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The laws that govern your digital rights are being rewritten in secrecy by trade representatives from countries around the world.

It’s known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), or more commonly referred to as the “secret copyright agreement”.

The unusual obscurity surrounding these negotiations has many worried that corporate interests are taking a front seat over what should be an open and transparent process.

It began in 2006 when the US submitted a draft proposal to Canada and now has spread around the world with several rounds of meetings being held in different cities. The most recent round of meetings were held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

There are few official statements being released about the ACTA. Much of what we know has been pieced together from vague official statements and leaked documents.

An unsettling picture is emerging, one where the US along with a coalition of countries, are seeking to create tighter more uniform restrictions on digital data.

There are groups of notable organizations and concerned individuals who are dedicating much of their time to analyzing and investigating the implications of the ACTA.

The following is a list of some of the best sources for ACTA related information.

The widespread discovery of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has sparked sharp responses from local governments and concerned citizens

New York State’s attorney general recently fined five hospitals and nursing homes for disposing their unused pharmaceuticals into the local sewer system.

Reports suggest that each year an estimated 650 million pounds of pharmaceuticals are dumped into the sewer system by hospitals and health care facilities.

Academic and government researchers have measured the impact of popular medicines on fish and wildlife in the nation’s waters. These reports are alarming and could be an early warning for potential health problems in humans.

The EPA continues to investigate and is “proposing a system for disposing hazardous pharmaceutical wastes that is protective of public health and the environment”. This would apply to pharmacies, physicians’ offices, dentists’ offices, and other health care facilities.

You don’t have to wait for policymakers to get involved with this important issue. The following is a list of actions you can take today.

You may want to be more cautious the next time you use an ATM.

A recent spike in stolen bank account data has been attributed to a global network of thieves who are exploiting ATMs with inexpensive technology.

It is called ATM skimming, and it involves the scanning, or skimming, of your credit card’s magnetic strip, and the capturing of your PIN number from a nearby camera.

Thieves use inexpensive parts, many available online, to construct authentic looking facades on ATMs. They place a dip reader, or card reader, over the debit card entry slot. Your card is skimmed as it slides into the bank’s official card slot.

The card’s data is harvested along with a video capture of you entering your PIN. The contents of your card’s magnetic strip are cloned onto blank cards where thieves quickly visit different ATMs and drain all of your funds.

You can see a breakdown of the components here.

Click the link below to see a list of three important steps you can take to protect yourself from this growing fraud.