Privacy Law

How California cops are using mobile fingerprinting and facial recognition devices

Police departments in California are identifying suspects using mobile biometric devices that scan fingerprints, faces and even tattoos. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, in a joint project with MuckRock, filed public records requests around the country to learn how police departments are using mobile biometric technology. More than 30 agencies have…

Nov 6, 2015 11:45 AM CST

Supreme Court refuses appeal in anti-gay defamation case

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former Michigan assistant attorney general who lost an anti-gay defamation suit filed by an openly gay University of Michigan student body president. The justices on Monday let stand a ruling earlier this year by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court…

Nov 2, 2015 4:25 PM CST

New Jersey sheriff’s officer charged with illegally giving juvenile’s mugshots to newspaper

A New Jersey sheriff’s officer has been arrested on charges that he illegally leaked arrest photos of a juvenile shooting victim to a newspaper. Mercer County sheriff’s officer Christopher J. McKenna is charged with wrongful access and disclosure of information, a third-degree felony punishable by three to five years in…

Nov 2, 2015 3:15 PM CST

Our hamster toy looks nothing like Fox News anchor, says Hasbro in response to lawsuit

A hamster toy manufactured by Hasbro Inc. shares a Fox News anchorwoman’s name. But it looks nothing like Harris Faulkner, the award-winning anchor of Fox Report Weekend, and hence her lawsuit against the toymaker must fail, the company argues in a motion to dismiss (PDF) filed last week. Citing the…

Nov 2, 2015 7:05 AM CST

Judge grants Hulk Hogan’s request to inspect Gawker’s computers

A judge has granted Hulk Hogan and his legal team access to Gawker’s computers, smartphones, and network servers to determine whether Gawker employees purposely leaked confidential information about the former pro wrestler, The Hollywood Reporter reported Thursday. Florida Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan and his team could search…

Oct 23, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Federal judge blocks Indiana from enforcing ‘ballot selfie’ ban

An Indiana law making it a felony offense to take a “ballot selfie” at polling places or share it on social media is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday. Granting a preliminary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker said in…

Oct 20, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

Cops seek DNA information from Ancestry.com and 23andMe

Police searching for suspects are looking beyond criminal DNA databases for genetic information. In one case, police searched a publicly available database at Ancestry.com and wrongly identified New Orleans filmmaker Michael Usry as a suspect in a cold-case murder in Idaho based on a DNA sample provided by Usry’s father,…

Oct 20, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

US motion alleges Sidley lawyer intended to ‘embarrass and harass’ with deposition questions

Updated: The U.S. Justice Department is alleging that Sidley Austin lawyers questioned an FBI agent during a deposition “in a manner designed to annoy, embarrass and harass” the agent and the FBI. The motion for a protective order claims the lawyers are abusing the discovery system in their representation of…

Oct 19, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

In a first, US claims hacker’s actions provided material support to terrorists

The United States has charged a hacker in Malaysia with providing material support to ISIS by passing along stolen data about U.S. service members. Malaysian authorities have detained the suspect, Kosovo citizen Ardit Ferizi, on a U.S. provisional arrest warrant, report the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)…

Oct 16, 2015 7:21 AM CDT

California law requiring warrant for digital searches is ‘a landmark win for digital privacy’

A new California law requiring police to get warrants for online data is the most protective in the country. California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act on Thursday, report Wired and CNet. The law requires law enforcement agencies in the state to get a warrant…

Oct 9, 2015 9:17 AM CDT

EU court strikes down agreement for digital transfers of personal data to US

The European Court of Justice ruled declared invalid an international agreement for moving its citizens’ digital data to U.S. servers, saying their privacy might be violated—especially by U.S. government surveillance, the New York Times reports. The ruling by the EU’s highest court, which cannot be appealed, is a serious blow…

Oct 6, 2015 10:47 AM CDT

Lawyer obtained credit report of opposing party without permission, ethics complaint alleges

An ethics complaint accuses an Illinois lawyer of accessing the credit report of an opposing party without permission in a bid to obtain additional child support for his client. The complaint alleges lawyer Peter Alexander Papoutsis was able to get the credit report from creditreport.com last December using information obtained…

Sep 29, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Jimmy Kimmel wins appeal over use of ‘Flying Rabbi’ YouTube video in comedy bit

A New York appeals court has sided with Jimmy Kimmel in a suit contending the comedian’s use of a YouTube video invaded a New York man’s privacy. New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, upheld a finding that Kimmel’s use of the video was not used for advertising or trade purposes,…

Sep 25, 2015 9:56 AM CDT

Ex-courthouse clerk charged with felony for throwing files in trash after being fired

A former Harris County, Texas, courthouse clerk has been accused of throwing thousands of pages of court documents into the trash after being fired. Steven Calyen, who was fired Tuesday, was charged with felony tampering with a public record, the Houston Chronicle reports. Calyen was on his way to an…

Sep 23, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

French regulators reject Google’s attempts to limit the scope of European privacy ruling

French regulators have dealt a blow to Google’s hopes of limiting the scope of the “right to be forgotten.” The New York Times reported on Monday that French data protection agency Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) has handed down an expansive ruling bolstering a privacy decision issued…

Sep 21, 2015 3:20 PM CDT