Jason Clayworth reports: Iowa took steps Thursday to officially reject what some have called a national identification system being criticized by some lawmakers as unconstitutional. The federal REAL ID Act was passed in 2005 and signed by former President George W. Bush in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The act calls…
Category: Featured News
Student: Principal forced deletion of Facebook posts
Ty Tagami reports on yet another over-reaction by school personnel to young students’ misbehavior online and yet another example of schools invading student privacy. This case is from Georgia: A 13-year-old girl who called her teacher a pedophile online says her principal ordered her to log onto Facebook so she could read the offending post…
Recommended reading: What Does Snyder v. Phelps Mean for Privacy Law?
Jack Balkin has a very thought-provoking piece on Balkinization today. It begins: The result in Snyder v. Phelps was not unexpected. But the Court’s decision, written by Chief Justice Roberts, has important implications for informational privacy law that many people, focusing on the antics of the Westboro Baptist Church, may have missed. In his majority opinion, Roberts…
DHS seeks systems for covert body scans, documents show
Jaikumar Vijayan reports: Documents obtained Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center suggest that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has signed contracts for the development of mobile and static systems that can be used scan pedestrians and people at rail and bus stations and special event venues — apparently at times without their knowledge….