John P. Martin reports: A federal judge Friday permanently barred the Lower Merion School District from using webcams or other intrusive technology to secretly monitor students through their school-issued laptops. The five-page injunction signed by U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois also requires the suburban district to adopt transparent and expansive policies by September to…
Category: Surveillance
Do Computer Searches Distort the ‘Plain View’ Doctrine?
Leonard Deutchman writes: The “plain view” doctrine of the Fourth Amendment holds that law enforcement properly authorized to be in a certain area can lawfully search and seize evidence seen in plain view from that vantage point. It is seen as an “exception” to the Fourth Amendment because, under it, searches and seizures are authorized…
Ie: Leaked EU report reveals big surge in call data requests
Karlin Lillington reports: The Garda made more requests for phone-call traffic data in 2008 than police in Germany, which has 20 times the population of the Republic. According to a leaked draft of a European Commission report, gardaí made more than 14,000 access requests for call data in 2008, a rate about 40 per cent…
Ca: Voyeurism alleged at posh eatery
Nadia Moharib reports: Police have laid a criminal charge against a former employee at a popular high-end restaurant who is accused of surreptitiously filming people in a washroom. Steven Craig Smith, 36, was charged with unlawfully making a video recording — a voyeurism charge — stemming from a May 2, 2010 incident. Police allege Smith…