Privacy
Hong Kong Protesters Combat the Surveillance State
Encryption, other privacy measures, and decentralization have made the protest movement possible.
Children, Refugees, and Anyone Booked by ICE Will Have DNA Added to Criminal Database
Plus: Parents sue Illinois child services, Pennsylvania mulls liquor-store weed sales, Giuliani consorts with Manafort, and more...
Should You Be Able To Leave Facebook With All of Your Connections?
When online privacy faces off against portability
Edward Snowden's Autobiography Makes a Plea for the Fourth Amendment, the Right to Privacy, and Encryption
America's most famous whistleblower calls for restricting the power of government.
States Take Antitrust Aim at Big Tech
Everybody’s going after Google and Facebook. But how do you prove they’re harming consumers?
N.M. Abolishes Marital Communication Privilege, Based in Large Part on Feminist Arguments
New Mexico will apparently now be the only state in which spouses may generally testify about confidential statements made during the marriage.
The Supreme Court's Next Big Fourth Amendment Case
What’s at stake in Kansas v. Glover.
Trump Mulls Orwellian Proposal to Stop Mass Shootings by Monitoring 'Mentally Ill People' for Signs of Imminent Violence
The program would try to develop a surveillance system based on predictive tests that don't exist.
Did You Download an App that Connects to Your Rifle Scope? If So, the Justice Department Wants to Know Who You Are.
Feds go fishing for private data in order to track down illegal exporters.
Feds to YouTube: No More Cookies for Children!
The Federal Trade Commission's settlement with YouTube will cripple online video functionality.
How Your Digital Purchases Could Serve the Perfect Surveillance Network
You may be surprised how many different companies know whenever you use your credit card.
The Government Wants a 'Red Flag' Social Media Tool. That's a Terrible Idea.
The FBI is looking for companies to comb through social media posts and pinpoint possible threats ahead of time. Think of it like a meme-illiterate Facebook-stalking precog from Minority Report.
Privacy-Friendly Fashion for a Surveillance-State Age
You can literally wear your principles on your sleeve while baffling facial recognition technology.
Another Federal Court Allows Warrantless Cellphone Searches at U.S. Border
It’s time for SCOTUS to revisit the "border search exception" to the Fourth Amendment.
If You're Near the Scene of a Crime, Authorities Can Demand That Google Hand Over Your Data
Quiet fishing expeditions are being used to sort through potential suspects.
No Probable Cause Required for Cops To Access User Data From Popular Apps
Only three states require police to obtain a warrant before requesting private user data from companies.
Senate Democrats Back Constitutional Amendment to Undo Citizens United
Plus: Marijuana banking, suing Facebook, and more...
6 Terrible New Tech Bills in Congress
While expressing concern for free speech and privacy, lawmakers are seriously threatening both.
The Justice Department Renews Its Irresponsible Calls for Encryption Bypasses
In order to fight crime, Americans must...make their data more susceptible to hacking?
British Members of Parliament Do All Their Sneaky Plotting on WhatsApp
But they would prefer to be able to snoop on civilians who use the encrypted chat app.
EU Data Privacy Fines Are Getting Steep. Will This Be the New Normal?
And will the end result encourage companies to try to keep cybersecurity breaches secret?
Trump and Others Scared of Cryptocurrency Echo Earlier Fears About Cash
If there’s one thing government types can agree on, it’s that nobody should be allowed to buy and sell stuff without permission.
Is Facial Recognition the New Fingerprinting—or Something Much Worse?
State DMVs are building a vast national digital identification database for federal law enforcement.
Is Wrongful Search Engine Optimization a Tort?
An anonymous lawsuit claims that it's tortious to try to artificially boost the prominence of an embarrassing article.
Hong Kong Protests Show Dangers of a Cashless Society
Many digital payments can be tracked, potentially assisting an authoritarian crackdown.
The Sinister, Unconstitutional Effort to Ban Secure Encryption Is Back
It’s the ‘90s all over again, and the White House is in no mood to humor tech companies right now.
Incensed by Warrantless Border Searches of Americans' Tech Devices? These Senators Have the Cure.
Ron Wyden and Rand Paul team up to stop Border Patrol from snooping in your stuff without good reason.
Vermont Supreme Court Reads Revenge Porn Law Narrowly
Alice sends nude picture to her ex, Bob. Bob's new girlfriend (or maybe would-be girlfriend) Carol gets it and posts it online. Carol wouldn't be guilty under the state revenge porn statute, the court rules.
Can the Fourth Amendment Save Us from the Coming Era of Pervasive Biometric Surveillance?
New technologies mean new crimesolving techniques—and new threats to privacy and liberty.
We're From the Government and We're Here to 'Ghost' Read Your Emails
Habitually untrustworthy snoops still demand we trust them to monitor our communications.
The Costs of Monitoring Your Prescriptions
State databases that track the medications we take invade our privacy without reducing opioid-related deaths.
Customs and Border Protection Photo and License Plate Database Hacked
The agency is mum on how many people are impacted
Don't Trust the FBI to Properly Use Its Massive Facial Recognition Database
You might consider buying a hat to cover your face—and hoping you’ll be allowed to wear it.
New Hampshire Resists the DEA's Demands for Warrantless Access to Patients' Prescription Records
An ACLU brief bolsters the state's case, arguing that people reasonably expect information about the medications they take will be kept confidential.
Now Microsoft Supports an American GDPR. Which Tech Giant Wouldn't?
Government-mandated privacy regulations will allow the most powerful companies to game it to their advantage.
A Sniff by a Pot-Detecting Dog Requires Probable Cause and Does Not Justify a Search, Says Colorado Supreme Court
Marijuana legalization changes the constitutional status of canine olfactory inspections.
San Francisco Bans Police Use of Facial Recognition
Preventing a slow march toward automated authoritarianism?
Oregon Supreme Court: Cops Can't Collaborate with Garbage Haulers to Paw Through Your Trash Without a Warrant
Police now have to get a judge's permission before they rummage through your bins.
Bitcoin Isn't Anonymous. Is That a Dealbreaker?
As the cryptocurrency continues use, issues of privacy and fungibility crop up.
Publishing Court Records Containing Home Address Not Actionable Invasion of Privacy
A district court decision from several years ago, which I just ran across.
Massage Parlor Surveillance Videos Can't Be Used in Court, Says Florida Judge
Plus: the biggest trouble with Devin Nunes' Twitter lawsuit, the Senate fails to override Trump's Yemen veto, bad news for the gig economy, and more...
White House May Seek Renewal of Domestic Snooping Powers the NSA Has Stopped Using. It Shouldn't.
Section 215 has been used to secretly access our private data, but hasn't accomplished much.
The NSA Defended the Domestic Surveillance That Snowden Exposed. Now the Agency Wants to End It.
After years of political fights over our privacy, a potential end in mass phone metadata collection
Nabbing Robert Kraft Helped Florida Prosecutors Get Headlines. Now Kraft and Other Orchids of Asia Customers Are Fighting Back
They're joined by an arrested spa owner and manager in fighting the release of surveillance video, with an array of big media companies on the other side.
Are Food-Stamp Receipts Beyond the Reach of FOIA? Supreme Court Hears Arguments Today
Plus: Violence in Sri Lanka leads to social media suppression, and the White House wants to make it harder for pretrial diversion participants to get government jobs.
