The Silicon Underground – “The political climate in the United States means everyone, but especially marginalized groups, need to be thinking about phone security. It’s not just something security professionals and people who handle sensitive information for a living need to worry about anymore. In light of that, I present five phone security tips I… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legal Research
FTC Bans Location Data Company That Powers the Surveillance Ecosystem
“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed order bans use or sale of data associated with military installations, churches, healthcare facilities, or other sensitive locations. The Federal Trade Commission will prohibit data broker Mobilewalla, Inc. from selling sensitive location data, including data that reveals the identity of an individual’s private home, to settle allegations the data… Continue Reading
I deleted thousands of tweets from X with this new tool – for free
ZDNET – “Now you can easily migrate from X with this powerful tool that deletes tweets, likes, and DMs, while backing up your data for a fresh start elsewhere. Social media users increasingly seek ways to regain control of their digital data. As platforms like X (formerly Twitter) become less popular, many users turn to… Continue Reading
FTC – Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services
Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services, September 2024. In December 2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued 6(b) Orders to nine of the largest social media and video streaming services—Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snap, ByteDance, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp (“Companies”). At the time, a bipartisan group of Commissioners issued a joint… Continue Reading
The Right Way to Use GenAI to Draft a Brief
The Right Way to Use GenAI to Draft a Brief, Carolyn Elefant (December 2024) – “It’s been two years since the public release of ChatGPT and lawyers are still using it improperly and facing sanctions, as reported last week in Reuters about an incident in the Eastern District of Texas/ Instead of wringing our hands… Continue Reading
AI, huge hacks leave consumers facing a perfect storm of privacy perils
Washington Post gift article – “Hackers are using artificial intelligence to mine unprecedented troves of personal information dumped online in the past year, along with unregulated commercial databases, to trick American consumers and even sophisticated professionals into giving up control of bank and corporate accounts. Armed with sensitive health information, calling records and hundreds of… Continue Reading
Librarian Amanda Jones Files New Defamation Lawsuits
School Library Journal – Amanda Jones has had enough. Again. The 2021 School Librarian of the Year, who has sued online harassers in the past, filed two new federal lawsuits on Tuesday. Jones is suing Dan Kleinman for defamation and “false light”—an invasion of privacy that arises from publicity that unreasonably places the plaintiff in… Continue Reading
The Great Scrape: The Clash Between Scraping and Privacy
Solove, Daniel J. and Hartzog, Woodrow, The Great Scrape: The Clash Between Scraping and Privacy (July 03, 2024). 113 California Law Review (forthcoming 2025), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4884485 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4884485 Artificial intelligence (AI) systems depend on massive quantities of data, often gathered by “scraping” – the automated extraction of large amounts of data from… Continue Reading
CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Data Brokers from Selling Sensitive Personal Data to Scammers, Stalkers, and Spies
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a rule to rein in data brokers that sell Americans’ sensitive personal and financial information. The proposed rule would limit the sale of personal identifiers like Social Security Numbers and phone numbers collected by certain companies and make sure that people’s financial data such as income is… Continue Reading
Social Security Faces a Crisis, but Sound Tax Policy Can Help
Bloomberg Tax: “Social Security, one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in US history, faces a funding crisis by 2035. Raising taxes on upper-income earners and including investment income in the taxable base for Social Security would be practical and politically plausible solutions ahead of this deadline. The economic stability offered by the Social Security… Continue Reading
Feds Can Film Your Front Porch for 68 Days Without a Warrant, Says Court
Gizmodo: A federal court says your privacy is diminished due to the proliferation of video cameras throughout society. “…The federal court’s decision says that video cameras have become “ubiquitous,” and have therefore diminished our expectations of privacy. Police officers wear body cameras now, cellphones have cameras, and many doorbells record your porch. The court isn’t… Continue Reading
Book Review – Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government
Via LLRX – Book Review – Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government – The 2024 election results have prompted discussion about the effectiveness of “guardrails” that might restrain Presidential activities that could harm the nation. Jerry Lawson’s review notes that Glenn Fine’s new book, Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle of… Continue Reading
