4 Feb 2012 Somini Sengupta writes: …. Every European country has a privacy law, as do Canada, Australia and many Latin American countries. The United States remains a holdout: We have separate laws that protect our health records and financial information, and even one that keeps private what movies we rent. But there is no law that spells [...]
4 Feb 2012 Dan Kahn writes: California legislator Norma Torres recently announced that she plans to introduce a bill that would restrict the release of taped 911 emergency telephone conversations. Torres, herself a longtime former 911 operator, said in a statement that “I don’t want anyone to hesitate or not make a 9-1-1 call because they are afraid their taped [...]
4 Feb 2012 WJBC reports: Businesses may soon be banned from requiring potential employees to divulge their social media passwords, for sites such as Facebook and Twitter, during the hiring process. State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) said getting access to an applicant’s account not only gives employers access to personal social information but sometimes sensitive banking information [...]
3 Feb 2012 Peter Swire writes, in part: The proposal here is that the answer lies in addressing what the Supreme Court in Delaware v. Prouse called “standardless and unconstrained discretion,”[5] and what Justice Sotomayor called “unfettered discretion” in her concurrence in Jones.[6] Supreme Court precedent contains powerful methods for limiting this sort of discretion, primarily in the second step of Fourth Amendment [...]
3 Feb 2012 FourthAmendment.com points to a recent news story out of Oregon that searching a videocam without a warrant, even incident to an arrest, is a Fourth Amendment violation. Bryan Denson reports: The rules of engagement became clearer in Eugene’s U.S. District Court last week, when a civil jury determined that a city police sergeant violated an [...]
3 Feb 2012 Thanks to Dave Banisar of Article19.0rg for alerting me to their analysis of the Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-organisation) Act. From the Executive Summary: In January 2012, ARTICLE 19 has analysed the provisions of the Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-organisation) Act, 1966 (the Act) to assess their compatibility with international standards relating to the rights to freedom of expression and [...]
2 Feb 2012 Roger Alford of Associated Press reports: Legislation that would require welfare recipients to be tested for drug use is gaining popularity among Kentucky legislators, more than 50 of whom have signed on as co-sponsors. It doesn’t matter that the measure stands little chance of passing into law. In a legislative election year, incumbents want their [...]
2 Feb 2012 Nat Hentoff comments on the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Jones: I was thrilled to see this headline on the American Civil Liberties Union’s website after the Supreme Court’s unanimous Jan. 23 ruling on United States v. Jones: “Supreme Court GPS Ruling: Bringing the 4th Amendment Into the 21st Century.” Wow! And this [...]
2 Feb 2012 I’m still getting caught up with news after being offline so much. Here’s a news story from Monday by John Plunkett that I missed: It was the latest stage in a long-running inquiry into privacy but the appearance of two senior Google executives before a joint parliamentary committee turned into an occasionally ill-tempered debate about [...]
2 Feb 2012 Preston Gralla reports: Microsoft has launched an all-out public assault on Google’s recent privacy changes, but Google is fighting back, claiming that Microsoft and other critics are spreading untruths about the new policy. It’s a fight that’s good for users. Read about it on Computerworld.* RSS Newsfeeds compiled by pogowasright.org, used with permission.
