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 […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
Three Twitter users who are under investigation in connection with WikiLeaks have no legitimate expectation of privacy in their internet protocol (IP) addresses and the locations of their computers, a federal judge has found. The court denied a request by the trio to quash an order requiring Twitter to turn over the information to the […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
Yelp appears to be immune from liability even if it acts in bad faith and manipulates its reviews of businesses to force them to advertise with the online review site. A federal district court judge threw out a class action case by several businesses against Yelp!, Inc., which alleged the site unlawfully manipulated the content […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
The Mobile Marketing Association has issued a proposed model Mobile Application Privacy Policy Framework for mobile applications developers. The framework is intended to give mobile applications developers clear language for disclosing to users what data is collected and used by mobile applications. The framework proposes language that answers the following questions: Do third parties see and/or have […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
Text messages require the same authentication as other documents before they can be used as evidence, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled. Noting that it was a case of “first impression,” the court found that text messages are intrinsic to the cell phones on which they are stored and “identifying information is contained in the […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
The rapidly expanding use by children of mobile devices for social networking and interactive gaming has prompted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to propose changes to its Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. The FTC seeks to expand the definition of “personal information” to include screen [names], user names, and persistent identifiers when the information is […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
A class action suit against Apple and some mobile device application developers for violating the privacy rights of users was dismissed by a federal court because the users did not show how they were harmed. The users claimed that Apple and the developers allow apps that run on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch to collect […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
A federal court has told Snuggly Plushez to stuff its Google AdWords campaign that uses its rivals Pillow Pets trademark. Snuggly Plushez makes a plush toy in the shape of an animal that unfolds into a flat pillow—the same product that its competitor CJ Products markets under the “Pillow Pet” name and other trademarks. CJ Products […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
Broken Thumbs Apps got its wrist slapped by the Federal Trade Commission for illegally collecting children’s email addresses and other personally identifiable information. In the first FTC case against a mobile applications developer, the FTC found that several of Broken Thumbs apps were directed at children under 13. In order to obtain the apps, the children […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
A juvenile who gains unauthorized access to another’s Facebook page, alters the Facebook profile, and posts obscene messages on two friends’ walls commits criminal identity theft. A California appellate court upheld a juvenile court’s determination that the juvenile was guilty under the state’s criminal identity theft statute. The law makes it a crime when a person […]
