U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for new transparency about bulk surveillance conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency, following the release of documents that revealed a secret bulk collection program and problems with how the agency searches and handles Americans’ information. Wyden and…
Category: U.S.
Court Grants Dismissal of Wiretapping and Contract Claims in Putative Privacy Class Action Involving Google Privacy Settings
Kathryn Cahoy of Covington and Burling writes: A California federal district court recently granted partial dismissal of privacy claims brought by several Google users in Rodriguez v. Google, LLC, No. 20-cv-5688 (N.D. Cal.). The Rodriguez plaintiffs claimed that Google engaged in unlawful wiretapping under section 631 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) by collecting data from…
Iowa Republican Introduces Bill to Put Cameras in Every Public School Classroom
Dan Spinelli reports: Amid the ongoing Republican freakout over Critical Race Theory and the teaching of other supposedly objectionable material in public schools, an Iowa Republican has introduced a bill that would take the policing of the state’s teachers to a whole new level. Earlier this week, Republican state Rep. Norlin Mommsen introduced a bill…
Massachusetts high court expands social media privacy rights
Thomas F. Harrison reports: A man who was careless with his privacy settings and accepted an anonymous “friend request” from someone who turned out to be an undercover cop became the unlikely catalyst Monday for a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that expands the privacy rights of social media users. Writing for the unanimous court,…