Open Secret: Cisco Site Shares Privacy Approach

Oct 1, 2011 7:40 AM CDT

2nd Circuit Splits on Wiretap Suit; Judge Claims Lawyers Have ‘Fantasy of Persecution’

A federal appeals court split 6-6 Wednesday on whether to grant en banc review of a decision allowing lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates to challenge a federal wiretap law. The split decision (PDF) by the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals sheds light on divisions in the…

Sep 22, 2011 4:30 PM CDT

Topix Gets About One Subpoena a Day for Email Addresses of Anonymous Commenters

The social media website Topix allows anonymous posters to comment, critique and kvetch. But their identities don’t always remain secret. Topix receives about one subpoena a day seeking the computer addresses of anonymous commenters, the New York Times reports. Sometimes the subpoenas are issued as part of police investigations; sometimes…

Sep 21, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Federal Courts Announce Higher Pacer Fees, Policy to Discourage Sealing Civil Suits

The cost of Pacer documents will increase two cents a page under a new policy adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States. The new fee is 10 cents a page, according to a press release, the Politico blog Under the Radar and The BLT: The Blog of Legal…

Sep 14, 2011 4:45 PM CDT

Posner Defends Privacy Against Incursions by ‘Snooping’ Reporters and Bloggers

In oral arguments on Tuesday, federal appeals Judge Richard Posner saw some valid reasons to uphold an Illinois law barring audio recordings of police officers. Posner spoke in an appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The law allows video recordings of police in…

Sep 14, 2011 1:49 PM CDT

Judges Cite Orwell in Opinions on GPS Tracking of Suspects; Issue Goes to Supreme Court

George Orwell is enjoying a surge in popularity in judicial opinions considering GPS and cellphone tracking of criminal suspects. The New York Times notes that Orwell’s novel 1984 is being referenced more often as judges are asked to decide whether such tracking violates the Fourth Amendment. “1984 may have come…

Sep 12, 2011 10:59 AM CDT

Teacher Settles Privacy Suit Against Software Company Accused of Giving Her Racy Photos to Police

A substitute teacher in Ohio has settled her privacy lawsuit claiming a software company invaded her privacy and violated federal laws when it accessed her sexually explicit photos and gave them to police. Susan Clements-Jeffrey settled the suit on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. Lawyers did not disclose details. Clements-Jeffrey…

Sep 7, 2011 11:54 AM CDT

Teacher Allowed to Sue Software Company for Sending Her Explicit Photos to Cops

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a privacy lawsuit filed by a substitute teacher in Ohio that contends a software company accessed the woman’s sexually explicit photos and sent them to police investigating a stolen computer. U.S. District Judge Walter Rice refused last week to grant a motion for…

Sep 1, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Center Stage for the First Amendment: Protecting Controversial Speech Shows a Libertarian Bent

Sep 1, 2011 7:50 AM CDT

Military Tribunals Draw No Flak

Sep 1, 2011 5:50 AM CDT

1950s Mug Shots Become Art, Raising Legal Questions

Two enterprising Cincinnati women are using police mug shots taken in 1955 to make prints, posters and notebooks. The women, Tara Finke and Megan Scherer, digitally retouched the photos to highlight certain physical features, the New York Times reports. Though the photos were taken and then discarded by the Alameda…

Aug 29, 2011 2:27 PM CDT

Mass. Appeals Court Allows Suit by Man Who Volunteered DNA Sample, Wants Genetic Profile Destroyed

A Massachusetts man who voluntarily provided DNA in 2002 to police investigating a murder may pursue a privacy invasion suit seeking return of his genetic profile, a state appeals court has ruled. Keith Amato claims in his class action suit that police promised the sample and data would not be…

Aug 26, 2011 12:17 PM CDT

15 Years for Recording a Talk with Cops? Woman Avoids Prison with Acquittal

A woman charged under Illinois’ obscure eavesdropping law for secretly recording her conversation with two Chicago cops has been acquitted. Jurors acquitted Tiawanda Moore after deliberating less than an hour, the Chicago Tribune reports. She was charged under an Illinois law that bars the recording of public conversations without permission;…

Aug 25, 2011 3:51 PM CDT

Should Personal Info on the Web Have an Expiration Date?

Google yourself. Everyone’s done it. Depending on how large a reputation you have or how common your name is, there could be a host of information out there with which you’d rather not be associated. There’s a whole online reputation management industry devoted to helping people weed through websites looking…

Aug 17, 2011 5:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Videotaped Women at Tanning Salon Sentenced to Probation

A judge suspended the 180-day jail sentence of California defense attorney David Taylor Kaye, instead ordering probation and ordering him to undergo sex offender counseling for secretly filming women at tanning salon last year. Judge Eugenia Eyherabide also ordered Kaye, who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts for peeking through…

Aug 12, 2011 9:17 PM CDT