Michael Kelley reports: On Oct. 31, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases from Florida about drug-sniffing dogs that will either affirm or weaken the constitutional privacy rights of Americans. Rulings favorable to the government would allow law enforcement to conduct warrantless searches and surveillance on an even more routine basis. The first case will ask the court…
Category: U.S.
As Drone Debate Rages, Police Move on to Million-Dollar Spy Planes
G. W. Schulz writes: While the nation disputes if, when and where the government should use drones over U.S. soil, Texas state police are taking their surveillance efforts to the next level. In a little-noticed July purchase, officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety inked a $7.4 million contract with the Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. for a…
Google Urges Court to Toss Gmail Privacy Suit
Jonny Bonner reports: A class is “contorting” state law “in ways the California Legislature never intended” by claiming that Gmail violates California privacy statutes, Google said in a motion to dismiss. Lead plaintiffs Brad Scott and Todd Harrington claim that the web-based service scans emails for words and content, and intentionally intercepts messages between non-Gmail…
FBI Exempts Massive Database from Privacy Act Protections
From EPIC.org: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has exempted the FBI Data Warehouse System, from important Privacy Act safeguards. The database ingests troves of personally identifiable information including race, birthdate, biometric information, social security numbers, and financial information from various government agencies. The database contains information on a surprisingly broad category of individuals, including “subjects, suspects, victims, witnesses,…