Privacy Law

Supreme Court says warrantless blood draws in DUI arrests are unconstitutional

States may not prosecute suspected drunken drivers for refusing warrantless blood draws when they are arrested, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 opinion on Thursday that found such tests violate the Fourth Amendment. The majority opinion (PDF) by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. held that states may, however,…

Jun 23, 2016 9:21 AM CDT

Two lawyers and housekeeper are indicted in connection with sex tape of Waffle House CEO

Two Georgia lawyers and their client were indicted on Friday in connection with a secret sex tape of Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers and the client. Lawyers David Cohen and John Butters of Marietta were indicted along with the client, Mye Brindle, who worked for Rogers as a housekeeper and…

Jun 21, 2016 12:02 PM CDT

Supreme Court rules for cop who seized drugs after unlawful stop; Sotomayor decries ‘carceral state’

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 5-3 that there is no need to toss evidence recovered after a police officer makes an unconstitutional investigatory stop and discovers the subject is subject to a valid arrest warrant. The court ruled (PDF) in a case applying the attenuation doctrine, which holds there…

Jun 20, 2016 10:23 AM CDT

Seattle can’t disclose location of FBI’s hidden surveillance cameras, federal judge says

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the city of Seattle from disclosing the location of hidden FBI surveillance cameras placed on city utility poles. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones barred the disclosure in response to a request by federal prosecutors, who said release of the…

Jun 14, 2016 9:25 AM CDT

Government’s research on tattoo recognition raises privacy concerns, group says

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is calling for an end to government research that could be used to map connections or make inferences about people based on their tattoos. The National Institute for Standards and Technology began its initiative to refine automated tattoo recognition technology for the FBI in 2014, according…

Jun 8, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: These two decisions highlight how Scalia’s absence has affected the court

As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the last month of its term, the impact of having only eight justices already is clear. Some of the most high-profile cases of the year are not being decided, or perhaps even worse, are being resolved on narrow grounds that create more confusion than…

Jun 2, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Lawyer-turned-entrepreneur admits he financed Hulk Hogan’s Gawker suit

A former lawyer who became a Silicon Valley entrepreneur acknowledges he paid roughly $10 million to finance Hulk Hogan’s winning lawsuit against Gawker and says it’s not the only case he has financed. Peter Thiel tells the New York Times DealBook blog that he paid lawyers to find people who…

May 26, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

New Senate bill would block SCOTUS-approved rule change expanding DOJ’s surveillance powers

A small bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a proposed bill to curtail computer intrusions by the U.S. government. Their Stop Mass Hacking Act, introduced Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would reverse a change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal…

May 20, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Mozilla loses bid to learn about government hack in child-porn investigation

A federal judge in Tacoma, Washington, has blocked Mozilla’s attempt to learn whether a security vulnerability in its Firefox browser helped a government investigation of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan denied Mozilla’s motion to intervene in one of the prosecutions in an order (PDF) on Monday, report Reuters…

May 18, 2016 12:24 PM CDT

Partner demands website reveal identities of commenters who said they hated working at his firms

A name partner at California law firm Layfield & Barrett isn’t putting up with negative reviews of the firm posted by authors claiming to be current and former employees. Lawyer Philip Layfield tells Above the Law that former employees who “spew false information” and “spit their venom” on websites such…

May 18, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Twitter reportedly bars US intelligence agencies from service that mines posts for terrorism alerts

A service that mined tweets to quickly alert U.S. intelligence agencies about the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris won’t be providing that kind of information in the future. Twitter cut off intelligence agencies’ access to the terrorism-alert service provided by Dataminr Inc., apparently because of concerns the social media…

May 9, 2016 10:49 AM CDT

Judge OKs suit accusing Facebook of violating Illinois privacy law with its photo-tag technology

A federal judge has given a green light to a class action lawsuit contending that deployment of a Facebook feature using facial-recognition technology to tag photographs violates an Illinois privacy statute. Initially filed in Illinois and since transferred to California, the suit alleges that Facebook violated the Illinois Biometric Information…

May 6, 2016 9:55 AM CDT

School’s pact with feds over transgender locker room access sparks new lawsuit

A settlement by a suburban Chicago school district of a transgender high school student’s federal civil rights complaint over locker room access has now sparked new litigation. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Chicago, a group of about 50 parents and students at Township High School in Palatine allege…

May 5, 2016 7:15 AM CDT

Police data initiatives come with crime victim safety concerns

The police department in Dallas, where a crime data initiative was recently launched, accidentally published the names, ages and home addresses of six alleged sexual assault victims, the Washington Post reports. The agency says that the circumstance was because of a technical error and is working to make sure any…

May 2, 2016 5:25 PM CDT

Circuits split on privacy rights for video views and third-party data sharing

Sharing consumer data derived from their online video views could violate privacy rights, the Boston-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The class action involves individuals who downloaded the USA Today app, Mediapost.com reports. The Gannett Co., which owns USA Today, shared users’ information with Adobe. A similar case…

May 2, 2016 11:45 AM CDT