In a first, appeals court raises privacy questions over government searches for Americans’ emails
The government’s warrantless collection of emails and other Internet data for national security purposes is lawful, but searching that information for Americans’ communications raises constitutional privacy questions, a federal appeals court in New York ruled Wednesday. At issue is an appeal by a former Brooklyn man who pleaded guilty to supporting a foreign terrorist group […]
Commentary: A new reason for foreigners to avoid Google and Facebook
A Philadelphia court has made the unfortunate decision to reopen the legal debate on whether the U.S. has the right to access emails stored on foreign servers if they belong to U.S. companies. If Magistrate Thomas Rueter’s ruling stands, anyone using U.S.-based internet companies will have to live with the knowledge that, as far as […]
Legal Loop: Warrant doesn’t prove Amazon Echo is a privacy risk
Amazon Echo has been around for a few years now. But last month was the first time it was reported that data from one of these devices was sought by the prosecution in a murder investigation. For those unfamiliar with Echo, it’s a stand-alone voice recognition device that is activated when a particular word is […]
Can Amazon Echo help solve a murder?
When police responded to a home in Bentonville, Arkansas, one Sunday morning in November 2015, they discovered Victor Collins’ dead body in the backyard. Police records describe a grim scene: Collins’ body was floating face up in a hot tub, and his left eye and lips were dark and swollen. The resident who had called […]
Sports becoming high-tech business
Lazaro Torres, a die-hard Miami Heat fan, was scurrying to reach his seat before tip-off one night last month when he hit an all-too-common roadblock: Two dozen fans stirring impatiently in the security-check line. Not a problem. He slid into a special entrance line, laid two fingers on a print scanner and, with the Heat’s […]
New York appoints privacy officer to protect student data
ALBANY — The New York State Education Department has hired a chief privacy officer to protect student and teacher data. Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced the appointment of Temitope Akinyemi on Wednesday. She’ll be in charge of developing and implementing the department’s privacy policies and investigating security breaches. Akinyemi has experience as the privacy officer at [&hel[...]
Court limits privacy of teacher pension records
ALBANY (AP) — New York’s highest court said the names and benefits of retired teachers in public pension plans should be made public. The Court of Appeals said state law exempts from public disclosure only the home addresses, not the names of retirees who get benefits from the public employee retirement systems. The court said […]
Court: Computer searches can threaten privacy
NEW YORK — A New York federal appeals court says authorities may have gone too far in their search of an ex-convict’s computer. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the statement in a ruling Tuesday casting doubt on the case against a man serving nearly 48 years in prison in a child pornography […]
Cell phone tracking doesn’t violate privacy
Cell phone users can reasonably expect their conversations to be private, but not necessarily the location of their phones. Monroe County Court Judge John L. DeMarco, in a decision issued Friday in People v. Moorer (Index No. 2011-1096), ruled that a person’s voluntary use of a cell phone, through GPS technology that can locate it, […]
Google agrees to record $22.5M fine on privacy
SAN FRANCISCO — Google is paying a record $22.5 million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of Web surfers who use Apple’s Safari browser. The penalty announced Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission matches the figure that The Associated Press and other media outlets had reported last […]
Privacy concerns raised in GPS case
During oral arguments earlier this month in a case questioning the limits of police officers’ warrantless use of GPS technology to track suspects’ movements, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed serious concerns about the privacy implications of using such technology. The justices’ broad questions have not only criminal attorneys taking note, but also […]
Court questions expectations of privacy in GPS case
In a case that had the justices questioning just how far the expectation of privacy extends in a world of ever-evolving technologies, the U.S. Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether the police’s use of a warrantless GPS tracking device on a suspect’s car violated the Fourth Amendment. There is chance that the justices could rule broadly […]
Case Digests
- Fourth Department – Bill of particulars: Harris v. Rome Memorial Hospital, et al.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Accusations against co-judge: Opinion 22-148
- Fourth Department – Medicaid: Washington Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Home v. NYS Dept. of Health
- Fourth Department – Criminal possession of a firearm: People v. Wilson
- Fourth Department – Promoting prostitution: People v. Watts
- Second Circuit – Class certification: Arkansas Teachers Retirement System V. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
- Fourth Department – Show-up identification: People v. Waggoner
- Fourth Department – Association: Victory Village Tenants Assoc. v. Evergreen Communities, et al.
- Second Circuit – In personam jurisdiction: Kaplan v. Bank Saderat PLC
- Fourth Department – Labor Law: Verdugo v. Fox Building Group
- Fourth Department – Out-of-possession landlord: Truax v. M.D. Meyer’s Properties
- Fourth Department – Discovery: Sylvester v. Sanders
Law News
- Espinosa named general counsel at Greenlight Networks
- Barclay Damon hires attorney Matt Smith
- Rochester man sues Geneseo police, alleging false arrest, assault
- The Daily Record’s Power List for Intellectual Property 2023
- NY ethics panel says judges can join NRA
- Harter Secrest & Emery LLP names partner-in-charge of Buffalo office
- Banned professor sues SUNY Fredonia leaders
- Hochul signs law requiring unemployment insurance information from employers