Posted by K.M. Das
On January 19, 2006, the Electronic Privacy Information Center ("EPIC") filed a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") lawsuit against the Department of Justice ("DOJ") to attempt to expedite the DOJ's production of documents relating to the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.
Continue Reading...Posted by Peter Mucklestone
The Fifth National Conference on Ensuring Privacy and Security of Consumer Information, sponsored by the American Conference Institute, began Thursday morning at the Marriott East Side Hotel in New York. The conference is billed by its sponsor as the leading legal and regulatory forum for privacy professionals at financial institutions.
Continue Reading...Crackdown includes $5.34 Million Settlement with DirecTV
Posted by Ronald London
Recently, two FTC announcements that it settled charges involving alleged violations of its rules surrounding the National Do-Not-Call Registry ("NDNCR") offered insight into the extent to which the agency pursues not just those who directly violate consumers' do-not-call rights, but also all parties substantially involved in the offending activity. The cases involve the largest civil penalty ever in any enforcement action involving consumer protection laws administered by the FTC, and the first case of anyone paying a civil penalty for allegedly violating the "assisting and facilitating" provision in the agency's telemarketing rules.
Continue Reading...Posted by Brian Bennett
The U.S. government's subpoena of Google search records may lead to greater public awareness of how search engines work and the related legal issues. A CBS News article looks at the privacy implications of the government subpoenas, and gives an overview of the risks to users of search engines. A weekend poll on the issue showed that 89% of Google users believe their Web searches are kept private, 56% said they don't want Google to release any Web search information to the government, and 38% said they would stop using Google if it gives information about their searches to the government.
Posted by Randy Gainer
The Department of Justice published a 42-page memorandum on January 19, 2005 that defends the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program. The DoJ memo responds to arguments raised by the Congressional Research Service in its January 5, 2006 report and by 14 law professors and former government officials in their January 9, 2006 letter to Congress. The DoJ memo elaborates on many of the same points it made in a December 22, 2005, letter to Congress but goes further by claiming that "acute constitutional crises" will result if the resolution authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda (the "AUMF") is not interpreted as having given the President authority to direct the NSA to conduct the domestic surveillance program. January 19 DoJ memo at 35.
Continue Reading...Posted by Merrill Baumann
It's axiomatic that wherever large sums of money are changing hands, there will be scams seeking a piece of the action... and tax collecting is no exception. Not surprisingly, the IRS warns that numerous phishing scams abound, where the perpetrator asks for confidential information in exchange for tax refunds or some other benefit. So how do you protect yourself against these fraudsters? One of this biggest weapons is common sense. Legitimate commercial outfits no longer request confidential financial information by unsolicited emails. And in many contexts, including the IRS, simply ask yourself: Why are they asking for this information? Don't they already have it?
Posted by Kraig Baker
Last week, Apple launched a new version of iTunes that included a "MiniStore." The MiniStore was designed to recommend new music to users. What Apple didn't disclose, however, was that in order to make the recommendations, they were monitoring users listening habits and using an ID that was tied to personal information. Moreover, Apple had this services turned on by default. After a large hue and cry, Apple has now agreed to turn off this service by default -- as Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing says, it should have done from the beginning. I think this is interesting for two reasons. First, it shows that consumers are sensitive to use of their personal information even in the case of "trusted" and "cult" brands like Apple or Google. In other words, consumer privacy concerns extend to the method of collection, not just the entity doing the collection. Second, it demonstrates once again that companies are very sensitive to consumer backlash regarding misuse of personal information. Look for more of these types of incidents as consumer demands for more personalization and customization collide with increasing sensitivity to monitoring and use of personal information.
Posted by Thomas R. Burke
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's motorcycle crash this past weekend remains in the news. Not unexpectedly, the event has prompted stories and discussion about motorcycle safety, the special certification that is required to drive a motorcycle in California (one that Schwarzenegger admits he didn't have) and even comparisons between Schwarzenegger's sidecar and Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" fame.
Continue Reading...Posted by Peter Mucklestone and Stuart Louie
Despite approximately ninety-five publicly known instances of data breaches over the past year at banks, financial institutions, universities, retailers, securities firm, telecoms, data brokers, hospitals and government agencies resulting in an estimated 51,000,000 compromised identities, efforts to create a uniform standard of notification through Congress remain delayed in House and Senate committees and have otherwise stalled until next session.
Continue Reading...Posted by K.M. Das
On Thursday, January 5, 2006, the Congressional Research Service released a 44-page memorandum casting further doubt on the legality of the National Security Agency's monitoring of international communications of American citizens and residents. CRS, housed within the Library of Congress, is the "public policy research arm of the United States Congress." CRS is intended to give Congress "its own source of nonpartisan, objective analysis and research on all legislative issues."
Continue Reading...Posted by Bruce Johnson
Pennsylvania has recently enacted a data breach disclosure law (S.B. 712, available here), another statute modeled on the original 2002 California law. Pennsylvania's law, which was signed by Governor Rendell on December 22, 2005, makes it the 22nd state to enact such legislation.
Continue Reading...Posted by Ronald London
At year's end, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report to Congress required by the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (i.e., the "CAN-SPAM Act") to provide a detailed analysis of the Act's effectiveness and enforcement and the need, if any, for Congress to modify the Act. The report was based on a variety of FTC fact-gathering mechanisms. In addition to its own direct enforcement experience under the CAN-SPAM Act and that of other entities empowered to enforce it, FTC staff interviewed consumer groups, email marketers, Internet service providers ("ISPs"), and others, and used compulsory process powers to obtain data from 9 ISPs that collectively control over 60% of the market for consumer email accounts. In addition, the FTC stated that it considered "the views of the general public about the effectiveness of the Act" as voiced during CAN-SPAM rulemakings held by the agency, as well as a "broad review" conducted by agency staff of "articles published about CAN-SPAM since its passage." The FTC also consulted with "two preeminent computer scientists for their independent evaluations of the Act's effectiveness."
Continue Reading...Posted by Brian Bennett
The New Hampshire Supreme Court recently held that financial information a person discloses in divorce cases is not subject to privacy law protection. The court held that there is a constitutional right of access to court records including financial affidavits filed in domestic relations cases, and that this public right arises from "the need to maintain the integrity and accountability of the judiciary."
Continue Reading...Posted by Randy Gainer
The Justice Department announced last week that it will try to determine who leaked to the New York Times details of the NSA's secret data mining operation. The DoJ inquiry is just one of many investigations that will probably make headlines in the next few months.
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