Balough
May 15, 2014
Google, as well as other search engines operating in the European Union, must delete old search results when requested by an individual under the right to be forgotten doctrine, the European Union’s highest court ruled. The European Court of Justice granted a request by a Spanish citizen that Google erase from its search results connected […]
Balough
May 9, 2014
Apparently there is nothing more permanent than a Snapchat disappearing image and the app’s ability to collect all the names and phone numbers on the user’s mobile devices. The mobile messaging app has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceived consumers by stating that the user’s “Snapchat” image or video would […]
Balough
March 21, 2014
The Illinois Supreme Court found in two separate cases that the state’s eavesdropping statute is unconstitutional. The statute makes it illegal to use an “eavesdropping device” to hear or record any conversation without the consent of all parties to the conversation. It also makes it illegal to use or divulge the conversation obtained using the […]
Balough
December 27, 2013
The NSA’s massive collection of phone data is likely an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment because it violates an individual’s expectation of privacy, a federal judge found. The ruling granted a request by two plaintiffs to enjoin the government through the National Security Agency from collecting their phone records, including metadata. However, the judge […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
The use at a seminar on internet safety of a picture of a 17-year-old bikini-clad student taken from her Facebook page by a school district technology director did not violate the student’s right to privacy under federal law, a Georgia District court ruled. The school district’s director of technology services pulled the student’s image from […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Those insurance company apps that track an individual’s driving habits in exchange for lower rates also can determine the car’s physical location even without global positioning capabilities, a new study finds. Some car insurance companies offer discounts if the driver allows a data collection device to be plugged into the on-board diagnostic port of the […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
Mobile apps should disclose in easy-to-understand language what data they collect and how the data is used, and they should consider a do-not-track mechanism, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommended in a staff report adopted by the FTC. The report, “Mobile Privacy Disclosures Building Trust Through Transparency,” noted that “mobile technology presents unique privacy challenges. First, more […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
An online advertising company has agreed to stop gathering sensitive data from millions of consumers and will cease its secret “history sniffing” activities, which revealed the websites users had visited in the past. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that Epic Marketplace, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Epic Media Group, LLC, gathered data from customers […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
A Colorado federal judge ordered that a person suing her former employer must provide all of her cell phone messages, social media passwords, and passwords to access any of her email accounts or blogs for the judge’s in camera review. The former employee, along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sued The Original Honeybaked Ham Company of […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
Federal law enforcement monitoring of electronic communications in the United States has increased dramatically according to the most recent data obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU’s finding is based on documents produced by the Justice Department, which show the requests for both “pen register” and “trap and trace” surveillance requests. Pen registers capture […]
