privacy – Page 6 – Duane Morris TechLaw

September 30, 2011July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Protecting Personal Information In Borders Bankruptcy Proceeding

Borders has long collected personal information from customers and promised that such information would not be disclosed without consent. In light of that and Borders’ current bankruptcy proceedings, the FTC has sent a letter to the consumer privacy ombudsman overseeing the Borders bankruptcy that seeks the protection of customer personal information.

The FTC’s letter appears prompted by its understanding that customer personal information held by Borders is scheduled to be auctioned and thereafter there will be a sale hearing.

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August 31, 2011September 11, 2014 by Joseph M. Burton

State Law News (August 2011)

As we head toward the Labor Day Weekend, it is a good time to point out a couple of noteworthy state level legislative developments in the Information Security and Privacy space.

California

On August 22nd the California State Assembly passed SB 914 which amends the California Penal Code to make clear that police must acquire a search warrant in order to search an individual’s cell phone or other portable electronic device incident to the arrest of that individual.

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August 17, 2011September 11, 2014 by Joseph M. Burton

Anonymous Educates Us About Security– Again

Another data breach carried out by the “hactivist” group known as “Anonymous” provides an opportunity for businesses to become reacquainted with several important data security concepts. First let’s briefly review the background of the incident.

This time Anonymous hacked the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, commonly known as BART. BART is the second largest public transportation system in Northern California and carries about 40,000 riders a day. Anonymous was able to access and steal personal information on about 2400 BART customers who utilize the myBART website to manage their accounts. The information taken was reported by Anonymous to include system user names and passwords, individual last names, addresses, and telephone numbers.

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July 21, 2011September 11, 2014 by Joseph M. Burton

Court To Decide Important Privacy Rights Case

In the flurry of activity immediately preceding the close of the United States Supreme Court’s term in June, the court accepted Cert on what could be a pivotal 4th Amendment privacy case: United States v. Jones. Jones presents the court with the opportunity to define the extent to which a person has an expectation of privacy with regard to their movements.

First the salient facts. Jones was the owner of a D.C. night club which was under federal investigation for suspected drug trafficking. At the conclusion of the investigation, Jones and the club’s Manager, Lawrence Maynard, were indicted for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. They were tried jointly and convicted.

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July 18, 2011September 11, 2014 by Sandra A. Jeskie

Geotagging and Other Electronic Tracking – Worth the Risk to Privacy?

Congress is currently considering a bill to prevent the abuse of location data collected by electronic devices. In the mean time, we all have to question how much privacy are we willing to give up to get the types of services and apps we have come to love?

For example, did you know that when you take a picture with your smartphone and post that picture to the web, that photo could be tagged with geolocation data (i.e. Latitude and Longitude). Automatic geotagging is generally enabled by default on smartphones. While it sounds desirable to know where and when you took a vacation photo, consider the adorable photo you took of your children playing in your backyard and posted on line or the expensive piece of jewelry you just posted on e-Bay. Do you really want to give your location to everyone online?

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