A Republican Senate memo on ECPA reform has leaked. The memo, dated September 17 (before the Senate hearing) is quite revealing, referring to “so-called privacy advocates such as the ACLU” and suggesting that: During the second panel, your Member may want to direct your questions to the minority witness, focusing on the issue of the…
Category: Laws
ECPA Reform and Video Privacy–An Overlooked Issue in the Debate
Andy Serwin writes: … There are a number of federal and state laws regarding video and cable privacy, but ECPA also is implicated in some cases, which should be considered as ECPA reform is discussed. One of the numerous issues inViacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 253 F.R.D. 256, 87 U.S.P. Q.2d 1170 (S.D.N.Y. 2008), related to…
Maine: Student SSN Collection for Tracking On Hold After Data Breach
I’ve previously covered the new law in Maine that asks parents to provide their children’s Social Security Numbers so that the state can track the students. A number of school boards had the wisdom to write to the parents and basically say, “Look, we have to ask you for it, but we encourage you to…
California bans malicious online impersonation
Robert McMillan reports: A new law makes it illegal in California to maliciously impersonate someone online. On Monday California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law, which makes it a misdemeanor in the state to impersonate someone online for “purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person.” The bill’s author, State Senator Joe Simitian, said that…