E]very intelligent, active, and free being should so behave himself, as by no act to contradict truth; ...treat every thing as being what it is.” All else would follow from that. Immanuel Kantmade the duty of honesty a core example ofhis ethical theories. Others noted, however, that "too much honesty might be seen as undisciplined openness".[5]For example, individuals may beperceivedas being "too honest" if they honestly express the negativeopinionsof others, either without having been asked their opinion, or having been asked in a circumstance where the response would be trivial. This concern manifests inpolitical correctness, with individuals refraining from expressing their true opinions due to a general societal condemnation of such views. Research also found that honesty can lead to interpersonal harm because people avoid information about how their honest behavior affects others.[6] Merriam-Websterdefines honesty as "fairness and straightforwardness of conduct" or "adherence to the facts".[7] TheOxford English Dictionarydefines honesty as "the quality of being honest."[8]Honest is, in turn, defined as "Free of deceit; truthful and sincere...Morally correct or virtuous...(attributive) Fairly earned, especially through hard work...(of an action) done with good intentions even if unsuccessful or misguided...(attributive) Simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated.[9]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honesty
Morality(fromLatinmoralitas'manner,character, proper behavior') is the categorization ofintentions, decisions andactionsinto those that are proper, orright, and those that are improper, orwrong.[1]Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from acode of conductfrom a particularphilosophy,religionorculture, or it can derive from a standard that isunderstood to be universal.[2]Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness", "appropriateness" or "rightness". Moral philosophyincludesmeta-ethics, which studies abstract issues such as moralontologyand moralepistemology, andnormative ethics, which studies more concrete systems of moral decision-making such asdeontological ethicsandconsequentialism. An example of normativeethical philosophyis theGolden Rule, which states: "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself."[3][4] Immoralityis the active opposition to morality (i.e., opposition to that which isgoodor right), whileamoralityis variously defined as an unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any particular set of moral standards or principles.[5][6][7] Ethics(also known as moral philosophy) is the branch ofphilosophywhich addresses questions of morality. The word "ethics" is "commonly used interchangeably with 'morality'... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group, or individual."[8]Likewise, certain types of ethical theories, especiallydeontological ethics, sometimes distinguish between ethics and morality. PhilosopherSimon Blackburnwrites that "Although the morality of people and their ethics amounts to the same thing, there is a usage that restricts morality to systems such as that ofImmanuel Kant, based on notions such as duty, obligation, andprinciplesof conduct, reserving ethics for the moreAristotelianapproach to practical reasoning, based on the notion of avirtue, and generally avoiding the separation of 'moral' considerations from other practical considerations."[9] In its descriptive sense, "morality" refers topersonal or cultural values,codes of conductor socialmoresthat are observed to be accepted by a significant number of individuals (not necessarily all) in a society. It does not connote objective claims of right or wrong, but only refers to claims of right and wrong that are seen to be made and to conflicts between different claims made.Descriptive ethicsis the branch of philosophy which studies morality in this sense.[10] In itsnormativesense, "morality" refers to whatever (if anything) isactuallyright or wrong, which may be independent of the values or mores held by any particular peoples or cultures.Normative ethicsis the branch of philosophy which studies morality in this sense.[10] Philosophical theories on the nature and origins of morality (that is, theories ofmeta-ethics) are broadly divided into two classes: Some forms of non-cognitivism and ethicalsubjectivism, while considered anti-realist in the robust sense used here, are considered realist in the sense synonymous withmoral universalism. For example,universal prescriptivismis a universalist form of non-cognitivism which claims that morality is derived from reasoning about implied imperatives, anddivine command theoryandideal observer theoryare universalist forms of ethical subjectivism which claim that morality is derived from the edicts of a god or the hypothetical decrees of a perfectly rational being, respectively. Practical reason is necessary for the moral agency but it is not a sufficient condition for moral agency.[12]Real life issues that need solutions do need both rationality and emotion to be sufficiently moral. One uses rationality as a pathway to the ultimate decision, but the environment and emotions towards the environment at the moment must be a factor for the result to be truly moral, as morality is subject to culture. Something can only be morally acceptable if the culture as a whole has accepted this to be true. Both practical reason and relevant emotional factors are acknowledged as significant in determining the morality of a decision.[13][neutralityisdisputed] Celia Greenmade a distinction between tribal and territorial morality.[14]She characterizes the latter as predominantly negative and proscriptive: it defines a person's territory, including his or her property and dependents, which is not to be damaged or interfered with. Apart from these proscriptions, territorial morality is permissive, allowing the individual whatever behaviour does not interfere with the territory of another. By contrast, tribal morality is prescriptive, imposing the norms of the collective on the individual. These norms will be arbitrary, culturally dependent and 'flexible', whereas territorial morality aims at rules which are universal and absolute, such asKant's 'categorical imperative' andGeisler'sgraded absolutism. Green relates the development of territorial morality to the rise of the concept of private property, and the ascendancy of contract over status. Some observers hold that individuals apply distinct sets of moral rules to people depending on their membership of an "in-group" (the individual and those they believe to be of the same group) or an "out-group" (people not entitled to be treated according to the same rules). Some biologists, anthropologists andevolutionary psychologistsbelieve this in-group/out-group discrimination has evolved because it enhances group survival. This belief has been confirmed by simple computational models of evolution.[15]In simulations this discrimination can result in both unexpected cooperation towards the in-group and irrational hostility towards the out-group.[16]Gary R. Johnson and V.S. Falger have argued thatnationalismandpatriotismare forms of this in-group/out-group boundary. Jonathan Haidt has noted[17]that experimental observation indicating an in-group criterion provides one moral foundation substantially used byconservatives, but far less so byliberals. In-group preference is also helpful at the individual level for the passing on of one's genes. For example, a mother who favors her own children more highly than the children of other people will give greater resources to her children than she will to strangers', thus heightening her children's chances of survival and her own gene's chances of being perpetuated. Due to this, within a population, there is substantialselection pressureexerted toward this kind of self-interest, such that eventually, all parents wind up favoring their own children (the in-group) over other children (the out-group). Peterson and Seligman[18]approach the anthropological view looking across cultures, geo-cultural areas and across millennia. They conclude that certain virtues have prevailed in all cultures they examined. The major virtues they identified includewisdom / knowledge; courage;humanity; justice; temperance; and transcendence. Each of these include several divisions. For instancehumanityincludeslove,kindness, andsocial intelligence. Still, others theorize that morality is not always absolute, contending that moral issues often differ along cultural lines. A 2014 PEW research study among several nations illuminates significant cultural differences among issues commonly related to morality, including divorce, extramarital affairs, homosexuality, gambling, abortion, alcohol use, contraceptive use, and premarital sex. Each of the 40 countries in this study has a range of percentages according to what percentage of each country believes the common moral issues are acceptable, unacceptable, or not moral issues at all. Each percentage regarding the significance of the moral issue varies greatly on the culture in which the moral issue is presented.[19] Advocates of a theory known as moral relativism subscribe to the notion that moral virtues are right or wrong only within the context of a certain standpoint (e.g., cultural community). In other words, what is morally acceptable in one culture may be taboo in another. They further contend that no moral virtue can objectively be proven right or wrong[20]Critics of moral relativism point to historical atrocities such as infanticide, slavery, or genocide as counter arguments, noting the difficulty in accepting these actions simply through cultural lenses. Fons Trompenaars, author ofDid the Pedestrian Die?, tested members of different cultures with variousmoral dilemmas. One of these was whether the driver of a car would have his friend, a passenger riding in the car, lie in order to protect the driver from the consequences of driving too fast and hitting a pedestrian. Trompenaars found that different cultures had quite different expectations, from none to definite.[21] Anthropologists from Oxford's Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology (part of the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography) analysed ethnographic accounts of ethics from 60 societies, comprising over 600,000 words from over 600 sources and discovered what they believe to be seven universal moral rules: help your family, help your group, return favours, be brave, defer to superiors, divide resources fairly, and respect others' property.[22][23] The development of modern morality is a process closely tied tosociocultural evolution. Someevolutionary biologists, particularlysociobiologists, believe that morality is a product of evolutionary forces acting at an individual level and also at the group level throughgroup selection(although to what degree this actually occurs is a controversial topic in evolutionary theory). Some sociobiologists contend that the set of behaviors that constitute morality evolved largely because they provided possible survival or reproductive benefits (i.e. increased evolutionary success). Humans consequently evolved "pro-social" emotions, such as feelings of empathy or guilt, in response to these moral behaviors. On this understanding, moralities are sets of self-perpetuating and biologically driven behaviors which encourage humancooperation. Biologists contend that all social animals, from ants to elephants, have modified their behaviors, by restraining immediateselfishnessin order to improve their evolutionary fitness. Human morality, although sophisticated and complex relative to the moralities of other animals, is essentially a natural phenomenon that evolved to restrict excessive individualism that could undermine a group's cohesion and thereby reducing the individuals' fitness.[24] On this view, moral codes are ultimately founded on emotional instincts and intuitions that were selected for in the past because they aided survival and reproduction (inclusive fitness). Examples: thematernal bondis selected for because it improves the survival of offspring; theWestermarck effect, where close proximity during early years reduces mutual sexual attraction, underpinstaboos against incestbecause it decreases the likelihood of genetically risky behaviour such asinbreeding. The phenomenon ofreciprocityin nature is seen by evolutionary biologists as one way to begin to understand human morality. Its function is typically to ensure a reliable supply of essential resources, especially for animals living in a habitat where food quantity or quality fluctuates unpredictably. For example, somevampire batsfail to feed on prey some nights while others manage to consume a surplus. Bats that did eat will then regurgitate part of their blood meal to save aconspecificfrom starvation. Since these animals live in close-knit groups over many years, an individual can count on other group members to return the favor on nights when it goes hungry (Wilkinson, 1984) Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce (2009) have argued that morality is a suite of behavioral capacities likely shared by all mammals living in complex social groups (e.g., wolves, coyotes, elephants, dolphins, rats, chimpanzees). They define morality as "a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate complex interactions within social groups." This suite of behaviors includes empathy, reciprocity, altruism, cooperation, and a sense of fairness.[25]In related work, it has been convincingly demonstrated that chimpanzees showempathyfor each other in a wide variety of contexts.[26]They also possess the ability to engage in deception, and a level of social politics[27]prototypical of our own tendencies forgossipandreputation management. Christopher Boehm (1982)[28]has hypothesized that the incremental development of moral complexity throughouthominidevolution was due to the increasing need to avoid disputes and injuries in moving to open savanna and developing stone weapons. Other theories are that increasing complexity was simply a correlate of increasing group size and brain size, and in particular the development oftheory of mindabilities. In modernmoral psychology, morality is sometimes considered to change through personal development. Several psychologists have produced theories on the development of morals, usually going through stages of different morals.Lawrence Kohlberg,Jean Piaget, andElliot Turielhave cognitive-developmental approaches tomoral development; to these theorists morality forms in a series of constructive stages or domains. In theEthics of careapproach established byCarol Gilligan, moral development occurs in the context of caring, mutually responsive relationships which are based oninterdependence, particularly in parenting but also in social relationships generally.[29]Social psychologistssuch asMartin HoffmanandJonathan Haidtemphasize social and emotional development based on biology, such asempathy.Moral identitytheorists, such asWilliam DamonandMordechai Nisan, see moral commitment as arising from the development of a self-identity that is defined by moral purposes: this moral self-identity leads to a sense of responsibility to pursue such purposes. Of historical interest in psychology are the theories ofpsychoanalystssuch asSigmund Freud, who believe that moral development is the product of aspects of thesuper-egoas guilt-shame avoidance. Theories of moral development therefore tend to regard it as positive moral development: the higher stages are morally higher, though this, naturally, involves a circular argument. The higher stages are better because they are higher, but the better higher because they are better. As an alternative to viewing morality as an individual trait, some sociologists as well as social- and discursive psychologists have taken upon themselves to study thein-vivoaspects of morality by examining how persons conduct themselves in social interaction.[30][31][32][33] A new study analyses the common perception of a decline in morality in societies worldwide and throughout history. Adam M. Mastroianni and Daniel T. Gilbert present a series of studies indicating that the perception of moral decline is an illusion and easily produced, with implications for misallocation of resources, underuse of social support, and social influence. To begin with, the authors demonstrate that people in no less than 60 nations hold the belief that morality is deteriorating continuously, and this conviction has been present for the last 70 years. Subsequently, they indicate that people ascribe this decay to the declining morality of individuals as they age and the succeeding generations. Thirdly, the authors demonstrate that people's evaluations of the morality of their peers have not decreased over time, indicating that the belief in moral decline is an illusion. Lastly, the authors explain a basic psychological mechanism that uses two well-established phenomena (distorted exposure to information and distorted memory of information) to cause the illusion of moral decline. The authors present studies that validate some of the predictions about the circumstances in which the perception of moral decline is attenuated, eliminated, or reversed (e.g., when participants are asked about the morality of people closest to them or people who lived before they were born).[34] Moral cognition refers to cognitive processes implicated in moral judgment and decision making, and moral action. It consists of several domain-general cognitive processes, ranging from perception of a morally salient stimulus to reasoning when faced with a moral dilemma. While it is important to mention that there is not a single cognitive faculty dedicated exclusively to moral cognition,[35][36]characterizing the contributions of domain-general processes to moral behavior is a critical scientific endeavor to understand how morality works and how it can be improved.[37] Cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists investigate the inputs to these cognitive processes and their interactions, as well as how these contribute to moral behavior by running controlled experiments.[38]In these experiments putatively moral versus nonmoral stimuli are compared to each other, while controlling for other variables such as content or working memory load. Often, the differential neural response to specifically moral statements or scenes, are examined using functionalneuroimagingexperiments. Critically, the specific cognitive processes that are involved depend on the prototypical situation that a person encounters.[39]For instance, while situations that require an active decision on a moral dilemma may require active reasoning, an immediate reaction to a shocking moral violation may involve quick, affect-laden processes. Nonetheless, certain cognitive skills such as being able to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, emotions to oneself, and others is a common feature of a broad range of prototypical situations. In line with this, a meta-analysis found overlapping activity betweenmoral emotionandmoral reasoningtasks, suggesting a shared neural network for both tasks.[40]The results of this meta-analysis, however, also demonstrated that the processing of moral input is affected by task demands. Regarding the issues of morality in video games, some scholars believe that because players appear in video games as actors, they maintain a distance between their sense of self and the role of the game in terms of imagination. Therefore, the decision-making and moral behavior of players in the game are not representing player's Moral dogma.[41] It has been recently found that moral judgment consists in concurrent evaluations of three different components that align with precepts from three dominant moral theories (virtue ethics,deontology, and consequentialism): the character of a person (Agent-component, A); their actions (Deed-component, D); and the consequences brought about in the situation (Consequences-component, C).[42]This, implies that various inputs of the situation a person encounters affect moral cognition. Jonathan Haidtdistinguishes between two types of moral cognition: moral intuition and moral reasoning. Moral intuition involves the fast, automatic, andaffectiveprocesses that result in an evaluative feeling of good-bad or like-dislike,withoutawareness of going through any steps. Conversely, moral reasoning does involve conscious mental activity to reach a moral judgment. Moral reasoning is controlled and less affective than moral intuition. When making moral judgments, humans perform moral reasoning to support their initial intuitive feeling. However, there are three ways humans can override their immediate intuitive response. The first way is conscious verbal reasoning (for example, examining costs and benefits). The second way is reframing a situation to see a new perspective or consequence, which triggers a different intuition. Finally, one can talk to other people which illuminates new arguments. In fact, interacting with other people is the cause of most moral change.[43] The brain areas that are consistently involved when humans reason about moral issues have been investigated by multiple quantitative large-scale meta-analyses of the brain activity changes reported in the moral neuroscience literature.[44][40][45][46]The neural network underlying moral decisions overlaps with the network pertaining to representing others' intentions (i.e., theory of mind) and the network pertaining to representing others' (vicariously experienced) emotional states (i.e., empathy). This supports the notion that moral reasoning is related to both seeing things from other persons' points of view and to grasping others' feelings. These results provide evidence that the neural network underlying moral decisions is probably domain-global (i.e., there might be no such things as a "moral module" in the human brain) and might be dissociable into cognitive and affective sub-systems.[44] Cognitive neuroscientistJean Decetythinks that the ability to recognize and vicariously experience what another individual is undergoing was a key step forward in the evolution of social behavior, and ultimately, morality.[47]The inability to feel empathy is one of the defining characteristics ofpsychopathy, and this would appear to lend support to Decety's view.[48][49]Recently, drawing on empirical research inevolutionary theory,developmental psychology,social neuroscience, and psychopathy, Jean Decety argued that empathy and morality are neither systematically opposed to one another, nor inevitably complementary.[50][51] An essential, shared component of moral judgment involves the capacity to detect morally salient content within a given social context. Recent research implicated thesalience networkin this initial detection of moral content.[52]The salience network responds to behaviorally salient events[53]and may be critical to modulate downstream default and frontal control network interactions in the service of complex moral reasoning and decision-making processes. The explicit making of moral right and wrong judgments coincides with activation in theventromedial prefrontal cortex(VMPC), a region involved in valuation, while intuitive reactions to situations containing implicit moral issues activates thetemporoparietal junctionarea, a region that plays a key role in understanding intentions and beliefs.[54][52] Stimulation of the VMPC bytranscranial magnetic stimulation, or neurological lesion, has been shown to inhibit the ability of human subjects to take into account intent when forming a moral judgment. According to such investigations, TMS did not disrupt participants' ability to make any moral judgment. On the contrary, moral judgments of intentional harms and non-harms were unaffected by TMS to either the RTPJ or the control site; presumably, however, people typically make moral judgments of intentional harms by considering not only the action's harmful outcome but the agent's intentions and beliefs. So why were moral judgments of intentional harms not affected by TMS to the RTPJ? One possibility is that moral judgments typically reflect a weighted function of any morally relevant information that is available at the time. Based on this view, when information concerning the agent's belief is unavailable or degraded, the resulting moral judgment simply reflects a higher weighting of other morally relevant factors (e.g., outcome). Alternatively, following TMS to the RTPJ, moral judgments might be made via an abnormal processing route that does not take belief into account. On either account, when belief information is degraded or unavailable, moral judgments are shifted toward other morally relevant factors (e.g., outcome). For intentional harms and non-harms, however, the outcome suggests the same moral judgment as to the intention. Thus, the researchers suggest that TMS to the RTPJ disrupted the processing of negative beliefs for both intentional harms and attempted harms, but the current design allowed the investigators to detect this effect only in the case of attempted harms, in which the neutral outcomes did not afford harsh moral judgments on their own.[55] Similarly, individuals with a lesion of the VMPC judge an action purely on its outcome and are unable to take into account the intent of that action.[56] Moral intuitions may have genetic bases. A 2022 study conducted by scholars Michael Zakharin andTimothy C. Bates, and published by theEuropean Journal of Personality, found that moral foundations have significant genetic bases.[57]Another study, conducted by Smith and Hatemi, similarly found significant evidence in support of moral heritability by looking at and comparing the answers of moral dilemmas between twins.[58] Genetics play a role in influencing prosocial behaviors and moral decision-making. Genetics contribute to the development and expression of certain traits and behaviors, including those related to morality. However, it is important to note that while genetics play a role in shaping certain aspects of moral behavior, morality itself is a multifaceted concept that encompasses cultural, societal, and personal influences as well. If morality is the answer to the question 'how ought we to live' at the individual level,politicscan be seen as addressing the same question at the social level, though the political sphere raises additional problems and challenges.[59]It is therefore unsurprising that evidence has been found of a relationship between attitudes in morality and politics.Moral foundations theory, authored byJonathan Haidtand colleagues,[60][61]has been used to study the differences betweenliberalsandconservatives, in this regard.[17][62]Haidt found that Americans who identified as liberals tended to value care and fairness higher than loyalty, respect and purity. Self-identified conservative Americans valued care and fairness less and the remaining three values more. Both groups gave care the highest over-all weighting, but conservatives valued fairness the lowest, whereas liberals valued purity the lowest. Haidt also hypothesizes that the origin of this division in the United States can be traced to geo-historical factors, with conservatism strongest in closely knit, ethnically homogeneous communities, in contrast toport-cities, where the cultural mix is greater, thus requiring more liberalism. Group morality develops from sharedconceptsandbeliefsand is often codified to regulate behavior within acultureor community. Various defined actions come to be called moral or immoral. Individuals who choose moral action are popularly held to possess "moral fiber", whereas those who indulge in immoral behavior may be labeled as socially degenerate. The continued existence of a group may depend on widespread conformity to codes of morality; an inability to adjust moral codes in response to new challenges is sometimes credited with the demise of a community (a positive example would be the function ofCistercianreform in reviving monasticism; a negative example would be the role of theDowager Empressin the subjugation of China to European interests). Withinnationalistmovements, there has been some tendency to feel that a nation will not survive or prosper without acknowledging one common morality, regardless of its content. Political morality is also relevant to the behavior internationally of national governments, and to the support they receive from their host population. TheSentience Institute, co-founded byJacy Reese Anthis, analyzes the trajectory of moral progress in society via the framework of an expanding moral circle.[63]Noam Chomskystates that ... if we adopt the principle of universality: if an action is right (or wrong) for others, it is right (or wrong) for us. Those who do not rise to the minimal moral level of applying to themselves the standards they apply to others—more stringent ones, in fact—plainly cannot be taken seriously when they speak of appropriateness of response; or of right and wrong, good and evil. In fact, one of them, maybe the most, elementary of moral principles is that of universality, that is, If something's right for me, it's right for you; if it's wrong for you, it's wrong for me. Any moral code that is even worth looking at has that at its core somehow.[64] Religion and morality are not synonymous. Morality does not depend upon religion although for some this is "an almost automatic assumption".[65]According toThe Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, religion and morality "are to be defined differently and have no definitional connections with each other. Conceptually and in principle, morality and a religious value system are two distinct kinds of value systems or action guides."[66] Within the wide range of moral traditions, religious value-systems co-exist with contemporary secular frameworks such asconsequentialism,freethought,humanism,utilitarianism, and others. There are many types of religious value-systems. Modernmonotheisticreligions, such asIslam,Judaism,Christianity, and to a certain degree others such asSikhismandZoroastrianism, define right and wrong by the laws and rules as set forth by their respectivescripturesand as interpreted byreligious leaderswithin each respective faith. Other religions spanningpantheistictonontheistictend to be less absolute. For example, withinBuddhism, the intention of the individual and the circumstances should be accounted for in the form ofmerit, to determine if an action is termed right or wrong.[67]Barbara Stoler Millerpoints out a further disparity between the values of religious traditions, stating that inHinduism, "practically, right and wrong are decided according to the categories of social rank, kinship, and stages of life. For modern Westerners, who have been raised on ideals of universality andegalitarianism, this relativity of values and obligations is the aspect of Hinduism most difficult to understand".[68] Religions provide different ways of dealing with moral dilemmas. For example, Hinduism lacks any absolute prohibition on killing, recognizing that it "may be inevitable and indeed necessary" in certain circumstances.[69]Monotheistic traditions view certain acts—such asabortionordivorce—in more absolute terms.[a]Religion is not always positively associated with morality. PhilosopherDavid Humestated that "the greatest crimes have been found, in many instances, to be compatible with asuperstitiouspietyand devotion; Hence it is justly regarded as unsafe to draw any inference in favor of a man's morals, from the fervor or strictness of his religious exercises, even though he himself believe them sincere."[70] Religious value-systems can be used to justify acts that are contrary to general contemporary morality, such asmassacres,misogynyandslavery. For example,Simon Blackburnstates that "apologists for Hinduism defend or explain away its involvement with thecaste system, and apologists for Islam defend or explain away its harsh penal code or its attitude to women and infidels".[71]In regard to Christianity, he states that the "Biblecan be read as giving us a carte blanche for harsh attitudes to children, the mentally handicapped, animals, the environment, the divorced, unbelievers, people with various sexual habits, and elderly women",[72]and notes morally-suspect themes in the Bible'sNew Testamentas well.[73][e]Elizabeth Andersonlikewise holds that "the Bible contains both good and evil teachings", and it is "morally inconsistent".[74]Christianapologistsaddress Blackburn's viewpoints[75]and construe thatJewish lawsin theHebrew Bibleshowed the evolution of moral standards towards protecting the vulnerable, imposing a death penalty on those pursuing slavery and treating slaves as persons and not as property.[76]Humanists likePaul Kurtzbelieve that we can identifymoral valuesacross cultures, even if we do not appeal to a supernatural or universalist understanding of principles – values including integrity, trustworthiness, benevolence, and fairness. These values can be resources for finding common ground between believers and nonbelievers.[77] Several studies have been conducted on the empirics of morality in various countries, and the overall relationship between faith andcrimeis unclear.[b]A 2001 review of studies on this topic found "The existing evidence surrounding the effect of religion on crime is varied, contested, and inconclusive, and currently, no persuasive answer exists as to the empirical relationship between religion and crime."[78]Phil Zuckerman's 2008 book,Society without God, based on studies conducted during 14 months in Scandinavia in 2005–2006, notes thatDenmarkandSweden, "which are probably the least religious countries in the world, and possibly in the history of the world", enjoy "among the lowest violent crime rates in the world [and] the lowest levels of corruption in the world".[79][c] Dozens of studies have been conducted on this topic since the twentieth century. A 2005 study byGregory S. Paulpublished in theJournal of Religion and Societystated that, "In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion in the prosperous democracies," and "In all secular developing democracies a centuries long-term trend has seen homicide rates drop to historical lows" with the exceptions being the United States (with a high religiosity level) and "theistic" Portugal.[80][d]In a response, Gary Jensen builds on and refines Paul's study.[81]he concludes that a "complex relationship" exists between religiosity and homicide "with some dimensions of religiosity encouraging homicide and other dimensions discouraging it". In April 2012, the results of a study which tested their subjects'pro-socialsentiments were published in theSocial Psychological and Personality Sciencejournal in which non-religious people had higher scores showing that they were more motivated by their own compassion to perform pro-social behaviors. Religious people were found to be less motivated by compassion to be charitable than by an inner sense of moral obligation.[82][83]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality
Political hypocrisyrefers to any discrepancy between what a political party claims and the practices the party is trying to hide.[1]Modern political debate is often characterized by accusations and counter-accusations of hypocrisy.[1] The notion of hypocrisy has its origins in the theater. The Greek word (hypokrisis) meant 'acting' and the first 'hypocrites' were classical theater actors. As a result, the phrase was first used to describe the theatrical function of appearing to be someone else.[2]As an attempt to separate one's personal behavior from the standards that apply to everyone else,[3]hypocrisy in its pejorative connotation always implies some form of deception.[2]American political journalistMichael Gersonsays that political hypocrisy is "the conscious use of a mask to fool the public and gain political benefit".[4] The English philosopherThomas Hobbeswas an outspoken opponent of political hypocrisy, though he considered it inevitable.David Runcimanwrites that "Hobbes was at pains not to set the bar for sincerity too high, which would let in the most corrosive forms of hypocrisy through the back door. But he also believed that some forms of hypocrisy, unchecked, would render political life impossible".[5][1]The authorBernard Mandevillegoes further, distinguishing two types of hypocrisy: one in which politicians wear a mask of hypocrisy to protect public interests, and the other more sinister hypocrisy to serve the interests of malicious politicians. The distinction between the two, as Mandeville seeks to demonstrate, is difficult to maintain in any political setting.[1]The philosopherJean-Jacques Rousseaudevoted much of his writing to creating portraits of innocence, virtue, and integrity as counterpoints to his scathing critique of the corruption, flattery, and hypocrisy that afflicted the social and political life in his view. For the British philosopherJeremy Bentham, the mask of hypocrisy is intended to conceal or deceive and must always be removed.[1]Similarly, in his bookOn Compromise(dubbed "The Prince for Victorian liberalism" by his biographer), the British politicianJohn Morleyexpresses his concerns about the triumph of the political spirit, which he defines as the abandonment of principles and the willingness of politicians of all stripes to dissimulate and compromise in the name of the party.[6][1]In contrast, the English philosopherFrancis Bacon, believed that wisdom is striking the correct balance between honesty and deception, so that one's reputation for honesty and their ability to deceive are both preserved.[7][1] In democratic politics, according toDhruba Ghosh, the need for hypocrisy arises from the structure of political interactions.[8]David Runciman suggests that hypocrisy is common in politics and particularly unavoidable in liberal democratic democracies: "No one likes it, but everyone is at it."[9]In her bookOrdinary Vices(1984),Judith Shklardownplays hypocrisy, ranking it as an unimportant vice based on its damage to liberal communities in comparison with, for instance, cruelty.[10]Nevertheless, because hypocrisy is despised and commonplace, Shklar writes that democratic politicians are often tempted to reveal their opponents' double standards: it is easier to dispose of an opponent's character by exposing his hypocrisy than to challenge his political convictions.[11]Shklar believes that we should be more accepting of hypocrisy and realize that liberal democratic politics can only be sustained with a certain amount of deception and pretense.[12] The disparity in the treatment of Syrian and Ukrainian refugees in Europe has been considered an instance of political hypocrisy.[13][14] John Mearsheimersuggests that the U.S. foreign policy rhetorics of high liberal ideas does not match its actions. Such a chasm, according to Eugenio Lilli, has fueled accusations of U.S. hypocrisy and harmed the U.S. image in Muslim communities, providing fertile ground for extremist organizations to recruit people willing to carry out terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and assets.[15]In particular, the constant support for Israel is said to have harmed the U.S. image in theGreater Middle East.[16]"CondemningRussian invasion of Ukrainewhile giving Israel a blank check to wipe out Palestine simply doesn't compute;" saidMichael N. Barnett, a professor of international relations at George Washington University.[17]As another example, the U.S. official policy of promoting democratic values contradicts the U.S. warm relations with monarchies and dictatorships[example needed]in the Middle East.[18]While claiming to be a proponent of human rights, the U.S. has also turned a blind eye to alleged violations of human rights in countries like South Korea, the Philippines, and Iran's Pahlavi dynasty, which consistently abused human rights[disputed–discuss].[19]In another instance, the charges against Iran for its nuclear programme have not been met with any U.S. criticism of Israel which possesses more than two-hundred nuclear warheads.[speculation?][20]According toSarah Leah Whitson, the US is generally supportive of theInternational Criminal Courtwhen it prosecutes its enemies like Russian PresidentVladimir Putinand former Sudanese PresidentOmar al-Bashir, but is critical of the court when it prosecutes its allies, like Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu.[21] The U.S. has been accused of scant ratification ofhuman rightstreaties despite its official policy of promoting human rights worldwide.[22]In one case, the U.S. has been criticized for refusing to ratify theConvention on the Rights of the Childand the American opposition to this convention is said to be primarily shaped by political and religious conservatives.,[23]The U.S.has publicly stated that it is opposed to torture, but has been criticized for condoning it in theSchool of the Americas. The U.S. has advocated a respect for national sovereignty but has supported internal guerrilla movements and paramilitary organizations, such as theContrasinNicaragua.[24][25]The U.S. has also been accused of denouncingalleged rights violations in Chinawhile overlookingalleged human rights abuses by Israel.[26]TheDefense Technical Information Centerreports that the U.S. did not pursue its human rights policy in South Korea, the Philippines, andIran's Pahlavi dynasty, for strategic reasons, exposing the hypocrisy of "human rights diplomacy."[27]According to theU.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, trust is the fundamental problem of the U.S. in the Arab and non-Arab Muslim world. Arabs and the rest of the Muslim world, according to this report, have simply spent too much time listening to U.S. rhetoric and then watching the U.S. continually fail to deliver on it.[28]A number of authors have attacked the U.S. attitude towards human rights: Ahmed an-Naim sees the U.S. monitoring of the international human rights as a pretext for its coercive humanitarian intervention in pursuit of its own foreign policy goals.[29]Francis Boylewrites that genocide is perceived legal today when carried out at the request of the U.S. and its allies, such as Israel.[30]According to Boyle, the U.S. government promoted the man responsible for blowing up an Iranian civilian airliner but wrongly sanctioned Libya when a U.S. airliner was attacked.[31]When former US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, took office, his department outlined general guidelines to be followed “We should consider human rights as an important issue in regard to US relations with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran,” read the leaked memo, sent to Tillerson to guide his policy actions, suggesting that human rights is a tool that can only be used against enemies, not friends.[32] The U.S. foreign policy language extols its worldwide support for the cause of democracy, though Eugenio Lilli suggests that this rhetoric does not match the conduct of U.S., particularly in the Greater Middle East.[15]In an article calledAstounding Hypocrisy,Arab Newswrites that Palestinians voted for Hamas in defiance of Israel but the administration ofGeorge W. Bushmade it clear that the U.S. would not accept the outcome of the free election. In the same speech, however, Bush expressed his hopes for a democratic Iran and a pro-American government there.[33]During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Muslim communities largely believed that promoting democracy was used as a pretext by the Bush administration to justify the invasion.[15]Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the search for restricted weapons, the United States claimed, was the first priority for the country; though Bush later openly proclaimed regime change as the objective. The invasion was codenamed "the battle for Iraqi freedom," and American propagandists, according to Mack H Jones, flooded their messaging with homilies about the U.S. desire and intention to liberate the Iraqi people and offer them western-style democracy. The Bush administration's ostensible desire to provide democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people, while continuing to align itself with several repressive nondemocratic regimes around the world including some Middle Eastern client states, is yet another example of American duplicity, according to Jones.[34] ConcerningList of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States in 2024, Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at the University of Chicago told Al Jazeera that "The reality is the Democrats have been telling us that young people need to save democracy ...But where's the democracy when you have state troopers beating up students and faculty for protesting, and the White House saying nothing about that?"[35] Biden has acknowledged that Netanyahu is not doing enough to finalize a peace agreement, but his administration has done nothing to pressure the Israel to do so. Instead, the UScontinue to support Israel in the war. According toJames Zogby, the Biden administration has been a “passive enabler” of Netanyahu, who wants to prevent a ceasefire deal to please his far-right government coalition partners and ensure his own political survival. Osamah Khalil, a professor of history at Syracuse University, also questioned the sincerity of the diplomatic efforts of the Democratic administration and said that these efforts were for domestic political consumption on the eve of the US elections. “All this was negotiations for the sake of negotiations, particularly as the war became increasingly unpopular,” said Khalil.[36]The United States is seeking sanctions against the ICC in retaliation for its arrest warrant against Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, while it supports the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Russian President Putin.[37]	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_hypocrisy
Manasa,vacha,karmanaare threeSanskritwords. The wordmanasarefers to themind,vacharefers tospeech, andkarmanarefers toactions. In severalIndian languages, these three words are together used to describe a state of consistency expected of an individual. The mottomanasa, vacha, karmanais usually invoked to imply that one should strive to achieve the state where one's thoughts, speech, and the actions coincide. The definitions below are fromMacdonnell'sSanskrit Dictionary: These three words appear atMahabharata13.8.16: These three words also appear in at least one version of theGuru Gita:[2] Trikaranaśuddhiindicates the purity and unity of (1)manasa(thought), (2)vacha(word/speech), and (3)karmana(deed/action), and a harmony and congruence between them. A spiritual saying of India speaks about the existence of this congruence in great people ("Mahatma"): "Manassekam, Vachassekam, Karmanyekam Mahaatmanam".[3]It may also indicate that a "Mahatma" is one whose thoughts (Manas), words (Vachas) and Deeds (Karma) are centered on 'Unity'. It may also indicate that a "Mahatma" is one, whose thoughts (Manas), words (Vachas) and deeds (Karm) are centered on 'Unity'. The idea of Trikaranasuddhi has some connection to the commonly expressed adage of 'Talk your thought, walk your Talk'. There has been exploration about the linkage betweentrikaranasuddhiand effectiveness in leadership.[4][5] This article about Asian culture is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trikaranasuddhi

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