US policy makers struggle with the tension between protecting personal privacy and enabling law enforcement surveillance. We know that both are important, but at a certain point, prioritizing one priority shortchanges the...more
2/4/2022
/ Analytics ,
Biometric Information ,
EU ,
European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ,
Europol ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Law Enforcement ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Surveillance
Why don’t our new privacy laws really protect our privacy? Are we going about this the wrong way?
The topic was raised in the recent Capital Forum of state and federal enforcement agencies by FTC Chair Lena Kahn, who...more
12/15/2021
/ Analytics ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mobile Devices ,
Notice and Comment ,
Personal Data ,
Personal Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Smart Devices ,
Surveillance
Your personal information is threatened by more pernicious tools and attacks each year.
While this blog often describes poorly written privacy laws stifling business and dangerous bureaucratic overreach by privacy...more
10/6/2021
/ Apple ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cyber-Stalking ,
Data Brokers ,
Data Collection ,
Due Process ,
Google ,
Law Enforcement ,
Mobile Apps ,
Personal Information ,
Proposed Legislation ,
School Districts ,
Software ,
Spyware ,
Surveillance ,
Tracking Systems ,
Warrantless Searches ,
Warrantless Tracking ,
Wearable Technology
We all want to protect our home and family.
How far would you go to secure the homestead? A monitored security system? Sure. A doorbell camera to record people approaching? Possibly. ...more
Eyes are important, don’t get me wrong. So are ears, noses, tongues, fingers, balance calibration organs and everything else that feeds that massive brain of yours. Salinity detectors in narwhals, electrical sensors in...more
Your car is spying on you, and you may have invited others to spy on you in the car too.
We have long known that connected devices have the capabilities of tracking our movements and behavior to send to unknown data...more
We have learned in the past year that privacy protection can often conflict with pandemic protections, as contact tracing regimes and databases of infections and vaccinations highlight people’s personal situations in the...more
The movement to localize some or all of internet data has grown over the past five years as countries introduce new laws restricting data flows, and others try to boost local businesses by placing burdens on international...more
2/23/2021
/ Algorithms ,
Authoritarian Regimes ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Localization Law ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Surveillance ,
Technology Sector
What if your personal digital assistant was so small but it encompassed your entire home?
If you are wondering how this would be possible, see the new generation of smart assistants designed to be placed into your wall,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) conducted an investigation into Zoom Video Communications, Inc.’s (“Zoom”) privacy and security practices and announced a settlement agreement on November 9, 2020. As a part of the...more
In ancient European lore, vampires cannot enter a home without being invited in. Once invited, they are free to pass at will, feasting on the inhabitants.
Of course, this legend had a practical purpose – to teach the young...more
Since its conception, people have worried that an artificial intelligence would turn against humanity and threaten our lives. While this may be a result to be feared several years in the future, right now the more pressing...more
8/6/2020
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Authoritarian Regimes ,
Biometric Information ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Foreign Relations ,
Minorities ,
Personal Data ,
Political Parties ,
Prison ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Surveillance ,
Technology Sector
Unlimited law enforcement application of facial recognition software to surveillance footage is an unreasonable search and a violation of Constitutional rights for people in a peaceful crowd. An officer should need to...more
6/23/2020
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
First Amendment ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Law Enforcement ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Police ,
Police Power ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Surveillance ,
Warrants
Last week’s tech company announcements about facial recognition software startled me, but probably not for the reason you might imagine.
Amazon, IBM and Microsoft all boosted their socially conscious credibility by moving...more
6/16/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
First Amendment ,
Law Enforcement ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Police ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Search Warrant ,
Surveillance ,
Technology Sector
You are being watched.
And in these trying times of COVID-19 and major political protests, surveillance matters.
It seems everyone is making judgments about whether we protect ourselves or society when we leave the...more
6/9/2020
/ Biometric Information ,
Civil Liberties ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Data Protection ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
First Amendment ,
FL Supreme Court ,
Law Enforcement ,
Police Misconduct ,
Privacy Laws ,
Protests ,
Surveillance
The Internet of Things is upon us with smartphones, smart cars, and self-sensing trash cans. The next decade will see a geometric expansion of the types of objects we fit with sensors and connect to the Web. As these...more
A hotel is a personal place, even if you share it with thousands of other people. The very obscurity in a crowd can make you feel anonymous, and the private living space allows for the most private of conversations and...more
9/30/2016
/ Big Data ,
Cell Phones ,
Data Breach ,
FCC ,
Hilton ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Hyatt ,
International Travel ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
iPhone Tracking ,
Malware ,
Marriott ,
No-Blocking Rules ,
Personal Data ,
Surveillance ,
Web Tracking ,
Wifi
After months of uncertainty, the U.S. again has a framework of rules to follow that will govern U.S. business’ use of EU residents’ data. The European Commission approved the text of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (the “Privacy...more
7/14/2016
/ EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Ombudsman ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personal Data ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Surveillance ,
Third-Party Agents ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
European privacy law is a bold new world for U.S. businesses doing business in Europe. An October Court of Justice ruling struck down the Safe Harbor arrangement which had governed E.U.-U.S. data transfer transactions for...more
6/8/2016
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Google ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Standard Contractual Clauses ,
Surveillance ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
United States and European Union officials have reached a last-minute agreement in an attempt to salvage the US-EU Data Transfer Safe Harbor, nearly four months after the European Court of Justice issued an opinion...more
2/4/2016
/ Data Protection Authority ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Surveillance ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
A major European court has just pulled the rug out from under nearly 5,000 US companies, snatching away the relative business certainty of the Data Transfer Safe Harbor, and maybe the safety of standard contract clauses and...more
10/7/2015
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection Authority ,
Data Security ,
Edward Snowden ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Facebook ,
International Data Transfers ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
SCC ,
Surveillance ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework