Legal Alert | Wiretap Laws in the United States
Leading on the data privacy front again after passing one of the toughest biometric data privacy laws in the nation, Illinois is now the first state to expressly limit law enforcement access to household digital device data....more
Over a year following enactment of the U.S. “Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data” or CLOUD Act, significant questions remain unanswered about the law and its potential impact on global investigations involving cloud stored...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Virginia federal court’s dismissal of a challenge to an arbitration award. The underlying dispute arose out of a lawsuit filed by Alvin Moore against his email service provider,...more
The United States government has a powerful new tool to gain access to data stored overseas – the CLOUD Act, which was enacted this spring. If you are a company based overseas, particularly if you use a cloud service provider...more
In a victory for online retailers, a New York federal court recently dismissed three putative class action lawsuits brought on behalf of website visitors whose mouse clicks, keystrokes, and electronic communications were...more
A growing number of employers monitor and review their employees’ electronic communications, including telephone calls, emails and internet use, while at work or working away from the office. They cite a number of legitimate...more
On Friday morning, March 23, President Trump signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill into law, including the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, and in doing so established a sea change in the rules for...more
It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes: the formal withdrawal of the United States from the EITI; the...more
Question: I know my spouse’s passwords to their social media accounts, bank accounts and/or email accounts, can I log into their account and get the information we need to help win my case? ...more
Terrorist attacks, most recently in London and Manchester, England, have raised the pressure on law enforcement and lawmakers in countries like the U.K. and the U.S., to proactively intercept and interrupt terrorist...more
It’s hard to imagine a world in which the U.S. Postal Service is permitted to peer inside our personal mail, or gather and track the address and other data we place on our mail, and then use and sell what it learns about us....more
Now that the U.S. government has overturned the FCC’s privacy regulations, are courts more likely to step in to protect the Internet privacy rights of individuals?...more
The U.S. government’s action this week overturning the FCC’s recently passed privacy regulations and stripping the FCC’s authority to implement similar privacy regulations in the future, whether one agrees or disagrees with...more
On March 10, 2017, Google Inc. filed its objection to a Pennsylvania magistrate judge's order to comply with search warrants and turn over personal user data partially stored on foreign servers abroad. A number of technology...more
Even though Microsoft is a U.S. corporation subject to domestic subpoenas and warrants, prosecutors are not entitled to emails stored on its servers abroad, the Second Circuit ruled last week in Microsoft Corp. v. United...more
On July 14, 2016, the Second Circuit released its decision in Microsoft Corp. v. United States, No. 14-2985, slip op. (2d Cir. July 14, 2016). The Second Circuit rejected the Government’s efforts to require Microsoft to turn...more
In a case closely watched by privacy advocates, on July 14, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) does not authorize U.S. law enforcement authorities to order U.S.-based companies...more
Over the last decade, communication via email and text has become a vital part of how many of us communicate in the workplace. In fact, most employees could not fathom the idea of performing their jobs without the use of...more
The Second Circuit’s challenge in considering the validity of a U.S. Stored Communications Act warrant to Microsoft for e-mails located on servers in Ireland involves interpreting the SCA, which was enacted nearly three...more
While the recent hack of Sony was prominent news because of the celebrity ties and potential geo-political implications, other prominent cyber-attacks over the last few months are enough to give any company pause. The January...more
As technology developers continue to push the envelope on services and applications affecting the daily lives of consumers, the intersection of technology and privacy is becoming increasingly fraught with legal implications...more
On May 8, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s decision to dismiss with prejudice consolidated consumer class-action claims against...more
A perspective on the recent Fourth Amendment and privacy considerations raised by Judge James C. Francis' recent Memorandum and Order: 'In The Matter Of A Warrant To Search A Certain E-Mail Account Controlled And Maintained...more
Last week began this series of five posts to highlight five developments from this past summer in the area of social media and employment law. In Part 3 today: If an employee’s Facebook post can reasonably support an adverse...more
In a notable decision that may lead to an increase in privacy class actions under federal law, the Seventh Circuit in Harris v. comScore, Inc. upheld the certification of a class action for alleged privacy violations under...more