Law Commons^™

No Place To Hide: First Amendment Protection For Geolocation Privacy, Theodore F. Claypoole

Theodore F Claypoole

The article analyzes the conflict between established Constitutional rights and evaporating privacy, by exploring technological changes that threaten anonymity and examining the First Amendment rights to be anonymous in association and speech.

A Virtual Property Solution: How Privacy Law Can Protect The Citizens Of Virtual Worlds, John W. Nelson

John W. Nelson

Privacy laws can protect virtual worlds and their users where property law cannot. Yet, legal scholars tend to ignore this power in favor of extending the virtual world metaphor in an effort to see the common law of property cover virtual worlds. This article explores how harms against the citizens of virtual worlds are harms against the victim’s mental state rather than his wallet. A review of the types of privacy law applicable to virtual worlds is provided, and those laws are applied to common virtual world scenarios resulting in harm. Finally, privacy law is offered as the most viable …

The Law And Policy Of Online Privacy: Regulation, Self-Regulation Or Co-Regulation?, Dennis D. Hirsch

Dennis D Hirsch

The Internet poses grave new threats to information privacy. Search engines collect and store our search queries; Web sites track our online activity and then sell this information to others; and Internet Search Providers read the very packets of information through which we interact with the Internet. Yet the debate over how best to address this problem has ground to a halt, stuck between those who call for a vigorous legislative response and those who advocate for market solutions and self-regulation. In 1995, the European Union member states began to build a third approach into their data protection laws, one …

What’S Privacy Got To Do, Got To Do With It: Why Information Should Drop Privacy And Seek Legal Love On Its Own Terms, Christopher E. Paxton

Christopher E Paxton

My paper argues that because the privacy interests at stake are so varied and so difficult to pin down, privacy law in the United States should shift away from privacy qua privacy and focus on the protection of information by adopting something akin to the European Union’s Data Protection and Database Directives.

In The Name Of Watergate -- Returning Ferpa To Its Original Design, Meg Penrose

Meg Penrose

The attached article, entitled "In the Name of Watergate: Returning FERPA to its Original Design" details the Watergate effect on federal privacy legislation, particularly the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Senator James L. Buckley, a one-term Senator from New York, served as the architect for what remains the most important education privacy law in existence. However, Senator Buckley recently discussed the reasons that this law should be "clarified" and returned to its original design. I wholeheartedly agree. In the digital era, we must zealously protect privacy with effective legislation that guards both the collection and release of personal …

The Boundaries Of Privacy Harm, M. Ryan Calo

M. Ryan Calo

Just as a burn is an injury caused by heat, so is privacy harm a unique injury with specific boundaries and characteristics. This Essay describes privacy harm as falling into two related categories. The subjective category of privacy harm is the unwanted perception of observation. This category describes unwelcome mental states—anxiety, embarrassment, fear—that stem from the belief that one is being watched or monitored. Examples include everything from a landlord listening in on his tenants to generalized government surveillance.

The objective category of privacy harm is the unanticipated or coerced use of information concerning a person against that person. These …

Repairing Online Reputation: A New Multi-Modal Regulatory Approach, Jacqueline Lipton

Jacqueline D Lipton

In today’s interconnected digital society, high profile examples of online abuses abound. Cyberbullies launch attacks on the less powerful, often significantly damaging victims’ reputations. Outside of reputational damage, online harassment, bullying and stalking has led to severe emotional distress, loss of employment, physical assault and even death. Recent scholarship has identified this phenomenon but has done little more than note that current laws are ineffective in combating abusive online behaviors. This article moves the debate forward both by suggesting specific reforms to criminal and tort laws and, more importantly, by situating those reforms within a new multi-modal framework for combating …

Data Protection: The Challenges Facing Social Networking, Rebecca Wong Dr

Dr Rebecca Wong

The popularity of social networking sites has increased dramatically over the past decade. A recent report indicated that thirty-eight percent of online users have a social networking profile. Many of these social networking site users (SNS users) post or provide personal information over the internet every day. According to the latest OfCom study, the average adult SNS user has profiles on 1.6 sites and most check their profiles at least once every other day. However, the recent rise in social networking activity has opened the door to the misuse and abuse of personal information through identity theft, cyber stalking, and …

Leashing The Internet Watchdog: Legislative Restraints On Electronic Surveillance In The U.S. And U.K., John P. Heekin

John P. Heekin

This article examines the legislative approaches undertaken by the United States and the United Kingdom to regulate the surveillance and interception of electronic communications. Drawing from the recognition of individual privacy in each country, the author explores the development and impact of statutory provisions enacted to accomplish effective oversight of the respective intelligence services. In the U.S., the shifting purposes and provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are tracked from implementation to its revisions following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Along that timeline, a distinct trend toward greater deference to Executive authority for electronic surveillance …

The Constitution Guarantees Doctor-Patient Confidentiality In Criminal Cases, David E. Clark

David E Clark

Admitting medical records against a patient in a criminal case violates the fifth amendment because a patient is compelled to tell her doctor inculpatory information. Issuing a search warrant for confidential doctor-patient records violates the right to privacy in the fourth amendment. Warden v Hayden (1967) left open an important exception allowing a constitutional doctor-patient privilege in criminal cases.

Changing Tides: A Lesserexpectation Of Privacy Post 9/11, Derek M. Alphran

derek m Alphran

The War on Terror is changing society’s views about the Fourth Amendment. To what extent should the American public believe that privacy should be subject to greater restrictions for the greater good? Should the Katz test be viewed differently in light of concerns about the need for surveillance in light of post 9/11 domestic terrorist threats? What is a reasonable search under the today’s changing expectation of privacy. This article addresses these questions examines how the Katz standard has changed historically and examines whether the special needs exception should be expanded to include domestic terror as an exception to the …

Forget Privacy: The Warren Court’S Regulatory Revolution In Criminal Procedure, Eric J. Miller

Eric J. Miller

The standard story describing the Warren Court’s criminal procedure “rights revolution,” claims that the Court, motivated by liberal egalitarianism, engaged in a rights-expanding jurisprudence that made it harder for the police to search, seize, and interrogate criminal defendants. Frightened by the popular backlash against high crime rates, a cowed Court in Terry v. Ohio shifted from its rights-expanding to a rights-constricting phase, making it easier for the police to search and seize criminal suspects. Measured by this rights revolution, there were in fact two Warren Courts, a liberal and a more conservative one, emblematically separated by Terry.

The standard story …

Losing Face: An Environmental Analysis Of Privacy On Facebook, Chris Peterson

Chris Peterson

This Article contributes to the ongoing conversation about privacy on social network sites. Adopting Facebook as its primary example, it reviews behavioral data and case studies of privacy problems in an attempt to understand user experiences. The Article fills a crucial gap in the literature by conducting the first extensive analysis of the informational and decisional environment of Facebook. Privacy and the environment are inextricably linked: the practice of the former depends upon the dynamics and heuristics of the latter.

The Article argues that there is an environmental element to the Facebook privacy problem. Data flow differently on Facebook than …

Model Omnibus Privacy Statute, Sam S. Han Ph.D.

Sam Han

One of today’s major concerns is how easily digital information can be copied and disseminated. Thus, when one’s private information becomes publicly available in digital format, that information can be readily duplicated and distributed across the globe within seconds. If the disseminated information includes credit card numbers or Social Security numbers, then there is a heightened exposure to identity theft and a host of other privacy-related crimes.

Given the existence of such a digital landmine, laws have been promulgated for various sectors (e.g., financial, healthcare, government, etc.) to protect personally-identifiable information. However, due to differing needs of the various sectors, …

Protecting The Ivory Tower: Sensible Security Or Invasion Of Privacy?, Stephen D. Lichtenstein

Jonathan J. Darrow

Millions of students are enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. While universities are not insurers of the safety of their students, faculty, staff or others in their community, university campuses are generally safe when compared to urban environments. However, tragic and infamous acts of campus violence including the rape and murder of Jeanne Clery at Lehigh University, the infamous 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy resulting in the death of thirty-three and, more recently, the alleged murders of three colleagues by faculty member Amy Bishop provide evidence and anecdotes that the risk of campus violence remains high. …

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 …

Foreign Surveillance And Incidental U.S. Communications: Concerns Of Amnesty V. Mcconnell, Tarik N. Jallad

Tarik N. Jallad

Even with the most recent amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, questions still remain regarding the constitutional protections implicated during foreign and U.S. communications. In particular, Amnesty v. McConnell concerns the incidental U.S. communications that could be acquired during warrantless surveillance of a non-U.S. person overseas. While explicit Fourth Amendment protections are in place for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the same is not true for the non-U.S. person located outside the nation’s borders. In conjunction with the 2008 Amendments Act, FISA attempts to adhere to the murky constitutional requirements demanded in this situation. However, some critics are not …

Biometrics, Retinal Scanning, And The Right To Privacy In The 21st Century, Stephen Hoffman

Stephen P. Hoffman

Biometric identification techniques such as retinal scanning and fingerprinting have now become commonplace, but near-future improvements on these methods present troubling issues for personal privacy. For example, retinal scanning can be used to diagnose certain medical conditions, even ones for which the patient has no symptoms or has any other way of detecting the problem. If a health insurance company scans the retinas of potential clients before they purchase coverage, they could be charged higher premiums for conditions that do not present any issues. Not only is this unfair, but the ease with which these scans can be conducted—including scanning …

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 …

Privacy En Identiteit In Slimme Omgevingen, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Omgevingen zijn slim omdat ze anticiperen op ons toekomstig gedrag. Op basis van een voortdurende opslag van data en de permanente analyse daarvan ontwikkelt de slimme omgeving kennis over onze voorkeuren, gewoonten, leefstijl, gezondheid, stemmingen en voornemens. Die kennis is statistisch van aard en de mate waarin toekomstig gedrag daadwerkelijk wordt voorzien hangt af van de juistheid, de relevantie en de compleetheid van de data. Tegelijk moeten we constateren dat wanneer de bewoner van een slimme omgeving op grond van die afgeleide kennis op een bepaalde manier wordt behandeld, de kans bestaat dat zij zich op den duur gaat gedragen …