Source: reason.com 9/26/24 The N.J. intermediate appellate court held such publication wasn’t protected by the First Amendment law; the state high court just agreed to reconsider that. The question presented is, Is Daniel’s Law, N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1 and N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1, which prohibits disclosing the home addresses of certain public officials, including judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel, unconstitutional as applied to plaintiff? Here’s an excerpt of the lower court opinion, Kratovil v. City of New Brunswick: Read the full article
Read MoreTag: invasion of privacy
WA: Washington Prisoner’s Sentence Vacated After Attorney Calls and Visits Were Recorded
Source: prisonlegalnews.org 8/15/24 On January 23, 2024, the Washington Court of Appeals sent the case of a state prisoner back to the trial court that convicted him of second-degree domestic violence rape and assault, finding the counts must be dismissed or retried because officials at the jail where he was detained pretrial eavesdropped on his privileged communications with his attorney. In its ruling, the Court reaffirmed that when a state actor violates a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel by breaching the attorney-client privilege, prejudice is presumed and the state…
Read MoreJudge Tosses Biometric Data Suit Against X
Source: reason.com 6/19/24 X’s child porn detection system doesn’t violate an Illinois biometric privacy law, the judge ruled. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit concerning the software X (formerly Twitter) uses to find illegal porn images. The suit was brought by Mark Martell, who objected to X using Microsoft’s PhotoDNA software. Martell argued that PhotoDNA—which is used across the tech industry to detect and report child porn—required the collection of biometric data and that this collection violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). A win for Martell could have imperiled…
Read MoreFilming your front porch without a warrant is now fair game for the feds
Source: qz.com 3/20/24 A federal court says privacy rights are diminished due to the proliferation of video cameras throughout society Law enforcement in Kansas recorded the front of a man’s home for 68 days straight, 15 hours a day, and obtained evidence to prove him guilty on 16 charges. The officers did not have a search warrant, using a camera on a pole positioned across the street to capture Bruce Hay’s home. A federal court ruled on Tuesday that it was fine for law enforcement to do so, in what’s…
Read MoreCA: Over 300 Undercover L.A. Police Sue City over Leak to Watchdog
Source: breitbart.com 4/5/23 Over 300 undercover Los Angeles Police Department officers are suing the city for leaking their photographs to a watchdog group. As the Los Angeles Times noted last month, Mayor Karen Bass expressed outrage when it was discovered that the city had accidentally leaked the images of hundreds of officers, jeopardizing their investigations — and their lives. Read the full article
Read MoreNV: Private investigator says tracking Reno mayor with GPS unit was ‘nothing personal’
Source: thisisreno.com 1/29/23 A private investigator who put a GPS tracking unit on Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve’s car last year said he was hired as part of a political campaign and it’s “nothing personal” toward the mayor. It’s also not illegal. The GPS unit’s sim card linked the private investigator to the tracking device after it was discovered on Schieve’s car by a mechanic. The investigator, David McNeely, was interviewed in November by Sparks police. A copy of the interview was obtained by This Is Reno as a public records…
Read MoreUS appeals court ruling could ‘eliminate internet privacy’
Source: theregister.com 4/28/22 Tech terms of service dissolve Fourth Amendment rights, EFF warns The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed the 2019 conviction and sentencing of Carsten Igor Rosenow for sexually exploiting children in the Philippines – and, in the process, the court may have blown a huge hole in internet privacy law. The court appears to have given US government agents its blessing to copy anyone’s internet account data without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing – despite the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. UC…
Read MoreTransparency Laws Let Criminal Records Become Commodities
Source: wired.com 12/23/21 For millions of people, details from an arrest—even a mistaken one—live on after being sold to data brokers. And the state profits. In April 2018, Adnan (a pseudonym) was wrongfully arrested in Newark, New Jersey, on the basis of an incorrect arrest warrant. A brief period in jail led to the criminal court judge dismissing the incident and moving to have Adnan’s arrest record expunged. A few days later, Adnan began receiving mysterious text messages from several “reputation management” companies that promised to help him get his…
Read MoreMO: Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy
[stltoday.com] ST. LOUIS • Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who was swept into office in 2016 with a vow to clean up a corrupt state government, was indicted and booked Thursday on a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly taking and transmitting a non-consensual photo of his partly nude lover shortly before that campaign started. It stems from a scandal that broke last month, in which Greitens was accused of threatening his lover with the photo — an allegation that isn’t mentioned in the indictment. Greitens has admitted having an…
Read More