EU Court Adviser Says Google Shouldn't Have To Enforce A French RTBF Request Anywhere But In Europe

News

from the jurisdictional-limitation-is-not-exactly-a-novel-concept dept

The “Right to Be Forgotten” — a European construct that allows people to erase their internet history at the drop of a takedown request — should only apply in countries affected by the law. That would seem to be obvious but, so far, it hasn’t played out that way. There has been insistence by a few judges and governments that delisting orders should cover anywhere Google’s search engine can be used, rather than just in the originating country.

The abusable system has led to questionable delisting requests, which almost always results in the person making the dubious request generating even more URLs to target with the next round of takedowns. That’s the nature of the internet, and that’s why some judges think content delisted in one country should be made unavailable everywhere in the world.

For a while, it appeared the EU was inclined to agree with French regulators who believed they should be able to control the distribution of content worldwide from an office in Paris. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear these regulators will get to control the internet. Reuters reports the EU court is probably going to end up siding with Google in this dispute.

Google can limit the “right to be forgotten” to internet searches made in the European Union, an adviser to the bloc’s top court said on Thursday, backing an appeal by the U.S. search giant against a French fine.

Now, this isn’t guaranteed to happen. The Reuters report notes the EU Court normally follows the advice of its legal advisers, but not always. The French government doesn’t appear willing to back down, despite this recommendation.

France’s CNIL data protection authority said it noted the opinion and restated its view that the right to privacy should apply regardless of the geographical origin of the person doing an internet search.

This “right” should be watched closely and exercised cautiously. Its short history shows this hasn’t been the case. Google is compliant with most requests it receives, but there are still a number of bad faith efforts making their way through the system. Just like DMCA notices, some RTBF requests target legitimate and newsworthy content solely for the purpose of making embarrassing or inconvenient facts vanish from the web. Allowing a European country to control the world’s search results will do little more than encourage further abuse.

Filed Under: censorship, cjeu, eu, eu advocate general, eu court of justice, free speech, global rtbf, jurisdiction, right to be forgotten, rtbf
Companies: google

FBI Officially Has A Leak Investigation Unit

Journalism

from the because-why-not dept

The Obama Administration was never a fan of leakers and whistleblowers. The Trump Administration isn’t either. And it’s continuing to ramp up investigations in response to a steady stream of leaks that tend to arrive moments after executive proclamations in order to undermine or contradict whatever has just been proclaimed.

Fired company man Jeff Sessions thought the best plan to tackle leaks was prosecuting the recipients: journalists. Not really the best plan of action in a country with enshrined speech rights, but that’s the way things are being done in the nation’s capital. True to form, the DOJ has gone after leakers with a vengeance, threatening to rewrite all of Obama’s personal prosecution records.

The FBI is getting in on the action, according to a document obtained by Ken Klippenstein of The Young Turks. The word “espionage” is tossed around, but most of what the Trump Administration has dealt with has been embarrassing, rather than a concerted effort to hand secret documents over to our country’s enemies. Nonetheless, hunting leakers is official FBI business.

“By law, the FBI is the lead federal agency responsible for the investigation of violations of the espionage laws of the United States,” one document, bearing the subheader “Functions and Mission Statement” reads.

“The complicated nature of — and rapid growth in — unauthorized disclosure and media leak threats and investigations has necessitated the establishment of a new Unit,” the document continues.

The file, dated November 10, 2017, is heavily redacted — as are the rest of the records provided to TYT. One document, dated May 24, 2018, shows that the Bureau’s Resource Analysis Unit approved a request by its Counterintelligence Division to establish a new cost code, apparently for the new leaks unit.

As Klippenstein notes, the obtained document [PDF] indicates Jeff Sessions was a man of words, rather than a man of action. The establishment of the unit — meaning the point at which it started being funded — didn’t occur until May 2018. Sessions claimed in August 2017 the FBI already had a leak-fighting unit in place and that leak probes had already increased by 800%.

Sessions’ leak-targeting premature ejaculation may have been meant to scare government employees into keeping the feds’ secrets. If so, it wasn’t too effective. The rate of leaks has slowed from “daily,” but there’s no shortage of insiders willing to spill dirt on the chaotic White House to journalists.

The government isn’t opposed to leaks, per se. It just likes to ensure the narrative it wants to project makes its way to the public before the truth even gets its pants on. That hasn’t worked for years, as the Obama Administration discovered prior to its war on leakers and whistleblowers. It’s not going to work here either, but it does raise the odds the First Amendment is going to suffer for the sins our government fails to keep covered up.

Filed Under: doj, fbi, investigation, jeff sessions, leaks, retaliation, whistleblowers

Dept. Of Interior Wants To Rewrite FOIA Law To Make It Easier To Reject Requests

Legal Issues

from the fully-committed-to-screwing-the-general-populace dept

The US Department of the Interior wants to do all it can to comply with recent changes to FOIA law. It wants transparency and accountability just as much as US citizens want it. In the comments preceding its proposed changes [PDF] to FOIA response procedures, it has this to say:

The Department is fully committed to an equitable FOIA program that ensures compliance with the statutory requirements of transparency, accountability, and prompt production.

Here’s how it’s planning to “ensure compliance” and produce all the good stuff compliance would bring. (h/t Steve Reilly)

The bureau will not honor a request that requires an unreasonably burdensome search or requires the bureau to locate, review, redact, or arrange for inspection of a vast quantity of material.

Hmm. This doesn’t sound like compliance at all. This sounds like an agency rewriting FOIA law to limit the number of FOIA requests it will respond to. This determination will be made solely by the agency, which is giving itself a brand new exception to FOIA requirements. Sure, requesters can challenge this determination, but it’s probably going to take a lawsuit to dislodge documents held by an agency so very committed to “transparency, accountability, and prompt production.”

The DOI says this new limitation is necessary because it’s seen a surge in requests and litigation. These are inextricably linked, thanks to the agency’s inability/unwillingness to respond to requests in a timely fashion.

The problem goes deeper than the backlog. Government agencies don’t throw much money or manpower at responding to FOIA requests, preferring instead to spend taxpayer dollars fighting taxpayers in court over requested documents.

The DOI’s recent leadership has contributed to this problem by making a relatively uninteresting department highly FOIA-able. Ryan Zinke’s departure from the Department at the end of last year won’t do much to slow the bleeding. Zinke’s 21-month stint was marked by controversy after controversy, including shady real estate deals, abuse of travel privileges, $139,000-worth of office doors, and a long list of attacks on animal conservation efforts. The paper trail he leaves behind is of considerable public interest, and the surge in FOIA requests his agency is facing is evidence of that.

The good news is the public can comment on this proposed change. The bad news is, of course, the change could be implemented over the objections of the American people. The suggestion box is open but it’s not like anyone’s counting votes for and against.

If this does get codified, other federal agencies will certainly push for their own exception — one that grants them the power to unilaterally reject FOIA requests. This will result in a self-fulfilling justification for increased restrictions on FOIA responses as agencies will always experience an uptick in FOIA litigation with rules like these in place.

Filed Under: department of interior, foia, transparency

Senate Committee Memo Details US Marshals Service's Long History Of Misconduct

Failures

from the outed-on-the-way-out dept

Senator Chuck Grassley is leaving his post as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, firing some parting shots at the US Marshals Service on his way out the door. His 20-page memo [PDF] detailing years of USMS misconduct comes with over 400 pages of exhibits — source documents, email chains, and other evidence backing up the disturbing narrative.

The USMS wasted taxpayer dollars, misused asset forfeiture funds, engaged in routine retaliation against whistleblowers, and — for an entire decade — forged a judge’s signature on more than 800 subpoenas.

A 2007 OIG investigation prompted by reports from a whistleblower uncovered evidence that a USMS task force there had been routinely customizing an electronic subpoena template and pasting in a digital image of a local judge’s signature obtained from legitimate court documents in order to give the appearance of official judicial approval. The OIG found that between the years 1995 and 2005, approximately 800 fraudulent subpoenas had been served by the task force.

A decade of fraudulent behavior was followed by a single written reprimand of a deputy marshal who was later promoted to Supervisory Criminal Investigator. Given this culture of unaccountability, it’s little surprise two high-profile incidents involving US Marshals and solicitation of prostitutes was greeted with minimal punishments for everyone involved.

There has been no improvement over the last decade.

Just last year, in what the DOJ OIG called an instance of “gross mismanagement,” a Chief Deputy United States Marshal who engaged in sexual harassment, misused his government phone and vehicle, obstructed an OIG investigation by threatening and retaliating against subordinates, and lied to the DOJ OIG, was allowed to retire with full benefits and without receiving any punishment whatsoever.

And, while the USMS was willing to blow funds on expensive, rarely-used ‘training centers’ featuring “high-end granite countertops” and “custom artwork,” it wasn’t so willing to spend money to keep its employees safe. After USMA testing determined body armor needed to be replaced every five years, Service management chose to address the impending purchase of 4,000 body armor panels by doing nothing. It finally secured a replacement contract in 2016, but the contract only provided for phased replacement, which would mean some vests would have been nearly a decade past their “expiration date” before being replaced.

When employees complained about using expired body armor, USMS was telling Congress (and USMS staff) that the 5-year lifetime estimate wasn’t accurate and that the vests were still safe to use. It made these statements while simultaneously asking Congress for additional funding in 2017, citing specifically the 13% failure rate in testing of older equipment.

In short, the USMS was representing to Congress that this study showed that expired body armor was dangerous and needed to be replaced while telling its own employees that the old armor was safe to use.

Acting Director Harlow’s email also raises serious concerns about the operational awareness of senior officials. Acting Director Harlow wrote, “if armor is in good condition and has been properly cared for…it retains its full ballistic capabilities.” This statement neglects to take into account that Deputy Marshals across the country perform their duties in the heat, cold, rain, and snow. Exposure to sunlight, humidity, or even excessive flexing or bending of armor can lead to degradation over time. It is difficult to imagine a situation in which a Deputy Marshal would not expose their body armor to any of those factors on a daily basis.

Multiple whistleblower complaints — followed by multiple acts of reprisal by the USMS — paint a picture of an agency that is accountable to no one, not even the Judiciary Committee that is supposed to be overseeing it.

Throughout this investigation, the Committee has uncovered countless instances of mismanagement, favoritism, and a lack of accountability. The OIG has confirmed many of the allegations the Committee has received, and identified multiple additional instances of misconduct and mismanagement—including by the most senior leaders in the agency. Those leaders set the tone for the entire organization, and their actions affect employees throughout their many districts and divisions.

Grassley’s memo is an extremely disturbing read. Given its contents, it’s hard to believe Grassley actually thinks installing a new director will root out the deep-seated problems detailed in his report. But I guess those are the things you say to the New Guy, especially when you’re no longer directly involved in keeping an eye on him.

Filed Under: abuse, chuck grassley, coverups, misconduct, us marshals

DOJ Says It Knows It Fudged Numbers On Its Dangerous Immigrants Report, But Refuses To Correct Them Or Release Underlying Data

Failures

from the another-federal-level-shrug dept

The DOJ doesn’t care if it lies to the American people. This isn’t exactly a shocking accusation. The DOJ isn’t anyone’s idea of honest, no matter what its name implies. The DOJ has encouraged and supported parallel construction, entrapment (ATF stash house stings, almost every FBI terrorism bust), and shown itself to be a willing extension of every administration it’s attached to. If a narrative needs bolstering, the DOJ will comply.

When the Trump administration wanted to push its narrative about the southern border crawling with dangerous terrorists and criminals, the DOJ leapt in to help. It had to, since the agency charged with immigration enforcement (ICE) couldn’t actually find very many dangerous criminals to detain and deport, even as the President continued to make daily assertions about the national security threat directly across the border.

The DOJ and DHS presented its “findings” to Congress and the American public — a bunch of paper masquerading as a set of facts that contained very little factual information. It claimed a “vast majority” of terrorist acts were perpetrated by foreigners illegally in the United States. This was not simply wrong, but an apparently deliberate attempt to inflate numbers into a national security threat-sized problem. To do this, the DOJ and DHS added in foreign citizens who had been extradited to the US to face trial for terrorism-related charges. Subtracting these, the actual percentage was closer to 20% — not anywhere near the “majority” the agencies claimed.

This was only part of the report’s misrepresentations. Another assertion claimed immigrants were convicted of almost 70,000 sex offenses from 2003 to 2009. Again, the facts did not back this claim up.

The nearly 70,000 offenses spanned a period from 1955 to 2010 — 55 years, not six; the data covered arrests, not convictions…

The DOJ has finally admitted it screwed up when compiling this fact hack job. This admission isn’t going to help it fare any better in the litigation that resulted from the release of the DOJ/DHS’s fact-free report. The agencies are being sued under a little-used law called the Information Quality Act. But larger than this problem is the DOJ’s refusal to truly own its skewed report and the misinformation it spread to support the President’s xenophobic agenda.

Now, after two rounds, the Justice Department has told the groups it will not retract or correct the document. Rather, “in future reports, the department can strive to minimize the potential for misinterpretation,” Michael H. Allen, deputy assistant attorney general for policy, management and planning, wrote in a Dec. 21 letter to the groups.

The DOJ’s counsel claims the misrepresentations were merely “editorial errors.” That hardly seems likely. The addition of extradited individuals to bring up the percentage of foreign-born persons charged for terrorist acts could not have been accidental. And perhaps someone may have slipped up when tallying sexual offenses by foreigners, but it would be a whole lot more believable if the error had been a couple of extra years, rather than five additional decades.

The DOJ and DHS — despite admitting error — also refuse to release the underlying data used to compile the disingenuous report. Certainly the numbers won’t back up the government’s claims, which is likely the reason it won’t hand those numbers over. But the DOJ is being even more obtuse than it needs to be. Here’s the DOJ’s counsel explaining why the DOJ won’t be providing anyone with the underlying data.

“There is no requirement in either the [law or department guidelines] that agencies must always provide underlying data when disseminating information to the public,” Allen wrote.

Well, fuck you too. That’s a hell of a reason to refuse to own up to your misrepresentations. The law doesn’t prevent the DOJ from handing over this info. It simply doesn’t make it mandatory. The DOJ could claw back a bit of goodwill by openly admitting its errors and allowing the public to view the data for itself. But it won’t because no one’s making it. This is what it looks like at the top of the governmental org chart: a bunch of children who’ve spent their free time looking for legal loopholes. What a disgrace, especially for an agency with the word “justice” in its title.

Filed Under: doj, immigrants, lies

Notoriously Corrupt Sri Lanka Police Force Arrests Citizens For Pretending To Bribe A Cardboard Cutout Cop

Failures

from the really-working-hard-to-push-back-on-public-perception dept

Sri Lanka roads might be getting a little safer. Maybe. Along with raising fines for speeding, police agencies are also deploying fake cops. Cardboard cutouts of officers have been placed alongside roads as a deterrent.

These cardboard replicants may be these agencies’ only honest cops. The State Department’s report on Sri Lanka says police in the country routinely engage in arbitrary arrests and “harass civilians with impunity.” This harassment often takes the form of soliciting bribes. Combine the two and you have officers wandering around with iron fists and open palms. Another report says the bribery is a two-way street, with officers sometimes paying off citizens to purchase their silence about other illegal police activities.

The problem with solicited bribes is large enough the government has set up a portal for citizens to file complaints about bribes solicited/paid. Fortunately, anonymity is an option. Unfortunately, the government runs the website so collected data may help pinpoint where the complaints are originating from.

So, it naturally follows that Sri Lankans — a third of which believe the nation’s police are corrupt — are toying with the cardboard cops. In a less corrupt society, this would have led to nothing but some fun had by all. Since Sri Lanka is notoriously corrupt, it has led to this instead:

Sri Lankan police have arrested two people who posted a Facebook video showing one of them pretending to give a bribe to a traffic police cutout.

In the footage, a motorcyclist is seen offering money to the life-size figure of an officer with a speed gun in the northern town of Vavuniya.

The man in the video and his friend who filmed it have been released on bail.

They are charged with damaging public property, and humiliating and creating a bad public image of the police.

Satire is dead. Or if it isn’t dead, it’s being detained and charged.

The obvious point here is the police’s bad public image has been created by the police. When citizens are filming what everyone’s thinking, the best course of action would be to laugh it off and maybe say a few words no one will believe about “bad apples.” Instead, law enforcement has decided to create an international incident by arresting two people having a little fun with stereotypes. Having a stereotypical reaction isn’t going to do much to buff out the dents in law enforcement’s “bad public image.”

Filed Under: bribery, cardboard cutout, corruption, police, sri lanka

California Supreme Court Rejects Sheriffs' Union's Attempt To Block New Open Records Law

Legal Issues

from the take-your-fear-of-accountability-somewhere-else dept

There have been some pretty garbage responses to California’s amendment of its open records laws, which rolls back the extreme level of opacity shielding police misconduct records. The City of Inglewood gave its police force a zero-accountability parting gift by granting it permission to destroy hundreds of officer-involved shooting files just prior to the new law taking effect.

Over in San Bernardino County, law enforcement — or at least their union reps — responded to the new law by petitioning the state Supreme Court for an injunction. The Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association wanted the law blocked until it could be determined whether or not the law was retroactive. The union claimed making pre-2019 records available to the public would “violate [its] members’ rights.”

This ran contrary to the assessment of the actual Sheriff and the county’s legal counsel, both of whom felt the law applied to old misconduct files.

“In anticipation of SB 1421 taking effect, the Sheriffs Department has been diligently reviewing the changes to the law and carefully considering how to implement these changes,” Blakemore wrote. “Based on this review, and on the advice of counsel, the Department intends to apply these changes retroactively.”

The union can’t be thrilled about the new layer of accountability it will be facing going forward. But it seemed particularly aggrieved the new records law would affect old records it assumed would never be turned over to the public. The law doesn’t state it only applies to records going forward, so it’s reasonable to assume what was once considered non-public is now publicly-accessible.

The union has already heard back from the state’s highest court and it’s not getting the answer it wanted.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a sheriff union’s request to block a new state law that provides public access to past police-misconduct and use-of-force records.

The San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies’ union sought an emergency intervention from the California Supreme Court to block the new law before the New Year.

This won’t stop the legal challenges to the law — not as long as it’s not crystal clear whether retroactivity applies. But this at least allows the law to move forward, ensuring that any records generated past the point of enactment are truly public records. Anything prior to January 2019 is going to be hit-and-miss, as it appears state law enforcement agencies don’t have a unified take on the law. This will probably be resolved sooner than later, as requests for these previously-secret records are already flowing in.

Filed Under: california, california supreme court, open records, police, police misconduct, police misconduct records, transparency