From the Congressional Research Service: Law Enforcement Use of Global Positioning (GPS) Devices to Monitor Motor Vehicles: Fourth Amendment Considerations Alison M. Smith Legislative Attorney February 28, 2011 This report discusses the basics of GPS technology, society’s reliance on it, and some of the related legal and privacy implications. In addition, the report examines legislative and judicial responses on…
Category: Laws
Senate panel approves Patriot Act extensions
Jim Abrams of Associated Press reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to extend until the end of 2013 three post-Sept. 11 terror-fighting practices that have raised concerns among civil liberties groups. At the same time, the legislation, which was approved on a 10-7, mainly party-line vote, would end in December 2013 the investigative…
Pineda and the Law of the Jungle
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…
GOP resurrecting RealID bugaboo
Bob Barr comments: Like the little girl said in the 1982 movie, Poltergeist, “They’re baaaaack.” In real life, it’s not the evil spirits emerging from haunted television sets that are returning, but the discredited national identification card program, known as “RealID.” This law was passed in 2005 by Republicans in the Congress and supported by President…