Two Congressional Investigations Into Activities of Data Companies

 There are now two Congressional investigations being held regarding the activities of data gathering companies.  One investigation is targeting so called "data sellers" while the other is targeting similary termed "data brokers."   Both investigations are targeting some of the same companies. 

The "data sellers" investigation is being run by Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massashusetts, and Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas.  The investigation was prompted by this article on data gethering company Acxiom in the New York Times and targets companies such as Acxiom and Experian.

The "data brokers" investigation was opened this week by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, and targets some of the same companies as the other investigation.

You can read more about the investigations at the links below:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/technology/senator-opens-investigation-of-data-brokers.html?smid=pl-share

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/technology/congress-opens-inquiry-into-data-brokers.html?_r=1

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=a42a865a-be30-4171-8278-86ee0a8c76fb

Visualization of what AT&T's network looked like on 9/11/01

CNN has a slideshow of graphs that show what AT&T network traffic looked on the days on which events initiated a  high volume of calls and texts. Included are visualizations of network traffic on 9/11/01 as well as the days on which the East Coast Earthquake and  Hurricane Katrina occurred.

See the article on the CNN site:

http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/mobile/2012/10/09/mobile-network-traffic/index.html