In the age of information, the hardest thing to keep is a secret. Whether you are trafficking in child porn or corporate insider information, or you are playing tricks with your brick-and-mortar customers, you've got to live in fear that someone, somewhere will find an astonishing new way to search out your secret or snitch on you. Welcome, Office Depot, to the electronic fishbowl. --Ben
The FTC treated TJX unfairly. The FTC should rethink the law of credit card security, and stop treating merchant victims of organized crime as culprits. --Ben
Curious: Suzanne Shell published terms of use on her web site saying that anyone copying material from the site agrees by contract to pay her a bunch of money. Then she sued Internet Archive for using a spider to copy material from her site. At first Internet Archive fought the suit. Then it settled with Ms. Shell and expressed regret for copying her material without her consent. --Ben
Forget copyright law as an instrument of privacy. What about contract law? When private data are stored in, for example, an electronic medical record, why can't the patient unilaterally insert terms of service (like an end user license agreement) that forbid undesired data access and use? I argue the patient can effectively do this. Contract law is the under-utilized engine of privacy. --Ben [My ideas here aren't legal advice for any particular situation, just fodder for discussion.]
Texas private investigator legislation is causing problems for robo-cop traffic enforcement. A Texas judge said the company running a red-light camera was acting illegally because it did not have a private investigator license. On the basis of this ruling, motorists are challenging traffic tickets. The problem started when the legislature said computer forensics experts needed to be licensed like private eyes. See deails --Ben
Lori Drew's case is about cyberbullying, which is behavior for which society has little tolerance. Cyberbullying is poison for anyone it touches. An institution like a library or a school, which provides patrons, students or guests access to the Internet, has plentiful incentive to stamp out cyberbullying within its PCs. --Ben
Lori Drew's case is about cyberbullying. Society has little tolerance for cyberbullying. An institution like a library or a school, which provides patrons, students or guests access to the Internet, has plentiful incentive to stamp out cyberbullying. --Ben
One of the key differences between a white hat hacker and a black hat is transparency . . . i.e., open, generous communication. A black hat hides and sneaks. A white hat announces herself, clearly, in advance, with full identification. See my essay for more detail and nuance. --Ben (This ain't legal advice for anyone; just public discussion. If you need legal advice, you should consult your lawyer.)
This story illustrates the unprecedented transparency that technology is bringing to society. Just as (allegedly) Plumber Joe's privacy was breached, access logs in Ohio's information systems show when his data was accessed and from which particular government offices. That's powerful stuff. Data logs can probably enable a deeper investigation into precisely who made the access and whether it was legal. If people acted illegally, the digital evidence can lead to their punishment. Such transparency represents a big trend in society. See detail of trend --Ben
Some European authorities (maybe outside Germany) may still take the position that IP address is "personally identifiable information" subject to privacy law protection. However, a network administrator might justify its collection and processing of a visitor's IP address by posting legal terms under which the visitor consents. --Ben
Today lying is more risky than it was in the past. Reason: innumerable little records (e-mail, IM, PC metadata, cell phone records, social network interactions, credit card transactions and on and on and on) are documenting our lives. All these digital footprints are potentially discoverable in an investigation. Honesty is the catchword of the digital age. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/instant-message-retention-e-discovery.html
EULAs are governed by contract law. Contract law is a two-way street. Just as seed merchants, web administrators, software vendors can communicate to visitors/customers what they assert to be the legal terms, customers can communicate back. In principle, contract law does not favor either administrators or customers. Individuals may be able to use contract law to assert their legal terms on other parties, such as search engines. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-privacy-policy-terms-of-service.html My ideas are not legal advice for any particular situation; they are just ideas for public discussion.
Privacy policies are governed in good part by contract law. Contract law is a two-way street. Just as banks, web administrators and software vendors can communicate to visitors/customers what they assert to be the legal terms, customers can communicate back!
In principle, contract law does not favor either businesses or customers/users. As the future of privacy law unfolds, individuals may be able to use contract law to assert their legal terms on other parties, such as search engines or advertisers. Why shouldn't a consumer be able to broadcast what she expects to be the legally binding terms under which she does business? --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-privacy-policy-terms-of-service.html My ideas are not legal advice for any particular situation; they are just ideas for public discussion.
Transparency
In a world of innumerable, conflicting, overlapping laws, legal compliance will never be perfected. But compliance problems are more manageable if you pursue transparency, outreach to local authorities and good public relations. --Ben
institutional liability
As anti-harassment laws are revised to cover cyberbullying, schools and other institutions face greater potential for lawsuits. --Ben
In the age of information, the hardest thing to keep is a secret. Whether you are trafficking in child porn or corporate insider information, or you are playing tricks with your brick-and-mortar customers, you've got to live in fear that someone, somewhere will find an astonishing new way to search out your secret or snitch on you. Welcome, Office Depot, to the electronic fishbowl. --Ben
FTC needs to change
The FTC treated TJX unfairly. The FTC should rethink the law of credit card security, and stop treating merchant victims of organized crime as culprits. --Ben
Re: So if I were to....
Curious: Suzanne Shell published terms of use on her web site saying that anyone copying material from the site agrees by contract to pay her a bunch of money. Then she sued Internet Archive for using a spider to copy material from her site. At first Internet Archive fought the suit. Then it settled with Ms. Shell and expressed regret for copying her material without her consent. --Ben
Contract law for privacy
Forget copyright law as an instrument of privacy. What about contract law? When private data are stored in, for example, an electronic medical record, why can't the patient unilaterally insert terms of service (like an end user license agreement) that forbid undesired data access and use? I argue the patient can effectively do this. Contract law is the under-utilized engine of privacy. --Ben [My ideas here aren't legal advice for any particular situation, just fodder for discussion.]
school liability? lawsuit?
As anti-harassment laws are revised to cover cyberbullying, schools and other institutions face the potential for lawsuits. --Ben
Texas litigation
Texas private investigator legislation is causing problems for robo-cop traffic enforcement. A Texas judge said the company running a red-light camera was acting illegally because it did not have a private investigator license. On the basis of this ruling, motorists are challenging traffic tickets. The problem started when the legislature said computer forensics experts needed to be licensed like private eyes. See deails --Ben
the poison that is cyberbullying
Lori Drew's case is about cyberbullying, which is behavior for which society has little tolerance. Cyberbullying is poison for anyone it touches. An institution like a library or a school, which provides patrons, students or guests access to the Internet, has plentiful incentive to stamp out cyberbullying within its PCs. --Ben
cyberbullying is poison for anyone it touches
Lori Drew's case is about cyberbullying. Society has little tolerance for cyberbullying. An institution like a library or a school, which provides patrons, students or guests access to the Internet, has plentiful incentive to stamp out cyberbullying. --Ben
white hat hacking
One of the key differences between a white hat hacker and a black hat is transparency . . . i.e., open, generous communication. A black hat hides and sneaks. A white hat announces herself, clearly, in advance, with full identification. See my essay for more detail and nuance. --Ben (This ain't legal advice for anyone; just public discussion. If you need legal advice, you should consult your lawyer.)
transparency in government
This story illustrates the unprecedented transparency that technology is bringing to society. Just as (allegedly) Plumber Joe's privacy was breached, access logs in Ohio's information systems show when his data was accessed and from which particular government offices. That's powerful stuff. Data logs can probably enable a deeper investigation into precisely who made the access and whether it was legal. If people acted illegally, the digital evidence can lead to their punishment. Such transparency represents a big trend in society. See detail of trend --Ben
legal terms of service
Some European authorities (maybe outside Germany) may still take the position that IP address is "personally identifiable information" subject to privacy law protection. However, a network administrator might justify its collection and processing of a visitor's IP address by posting legal terms under which the visitor consents. --Ben
gotcha!
Today lying is more risky than it was in the past. Reason: innumerable little records (e-mail, IM, PC metadata, cell phone records, social network interactions, credit card transactions and on and on and on) are documenting our lives. All these digital footprints are potentially discoverable in an investigation. Honesty is the catchword of the digital age. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/instant-message-retention-e-discovery.html
end user license agreement (EULA) for social net pages?
To deter educators from viewing social networking pages, students might post legal terms of service under which educators agree to scram. This idea should not be taken as legal advice, just something to think about. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html
contract law
EULAs are governed by contract law. Contract law is a two-way street. Just as seed merchants, web administrators, software vendors can communicate to visitors/customers what they assert to be the legal terms, customers can communicate back. In principle, contract law does not favor either administrators or customers. Individuals may be able to use contract law to assert their legal terms on other parties, such as search engines. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-privacy-policy-terms-of-service.html My ideas are not legal advice for any particular situation; they are just ideas for public discussion.
transparency world
I stand in awe at how technology forces transparency . . . and embarasses authority figures (in this case an IP watchdog) who think they can hide any information. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/12/people-in-authority-sometimes-abuse.html
documented lives
In 1995 Bill Gates predicted we would come to live "documented lives," where our every move and action is digitally recorded. One implication: privacy erodes. Another implication: power shifts away from traditional authority figures. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/12/people-in-authority-sometimes-abuse.html
A principle of the Information Age: Government is wise to organize itself and its records so it can swiftly and efficiently respond to freedom-of-information-act requests. Resistance to such requests is wasteful and makes government look out-of-touch. --Ben http://legal-beagle.typepad.com/wrights_legal_beagle/2008/08/local-government-e-mail-and-the-freedom-of-information-act.html
privacy policy law
Privacy policies are governed in good part by contract law. Contract law is a two-way street. Just as banks, web administrators and software vendors can communicate to visitors/customers what they assert to be the legal terms, customers can communicate back!
In principle, contract law does not favor either businesses or customers/users. As the future of privacy law unfolds, individuals may be able to use contract law to assert their legal terms on other parties, such as search engines or advertisers. Why shouldn't a consumer be able to broadcast what she expects to be the legally binding terms under which she does business? --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-privacy-policy-terms-of-service.html My ideas are not legal advice for any particular situation; they are just ideas for public discussion.