Privacy Law

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

Dads sue over teens’ expulsion for alleged racist texts

The fathers of two white Catholic high school students in Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday over the teens’ expulsion for allegedly sending racist texts. The suit, which does not name the students or their fathers, alleges that officials at Marist High School made an arbitrary and capricious decision to…

Dec 8, 2016 1:27 PM CST

Supreme Court accepts police shooting case involving 9th Circuit’s ‘provocation’ rule

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide a case involving liability for a police shooting in which the police are accused of provoking a violent confrontation. At issue is the viability of the “provocation” rule adopted by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to…

Dec 5, 2016 7:45 AM CST

Should the public have access to data police acquire through private companies?

In 2013, Camden County, New Jersey, police started using the gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter. The way Dan Keashen, spokesman for the department, tells it, the tool had an immediate impact.

Dec 1, 2016 3:00 AM CST

Residue on cellphones could help criminal investigators, study finds

Residue that clings to cellphones can be reveal a lot about a person, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Justice. Molecules on cellphones can reveal information such as whether a person drinks coffee, takes an antidepressant and eats spicy food, the Washington Post and Yahoo Tech…

Nov 16, 2016 7:00 AM CST

ABA House is asked to accredit program that certifies lawyers as privacy law specialists

A program that certifies lawyers as privacy law specialists is expected to go before the ABA House of Delegates in February. The International Association of Privacy Professionals administers the certification program. If the ABA House approves accreditation, lawyers who meet the IAPP’s standards could hold themselves out as privacy law…

Nov 15, 2016 11:01 AM CST

After $140M jury award, Hulk Hogan settles Gawker lawsuit for at least $31M

Corrected: Gawker Media has agreed to pay at least $31 million to settle a privacy invasion case filed by Hulk Hogan over publication of a sex video. The monetary amount was revealed in documents filed in Gawker’s bankruptcy, report the New York Times DealBook blog, LawNewz and the Hollywood Reporter.…

Nov 2, 2016 12:55 PM CDT

AARP suit claims wellness-program regulations allow employers to coerce participation

An AARP lawsuit claims new regulations governing workplace wellness programs violate laws barring genetic and disability discrimination. The AARP suit (PDF) filed on Monday challenges the rules issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.) and the New York Times. The group is seeking…

Oct 26, 2016 11:04 AM CDT

Facial recognition may be unreliable, and nearly half of US adults are in databases, study finds

Facial-recognition databases used by law enforcement—which reportedly include photos of approximately 117 million Americans—have various accuracy problems, according to a report by Georgetown University Law Center’s Center on Privacy & Technology. Driver’s license photos make up a significant amount of the data, National Public Radio reports. The larger a database…

Oct 25, 2016 11:45 AM CDT

Subway pitchman’s ex-wife seeks damages for failure to report his ‘pedophile behavior’

The ex-wife of convicted Subway pitchman Jared Fogle filed a lawsuit Monday contending she would never had married him if the company had reported his sexual interest in minors. The suit filed by Kathleen McLaughlin alleges that Subway’s parent company was warned about Fogle’s behavior at least three times but…

Oct 25, 2016 8:00 AM CDT