Privacy Law

Google vows to fight search warrant seeking the names of everyone who Googled crime victim

Google says it will fight a search warrant seeking information about anyone who searched the name of a financial crime victim on the search engine in December and early January. Judge Gary Larson of Hennepin County, Minnesota, issued the warrant in February, report the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Ars Technica and…

Mar 20, 2017 9:30 AM CDT

Amazon releases smart speaker data to court

Following its subpoena fight over smart speaker data in an Arkansas murder case, Amazon has agreed to release the information, after the defendant in court filings indicated that he did not object. Prosecutors in Benton County, Arkansas, subpoenaed the information for the murder trial of James Andrew Bates, Law360 (sub.…

Mar 8, 2017 2:30 PM CST

Yahoo’s general counsel resigns after report finds lawyers didn’t adequately respond to hack

Yahoo general counsel Ronald Bell resigned on Wednesday after a report on a 2014 hack found that company lawyers and senior executives failed to conduct an adequate investigation of the incident. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed Bell’s resignation and the decision by Yahoo’s board to withhold…

Mar 2, 2017 1:20 PM CST

Issue advertising disclosure requirements upheld by SCOTUS in summary affirmance

In a summary affirmance, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld disclosure requirements that require groups that sponsor issue ads to disclose their donors to the Federal Election Commission. The Supreme Court summarily affirmed (PDF) a decision on behalf of the FEC by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…

Feb 27, 2017 10:17 AM CST

Open link to file-sharing site was like leaving legal file on a bench, judge says; privilege waived

An insurance company has waived any claim of privilege to materials uploaded to an unprotected file-sharing site, a federal magistrate judge in Virginia ruled earlier this month. U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent said in a Feb. 9 decision that the Harleysville Insurance Co. waived its privilege in documents uploaded…

Feb 27, 2017 7:30 AM CST

Alexa’s responses to customers are protected by the First Amendment, Amazon argues in murder case

Requests for information through digital assistant Amazon Echo—which answers to the name Alexa—and the service’s responses are protected speech under the First Amendment, Amazon argues in a bid to quash a search warrant by police investigating a possible murder. The First Amendment protects not only an individual’s right to speak,…

Feb 27, 2017 7:00 AM CST

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