Technology and Privacy Update

Today, a coalition of more than 140 technology companies and other experts and organizations--including Google and Apple--sent a letter to President Obama urging him to protect privacy rights by not undermining strong encryption technologies as the government considers law enforcement's need to access increasingly encrypted data.  The background of the letter and related issues are discussed in a Washington Post article by national security reporter Ellen Nakashima, available here. 

Looking at technology and privacy from from another angle, focusing on surveillance and data use by vendor-produced machines and apps, is a recent Guardian article by Bruce Schneier, a security technologist, author, and fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School.  Together, the letter and the two articles shed light on some of the competing and coalescing interests shaping our developing privacy policy.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Privacy, Transparency and Yahoo

In the ongoing push and pull over consumer privacy, government security, and access to information, Yahoo.com is at center stage.  On September 6, Yahoo released its first ever Transparency Report, covering requests for user data it had received from the governments of 17 countries, from January through June, 2013.  More about the document, which reports over 12,000 requests from the U.S. government, more than 11,000 of these resulting in data disclosure and over 4500 of them in content disclosure, is available in Yahoo's report overview and in coverage by ComputerWorld. 

Meanwhile, Yahoo has been involved in an ongoing lawsuit (with co-plaintiffs Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn) that challenges federal government restrictions on providing foreign surveillance-related data with greater specificity.  And just this week, Yahoo itself was hit with a class action suit over consumer privacy.  The California consumers' complaint in Kevranian et. al. v. Yahoo Inc. (case number 5:13-cv-04547 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Of California) claims that Yahoo's practice of accessing and indexing users' email for profiling and targeted advertising violates both California's Invasion of Privacy Act and the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act.  The legal world and the public await further developments.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) Passes the House of Representatives

CISPA is headed for the U.S. Senate.  So, what is CISPA and how did it get to the Senate?  "CISPA’s designed to let private business share information about cybersecurity threats with one another and with the U.S. federal government."

(Read more about the CISPA controversy here: http://mashable.com/2012/04/29/where-cispa-stands-now/)

Although the cybersecurity legislation has many supporters, there are others who do not believe that citizens' privacy is adequately addressed.  "In a statement, Michelle Richardson, [the American Civil Liberties Union] ACLU legislative counsel, said that “CISPA goes too far for little reason. Cybersecurity does not have to mean abdication of Americans’ online privacy. As we’ve seen repeatedly, once the government gets expansive national security authorities, there’s no going back. We encourage the Senate to let this horrible bill fade into obscurity.”"

(For more information about CISPA supporters and critics, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/cispa-whos-for-it-whos-against-it-and-how-it-could-affect-you/2012/04/27/gIQA5ur0lT_story.html)
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

9/11 and the law

Today marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11, for New Yorkers and many around the world it is a day of remembrance. It is also a day of reflection in which many of us will examine the impact of the attacks on our daily lives. As attorneys and law students, we also see the legal ramifications on our individual rights and liberties. The New York Law Journal recently published a number of essays in a special report entitled "9/11 and the Law: The Impact on How Lawyers Do Business and Courts Dispense Justice." This special report consists of a number of essays written by judges, legal directors and other attorneys. Each essay discusses the balance between liberty and security within the realm of the government's post-9/11 policies. Read the full article here.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

National Security Archive

The National Security Archive at George Washington University School of Law is a good source for information related to national security and foreign intelligence. The site "collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act" and advocates for the public "right to know".


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat