Stanford Center for Internet and Society

The very clever folks at the ACLU of Northern California have put out a Facebook quiz that helps users understand what quiz app developers can find out about them. Hint: it's a lot. This work builds on a June report on the same topic. Congrats!

This week, Harvard’s Cyberlaw Clinic filed an amicus brief with the Illinois Appellate Court in support of hefty procedural safeguards to protect the anonymity of online speakers in defamation lawsuits. The brief was a collaborative effort of a number of organizations, including Berkman’s Citizen Media Law Project, Gannett Corporation, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. While I agree with the fundamental premise that plaintiffs should have to do more than simply serve a subpoena to compel the defendants to reveal the identity of online speakers, in my view, the position staked out by the amicus coalition simply goes too far.

Author: José Mauro

Vicki J. Pinero sued Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (“Jackson Hewitt”) for not complying with its own privacy policy and dumping her tax returns in a public dumpster, together with the returns of 100 other Jackson Hewitt customers. Pinero asserted seven causes of action against Jackson Hewitt, including fraud, breach of contract, negligence, invasion of privacy, as well as violation of Louisiana laws related to database security and unfair trade practices. A federal district court in Louisiana recently dismissed all of Pinero’s claims except invasion of privacy.

This quote belongs to Robin Bienfait, RIM’s Chief Information Office (CIO). RIM makes the BlackBerries, and the title line of this post recites Ms. Bienfait’s answer to the question what information is being recorded on RIM’s internal network (e.g., telephone conversations and email exchange over employees’ devices).

'Surveillance and You' is the title of this years Civic Forum of the Science, Technology & Society Program at UT Austin. The one day event will host an expert panel of academics as well as former CIA officers and armed forces members.