By now, the Occupy Wall Street movement has become well known and widespread throughout in the United States. Claiming, “We Are the 99%,” this resistance movement seeks to “empower real people to create real change” in order to build a better society free of the “greed and corruption of the 1%.” They have also expanded outside of New York to cities throughout the country.
Privacy Law
The Bill Is Weak But the Need Is Great
Perhaps even President Obama has found that the advertisements on the right side of his Facebook page are excessively applicable to his life. On February 23rd, the White House announced a new bill that aims to protect Internet users’ privacy, and has come to be known as the “Online Privacy Bill of Rights.” The bill includes guidelines for how Internet companies are to manage customers’ information, but is already being criticized for a lack of substance and vagueness.
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Netflix Advocating for Change in Antiquated Law to Connect U.S. Users to Facebook
The idea of linking a company’s product to Facebook, particularly a product related to technology, in order to positively affect that company’s bottom line is not newsworthy. In fact, what is more newsworthy is a company with a technology-based product not creating some sort of platform to connect its customers through Facebook. This is particularly true when that company is the consistently inconsistent Netflix.
Congressman Introduces Mobile Device Privacy Act to Address Carrier IQ-like Data Collection
Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts recently proposed the Mobile Device Privacy Act—Congress’s first stab at protecting handset users’ privacy from software companies that collect user data on behalf of handset manufacturers and service providers. It’s inadequate.
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Facebook Chattering: Be Careful What You Post, The Court Might Be Listening
Facebook “status updates” are admissible evidence, rules the Minnesota Court of Appeals. In IN RE: the Welfare of: D.L.W., the court addressed the issue of whether Facebook posts constituted relevant evidence under the Minnesota Rules of Evidence. In declaring that the probative value outweighed the any prospect for unfair prejudice, the court potentially set a new precedent in social media law, transforming Facebook chatter into grounds for incarceration.
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FDA May be Spying on Whistleblower Employees
The FDA runs by the motto “protecting and promoting your health.” Americans depend on the FDA as a gatekeeper and regulator of the health industry. However, allegations have surfaced which cast doubt on the squeaky clean image of the agency. Several employees, who voiced complaints over medical devices approved by the FDA, have accused the agency of spying on t
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Supreme Court Rules in TCPA Case
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) poses the following question and answer: “Has your evening quiet time or dinner been interrupted by a call from a telemarketer? If so, you’re not alone.”
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Kindle Fire: What Are You Willing to Trade For a Faster Internet?
Only weeks old, the Kindle Fire has been a privacy concern since it was announced. The issue involves the Fire’s Silk web browser. In order to improve the web browsing experience, Silk routes ordinary traffic through Amazon’s servers as a proxy. This allows Amazon to load the page more quickly and even preload pages it believes the user is likely to access next based on usage statistics.
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Information Retention a No-Go for Redbox
Redbox, the automated video store that allows customers to rent movies from self-service kiosks, has become the target of litigation due to its consumer information retention practices. Redbox has maintained a policy of collecting consumer credit card information, billing addresses, and video viewing preferences whenever consumers rent videos from Redbox kisosks, and subsequently stores that information in internal databases for an indefinite period of time. Redbox failed to make clear to consumers that the company retained such personal information.
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Healthcare Case Re-Ignites Old Debate about Cameras in the Court
On Monday, Nov. 14 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to three cases (Nat’l Fed. of Ind. Business v. Sebelius, U.S. Dept. of H.S.S. v. Fla., Read more …
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Tweet This: Judge Denies Twitterers’ Objections to Order
If you’ve been following the WikiLeaks saga, the tweet on the street is that Twitter is going to have to cough up information for three of its users—according to a November 10, 2011 decision by Judge O’Grady of the U.S.
Salman Rushdie’s Facebook Identity Crisis
Facebook, as part of its corporate philosophy, requires that users register only with their true name. Although this policy is not an issue for most using the service, it can occasionally cause issues. Case and point: the Facebook page belonging to famous author Salman Rushdie was deleted when Facebook had doubts over its authenticity. How do you prove who you are in the online world? Rushdie was required to send a copy of his passport to Facebook, as is stated in their terms o
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You still have some privacy leftover? We’ll take that!
When you live in a major metropolitan area you become accustomed to relying on others for your transportation. Those who frequent subways and city buses have long had their actions recorded with video cameras. One mode of transport that has been slow to adopt cameras in the United States is the taxicab.
CHASING EVIL IN THE HIGH-TECH DIGITAL AGE
Chasing down criminals and terrorists has always been the high point of any great crime-fighting drama. Classics like Bullitt or The Fugitive have inspired countless generations of Americans to join the ranks of their local or federal lawmen. As technology has progressed, Hollywood has been on the cutting edge (and sometimes even further) of technology design
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Caught With Your System Down: SEC Requires Disclosure of Cyberattacks
The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive recently released a report highlighting the current threats to America’s economic security: foreign economic collection and industrial espionage against American businesses. The two major culprits are China and Russia. With both countries aiming to achieve economic prosperity, states the report, cyberattacks that attempt to steal valuable trade secrets and technological information are and will remain rampant.
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Think You are Stealthily Avoiding Facebook Fame?…Think Again!
If you are one of the many people who are concerned with privacy invasion, and if you avoid Big Brother as much as you possibly can, you can refuse to subscribe to social media sites to avoid having your personal information displayed on sites like Facebook for all the world to see. Right? Maybe not…
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TSA Moves to Ease Privacy Concerns
On October 6, 2011, the Transportation Security Administration issued a press release announcing the deployment of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners to 29 airports across the United States. These new AIT scanners will contain updated software that is designed to strengthen passenger privacy. First, the new software eliminates passenger-specific images and replaces them with a generic outline of a person. Second, the software includes an automated threat detec
In-Depth Look: GPS Surveillance Cases Warrant a Change in Perspective
Law enforcement has many competing interests with advocates of Fourth Amendment protections. One is law enforcement’s use of GPS devices to track a suspect’s movements in his vehicle during the early stages of a criminal investigation. The use of such devices has created an outcry among many who claim that law enforcement must retrieve a search warrant before using a GPS device to track an individual in his car. Law enforcement continues to justify their actions by pointing to Supreme Court precedent, which explains that the use of tracking devices in public places does not
Netflix Sends Congress a Facebook Friend Request
At a developer’s conference on September 22, 2011, Facebook President/CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced a new partnership that allows Facebook users to integrate Netflix into their social media experience. Facebook and Netflix users in 44 countries can now watch videos on either site, share their video selections with friends via Facebook, and even see what their friends are viewing…just not users within the United States. No, U.S.