Law Commons^™

Context Is Everything: Sociality And Privacy In Online Social Network Sites, Ronald Leenes

Ronald Leenes

Social Network Sites (SNSs) pose many privacy issues. Apart from the fact that privacy in an online social network site may sound like an oxymo- ron, significant privacy issues are caused by the way social structures are currently handled in SNSs. Conceptually different social groups are generally conflated into the singular notion of ‘friend’. This chapter argues that attention should be paid to the social dynamics of SNSs and the way people handle social contexts. It shows that SNS technology can be designed to support audience segregation, which should mitigate at least some of the privacy issues in Social Network …

An Evolutionary Study Of Cloud Computing Services Privacy Terms, Konstantinos Stylianou

Konstantinos Stylianou

This paper presents an empirical study on the evolution of privacy terms of cloud computing services. The purpose is to see whether the transition to cloud computing also means that users are bound by more intrusive terms of use that pose a greater threat to their privacy. In that direction several typical cloud services (e.g. GoogleDocs, Amazon EC2) are examined from their start of operation till today and numerous versions of their privacy terms are juxtaposed in an effort to pinpoint and interpret the differences between them. The paper concludes that with the spread of cloud computing services more and …

Social Networking: A Conceptual Analysis Of A Data Controller, Rebecca Wong

Dr Rebecca Wong

This article updates a working party looking at the definition of a "data controller" under the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC within the context of a social networking environment. In brief, the article considers twhether the phenomenom of social networking (through Facebook (FB), MySpace and Bebo) has produced unintended consequences in the interpretation and application of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC to the online environment. The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC defines a "data controller" broadly to refer to the 'natural or legal person, public authority, agency or any other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means …

Privacy Concern In Google Voice Call Recording, Michael Katz, James Tuthill

Michael Katz

The Federal Communications Commission, taking note of AT&T's complaint, has written to Google with questions about its call blocking. But the implications for our privacy of software-managed call services like Google Voice are a much greater threat to consumers, and that's where the FCC should direct its energy - immediately.

Invoking And Avoiding The First Amendment: How Internet Service Providers Leverage Their Status As Both Content Creators And Neutral Conduits, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Much of the policy debate and scholarly literature on network neutrality has addressed whether the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has statutory authority to require Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to operate in a nondiscriminatory manner. Such analysis largely focuses on questions about jurisdiction, the scope of lawful regulation, and the balance of power between stakeholders, generally adverse to government oversight, and government agencies, apparently willing to overcome the same inclination. The public policy debate primarily considers micro-level issues, without much consideration of broader concerns such as First Amendment values. While professing to support marketplace resource allocation and a regulation-free Internet, the …

Fiber Optic Foxes: Virtual Objects And Virtual Worlds Through The Lens Of Pierson V. Post And The Law Of Capture, John W. Nelson

John W. Nelson

Virtual worlds are more successfully blurring the lines between real and virtual. This tempts many to try and equate virtual property with tangible property. Such an equation creates problems when the common law of property is applied to virtual objects over which users can not possess complete dominion and control. The result is a conversion of the tangible resources that support virtual worlds into a virtual commons. Accordingly, the common law of contracts, rather than that of property, should be used to govern transactions between a user and owner of a virtual world.

Preserving Identities: Protecting Personal Identifying Information Through Enhanced Privacy Policies And Laws, Robert Sprague, Corey Ciocchetti

Robert Sprague

This article explores the developing phenomenon of the ongoing collection and dissemination of personal identifying information (PII): first, explaining the nature and form of PII, including the consequences of its collection; second, exploring one of the greatest threats associated with data collection - unauthorized disclosure due to data breaches, including an overview of state and federal legislative reactions to the threats of data breaches and identity theft; third, discussing common law and constitutional privacy protections regarding the collection of personal information, revealing that United States privacy laws provide very little protection to individuals; and fourth, examining current practices by online …

Symbiotic Regulation, Andrew D. Murray

Professor Andrew D Murray

In this paper the author examines the development and design of regulatory structures in Cyberspace. The paper considers and models how all forms of control – including design and market controls, as well as traditional command and control regulation are to be applied within the complex and flexible environment of Cyberspace. Drawing on the work of Cyber-regulatory theorists such as Yochai Benkler, Joel Reidenberg and Lawrence Lessig and matching it with an examination of social ordering from the English Peasant’s Revolt to the more modern theories of Jurgen Habermas and Nicklaus Luhmann this paper suggests a model of Cyber-regulation which …

Rethinking Information Privacy In An Age Of Online Transparency, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

No abstract provided.

Googling Job Applicants: Incorporating Personal Information Into Hiring Decisions, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

No abstract provided.

Business Blogs And Commercial Speech: A New Analytical Framework For The 21st Century, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

No abstract provided.

From Taylorism To The Omnipticon: Expanding Employee Surveillance Beyond The Workplace, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

No abstract provided.

Western Frontier Or Feudal Society? Metaphors And Perceptions Of Cyberspace, Alfred C. Yen

Alfred C. Yen

The Article examines how metaphors influence perceptions of cyberspace. Among other things, the Article studies the comparison of cyberspace to the American western frontier and the metaphor's construction cyberspace as a "place" whose natural characteristics guarantee freedom and opportunity. This supports an often-made claim that cyberspace is different from real space, and that government should generally refrain from regulating the Internet.

The Article surveys the basis of the western frontier metaphor in academic history and popular culture and concludes that the metaphor misleads people to overestimate cyberspace's "natural" ability to guarantee freedom and opportunity. The Article accomplishes this in part …