Should There be a ‘Right to be Forgotten’ on the Web?

A closely watched court case in Spain involving 90 individuals who want Google to stop indexing their names is spurring debate about whether information on the Web should have a life cycle. Among the 90 who’ve managed to win the support of the Spanish government is a domestic violence victim…

Aug 10, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

With a Show of Hands, Lawyers Endorse Military Commissions over Civilian Trials

If there is significant opposition to the U.S. war on terror, it wasn’t apparent in a roomful of lawyers on Friday. Salli Swartz, chair of the ABA Section of International Law, mentioned xenophobia and a “mass intrusion on privacy” as she moderated an ABA Annual Meeting program on the impact…

Aug 5, 2011 7:39 PM CDT

Cyberattack Targets Law Enforcement Officers, Anonymous Tipsters

Among the targets of a widespread cyberattack are about 75 law enforcement groups. The hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec are collaborating on the AntiSec project, which is targeting large government agencies throughout the world. The hackers claim to have accessed Social Security numbers, addresses, passwords and other personal data from…

Aug 4, 2011 6:15 PM CDT

South Korea Fines Apple $2,800 Over iPhone Location Data Collection

The fine—3 million won or $2,800 U.S. dollars—might be a drop in the bucket for a company that earned $7.31 billion in its third quarter, but South Korea’s decision to penalize Apple for allegedly collecting and storing private location data may have an influence on regulators elsewhere. So reports the…

Aug 4, 2011 12:26 PM CDT

Gene Swipe: Few DNA Labs Know Whether Chromosomes Are Yours or If You Stole Them

Aug 1, 2011 8:40 AM CDT

Friendlier State Legislatures Lead to a Rise in Anti-Abortion Legislation

Aug 1, 2011 7:20 AM CDT

Quicker Lawyer Suspensions Justify Secrecy Proposal, Iowa Legal Ethics Chief Says

The Iowa official who proposes keeping lawyer suspension information secret in consent cases says his aim is to speed up ethics prosecutions and reduce backlogs. Paul Wieck II, director of the judicial branch’s office of professional regulation, tells the ABA Journal his proposal for privacy in consent suspensions mirrors the…

Jul 26, 2011 2:25 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Upholds Law Authorizing DNA Samples from All Federal Arrestees

An en banc federal appeals court has upheld a law authorizing the collection of DNA samples from all federal arrestees. In an 8-6 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that routinely collecting DNA samples from arrestees for a national database does not violate the Fourth Amendment.…

Jul 26, 2011 1:18 PM CDT

Are Security Cameras a Deterrent? They May Be More Valuable for Evidence, Expert Says

Surveillance cameras led police to a suspect in death of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, the boy abducted and killed earlier this month as he was allowed to walk home alone from day camp for the first time. The incident raises questions about the need for more cameras and their value in…

Jul 25, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Did News of the World Reporters Pay Police to Track Media Targets via Cellphone ‘Pings’?

Authorities in London are looking into allegations that a now-defunct British tabloid not only hacked into the telephone voicemail accounts of individuals in the news but paid corrupt police officers to help target their subjects’ geographic locations by tracking their cellphone signals, the Associated Press reports. The practice, known as…

Jul 21, 2011 7:30 PM CDT

Kim Kardashian Sues Old Navy, Says Store Used Lookalike Model in Ads

Reality television temptress Kim Kardashian filed a federal district court lawsuit against Old Navy and the clothing retailer’s parent company yesterday, contending that the store infringed on her right of publicity by using a lookalike model in its advertising. Filed yesterday in the Central District of California, the suit, which…

Jul 21, 2011 5:23 PM CDT

Airport Body Scans Not a Fourth Amendment Violation, Appeals Court Says

A federal appeals court ruled today that full-body scans at airports are not an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a privacy’s group’s constitutional and statutory challenge, but agreed that the Transportation Security Agency acted too quickly in adopting the…

Jul 15, 2011 7:25 PM CDT

Cops to Get Facial Recognition Devices; Will They Need Warrants to Use Them?

Police departments in several states are getting new high-tech devices that can scan irises, recognize faces and collect fingerprints. The devices, made by BI2 Technologies, are attached to an iPhone for immediate searches of criminal databases, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The development is “raising significant questions about…

Jul 13, 2011 11:38 AM CDT

Couple Wins Damages After Condo Neighbor Complains They Were Having Noisy Sex

Asked by a condominium resident to do something about the “indiscreet and scandalous” noise a neighbor couple allegedly made while having sex in their suburban Rio de Janeiro home, a judge in Brazil has acted. Instead of providing relief to plaintiff Lucas Bohrer Filho, the judge has found merit to…

Jul 12, 2011 11:24 PM CDT

UCLA to Pay Feds $865K to Settle Celebrity Medical Records Snooping Probe

The UCLA Health System has agreed to pay $856,500 to federal regulators as part of a settlement of a probe of snooping into celebrities’ medical records by hospital employees between 2005 and 2009. Employees at all three of its hospitals allegedly accessed celebrities’ medical records, in violation of their privacy,…

Jul 8, 2011 1:29 PM CDT