Privacy Law

Magistrate judge denies boilerplate warrant request for forced fingerprint unlocking of iPhones

Federal agents who want to search a premises for electronic devices haven’t justified a request to force people there to provide fingerprints or thumbprints to unlock iPhones and iPads, a federal magistrate judge in Chicago has ruled. U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman ruled (PDF) on Feb. 16 when considering…

Feb 24, 2017 8:00 AM CST

Federal prison likely recorded hundreds of lawyer-client meetings; class action is filed

More than 700 attorney-client visits at a federal prison in Kansas were likely recorded on video, according to a court-appointed special master who was asked to investigate. Special master David Cohen drew that conclusion after reviewing recordings made during 30 attorney visits at the prison in Leavenworth and finding that…

Feb 16, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Your employer may be using sensors to track your location at work

Sensors are being installed in some offices that can track worker locations and interactions. The aim may be to save energy, turning on lights and HVAC systems when needed, BloombergBusinessweek reports. Or the intent may be to track conference room usage, or identify empty desks at companies without fixed workstations,…

Feb 15, 2017 8:40 AM CST

Data on man’s pacemaker led to his arrest on arson charges

Police charged a Middletown, Ohio, man with aggravated arson and insurance fraud after data on his pacemaker was inconsistent with his claims about his physical activity when his house burned down. Police said they charged Ross Compton, 59, after obtaining a warrant to search the pacemaker, report WLWT and the…

Feb 6, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Public officials can’t evade public records laws through personal email accounts

Although Hillary Clinton was the focus of the email-related brouhaha last year, similar controversies have been playing out in local governments across the country as other public employees use private email accounts to circumvent “sunshine laws” that mandate open meetings.

Feb 1, 2017 2:40 AM CST

Chicago lawyer sues police over interception of his cellphone information during protest

A Chicago lawyer has filed a lawsuit alleging police violated his Fourth and First Amendment rights by using a cell site simulator to search his cellphone during a Black Lives Matter protest. Lawyer Jerry Boyle says the police device, sometimes known by the brand name StingRay, searched his phone at…

Jan 13, 2017 9:46 AM CST

Lawyer’s rewrite simplifies Instagram’s terms of use

Instagram’s terms of use run more than 5,000 words and encompass at least seven printed pages. They are written at a postgraduate level, though the photo-sharing site is a popular among teens. A group of youths asked to read the terms couldn’t make sense of them, the Washington Post reports.…

Jan 12, 2017 8:00 AM CST

FBI pays Geek Squad members who find child porn, California case reveals

The relationship between the FBI and some members of Best Buy’s Geek Squad—who were paid for their tips about child pornography—will be examined at a federal court hearing in California this week. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a motion for discovery in December filed on behalf of Mark Rettenmaier,…

Jan 11, 2017 7:45 AM CST

IMDb seeks halt to law allowing actors to shield disclosure of their ages

The film and TV website IMDb is seeking to halt enforcement of a new California law that gives actors the power to remove information about their ages from their online profiles. IMDb filed a First Amendment challenge to the law in November, and followed up on Thursday with a motion…

Jan 6, 2017 4:28 PM CST

Lawyer will have to ID dead Twitter user sued by James Woods, judge rules

Actor James Woods will learn the name of the person who called him a “cocaine addict” in a tweet, even though the Twitter user is no longer alive. In a decision on Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge ruled that the lawyer for the deceased Twitter user will have to reveal…

Jan 4, 2017 4:28 PM CST

Can Amazon’s Alexa provide murder clues? Digital assistants could aid prosecutions

Police in Bentonville, Arkansas, hope that Amazon’s Echo—which answers to the name Alexa—can help them solve a possible murder. Police served a search warrant on Amazon.com seeking information that may have been recorded by the device on the November night that Victor Collins was found dead in a hot tub…

Jan 4, 2017 7:30 AM CST

For sale: your personal data

Compared to the European Union, where personal data has significant privacy protections, much more information about Americans is available to buy from data brokers—companies that gather information from public records, social media posts, online searches and purchases, and other footprints from life carried out increasingly on the internet.

Jan 1, 2017 4:20 AM CST

Erasing the News: Should some stories be forgotten?

The media and lawyers wrestle with the question: Should some stories be forgotten? An uptick in requests has followed EU support for removing access to online info.

Jan 1, 2017 12:10 AM CST

Wife’s unauthorized access to husband’s emails could violate Wiretap Act, 7th Circuit says

Putting an auto-forward on your husband’s email account when you suspect that he’s cheating on you can amount to a violation of the federal Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Dec. 14. Paula Epstein, the defendant in the case, was sued…

Dec 21, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Massachusetts officials defend scans of driver’s licenses in hunt for wanted suspects

Police use facial recognition software to regularly scan driver’s license photos in Massachusetts when hunting for suspects, a practice that is also being used elsewhere. Critics fear the practice being used by a growing number of law enforcement agencies could invade privacy and result in inaccurate matches, the Boston Globe…

Dec 20, 2016 11:31 AM CST