Balough
December 22, 2013
Tweets along with the tweeter’s email address and other user information may be subpoenaed by the government under the Stored Communications Act, a New York criminal court judge found. The New York District Attorney’s Office issued a subpoena to Twitter in connection with a disorderly conduct charge against defendant, an Occupy Wall Street protester who […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
The collection and use of an app user’s personal information, including the user’s location, without his or her consent does not violate the user’s right to privacy under the California Constitution, the Stored Communications Act, the Federal Wiretap Act, or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. However, the use may violate California’s unfair competition law, […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
A juror who posted comments on his Facebook page during a trial must give the trial court judge a copy of all of his posts, including deleted posts. A California appellate court found that the trial court was correct in ordering the juror to produce to the court for review all of his posts to […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
Richard C. Balough discussed the implications of geolocation technologies on the right of privacy at a seminar sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin’s non-resident lawyers division in Chicago. Mr. Balough’s presentation on November 16, 2011, concerned the changing expectations of privacy in light of both the technology that allows undisclosed 24-hour monitoring of a person’s physical […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published its final report setting forth best practices for businesses to protect consumers’ privacy and give them greater control over the collection and use of their personal data. Entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change, Recommendations for Businesses and Policymakers,” the report recommends that businesses follow […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
If you lose your smartphone, you have a 50-50 chance of someone contacting you to return it—but even then the person probably has tried to access private or company data on the phone. That’s the conclusion reached in a “honey stick” experiment by Symantec that was recently released. For the experiment, 50 smartphones were “lost” in five […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
The identity of a person who commented anonymously about an article already published on newspaper website is not protected by Indiana’s Shield Law, the state’s appellate court found. The poster’s identity was sought by a former president of the Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Inc., (JA) who alleged that he was defamed by the comment appearing […]
Balough
December 17, 2013
Individual privacy rights would receive some protection online under a proposed “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” unveiled by the White House. The Bill of Rights would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and individual states attorneys generals. It would establish “safe harbors” for businesses that comply with guidelines established as part of an industry initiative. […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
A patient has sued his dentist over a contract that prohibits the patient from posting any comments about the dentist on the Internet. The complaint alleges that the dentist requires all her patients to sign a “Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy” before any dental work is performed. Under the agreement, the patient assigns all copyrights that […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
A poster who made comments about the son of a former town trustee during an election may remain anonymous because the trustee did not show the posts were defamatory, an Illinois appellate court found. The appellate court reversed a Cook County judge who found that the poster’s identity must be turned over to the trustee’s […]
