Law Commons^™

Privacy And Democracy In Cyberspace, Paul M. Schwartz

Vanderbilt Law Review

In this Article, Professor Schwartz depicts the widespread, silent collection of personal information in cyberspace. At present, it is impossible to know the fate of the personal data that one generates online. Professor Schwartz argues that this state of affairs degrades the health of a deliberative democracy; it cloaks in dark uncertainty the transmutation of Internet activity into personal information that will follow one into other areas and discourage civic participation. This situation also will have a negative impact on individual self- determination by deterring individuals from engaging in the necessary thinking out loud and deliberation with others upon which …

Protecting Privacy On The Front Page: Why Restrictions On Commercial Use Of Law Enforcement Records Violate The First Amendment, Jason L. Cagle

Vanderbilt Law Review

An individual is involved in an automobile accident and is arrested for driving under the influence. A few days after being re- leased, he receives several letters in the mail. One is from a chiropractor offering services to treat his injuries. Another is from an alcohol abuse treatment center. Yet another is from an attorney who defends traffic offenses. Each of the solicitors obtained the individual's name and address from publicly available records concerning the incident. The letters are truthful and not misleading, but utilize publicly available information for purely commercial purposes at the expense of the individual's privacy.

Several …

Current Issues Regarding The Americans With Disabilities Act, John-Paul Motley

Vanderbilt Law Review

President George Bush, noting that "statistics consistently demonstrate that disabled people are the poorest, least educated, and largest minority in America," signed the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") into law in 1990. The ADA prohibits private employers from discriminating against a "qualified individual with a disability" in employment decisions. The Act defines a disability in one of three ways: (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) being regarded by others as having such an impairment. The ADA also prohibits employers from inquiring into …

The Architecture Of Privacy: Remaking Privacy In Cyberspace, Lawrence Lessig

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This is an essay about privacy. My aim is to understand privacy through these two very different ideas. Privacy, in the sense that I mean here, can be described by these two different ideas. It stands in competition with these ideas. It is that part of life that is left after one subtracts, as it were, the monitored and the searchable. A life where less is monitored is a life where more is private; and life where less can (legally or technologically) be searched is also a life where more is private. By understanding the technologies of these two different …

Filling The Black Hole Of Cyberspace: Legal Protections For Online Privacy, R. Craig Tolliver

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The Internet is a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide human communication. This pronouncement of the United States Supreme Court echoes what most of the American population has known for some time. The emergence of cyberspace has dramatically changed the nature of electronic communications, and consumers are conducting online transactions at a tremendous pace. While this revolution has obviously increased the amount and types of information available to American consumers, it has also achieved a different result: businesses now have access to an unprecedented amount of personal information. In turn, there exists a danger that this information will be …