Computer Law Commons^™

Civil Liberty Or National Security: The Battle Over Iphone Encryption, Karen Lowell

Georgia State University Law Review

On June 5, 2013, Edward Snowden released what would be the first of many documents exposing the vast breadth of electronic surveillance the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA) had been conducting on millions of United States citizens. Although the federal agencies had legal authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to collect metadata from companies such as Verizon, many Americans considered this data collection to be a massive invasion of privacy.

Equipped with the knowledge of sweeping domestic surveillance programs, citizens and technology firms fighting for strong privacy and security protection, have started …

Enhancing Cybersecurity In The Private Sector By Means Of Civil Liability Lawsuits - The Connie Francis Effect, Jeffrey F. Addicott

University of Richmond Law Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the threats posed by

cybersecurity breaches, outline the steps taken by the government

to address those threats in the private sector economy, and

call attention to the ultimate solution, which will most certainly

spur private businesses to create a more secure cyber environment

for the American people-a Connie Francis-styled cyber civil

action lawsuit.

From The National Surveillance State To The Cybersurveillance State, Margaret Hu

Scholarly Articles

This article anchors the phenomenon of bureaucratized cybersurveillance around the concept of the National Surveillance State, a theory attributed to Professor Jack Balkin of Yale Law School and Professor Sanford Levinson of the University of Texas School of Law. Pursuant to the theory of the National Surveillance State, because of the routinized and administrative nature of government-led surveillance, normalized mass surveillance is viewed as justified under crime and counterterrorism policy rationales. This article contends that the Cybersurveillance State is the successor to the National Surveillance State. The Cybersurveillance State harnesses technologies that fuse biometric and biographic data for risk assessment, …

Peeling Back The Student Privacy Pledge, Alexi Pfeffer-Gillett

Scholarly Articles

Education software is a multi-billion dollar industry that is rapidly growing. The federal government has encouraged this growth through a series of initiatives that reward schools for tracking and aggregating student data. Amid this increasingly digitized education landscape, parents and educators have begun to raise concerns about the scope and security of student data collection.

Industry players, rather than policymakers, have so far led efforts to protect student data. Central to these efforts is the Student Privacy Pledge, a set of standards that providers of digital education services have voluntarily adopted. By many accounts, the Pledge has been a success. …

Ignorance Of Technology A Pass For Violating Child Pornography Laws? – What’S The Cache?, 33 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 47 (2017), Angela Lewosz

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This comment explains how the cache works, discusses computer forensic examinations, and provides a history of child pornography laws. It next explores how the courts have interpreted the changing pornography laws with advances in technology. It then specifically assesses the different approaches the courts take when reconciling the mens rea (the mental element) of knowledge in accordance with possession. Finally, this comment analyzes the strengths and flaws in the courts’ arguments and suggests a proposal for how the courts should deal with the cache in relation to the criminalization of possession within the federal child pornography laws.

Exposure To Police Brutality Allows For Transparency And Accountability Of Law Enforcement, 33 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 75 (2017), Kendal Harden

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Thanks to the advancements in technology and valor of citizens, the public is finally able to understand the true severity of police brutality within the United States. The following considerations aim to address the lack of accountability and transparency of police brutality in the United States today. Part III will show how advancements in technology brings police brutality to the forefront of our nation’s issues by creating an informed society. Part IV will describe how individual states control the use of private cameras and cell phones of citizens to capture occurrences of police brutality. States do this by employing anti-wiretapping …

Protecting Colleges & Universities Against Real Losses In A Virtual World, 33 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. & Privacy L. 101 (2017), Gregory Demers, Seth Harrington, Mark Cianci, Nicholas Green

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Colleges and universities are prime targets for cyberattacks. Authors Gregory L. Demers, Seth C. Harrington, Mark A. Cianci, and Nicholas R. Green explore emerging data security risks and litigation trends on college campuses, and offer ways to manage these risks through a comprehensive insurance plan. Given the increasing variety and complexity of plans available, it is incumbent upon universities to regularly reassess the coverage afforded by their existing policies.

Do Androids Dream Of Bad News?, Heidi Liu

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Breaking bad news is one of the toughest things to do in any field dealing with client care. As automation and technology increasingly interweave with human experience, there is growing concern about whether automated agents (‘‘AAs”) would be adequate to perform such a complex emotional act. In this paper, I draw from the literature in psychology and computer science to understand how individuals might react to automated agents (AAs) and address some of the strengths and limitations of AAs. I raise several legal and empirical issues that future designers and users of AAs must consider, including disclosure of and liability …

Reviving The Fourth Amendment: Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy In A Cell Phone Age, 50 J. Marshall L. Rev. 555 (2017), Marisa Kay

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Privacy, Probability, And Political Pitfalls Of Universal Dna Collection, Meghan J. Ryan

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in 1953 launched a truth-finding mission not only in science but also in the law. Just thirty years later–after the science had evolved–DNA evidence was being introduced in criminal courts. Today, DNA evidence is heavily relied on in criminal and related cases. It is routinely introduced in murder and rape cases as evidence of guilt; DNA databases have grown as even arrestees have been required to surrender DNA samples; and this evidence has been used to exonerate hundreds of convicted individuals. DNA evidence is generally revered as the “gold …

Lessons Learned Too Well: Anonymity In A Time Of Surveillance, A. Michael Froomkin

Articles

It is no longer reasonable to assume that electronic communications can be kept private from governments or private-sector actors. In theory, encryption can protect the content of such communications, and anonymity can protect the communicator's identity. But online anonymity-one of the two most important tools that protect online communicative freedom-is under practical and legal attack all over the world. Choke-point regulation, online identification requirements, and data-retention regulations combine to make anonymity very difficult as a practical matter and, in many countries, illegal. Moreover, key internet intermediaries further stifle anonymity by requiring users to disclose their real names.

This Article traces …

The Law Of Cyber Warfare: Restrictions, Opportunities And Loopholes, Nicholas Tsagourias

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The article considers the applicability of existing international rules on the use of force to cyber attacks and assesses their effectiveness. The author’s conclusion is that the current regime on the use of force fails to capture the particularities of cyber attacks and for this reason he makes some tentative proposals for enhancing security in this area.

Toys That Listen: A Study Of Parents, Children, And Internet-Connected Toys, Emily Mcreynolds, Sarah Hubbard, Timothy Lau, Aditya Saraf, Maya Cakmak, Franziska Roesner

Tech Policy Lab

Hello Barbie, CogniToys Dino, and Amazon Echo are part of a new wave of connected toys and gadgets for the home that listen. Unlike the smartphone, these devices are always on, blending into the background until needed. We conducted interviews with parent-child pairs in which they interacted with Hello Barbie and CogniToys Dino, shedding light on children’s expectations of the toys’ “intelligence” and parents’ privacy concerns and expectations for parental controls. We find that children were often unaware that others might be able to hear what was said to the toy, and that some parents draw connections between the toys …

War In The Expanse: The Metaphysics Of Cyberspace, Roy Balleste

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Do They Want To Regulate Online Profiling?, Laura Garcia Vargas

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Online profiling or behavioural tracking is the process by which private companies track and gather data about users’ activities in online platforms. The data collected by all the companies is aggregated with the purpose of creating a comprehensive profile about users. Since at least 15 years ago, there have been several attempts to regulate online profiling in order to reduce its privacy implications. In general, these regulations have tried to limit the way the information is used, the type of data that is collected, and impose or suggest the security standards that the companies should take to protect it.

This …

A Whole New Meaning To Having Our Head In The Clouds: Voice Recognition Technology, The Transmission Of Our Oral Communications To The Cloud And The Ability Of Canadian Law To Protect Us From The Dangers It Presents, Sarit K. Mizrahi

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Voice recognition technology is now included in modern devices as a matter of course, being used in anything from our cellular telephones, to our televisions, and even the toys of our children. While we may voluntarily interact with some of our devices using this technology, such as conversing with Siri on our iPhones, many of us remain unaware as to the dangerous implications of using voice recognition technology.

Its ability to record some of our most personal conversations allows private companies to eavesdrop on us in an unprecedented manner and amass highly sensitive information about our lives that would have …

The Lawful Access Fallacy: Voluntary Warrantless Disclosures, Customer Privacy, And Government Requests For Subscriber Information, Matthew P. Ponsford

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper explores the recent legal, political, privacy, and communications developments surrounding warrantless government requests for basic subscriber information. I assert the current practice remains marred in secrecy and therefore poses a significant threat to Canadian civil liberties and privacy rights.

Can You Hear Me Now? Conceptions Of Privacy In Section 8, Chris Sewrattan

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will examine the different conceptions of privacy that are present in the jurisprudence of s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 8 guarantees that everyone has the right against unreasonable search and seizure. As a constitutional right, the protection covers the privacy relationship between the state and the individual. It confers privacy over information for which there exists a reasonable expectation of privacy. The article will analyze a taxonomy of four privacy conceptions present in the literature and discuss their presence in s. 8 case law. It will then examine two criticisms that arise …

Privacy And Insurance In Canada, England, And France - How Does The Responsible Insurer Put Guidelines And Procedures In Place For Retaining And Destroying Personal Information, Christopher Whitehead

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this article, I will be discussing records containing personal data or information, and how ‘‘guidelines and procedures” are ‘‘put . . . in place for retaining and destroying [such] information” by private-sector insurers carrying on business in Canada, England, and France. Where I discuss Canada, I use the examples of the law of Ontario — which belongs to the English legal tradition —and of Quebec — whose private law belongs to the French legal tradition. As it happens, these are the two traditions with which I have the most experience relating to personal information.

Clicks And Tricks: How Computer Hackers Avoid 10b-5 Liability, Ryan H. Gilinson

Brooklyn Law Review

This note argues that computer hackers who sell inside information instead of trading on it themselves, referred to in the note as hacker-sellers, avoid liability under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5. Rule 10b-5 criminalizes the use of a manipulative or deceptive device “in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.” Hacker-sellers fall outside the scope of this rule for two reasons. First, the type of hacking employed by hacker-sellers is not always “deceptive,” and only the forms of hacking which deceive the computer into thinking an authorized user is seeking access are …

The Dark Side Of Social Media Romance: Civil Recourse For Catfish Victims, Armida Derzakarian

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Dark Web: Some Thoughts For An Educated Debate, Vanessa Henri

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The ‘‘dark web” is a part of cyberspace that is only accessible through an anonymity software, such as The Onion Router. This encrypted network has prompted important legal challenges. As jurisprudence develops, many factors are at risk of inhibiting users’ right to privacy. Misunderstandings of the dark web’s functioning or myths regarding its veil of anonymity has justified invasive criminal investigations that has threatened users’ right to remain anonymous online. This article discusses these challenges while analyzing current legal developments in the United States and Canada.

Has The Era Of Privacy Come To An End?, Avner Levin

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This keynote address to the 2016 McGill Law Graduate Conference provides a brief history of privacy before discussing contemporary challenges in the form of increasing technological ability to create, store and process personal information, and powerful advocacy against privacy from both government and the private sector. In order for privacy to survive, a new set of personal information protection principles is required and new ways of enforcing these principles must be developed, which will leverage the power of technology to develop hybrid regulatory/ technological solutions, such as Google’s content removal tool.

Cyber Operations And The Humanization Of International Humanitarian Law: Problems And Prospects, Giacomo Biggio

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The aim of International Humanitarian Law (‘‘IHL”) is to regulate the conduct of hostilities while, at the same time, balancing the two overarching concepts of military necessity and humanity. While the principle of military necessity allows a party to a conflict to exercise any amount of armed violence which is necessary for the accomplishment of a military purpose, the principle of humanity aims at minimizing the amount of physical violence caused to combatants and the civilian population. From the late 19th century onwards the principle of humanity has progressively eroded the domain of military necessity, influencing the creation and interpretation …

A Critical Assessment On The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Treaties To Transnational Cyber Surveillance, Wanshu Cong

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this essay, I question the appropriateness of applying the substantive requirements of lawful domestic surveillance developed from international human rights treaties and relevant case law to transnational cyber surveillance. And I argue in the negative. Therefore, for the purpose of this essay, I would not delve into the highly debatable issue of what counts as ‘‘control” in cyber surveillance and which standard of control triggers a state’s jurisdiction. Instead, this essay assumes that a control test was established. In the following section, I shall examine the substantive requirements for states restricting fundamental freedoms drawn on from current human rights …

Third-Party Services As Potential Sources For Law Enforcement Procurement Of Genomic Data, Katherine Kwong

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper examines two cases studies: Ancestry.com’s experience with law enforcement use of its genetic databases, and 23andMe’s responses to requests for users’ genomic data. Analyzing the responses to law enforcement requests by the two of the largest providers of third-party genomic services provides insight into the struggles third-party genomic services are likely to face and possible future directions for companies facing this type of law enforcement request.

The Inadequate, Invaluable Fair Information Practices, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

For the past thirty years, the general advice for those seeking to collect, use, and share people’s personal data in a responsible way was relatively straightforward: follow the fair information practices, often called the “FIPs.” These general guidelines were designed to ensure that data processors are accountable for their actions and that data subjects are safe, secure, and endowed with control over their personal information. The FIPs have proven remarkably sturdy against the backdrop of near-constant technological change. Yet in the age of social media, big data, and artificial intelligence, the FIPs have been pushed to their breaking point. We …

“Hello…It’S Me. [Please Don’T Sue Me!]” Examining The Fcc’S Overbroad Calling Regulations Under The Tcpa, Marissa A. Potts

Brooklyn Law Review

Americans have received unwanted telemarketing calls for decades. In response to a rapid increase in pre-recorded calls made using autodialer devices, Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1992. The TCPA imposes restrictions on calls made to consumers’ residences and wireless phones using autodialer devices, even if they are not telemarketing calls. Congress appointed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe rules and regulations to enforce the TCPA. In 2015, the FCC released an order that defined autodialer more broadly under the statute. Consequently, devices that have the potential to become autodialers in the future, even if they …

Like A Bad Neighbor, Hackers Are There: The Need For Data Security Legislation And Cyber Insurance In Light Of Increasing Ftc Enforcement Actions, Jennifer Gordon

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Privacy has come to the forefront of the technology world as third party hackers are constantly attacking companies for their customers’ data. With increasing instances of compromised customer information, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been bringing suit against companies for inadequate data security procedures. The FTC’s newfound authority to bring suit regarding cybersecurity breaches, based on the Third Circuit’s decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., is a result of inaction—Congress has been unable to pass sufficient cybersecurity legislation, causing the FTC to step in and fill the void in regulation. In the absence of congressional action, this self-proclaimed …

Reader Privacy In Digital Library Collaborations: Signs Of Commitment, Opportunities For Improvement, Anne Klinefelter

Faculty Publications

Libraries collaborate to digitize collections large and small in order to provide information with fewer geographical, temporal, or socio-economic barriers. These collaborations promise economy of scale and breadth of impact, both for access to content and for preservation of decaying print source material. Some suggest this increased access to information through the digital environment comes at the expense of reader privacy, a value that United States librarians have advanced for nearly eighty years. Multiplying risks to digital reader privacy are said to weaken librarians’ commitment to privacy of library use and to overwhelm libraries’ ability to ensure confidential access to …