Privacy Law

Apple opposes judge’s order to unlock killer’s iPhone, says FBI is misusing the All Writs Act

Apple is opposing a Los Angeles federal judge’s order requiring it to help the FBI unlock the cellphone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on Tuesday ordered (PDF) Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance,” including disabling an auto-erase function that kicks in after 10 failed…

Feb 17, 2016 8:42 AM CST

10 weeks of video evidence from utility-pole camera didn’t require warrant, 6th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has upheld a firearms conviction based on video evidence collected without a warrant from a camera perched on top of a utility pole. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that even though much of the evidence was collected without a warrant, the video…

Feb 16, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Judge wants to know why State Department missed the deadline for release of final Clinton emails

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the federal government to explain in writing why it missed a Jan. 29 deadline to release the final batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said on Tuesday that the State Department is taking an “unreasonably long period of time”…

Feb 10, 2016 10:25 AM CST

Judge bars release of anti-abortion group’s undercover videos

A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction barring an anti-abortion group from releasing undercover videos taken at annual conferences of the National Abortion Federation. U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco issued the injunction Friday in a lawsuit filed against the Center for Medical Progress, report…

Feb 9, 2016 8:43 AM CST

Lawyer sues Avvo, says unauthorized use of professional info violates right of publicity

Updated: A Chicago attorney has sued Avvo, contending that the company’s online lawyer directory is violating a state statute by using professional information on the site without permission. Plaintiff Moria Bernstein alleges in her lawsuit (PDF) that Avvo is violating an Illinois right of publicity law that bars use of…

Feb 8, 2016 5:30 PM CST

Bank tellers may pose greater threat to customers than hackers, NY Times says

It may not be hackers that pose the biggest threat to bank customers’ funds and personal information. Bank tellers have access to a great deal of information about customers, as well as their accounts, and a lack of security and enforcement against those who transgress leaves customers vulnerable, the New…

Feb 3, 2016 11:10 AM CST

Group goes undercover at 13 law firms to show how US laws facilitate anonymous investment

Fifteen out of 16 Manhattan lawyers captured on video in a group’s undercover operation—including a then-ABA president—offered advice on how an African official could buy pricey Manhattan real estate without revealing his identity. An investigator for a group called Global Witness posed as an adviser to an African minister of…

Feb 1, 2016 5:00 PM CST

Texas police turn into ‘mobile debt collectors’ with license-reader program

A company that makes license-plate readers is offering free use of its equipment to Texas law enforcement agencies in exchange for a 25 percent surcharge on outstanding court fines collected through its database. The deal turns Texas police in to “mobile debt collectors,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation says at its…

Feb 1, 2016 6:15 AM CST

DC lawyer ethics board investigating Bush-era DOJ lawyer who leaked info about warrantless wiretaps

Thomas Tamm, the former DOJ attorney who told the media about warrantless surveillance during the Bush administration, is charged with legal ethics violations in Washington, D.C., the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reported Tuesday. Tamm, who now works as a public defender in Maryland, is accused by the Board on…

Jan 27, 2016 12:45 PM CST

Woman sues Associated Press for selling her photo in a hijab as a stock photo

A Queens, New York, woman has sued the Associated Press and AP photographer Mark Lennihan for taking and selling a photo of her, the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy reported Monday. Fifi Youssef wears a hijab, the head covering for women from parts of the Muslim world. Lennihan took her photo…

Jan 26, 2016 4:25 PM CST

US uses hacker technique to catch child-porn offenders; was search warrant too extensive?

The federal government is using hacker techniques to identify child pornography offenders, raising concerns among privacy advocates. The Washington Post explains how the government used the techniques in its investigation of people using the Playpen child-pornography website. Armed with a warrant, the government seized Playpen and installed malware on computers…

Jan 22, 2016 9:11 AM CST

Sued for battery by Uber driver, passenger cites YouTube video in $5M counterclaim

Sued for assault and battery and emotional distress by the Uber driver he allegedly attacked from the passenger seat last year in Newport Beach, California, a now-former Taco Bell corporate manager has tried to turn the tables. Passenger Benjamin Golden filed a $5 million counterclaim over a YouTube video of…

Jan 19, 2016 3:45 PM CST

Does property owner have the right to shoot down hobbyist’s hovering drone?

A hobbyist whose drone was shot down by a Kentucky property owner is asking a court for $1,500 in damages and a decision on who had rights to the airspace. The issue is whether John Boggs’ drone was trespassing or if it was flying in airspace within the jurisdiction of…

Jan 14, 2016 8:52 AM CST

This high-tech police department trawls social media, license plates; watches city with audio, video

The type of data used in marketing is also being used by police departments to help solve crimes and analyze the threat level of suspects before arrests. Police in Fresno, California, are among those using the technology, the Washington Post reports. Police there are able to scan a database of…

Jan 11, 2016 8:07 AM CST

Retailers may sell books and movies on Rosa Parks without paying her institute

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that retailers may sell books and movies about the life of civil rights leader Rosa Parks, the Birmingham News reported yesterday. The nonprofit Raymond and Rosa Parks Institute for Self Development had sued Target for selling seven books about Parks,…

Jan 5, 2016 5:05 PM CST