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Full-Text Articles in Law
Federalization In Information Privacy Law, Patricia L. Bellia
Federalization In Information Privacy Law, Patricia L. Bellia
Journal Articles
In Preemption and Privacy, Professor Paul Schwartz argues that it would be unwise for Congress to adopt a unitary federal information privacy statute that both eliminates the sector-specific distinctions in federal information privacy law and blocks the development of stronger state regulation. That conclusion, though narrow, rests on descriptive and normative claims with broad implications for the state-federal balance in information privacy law. Descriptively, Professor Schwartz sees the current information privacy law landscape as the product of successful experimentation at the state level. That account, in turn, fuels his normative claims, and in particular his sympathy with theories of competitive …
Fourth Amendment Protection For Stored E-Mail, Patricia L. Bellia, Susan Freiwald
Fourth Amendment Protection For Stored E-Mail, Patricia L. Bellia, Susan Freiwald
Journal Articles
The question of whether and how the Fourth Amendment regulates government access to stored e-mail remains open and pressing. A panel of the Sixth Circuit recently held in Warshak v. United States, 490 F.3d 455 (6th Cir. 2007), that users generally retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in the e-mails they store with their Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which implies that government agents must generally acquire a warrant before they may compel ISPs to disclose their users' stored e-mails. The Sixth Circuit, however, is reconsidering the case en banc. This Article examines the nature of stored e-mail surveillance and argues …
Spyware And The Limits Of Surveillance Law, Patricia L. Bellia
Spyware And The Limits Of Surveillance Law, Patricia L. Bellia
Journal Articles
For policymakers, litigants, and commentators seeking to address the threats digital technology poses for privacy, electronic surveillance law remains a weapon of choice. The debate over how best to respond to the spyware problem provides only the most recent illustration of that fact. Although there is much controversy over how to define spyware, that label encompasses at least some software that monitors a computer user's electronic communications. Federal surveillance statutes thus present an intuitive fit for responding to the regulatory challenges of spyware, because those statutes bar the unauthorized acquisition of electronic communications and related data in some circumstances. Indeed, …
Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, Patricia L. Bellia
Surveillance Law Through Cyberlaw's Lens, Patricia L. Bellia
Journal Articles
The continuing controversy over the surveillance-related provisions of the USA Patriot Act highlights the depth of Americans' concern about internet privacy. Although calls to limit the government's surveillance powers strike a chord with the public, the legal framework governing surveillance activities is highly technical and poorly understood. The Patriot Act's sunset date provides Congress with an opportunity to revisit that framework.
This Article seeks to contribute to the debate over the appropriate scope of internet surveillance in two ways. First, the Article explores the intricacies of the constitutional and statutory frameworks governing electronic surveillance, and particularly surveillance to acquire electronic …
Chasing Bits Across Borders, Patricia L. Bellia
Chasing Bits Across Borders, Patricia L. Bellia
Journal Articles
As computer crime becomes more widespread, countries increasingly confront difficulties in securing evidence stored in electronic form outside of their borders. These difficulties have prompted two related responses. Some states have asserted a broad power to conduct remote cross-border searches - that is, to use computers within their territory to access and examine data physically stored outside of their territory. Other states have pressed for recognition of a remote cross-border search power in international fora, arguing that such a power is an essential weapon in efforts to combat computer crime. This Article explores these state responses and develops a framework …