Privacy Law

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

You can sue someone who broke into your email, but you’d better find proof fast

In August 2011, New York City teacher Chantay Sewell tried to log in to her AOL account and couldn't. Shortly afterward, a message making defamatory claims about her sex life went out from her email address. Seven months later, the same thing happened with her Facebook account.

Jan 1, 2016 3:30 AM CST

Online property information aids deed thieves

Online property information is making it easier for swindlers to forge deeds so they can sell vacant homes to unsuspecting buyers. The problem is particularly bad in New York City, where 120 cases are being investigated, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The city posts online copies of deeds,…

Dec 9, 2015 12:16 PM CST

Videos from police probe of bikini baristas are subject to open records law, judge rules

Police in Everett, Washington, have to release copies of surveillance videos of bikini baristas who exposed themselves and performed sexual acts, but the records could be released in a screen-shot format, a Snohomish County judge has ruled. Judge George Appel ruled on Monday that open records law requires the city…

Dec 9, 2015 11:31 AM CST

Moms sue Mattel, saying ‘Hello Barbie’ doll violates privacy

The maker of a talking “Hello Barbie” doll says the toy complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. To satisfy COPPA requirements, Hello Barbie users agree to create a ToyTalk account before the doll’s conversation feature is activated and its owner’s remarks are transmitted, via a built-in wifi microphone,…

Dec 9, 2015 11:25 AM CST

Aide to Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane is convicted for email snooping in violation of court order

An aide to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted of criminal contempt on Tuesday for violating a protective order by reading office emails to learn about a grand jury investigation of Kane. The aide, Patrick Reese, was convicted by a Montgomery County judge, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.),…

Dec 9, 2015 10:29 AM CST

Judge orders Florida newspaper to unpublish information on its website

Updated: A judge has ordered a Florida newspaper to unpublish material posted on its website. In an unusual ruling (PDF), Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Schramm Cox ordered the Palm Beach Post to remove from its website transcripts of taped telephone recordings in which a jailhouse informant bragged about…

Dec 7, 2015 6:31 AM CST

Former Internet provider can finally reveal what the FBI wanted to know in 2004, judge rules

After 11 years of litigation, the onetime owner of an Internet company can finally reveal what kind of information the FBI had sought about one of his customers. A federal judge has lifted a gag order that had prevented Nicholas Merrill from revealing the contents of the national security letter…

Dec 1, 2015 12:52 PM CST

NSA halts bulk collection of phone records, but security and surveillance concerns remain

The National Security Agency ceased collecting bulk data for America’s phone records at midnight Saturday, as required by law. But the door remains open for investigators to access such information when targeting specific groups or individuals, Reuters reports. The victory for privacy activists and tech companies “struck a reasonable compromise…

Nov 30, 2015 2:15 PM CST

Belgium authorities ask for Internet silence on police ops; Twitterverse responds with cat memes

Concerned that social media messages could alert suspects in Brussels, where police have been conducting sweeps for possible terrorists linked to recent Paris attacks, authorities in Belgium asked the country’s citizens and news media to refrain from tweets and Internet posts about raids. Over the weekend, defense minister Steven Vandeput…

Nov 23, 2015 4:05 PM CST