Privacy Law

What privacy threats do consumers face by using internet-connected devices?

Every panelist at the ABA Annual Meeting’s “Knock Knock. Who’s There? The Internet of Things” had a favorite internet-connected device that made their lives a bit easier. Those favorites included wearable step counters, home security devices and “smart cars” that permit them to lock their car remotely or check their…

Aug 4, 2016 4:10 PM CDT

Federal judge tosses audio evidence picked up on warrantless FBI bugs outside courthouse

A federal judge in San Francisco has refused to admit as evidence more than 200 hours of audio recordings collected by FBI bugging devices placed outside the courthouse in San Mateo County, California, without a warrant. In a decision (PDF) on Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said the government…

Aug 3, 2016 11:10 AM CDT

New Jersey man plagued by Pokemon Go players files nuisance class action

A New Jersey man who says Pokemon Go players are visiting his property has filed a would-be class action lawsuit against the developer and distributor of the app. Jeffrey Marder’s suit claims the placement of the Pokemon virtual characters at or near his home is interfering with his use and…

Aug 2, 2016 12:28 PM CDT

Audio recorded by warrantless FBI bugs outside courthouse didn’t violate Constitution, judge rules

A federal judge in California has refused to suppress conversations recorded by the FBI without a warrant on secret devices outside courthouses in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. U.S. District Chief Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Oakland said the defendants had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversations, which were…

Jul 26, 2016 9:42 AM CDT

New Jersey Supreme Court to decide if email log is covered by open records law

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether police have to supply an open-government activist with logs of emails under the state’s public records law. The court agreed on Friday to hear the appeal by the activist, John Paff, after an appeals court ruled that the email log…

Jul 26, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

Citing internet impact, 6th Circuit says federal law doesn’t require automatic release of mug shots

The Freedom of Information Act doesn’t require automatic release of a federal suspect’s mug shot to the media, a federal appeals court has ruled in an en banc decision. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9-7 on Thursday that suspects have a privacy interest in preventing disclosure…

Jul 15, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

Microsoft doesn’t have to give prosecutors emails stored on servers in Ireland, 2nd Circuit says

Emails of a Microsoft customer that are stored exclusively on a server in Ireland are beyond the reach of domestic search warrants issued under a 1986 federal law, a federal appeals court has ruled. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Microsoft on Thursday in a…

Jul 14, 2016 2:06 PM CDT

Trump’s policies would be unconstitutional and will be challenged if adopted, ACLU says

The American Civil Liberties Union is vowing to file constitutional challenges to several policies of Donald Trump if he should win election and implement them. The ACLU sees constitutional problems with Trump’s proposals on immigration, American Muslims, torture and freedom of speech. “If implemented, Donald Trump’s proposed policies will spark…

Jul 14, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

Federal judge tosses drug evidence because DEA didn’t get warrant for StingRay cellphone tracking

A federal judge in Manhattan has suppressed narcotics evidence because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration didn’t get a warrant to use a cellphone tracking device that led them to the suspect’s apartment. The decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley appears to be the first time a federal judge has…

Jul 13, 2016 12:31 PM CDT

Censure recommended for lawyer who leaked info on warrantless wiretap program to New York Times

A Washington, D.C., ethics committee has recommended public censure for a former Justice Department lawyer who leaked information about the government’s warrantless wiretap program. The lawyer, Thomas Tamm, had agreed to the censure for revealing confidential client information, according to the report (PDF) by the hearing committee of the District…

Jul 13, 2016 11:47 AM CDT

Clinton lawyers fight deposition in Judicial Watch suit over emails

Lawyers from Williams & Connolly told a federal judge on Monday that there is no need to depose Hillary Clinton in a lawsuit over her use of a private email server filed by Judicial Watch. Lead lawyer David Kendall said there is already a “voluminous record” about the email controversy,…

Jul 13, 2016 9:30 AM CDT

FBI didn’t need warrant to use malware to find visitors to child-porn website, judge rules

Hacking is so prevalent that a man charged with child pornography had no expectation of privacy for his home computer’s identifying information, a federal judge in Virginia ruled late last month. The June 23 decision (PDF) by U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. of Norfolk held that the FBI…

Jul 8, 2016 8:30 AM CDT

South Dakota cops collect urine samples through forced catheterization; is it constitutional?

A lawyer who is arguing his client’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated by a forced urine sample is shining a light on the practice by police in South Dakota. The lawyer for Dirk Landon Sparks is asking a judge to toss the test results used to charge his client with…

Jul 7, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Using worker’s password to access info at former workplace is illegal hacking, 9th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled that using a former assistant’s password to access information from a previous employer is hacking that is banned by the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Tuesday that former Korn/Ferry employee David Nosal violated…

Jul 6, 2016 2:54 PM CDT

Police body cams didn’t shut off, invading officers’ privacy, federal lawsuit says

Police in a suburban Chicago village recently filed a federal civil rights action about department body cameras, which reportedly made recordings without their knowledge. The recordings were viewed over a seven-month period, the Daily Herald reports, and the lawsuit (PDF) alleges that the devices continued to record while turned off…

Jun 27, 2016 4:00 PM CDT