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 17, 2013
Law enforcement officials must obtain a warrant before placing a GPS tracking device on an individual’s vehicle, the United States Supreme Court ruled. The decision was anticipated to be the first to define boundaries of what constitutes geolocational privacy, that is, whether there is any privacy in the location of a person. However, the case was […]
Balough
December 16, 2013
For purposes of determining whether a contract not to compete is enforceable, Illinois courts must consider the legitimate business interests of the former employer, the Illinois Supreme Court found. The court said that in determining whether a legitimate business interest exists, judges must look to the “totality of the facts and circumstances of the individual […]
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
The use of information obtained by a warrantless-tracking of a New York state employee with a GPS device on his private car, even while he was on a week’s vacation, was approved by the state’s appellate court. The case involved an employee who was fired because of a pattern of taking unauthorized absences from work […]
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 […]
