welcome to assignment 7. today on our program peered. >> if your personal information is stolen, do you have any rights? i'm michael finney, coming up on "7 on your side", new legal protections that will protect you. >> plus, five futuristic innovations. and reflections of a terrifying childhood. a bay area woman who grew up in bosnia is using her art to inspire children. we begin with huge amounts of debris bound for the california coastline. all of it 25 million tons coming from japan from the massive

tsunami that hit a year ago. dan ashley takes a look at what is coming. >> the tsunami triggered by an earthquake, tore life from the shoreline and pulled it into the sea. everything seemed to find its way into the pacific ocean. some of it sanction, some of it has been retrieved but most of it is now floating in the pacific. >> debris from the tsunami started arriving at the end of last september. >> it is a potential ecological disaster and poses obstacles for ships navigating the high seas. >> he has studied ocean debris for 30 years. >> i would guesstimate it would arrive next winter. >> she relying on people that walk the beach and report what they found. >> this is monument to beach combing. >> john anderson has seen almost everything.

he can only imagine what is coming next. >> it's not going to come all at once, it will be scattered debris. >> they spin in two mass swirls. smaller one is carrying debris toward the pacific northwest, the larger one will bring debris right at the california coastline. what doesn't wash ashore will likely get caught up in a pacific garbage patch that is five times the size of texas. >> they are looking for tsunami debris that may come here. this is run by the most landing marine laboratory. >> if it floets floats, it will make it across the pacific and land up on our shore. >> and punch us in the stomachs of wildlife. >> we expected it in the next month or two. >> they are gearing up for what might be a massive cleanup.

they are keeping a close eye on the california coastline. >> it's covered by the pacific ocean so it could be millions of tons of debris it's difficult to find out what it is. >> epa provided with us this video. coastguard looked for debris near midway island, they found nothing on this flight, but it highlights how difficult it will be to find huge fields of debris from the air. this was taken by the russian research boat by the hawaiian islands. this size and scope of things to come. >> large massive debris, we don't know how much is floating, how much is just under the surface. how much is broken up, but we do know there is a huge amount of it and stuff you don't normally find, cars and houses, telephone booths. >> two scientists separated by thousands of miles are trying to figure out when the debris will hit.

>> to be prepared and have a plan. >> they must be treated as early warning that something more dangerous is coming next. >> dan ashley, "abc 7 news." >> that does include the possibility of human remains. that may wash up as well. they have established a number to call to report debris that is expected to have come from the japan. it's at the bottom of your screen. we also posted on abc7news.com. every year, millions of people have their personal information stolen in a data breach. offer there is no consequences but you are left to wonder if someone is going steal your whole identity. california has a new law. michael finney explanation. >> last time we saw him, he just received a frightening notice, health net insurance was missing several hard drives containing medical records of 2 million

customers including his. >> they got everything they know to be me. >> millions more americans have received similar notices, but like sony play station customers that found out hackers got into their account. >> to the too many people are getting a notice, hi, your information was compromised. >> a state senator wrote the california law that requires companies to notify you if they lose your data. now that law just got stronger. >> we want to know, was it my bank account, was it my credit card. >> until now, companies were not required to tell you much about a computer breach only that it happened and you were involved. now under the new law they must give you more facts, what information was stolen, when it was stolen and how to contact credit bureaus. >> providing more certainty you'll get the information you need to protect yourself.

>> i think its good first step. >> steve is still worried. his wife was stolen in november. she was too ill to appear on camera but she says she wishes the law was stronger. >> identity theft protection. >> todd after one year, he is still wondering if some crook is planning to pose as him. >> if there is a preach, it's not your doing. they should protect you somehow. >> these are common concerns. >> i've got the time and trouble i don't have the time to close the account. shouldn't be something responsible for that. >> they say it took four years to enact the new protection so it's unlikely the law will change anytime soon. health net notes it did provide consumers with free identity theft protection. the senator said it did not

offer identity protection because it doesn't include financial records or social security numbers. >> so many people are relying on these monitored services to protect them from identity theft. in fact, that is not what they do. >> randy wright of electronic frontier foundation, they say they aren't secure any way. >> they notify when certain information is not on cr credit report. >> bits been to monitor your statements and hope nobody poses you in committing a crime. >> it's uncomfortable. >> you can be a safest person in the world. >> so several steps you should take, follow up with a police report and setting up a fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus. i have all the information, just go to abc7news.com. i'm michael finney. >> the remarkable story the

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young bay area woman is making the most of her second chance at life after an extremely complex surgery at ucsf. it seems all the mother amazing what she does now for for fun. >> jennifer's people call her jelly but the enforcer may be a better fit. >> this is one of the things she loved about rugby. >> i like getting people out of way. >> and jennifer's extreme side of disabled sports. she was living in the dorms at

ucla when she begin losing her balance. >> in six months i fell down 15 times. >> this is the level the tumor. >> doctors soon confirmed the cause. >> we were shocked to see the findings on her mri scan. her neurological examine was normal but she had a tumor in the upper spinal cord. >> philip weinstein believed he could remove the tumor but he advised them that the price of saving her life may be the loss of motor function in her arms and legs. >> it's an extremely challenging operation because of the vital structures surrounding the tumor. >> in a ten-hour operation, the team removed sections of vertebra and resecting the tumor

and watching the electrodes as they cut. at several points during the procedure, he says the neuro signal in the were interrupted but they continued. >> after we continued, it separated from the spinal cord. we felt very encouraged that a complete removal could be accomplished. >> they managed to shaver life, but when she woke, she learned how long the road back would be. >> my arm or, hey, i'm okay. i couldn't move my arm. >> months of painful rehabilitation to move to stand up with the help of crutches. but her life was moving far faster, so she made one more decision, use a wheelchair in

the short term. her therapist told her about the rugby team. >> the sport she says gave her confidence and outlet for her energy. fellow player has watched her develop. >> she would come out and right off the bat, instinctively knew how to do it. >> she allowed to focus on her studies, finishing college and getting into a top flight law school, something she couldn't have done if she focused solely on her rehabilitation. her new dream is to help other disabled people. >> if i wasn't disabled, i think my life would have been about -- obviously i'm hoping to have a career and lots of goals but they are not just about me anymore. i think that is the beauty of it

all. >> beauty with a good dose of toughness thrown in. carolyn johnson, "abc 7 news." she is still waiting for a letter from other law schools. she is planning to attend at u.c. berkeley next fall. >> when we continue, science fiction, today, reality tomorrow. we'll show you innovation that will change your life. >> it's like a ticking time bomb. >> a local reservoir that poses an environmental threat.

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the ipad, handheld video calling and assistant named siri were science fiction five years ago. over the next decade we'll see

more inventions. predictions on some technology that will change your life. >> maybe this has happened to you. you realize you forgot to charge your phone. >> how much battery life you have left? >> checking my sources, i don't know that, would you like to search the web for it. >> familiarity is said to breed this, watson. >> what is contempt. >> watson is smart, one year ago the giant computer beat two human jeopardy champions. this kind of intelligence could be in your pocket. >> it doesn't read your mind but it learns from your behavior. >> every year he picks futuristic technologies that could be common place. bre prosecute diction one, phones and computers will know what you are thinking. >> say you are having an imaginary romance with lady

gaga. could you hide it from your friend. >> it notices every time there is a news clip, you send cruising for it. it will come to the conclusion and you are a fan and if tickets become available, will offer those tickets, say, i grabbed them you have 30 seconds to make your mind up. >> using lots of data to figure out what they want. prediction number two, advertisers could finally stop flooding you with spam. >> you getting a gra elevated because they send you junk to try to guess what you want. they see you look for a pump. they give you pump ads for the next five years. >> if g-mail were like watson, ko it could filter out all the junk. >> siri, do you understand puns.

>> now, can we get back to work. >> your phone doesn't need a sense of humor, it needs cameras and microphones. passwords will exist and your phone is a big reason why. >> it actually has the capable of doing facial recognition and voice recognition. it knows you are you. i can't hack your account because there is no password. >> a phone that tell you apart from a thief that could be a key replacing the four digit code. assuming the battery doesn't die. >> where is the newest electrical outlet. >> i couldn't find any place. >> having a device no power is meaningless. >> but no ways to charge a cellphone, microgenerators will use your body movement to charge your phone while you walk. perfect for developing countries. >> when you are third role to deploy a cellphone you put up

one tower to deploy a power structure is vastly more expense. >> i have the cell network is there but the electricity is not but with microgenerators, prediction five is the digital divide will disappear. >> imagine knowing where to plant, you have a look ahead at weather. all the things we take for granted is not available throughout the world. it will make a dramatic difference. >> microgenerators are not on the market yet because your phone just probably shut itself off. jonathan bloom, "abc 7 news." >> in the hills above stanford, they have a multimillion dollar headache. the dam may look pretty but it's outlived its usefulness. they want it removed but it's not that simple. wayne freedman explains. >> beware of the appearance of peace and tranquility above the

stanford campus. in the shallows beneath, a controversy runs deep. >> it's like a ticking time bomb. >> beyond that, there is not a lot of agreement between the doctor that runs the dam and number one critic. he is an extreme ecologist that views the dam and lake and biological preserve as a glich on the environment. >> its biological preserve, right now they have an artificial reservoir and, he non-native fish. >> when i first arrived here, i said remove the dam but it's not that simple. >> the dam dates back to 1892. it was to provide drinking water to the city of san francisco. one problem with that -- the water turned out to be undrinkable. >> as old pictures show for 80 years the lake served as a source of family fun and

recreation. it has irrigated much of the golf course and campus. it still does. and there is a research center. in the 1970s they closed it to the public because too many people wandered through and ruined too many experiments. >> this is california in the future. >> here is simulating climate change. >> 16 different versions of what california might look like. >> its long term experiment that might suffer if stanford were to knock down the dam and lake filled with 90% silt. >> even though nothing changes everything, you do nothing, the lake fills in. >> the larger issue in the story goes beyond this creek and that dam. it's the fact that in the united states alone there are some 40,000 dams on the brink of

obsolescence. the question is you on how to get rid them. >> if he had his way, it would be gone tomorrow allowing salmon and steelhead to go up to the bay. >> could you bring the creek back to life? >> there are so many examples, dams that have come out, rivers and creeks rebound really well. >> he wants it restored to original conditions. >> i mean, first of all you have to know what conditions were like then. then you have to figure out if conditions can be like that again. i don't think that is obviously transparent. >> now, questions of flooding, endangered species, water resources and millions of dollars in cost, that is why they have embarked on two-year study what to do. >> they need to get night environmental compliance, best way to do that is remove it. >> the one option is the status

quo. >> so much for tranquility at the dam. coming up, a bay area artist whose childhood war memories have given her hope and

>> a san francisco artist has received major recognition from a national competition. her work reflects a frightening childhood in war-torn bosnia. don sanchez has more. >> resident she shows off her skills at recreation and arts program. relying on their energy gives her inspiration. >> i spent a lot of time observing the way people move and children, especially they are honest, they are blunt. >> she was when the world was

torn apart. 7 years old, bosnia, war and refugee camp in fear. it's addressed in the sadness of her paintings. >> you are looking at these things. i think working with kids there is a different side. >> to make creativity fun for kids. she draws a distinction between art and life. >> after her mother came to the u.s. she was a star on the cal track team. she got two bachelor degrees. now she just won an award for her art. >> now, all of a sudden i'm getting a lot more attention. i have people contacting me in all over the world.

>> one of the fascinating things he said he likes my work and he wants to make a painting for his hospital. >> working with seniors and children and now fame. >> i can't imagine life would be if i didn't work this much. i feel like my paintings are so much about experience with people. >> don sanchez, abc7news.com. >> if you would like more information on the stories on our program today, go to our website at abc7news.com and look for the news links on the left side for assignment 7. that is all for this edition of assignment 7. thank you for joining us. thank you for joining us. >> ama: grief and disbelief. a grandfather and a boy die in a house fire in pacifica.

>> if we could remove the risk from it, nobody would want to do it. >> a rescuey rescue effort off the coast. a high-tech tactic will be used in the search for sierra lamar. that's next.