As long-time readers know, I have been struggling to understand what has gone on in terms of legal challenges to the Dutch passport law that requires biometrics. Every time a new decision has come out, at least a few readers have pointed out to me that the English translations – and my attempts to understand…
Category: Featured News
Documents Obtained by EFF Reveal FBI Patriot Act Abuses
Mark Rumold writes: In yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Hearing, “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” FBI Director Robert Mueller testified about the Bureau’s desire to extend three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act — PATRIOT Section 215, authorizing secret court orders for the Internet and financial records of innocent Americans; the “lone wolf” wiretapping provision, which…
The Sext Wars: Consent, Secrecy, and Privacy
Mary Anne Franks writes: The sexting phenomenon reveals much about contemporary social attitudes towards sexual expression, consent, and privacy, especially with regard to minors. One of the most troubling aspects of the debate over what can and should be done about “sexting-gone-bad” scenarios is the tendency to treat the parties involved as more or less…
Ninth Circuit Decides Cotterman Case, Reversing District Court on Laptop Seizure at the Border
Orin Kerr writes: Back in 2009, I blogged about United States v. Cotterman, a fascinating Fourth Amendment case from the District of Arizona involving a forensic search of a computer seized at the U.S./Mexico border. Ninth Circuit precedent holds that the government can search a computer at the border with no suspicion under the border search exception,…