If ever there were living proof that identity theft can strike the mighty and powerful as well as hapless consumers, look no further than the nation’s chief banker: Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve Board chairman was one of hundreds of victims of an elaborate identity-fraud ring, headed by a convicted scam artist known as “Big…
Category: U.S.
Tentative settlement between govt and FL on sale of DMV records
The Associated Press is reporting that Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet have agreed to pay the federal government $1.5 million to settle charges that the state violated motorists’ privacy by selling their personal information in motor vehicle records to businesses during the period June 1, 2000 to September 30, 2004. The legislature…
Op-Ed on Lawless Surveillance by Cindy Cohn
Hugh D’Andrade of EFF points us to an opinion piece their legal director, Cindy Cohen, posted it to the blog of the American Constitution Society. The piece points out that the Obama Administration has embraced two of the most radical positions taken by the Bush Administration — that the Executive Branch need not follow the…
When is “outing” bloggers actionable?
Lawsuits involving anonymous bloggers and attempts to out them were prominent in the news last week. How do the courts handle attempts to unmask bloggers and how can bloggers fight back if they have been outed? Last week, model Liskula Cohen succeeded in getting a New York court to order Google to reveal the name…