Chris Hoofnagle writes: A fair amount of misinformation has been generated surrounding the California Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Pineda v. Williams Sonoma, 51 Cal.4th 524, 2011 WL 446921. In Pineda, the Court held that a zip code could qualify as personal information under the State’s Song-Beverly Act. This means that companies that collect the…
Category: Court
Law Enforcement Use of GPS Devices, and More from CRS
Steven Aftergood writes: When law enforcement agencies use a Global Positioning System device to track the motor vehicle of a potential suspect, is that a “search” that is subject to constitutional protections under the Fourth Amendment? Or is it comparable to visual inspection of public information that enjoys no such protection? The Supreme Court has…
Judge uses Facebook to research litigant
Evan Brown notes: We’ve all heard the stories about lawyers using social media to research jurors and to gather evidence about opponents. But here’s a new twist: even judges look to Facebook to find information about the parties appearing before them. In Purvis v. Commissioner of Social Sec., 2011 WL 741234 (D.N.J., Feb. 23, 2011),…
State Department Contract Employee Pleads Guilty to Illegally Accessing Confidential Passport Files
A State Department contract employee pleaded guilty today to illegally accessing confidential passport application files, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Mark Carter, 51, of Upper Marlboro, Md., pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with unauthorized computer access. According to information contained in plea documents, Carter worked…