Ryan Singel reports: When Aaron Swartz, a 22 year-old programmer, decided last fall to help an open government activist amass a public and free copy of millions of federal court records, he did not expect he’d end up with an FBI agent trying to surveil his house. But that’s what happened, as Swartz found out…
High Court debates value of attorney-client privilege
Tony Mauro reports: A Georgia company’s efforts to resist disclosure of communications with its lawyer provoked a rare discussion at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday over the importance of attorney-client privilege. On the first day of its fall term, the Court heard hourlong arguments in Mohawk Industries Inc. v. Carpenter, which asks when a…
Commissioner Cavoukian Orders Crown attorneys to stop collecting personal information on prospective jurors
Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, ordered Crown attorneys to cease collecting any personal information of potential jurors, beyond that which is necessary under the Juries Act and Criminal Code. Proposing a fundamental shift in the way that prospective jurors are screened, the Commissioner also called on the Ministry of the Attorney General…
Man arrested for twittering goes to court
Kevin Bankston of EFF writes: Over the past day, Everyone has been reporting about the arrest last month of Elliot Madison for twittering about police movements to protesters during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA. The reason this is being reported on now is because on last Thursday, the FBI also raided Mr. Madison’s home…