Este post forma parte de la serie “Ojos que no parpadean: El Estado de la Vigilancia de las comunicaciones en América Latina“, un proyecto elaborado en colaboración con organizaciones de Derechos Digitales en América Latina, que documenta y analiza las… Read More ›
Archive for October 2016
Mass Surveillance at Public Gatherings Is Why We Need Oversight Policies
You probably don’t expect the government to log and track your personally identifying information, despite having broken no laws, just because you attended an event at the fairgrounds. That would be preposterous in the Land of the Free. But, according… Read More ›
Gawker-Killer Peter Thiel Gets Softballs From the National Press Club
Peter Thiel bankrolled the lawsuit that destroyed Gawker Media earlier this year, putting him in the vanguard of the wave of press intimidation that his chosen presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is also riding. So Thiel’s appearance at the National Press… Read More ›
FBI Director Comey’s Disclosures Set Stage for a Public Interest Exception to Secrecy
When FBI Director James Comey decided in July to violate Justice Department guidelines and publicly announce that the FBI would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton, he explained that he was taking such an exceptional step because the “American people deserve… Read More ›
On-Demand Cell Phone Searches Hurt Teenagers on Parole
Should law enforcement get an all access, long-term pass to a teenager’s cell phone, just because he or she had a run in with police? That question is in front of California’s highest court, and in an amicus brief filed… Read More ›
New Federal Guidelines For Computer Crime Law Do Nothing To Reign In Prosecutorial Overreach Under Notoriously Vague Statue
Should prosecutors have the ability to take advantage of unclear laws to bring charges for behavior far beyond the problem Congress was trying to address? We don’t think so. When not carefully limited, criminal laws give prosecutors too much power… Read More ›
Peter Thiel’s CIA-Backed Data Mining Company Wins Court Battle Against the U.S. Army
Palantir, a data mining behemoth that received startup funding from the CIA, just got its foot in the door to a lucrative U.S. military contract following a months-long legal battle with the Army. On Monday the software company won the… Read More ›
Stupid Patent of the Month: Changing the Channel
Is somebody really claiming to have invented a method for switching from watching one video to watching another? This question comes from a lawyer at the New York Times, as an aside in an interesting article about the paper’s response… Read More ›
Trump Fan Peter Thiel Says “Single-Digit Millionaires” Have “No Effective Access to Our Legal System”
PayPal co-founder and tech billionaire Peter Thiel on Monday offered a jaw-dropping defense of his decision to bankroll wrestling icon Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker for publishing a sex tape featuring him. “If you’re a single-digit millionaire like Hulk… Read More ›
Recording Police Is Protected by the First Amendment, EFF Tells Court
EFF Supports Citizen Journalists’ Role in Reporting on Law Enforcement Use of Force Philadelphia—In an era when bystander recordings of police shootings have shined a much-needed light on law enforcement activities—greatly contributing to public discussion about police use of force—it’s… Read More ›