PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

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The Supreme Court on Smart Phones: An Interview of Bart Huffman about Law and Technology

The U.S. Supreme Court has been notoriously slow to tackle new technology. In 2002, Blackberry launched its first smart phone. On June 29, 2007, Steve Jobs announced the launch of the original Apple iPhone. But it took the Supreme Court until 2014 to decide a case involving the Fourth Amendment and smart phones – Riley […]

Carpenter v. United States, Cell Phone Location Records, and the Third Party Doctrine

Carpenter v US - cell-site location information 02

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision in Carpenter v. United States, an important Fourth Amendment case that was eagerly awaited by many. The decision was widely cheered as a breakthrough in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence — hailed as a “landmark privacy case” and a “major victory for digital privacy [link no longer available].”  In the NY […]

10 Reasons Why the Fourth Amendment Third Party Doctrine Should Be Overruled in Carpenter v. US

10 Reasons to Overrule the Fourth Amendment Third Party Doctrine

The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments this week in Carpenter v. United States, which is one of the most important Fourth Amendment cases before the Court.  The case involves whether the Third Party Doctrine will remain viable.  If so, the Fourth Amendment will fade into obsolescence in today’s digital age. In this post, […]

Ransomware on a Rampage

Ransomware Training 01

Ransomware is on a rampage!  Attacks are happening with ever-increasing frequency, and ransomware is evolving and becoming more powerful. Several major media sites, such as the New York Times, BBC, AOL, and the NFL, were recently infected with malware that directed visitors to sites attempting to install ransomware on their computers. Ransomware has the potential […]

Can the FBI Force Apple to Write Software to Weaken Its Software?

Privacy Awareness Training

A dramatic legal battle is taking place that will have dramatic implications for the future of technology, privacy, security, and the extent of government power.  The FBI obtained an order from a magistrate judge to force Apple to develop software to help the FBI break into an encrypted iPhone.

Privacy Need Not Be Sacrificed for Security

NSA Surveillance

I’ve long been saying that privacy need not be sacrificed for security, and it makes me delighted to see that public attitudes are aligning with this view.  A Pew survey revealed that a “majority of Americans (54%) disapprove of the U.S. government’s collection of telephone and internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts.”  The anti-NSA […]

Modernizing Electronic Surveillance Law

By Daniel J. Solove Next year, there will be a milestone birthday for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) – the primary federal law that regulates how the government and private parties can monitor people’s Internet use, wiretap their communications, peruse their email, gain access to their files, and much more. This is no ordinary […]

Big Brother on the Cover: 50+ Covers for George Orwell’s 1984

Privacy Training Blog Big Brother Is Watching You Poster

by Daniel J. Solove One of the most well-known classic privacy books is George Orwell’s 1984, and it has been published in countless editions around the world.  I enjoy collecting things, and I’ve gathered up more than 50 book covers of various editions of the novel.  I find it interesting how various artists and designers […]

OPM Data Breach Fallout, Fingerprints, and Other Privacy + Security Updates

By Daniel J. Solove Co-authored by Professor Paul Schwartz This post is part of a post series where we round up some of the interesting news and resources we’re finding. For a PDF version of this post, and for archived issues of previous posts, click here. We cover health issues in a separate post. News […]