Privacy Law Commons^™

The New World Of Mobile Communication: Redefining The Scope Of Warrantless Cell Phone Searches Incident To Arrest, Samuel J.H. Beutler

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In many jurisdictions, law enforcement officials may conduct a warrantless search of the contents of an arrestee's cell phone incident to an arrest. The judicial precedent for this policy dates back to the early 1990s when courts equated early mobile technology, such as pagers and first generation cell phones, to physical containers capable of storing a limited number of calls or messages. Supreme Court precedent had long permitted the warrantless search of such containers incident to arrest. However, due to advancements in technology, mobile devices, such as smart phones, now have the capacity to hold a larger amount of personal …

Behavioral Advertising: From One-Sided Chicken To Informational Norms, Richard Warner, Robert H. Sloan

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

When you download the free audio recording software from Audacity, you agree that Audacity may collect your information and use it to send you advertising. Billions of such pay-with-data exchanges feed information daily to a massive advertising ecosystem that tailors website advertising as closely as possible to individual interests. The vast majority of consumers want considerably more control over our information. Consumers nonetheless routinely enter pay-with-data exchanges when we visit CNN.com, use Gmail, or visit any of a vast number of other websites. Why? And, what, if anything, should we do about it? We answer both questions by describing pay-with-data …

The Risks Of Taking Facebook At Face Value: Why The Psychology Of Social Networking Should Influence The Evidentiary Relevance Of Facebook Photographs, Kathryn R. Brown

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Social networking sites in general, and Facebook in particular, have changed the way individuals communicate and express themselves. Facebook users share a multitude of personal information through the website, especially photographs. Additionally, Facebook enables individuals to tailor their online profiles to project a desired persona. However, as social scientists have demonstrated, the image users portray can mislead outside observers. Given the wealth of information available on Facebook, it is no surprise that attorneys often peruse the website for evidence to dispute opponents' claims.

This Note examines the admission and relevance of Facebook photographs offered to prove a litigant's state of …

Two Notions Of Privacy Online, Avner Levin, Patricia S. Abril

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Users of social networking websites tend to disclose much personal information online yet seem to retain some form of an expectation of privacy. Is this expectation of privacy always unreasonable? How do users of online social networks define their expectations of privacy online?

These questions were the impetus behind an empirical study, the findings of which are presented in this Article. The project, simultaneously conducted in Canada, at Ryerson University, and in the United States, at the University of Miami, consisted of a survey regarding personal information protection and expectations of privacy on online social networks (OSNs). Approximately 2,500 young …