Some Staff Protest Bay Street Firm’s New Finger Scan ID Plan, Ask Why It Doesn’t Apply to Lawyers

As part of a new security campaign, a Canadian insurance law firm on Toronto’s prime Bay Street is installing a fingerprint-identification program that is expected to be up and running this month. But scanning workers’ prints also admittedly will help McCague Borlack keep track of its employees’ whereabouts. And that…

Nov 1, 2012 7:04 PM CDT

Site Unseen: Schools, Bosses Barred from Eyeing Students’, Workers’ Social Media

Nov 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Are Some Laws Beyond Judicial Review? Justices Weigh Right to Sue over Wiretap Statute

Anthony M. Kennedy was among the justices Monday who appeared sympathetic to the plight of lawyers who fear their international communications are being monitored under a 2008 wiretap law targeting terrorism. Kennedy may have the key vote in the case in which the plaintiffs are claiming they were harmed by…

Oct 30, 2012 6:52 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Consider Right to Sue in Challenge to Wiretap Law

In oral arguments on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a group of lawyers, human rights groups and journalists have standing to challenge a warrantless wiretapping law. The 2008 law authorizes the National Security Agency to monitor international emails and phone calls without a warrant for each target,…

Oct 29, 2012 11:15 AM CDT

Cellphone Tower Tracking Without Court Order Considered in NJ Supreme Court

Does the government need a warrant when it uses cellphone towers to track individuals? That’s a question currently being considered by the New Jersey Supreme Court. In State of New Jersey v. Thomas W. Earls, the government argues that the tracking in question doesn’t invade someone’s privacy, according to Record…

Oct 22, 2012 3:50 PM CDT

NH Asks Judge for Broad Access to Hospital Patient Records, Seeking Full Info re Hepatitis Outbreak

In an ongoing effort to determine how many patients at a New Hampshire medical center may allegedly have been infected by a rogue medical technician with hepatitis C, an assistant state attorney general has asked a Merrimack Superior Court judge to order Exeter Hospital to provide broad access to patient…

Oct 19, 2012 4:35 PM CDT

Dog Sniff Cases to Be Argued on Halloween Have Haunting Implications, Law Prof Says

Two dog sniff cases to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Halloween haven’t snared a lot of press, but they could have an impact on the right to privacy in years to come, a law professor asserts. Writing in the New York Times, visiting Yale law professor Jeffrey…

Oct 19, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Report: Verizon Sells Smartphone App Usage, Browsing and Location Data; Critics Claim Wiretap Issues

A CNET News report that Verizon Wireless is selling aggregated information about its customers’ geographic location, application use and Internet browsing habits has raised questions about whether this practice could violate laws against wiretapping. Verizon says that its Precision Market Insights program, which offers reports to third-party marketers about customers’…

Oct 18, 2012 8:33 PM CDT

Hackers Post Lawyers’ CLE Info from Rutgers; Group Says It Accessed Data to Protest Education Costs

More than 1,500 lawyers who took continuing legal education courses from Rutgers’ law schools were notified on Tuesday that some of their personal data was posted by hackers. Names, addresses, encrypted passwords, telephone numbers and email addresses were accessed, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. The information posted online by…

Oct 12, 2012 11:31 AM CDT

Some Advertisers Say Their Compliance with Computer Browser Do-Not-Track Feature Is Optional

Setting up a possible showdown between advertisers and the government agencies that are supposed to protect consumer privacy, three advertiser trade groups announced this week that they don’t support the do-not-track feature built into new Internet browsers manufactured by Microsoft, and said some companies might even ignore it. On Tuesday…

Oct 11, 2012 5:00 PM CDT

New Facebook Program Matching Users, Brick-and-Mortar Retail Data Sparks Complaint to FTC

Facebook users, knowing that they might be targeted by advertisers based on what they posted online, have been willing to trade some privacy for the convenience of easy online access to other individuals throughout the country and globally. But the social networking site has now embarked on a new marketing…

Oct 3, 2012 7:53 PM CDT

High-Profile Litigants Get Cases Sealed in Chicago Courts

Chicago-area judges have sealed hundreds of cases in the last dozen years, benefiting several high-profile litigants. A Chicago Tribune investigative report revealed some of the well-known litigants whose names were kept out of the public record in Cook County. They included: • Chef Laurent Gras, who sued for injuries in…

Oct 1, 2012 12:24 PM CDT

Prison Guard Reinstated After Investigation Shows Other Guards Were Friends with Inmate on Facebook

After being fired in May for violating Texas prison policy by friending an inmate on Facebook, a Huntsville corrections officer has been reinstated. The reinstatement comes after an investigation showed several others at the prison, including the prison’s chief financial officer, were associated on Facebook with the same convicted murderer.…

Oct 1, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Regulators Moving to Strengthen Privacy Rules for Children on the Web

Alarmed by the sheer volume of personal information being collected by companies looking to target advertising and products to children, federal regulators are moving to overhaul privacy rules. Collecting the data is legal, though parents and regulators alike have concerns about how personal information about children is being stored and…

Sep 28, 2012 10:24 AM CDT

7 Retailers Settle with FTC, Agree to Stop Spying on Up to 400,000 Computer Rental Customers

Seven rent-to-own companies and a software design firm have agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission concerning computers that the retailers rented to customers and then used to spy on them without disclosing in advance that the companies intended to do so. They will not be fined, but…

Sep 26, 2012 4:40 PM CDT