The warrantless search of a hotel room, after its occupant had been mistakenly given a key to another room and items belonging to that room’s occupant were stolen, violated the Fourth Amendment, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. A divided panel agreed with U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern…
Category: U.S.
Warrantless wiretaps just the tip
… The OIG report is ultimately one chapter in the larger story of how, in the wake of the September 11 attacks, both the executive and the legislative branches of government were willing to turn a blind eye to whatever they thought had to be done to stop further attacks. This attitude, which was shared…
Today’s the day, Jewel v. NSA
At 10:30 a.m. today, PT, in a federal courtroomin San Francisco, Judge Vaughn Walker will hear oral arguments in the government’s motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA, a case involving the warrantless surveillance of millions of Americans. Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will be representing the plaintiffs. As it has done in…
Government info, Data.gov and privacy implications
… The government collects and produces information across sectors as diverse as scientific research and internal government functioning. Information is collected about economic indicators, health, product recalls, and government services such as Medicaid. Many databases are already made available in processed formats, but not in raw form. Different data sets will have different qualitative privacy…