Law Commons^™

Regulating Real-World Surveillance, Margot E. Kaminski

Washington Law Review

A number of laws govern information gathering, or surveillance, by private parties in the physical world. But we lack a compelling theory of privacy harm that accounts for the state’s interest in enacting these laws. Without a theory of privacy harm, these laws will be enacted piecemeal. Legislators will have a difficult time justifying the laws to constituents; the laws will not be adequately tailored to legislative interest; and courts will find it challenging to weigh privacy harms against other strong values, such as freedom of expression. This Article identifies the government interest in enacting laws governing surveillance by private …

Washington's Reproductive Privacy Act: An Interpretation And Constitutional Analysis, Ross Tanaka

Washington Law Review

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court declared that the “zone of privacy” inherent in the liberty component of the Due Process Clauses protected a woman’s right to choose when to terminate her pregnancy. Nevertheless, in the years following Roe, the Court held that the right of choice did not include a right to state assistance in obtaining an abortion. After decisions such as Webster v. Reproductive Services and Maher v. Roe, the state may express its preference for childbirth by denying the use of its funds, facilities, and personnel for abortion. Although a majority of the …

Public Records In Private Devices: How Public Employees' Article I, Section 7 Privacy Rights Create A Dilemma For State And Local Government, Philip Paine

Washington Law Review

The Washington Public Records Act (PRA or “the Act”) is a wide-ranging law that heavily weighs in favor of public disclosure of government processes. Initially enacted as a citizen initiative in 1972, the Act has many beneficial uses. For example, it provides insight into a local government’s decision-making process and ensures that citizens have access to their own government. However, the PRA’s potential to be used to invade personal privacy raises significant constitutional concerns. When an employee in possession of a public record invokes the protection of article I, section 7 of the Washington State Constitution, which protects an individual’s …

Sexual Exploitation In The Digital Age: Non-Consensual Pornography And What Washington Can Do To Stop It, Farah Ali, Brian Conley, Heather Lewis, Charlotte Lunday

Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic

No abstract provided.

Taxation And Surveillance: An Agenda, Michael Hatfield

Articles

Among government agencies, the IRS likely has the surest legal claim to the most information about the most Americans: their hobbies, religious affiliations, reading activities, travel, and medical information are all potentially tax relevant. Privacy scholars have studied the arrival of Big Data, the internet-of-things, and the cooperation of private companies with the government in surveillance, but neither privacy nor tax scholars have considered how these technological advances should impact the U.S. tax system. As government agencies and private companies increasingly pursue what has been described as the “growing gush of data,” the use of these technologies in tax administration …

Can Americans Resist Surveillance?, Ryan Calo

Articles

This Essay analyzes the ability of everyday Americans to resist and alter the conditions of government surveillance. Americans appear to have several avenues of resistance or reform. We can vote for privacy-friendly politicians, challenge surveillance in court, adopt encryption or other technologies, and put market pressure on companies not to cooperate with law enforcement.

In practice, however, many of these avenues are limited. Reform-minded officials lack the capacity for real oversight. Litigants lack standing to invoke the Constitution in court. Encryption is not usable and can turn citizens into targets. Citizens can extract promises from companies to push back against …

Private Data, Public Safety: A Bounded Access Model Of Disclosure, Mary D. Fan

Articles

A growing volume of crucial information for protecting public health and safety is controlled by private-sector entities. The data are private in two senses—both proprietary and secluded from scrutiny. Controversies over corporate secrecy, such as sealed settlements that hide deaths due to product defects or nondisclosure of potentially hazardous substances, illustrate how corporate privacy and public safety can conflict.

Courts are conflicted about when to defer to companies’ claims of the right to keep information private when important public interests are implicated by the data that companies refuse to disclose.

This Article proposes allowing what it terms “bounded access” to …