Privacy Law Commons^™

Knowledge And Fourth Amendment Privacy, Matthew Tokson

Northwestern University Law Review

This Article examines the central role that knowledge plays in determining the Fourth Amendment’s scope. What people know about surveillance practices or new technologies often shapes the “reasonable expectations of privacy” that define the Fourth Amendment’s boundaries. From early decisions dealing with automobile searches to recent cases involving advanced information technologies, courts have relied on assessments of knowledge in a wide variety of Fourth Amendment contexts. Yet the analysis of knowledge in Fourth Amendment law is rarely if ever studied on its own.

This Article fills that gap. It starts by identifying the characteristics of Fourth Amendment knowledge. It finds, …

Police Body-Worn Camera Policy: Balancing The Tension Between Privacy And Public Access In State Law, Kyle J. Maury

Notre Dame Law Review

Body camera implementation remains in its infancy stage. As such,

there is a dearth of legal scholarship analyzing the policy considerations associated

with body cameras. Instead of raising the issues involved and assessing

arguments for and against implementation, this Note assumes body cameras

are a force for good and are here to stay for the long haul. Consequently, the

goal of this Note is to analyze various issues involved in administering body

cameras against a backdrop of recently enacted state legislation—focusing

specifically on the tension between protecting privacy interests while also

ensuring public access to recordings. This Note examines these …

Recording A New Frontier In Evidence-Gathering: Police Body-Worn Cameras And Privacy Doctrines In Washington State, Katie Farden

Seattle University Law Review

This Note contributes to a growing body of work that weighs the gains that communities stand to make from police body-worn cameras against the tangle of concerns about how cameras may infringe on individual liberties and tread on existing privacy laws. While police departments have quickly implemented cameras over the past few years, laws governing the use of the footage body-worn cameras capture still trail behind. Notably, admissibility rules for footage from an officer’s camera, and evidence obtained with the help of that footage, remain on the horizon. This Note focuses exclusively on Washington State’s laws. It takes a clinical …

Balancing A Right To Be Forgotten With A Right To Freedom Of Expression In The Wake Of Google Spain V. Aepd, Shaniqua Singleton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

That ‘70s Show: Why The 11th Circuit Was Wrong To Rely On Cases From The 1970s To Decide A Cell-Phone Tracking Case, David Oscar Markus, Nathan Freed Wessler

University of Miami Law Review

In light of society's increasing reliance on technology, this article explores a critical question – that of the Fourth Amendment’s protection over privacy in the digital age. Specifically, this article addresses how the law currently fails to protect the privacy of one’s cell phone records and its ramifications. By highlighting the antiquated precedent leading up to the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Davis, this article calls on the judiciary to find a more appropriate balance for protecting the right to privacy in a modern society.

Cellphones, Stingrays, And Searches! An Inquiry Into The Legality Of Cellular Location Information, Jeremy H. D'Amico

University of Miami Law Review

Can the Fourth Amendment protect an individual’s right privacy by preventing the disclosure of her location through cell site location information? Does it currently? Should it? Many court opinions answer these questions in both the affirmative and the negative. The rationale underlying each conclusion is disparate. Some rely on statutory regimes, others rely on the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of reasonableness. However, Cell Site Location Information is a technology that requires uniformity in its interpretation. This note investigates the different interpretations of the Fourth Amendment as it relates to Cell Site Location Information. It explains the technology behind Cell …

Wearable Fitness Devices: Personal Health Data Privacy In Washington State, Steven Spann

Seattle University Law Review

Private entities are increasingly targeting individuals in the United States and around the world to gather personal data for such purposes as product development, market identification, and insurance risk assessment. While credit card records and online browsing histories have long been the medium through which this data is gathered, in more recent years, wearable fitness devices have added a new dimension to data production and collection. These devices are capable of gathering a significant amount of data regarding a person’s physical and physiological characteristics, thereby exposing these data producers to personal privacy infringement. Washington State lawmakers and citizens must be …

Review Essay: Sara M. Smyth, Cybercrime In Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd Edition (Toronton: Carswell, 2015), Christopher D. Ram

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Dr. Smyth’s book is ambitious in its scope, seeking to trace the criminology and evolution of information technologies and cybercrime as the basis of current Canadian legislation and jurisprudence. It is intended as a concise student reference text or resource for those who are new to the subject area, studying in criminology and other areas, as opposed to law. A list of concepts and issues for discussion appears at the conclusion of each chapter and there is a glossary of technical (but not legal) terms at the end of the book. It takes a neutral and professorial approach, seeking to …

Clapper Dethroned: Imminent Injury And Standing For Data Breach Lawsuits In Light Of Ashley Madison, Arthur R. Vorbrodt

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Video-Streaming Records And The Video Privacy Protection Act: Broadening The Scope Of Personally Identifiable Information To Include Unique Device Identifiers Disclosed With Video Titles, Gregory M. Huffman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) prohibits video tape service providers from disclosing their consumers’ video rental or sale records. Although the VPPA was originally enacted to regulate disclosures by brick-and-mortar video rental stores, litigators have more recently used the VPPA as a vehicle to regulate disclosures by online video content providers.

The application of the VPPA to video streaming via web browsers and mobile devices raises new questions of statutory interpretation. One key question is whether the scope of the VPPA is broad enough to cover a disclosure of a unique device identifier of a user’s device, rather than …

Unilateral Invasions Of Privacy, Roger Allan Ford

Notre Dame Law Review

Most people seem to agree that individuals have too little privacy, and most proposals to address that problem focus on ways to give those users more information about, and more control over, how information about them is used. Yet in nearly all cases, information subjects are not the parties who make decisions about how information is collected, used, and disseminated; instead, outsiders make unilateral decisions to collect, use, and disseminate information about others. These potential privacy invaders, acting without input from information subjects, are the parties to whom proposals to protect privacy must be directed. This Article develops a theory …

Big Data Sustainability: An Environmental Management Systems Analogy, Dennis D. Hirsch, Jonathan H. King

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Today, organizations globally wrestle with how to extract valuable insights from diverse data sets without invading privacy, causing discrimination, harming their brand, or otherwise undermining the sustainability of their big data projects. Leaders in these organizations are thus asking: What management approach should businesses employ sustainably to achieve the tremendous benefits of big data analytics, while minimizing the potential negative externalities?

This Paper argues that leaders can learn from environmental management practices developed to manage the negative externalities of the industrial revolution. First, it shows that, along with its many benefits, big data can create negative externalities that are structurally …

Elements Of A New Ethical Framework For Big Data Research, Effy Vayena, Urs Gasser, Alexandra Wood, David R. O'Brien, Micah Altman

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

Emerging large-scale data sources hold tremendous potential for new scientific research into human biology, behaviors, and relationships. At the same time, big data research presents privacy and ethical challenges that the current regulatory framework is ill-suited to address. In light of the immense value of large-scale research data, the central question moving forward is not whether such data should be made available for research, but rather how the benefits can be captured in a way that respects fundamental principles of ethics and privacy.

In response, this Essay outlines elements of a new ethical framework for big data research. It argues …

Good Cause Is Bad News: How The Good Cause Standard For Record Access Impacts Adult Adoptees Seeking Personal Information And A Proposal For Reform, Christopher G.A. Loriot

University of Massachusetts Law Review

There are many hurdles that adult adoptees face when seeking access to personal information contained in original birth records or adoption proceedings. One such hurdle is the widely-used good cause standard, which requires adoptees seeking information to show good cause to obtain access. This standard is problematic primarily for its vagueness. Very few jurisdictions that use this standard define “good cause” in any meaningful way, and case law interpreting good cause statutory language is inconsistent at best. Although it is meant to protect the privacy interests of all parties in an adoption proceeding, the good cause standard acts as a …

Litigating In The 21st Century: Amending Challenges For Cause In Light Of Big Data, Andrew Kasabian

Pepperdine Law Review

The amount of data generated daily is growing exponentially. The majority of this data is unstructured data. Big Data analytics provides the capability to analyze sets of unrelated data to find hidden and meaningful correlations and predict an individual’s future actions. Therefore, Big Data can alter trial preparation by opening up new sets of information for lawyers to analyze in the jury selection process. Privacy concerns may follow Big Data’s incorporation because Big Data aggregates an individual’s information and predicts future actions. This Comment details how Big Data will provide a net benefit to trial preparation. In order to protect …

Never Alone: Why The Inevitable Influx Of Drones Necessitates A New Fourth Amendment Standard That Adequately Protects Reasonable Expectations Of Privacy, Paul Burgin

University of Baltimore Law Review

In June 2011, North Dakota cattle rancher Rodney Brossart became the first American to be arrested with the aid of a drone (Unmanned Aircraft System(s) or UAS) operated by law enforcement. Six cows found their way onto Brossart's property, and he refused to turn them over to law enforcement officials. Brossart and a few family members chased police officers off of his property at gunpoint, and police later returned with a warrant and SWAT team. A sixteen-hour standoff ensued until police called in the assistance of a UAS to pinpoint Brossart's exact location. Shortly thereafter, SWAT officers rushed in, tased, …

The Shaky Ground Of The Right To Be Delisted, Miquel Peguera

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

It has long been discussed whether individuals should have a "right to be forgotten" online to suppress old information that could seriously interfere with their privacy and data protection rights. In the landmark case of Google Spain v. Agencia Espafiola de Proteccion de Datos, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) addressed the particular question of whether, under EU Data Protection Law, individuals have a right to have links delisted from the list of search results in searches made on the basis of their name. It found that they do have this right--which can be best described as …

Just What The Doctor Ordered: Protecting Privacy Without Impeding Development Of Digital Pills, Amelia R. Montgomery

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Using technology, humans are receiving more and more information about the world around them via the Internet of Things, and the next area of connection will be the inside of the human body. Several forms of "digital pills" that send information from places like the human digestive tract or bloodstream are being developed, with a few already in use. These pills could stand to provide information that could drastically improve the lives of many people, but they also have privacy and data security implications that could put consumers at great risk. This Note analyzes these risks and suggests that short-term …

The Sixth Pillar Of Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: Balancing Effective Enforcement With Financial Privacy, Maria A. De Dios

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The U.S. government has responded to the increase of financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorist financing, by requiring that financial institutions implement anti-money laundering compliance programs within their institutions. Most recently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network exercised its regulatory powers, as authorized by the Treasury Department, by proposing regulations that now explicitly add customer due diligence to the preexisting anti-money laundering regime. The policy behind the government’s legislative and regulatory measures is clear—financial institutions must ensure that they are protected from and not aiding in the illegal efforts of criminals. The complexity and insidiousness of these financial crimes makes …

The Need For An International Convention On Data Privacy: Taking A Cue From The Cisg, Morgan Corley

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In light of the invalidation of the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor, along with the increase in sales of personal data as a commodity, data privacy has become a major concern amongst different nations. The lack of harmonization of data-privacy laws around the world continues to pose obstacles to the free flow of data across national borders. The free flow of data is, nonetheless, essential the international economy. As a result, nations continue to work together to try to create mechanisms by which data can be transferred across borders in a secure manner. This Note examines the current state of data-privacy law …

Need For Informed Consent In The Age Of Ubiquitous Human Testing, Caitlyn Kuhs

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Where Copyright Meets Privacy In The Big Data Era: Access To And Control Over User Data In Agriculture And The Role Of Copyright, Tesh W. Dagne

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The application of big data in different sectors of the economy and its transformative value has recently attracted considerable attention. However, this transformation, driven by the application of advanced technologies that utilize big data—such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and software systems—raises concerns about access to and control over the user data that results from the uptake in using digital technologies. This Article examines the role different legal regimes have in framing access to and control over various forms of user data from the perspective of technology users in the agriculture sector. This Article then goes …

How Smart Is Too Smart?: How Privacy Concerns Threaten Modern Energy Infrastructure, Megan Mclean

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Smart meters are integral to the health of our electric grid and are critical to a reliable, affordable, and efficient energy economy. Yet, collection of smart meter data is raising privacy concerns that are inspiring pockets of resistance to smart meter installation around the country. The fact that these data, like many other kinds of personal information, can and often do flow to the government should not prevent their collection and use. It is critical for environmental and energy regulators to have access to this data to maximize the potential of our energy system. On the state level, several legislatures …

The Right To Be Forgotten: Comparing U.S. And European Approaches, Samuel W. Royston

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article compares the European and United States stances regarding the right to be forgotten. Within that context, this Article explores the implications of technological advances on constitutional rights, specifically the intersection of the right to free speech and the right to privacy, commonly referred to as the "right to be forgotten" paradox. In the United States, the trend is to favor free speech, while Europe places an emphasis on human rights. Each approach is analyzed based on supporting case law. The consequences of each approach on society, both long- and short-term, are also discussed. This Article argues that a …

Protecting Personal Information: Achieving A Balance Between User Privacy And Behavioral Targeting, Patrick Myers

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Websites and mobile applications provide immeasurable benefits to both users and companies. These services often collect vast amounts of personal information from the individuals that use them, including sensitive details such as Social Security numbers, credit card information, and physical location. Personal data collection and dissemination leave users vulnerable to various threats that arise from the invasion of their privacy, particularly because users are often ignorant of the existence or extent of these practices. Current privacy law does not provide users with adequate protection from the risks attendant to the collection and dissemination of their personal information. This Note advocates …