Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Privacy

Some VPNs can’t be trusted. These are best at privacy and security.

Washington Post: “Interest in virtual private networks, a technology that helps you hide what you do online, surged after the Supreme Court ended legal abortion in some states and dramatically raised the stakes for digital privacy. There’s just one problem: There are hundreds of VPNs, and some of them are snake oil. Many over-promise, making… Continue Reading

Privacy of Health Information After Dobbs

The National Law Review: Privacy of Health Information After Dobbs: OCR Guidance On Disclosures of PHI and the Privacy of Personal Information On Devices – “On 28 June 2022, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary… Continue Reading

GLAAD’s 2022 Social Media Safety Index

“GLAAD’s 2022 Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) provides recommendations for the industry at large and reports on LGBTQ user safety across the five major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. As a follow up to the pioneering 2021 SMSI, the 2022 edition of the report introduces a Platform Scorecard developed by GLAAD… Continue Reading

A New Attack Can Unmask Anonymous Users on Any Major Browser

Wired: “Everyone from advertisers and marketers to government-backed hackers and spyware makers wants to identify and track users across the web. And while a staggering amount of infrastructure is already in place to do exactly that, the appetite for data and new tools to collect it has proved insatiable. With that reality in mind, researchers… Continue Reading

In a Post-Roe World, the Future of Digital Privacy Looks Even Grimmer

The New York Times – “The sheer amount of tech tools and knowledge required to discreetly seek an abortion underlines how wide open we are to surveillance….In states that have banned abortion, some women seeking out-of-state options to terminate pregnancies may end up following a long list of steps to try to shirk surveillance —… Continue Reading

Biden admin: Docs must offer abortion if mom’s life at risk

AP: “The Biden administration on Monday told hospitals that they “must” provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion.… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 9, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 9, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that… Continue Reading

Deleting files isn’t enough. Here’s how to properly erase hard drives.

Washington Post – “The right software can help. So can some power tools…just because you’ve deleted a file on your computer and emptied the Recycle Bin doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. Making sure those files are properly gone will take some extra work, but if you’re considering donating, selling, or even recycling an old computer… Continue Reading

Up to 90% of governmental websites include cookies of third-party tracke

IMDEA Networks: “Researchers Matthias Götze (TU Berlin), Srdjan Matic (IMDEA Software), Costas Iordanou (Cyprus University of Technology), Georgios Smaragdakis (TU Delft), and Nikolaos Laoutaris (IMDEA Networks) have presented at the ‘Web Science Conference’ the paper: “Measuring Web Cookies in Governmental Websites”, in which they investigate governmental websites of G20 countries and evaluate to what extent… Continue Reading

How browser cookies make people more cautious online

Fast Company: “Website cookies are online surveillance tools, and the commercial and government entities that use them would prefer people not read those notifications too closely. People who do read the notifications carefully will find that they have the option to say no to some or all cookies. The problem is, without careful attention those notifications become… Continue Reading

The New Abortion Battleground

Cohen, David S. and Donley, Greer and Rebouche, Rachel, The New Abortion Battleground (February 23, 2022). 123 Columbia Law Review (2023 Forthcoming), U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2022-09, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2022-05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4032931 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4032931: “This Article examines the paradigm shift that will occur if… Continue Reading