“An academic institution shall not request or require that a student or applicant disclose any password or other related account information in order to gain access to the student’s or applicant’s social networking site profile or account by way of an electronic communication device.” In July, 2012, the governor of Delaware signed a legislative bill […]
Critics of patent federal legislation and court rulings have long-held that in recent years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been too lenient in how it awards patents applications. Now, in the wake of last Friday’s $1 billion Apple v. Samsung jury verdict, that laissez-faire application system may be headed for its inevitable implosion. The most high-profile […]
The New York Times reported that login credentials of a Dropbox employee were stolen from an unrelated hacking incident, and led to a spam attack within its own network. The incident occurred when hacker’s used a stolen password to log into the Dropbox employee’s account that had content which contained Dropbox user information. From that point, the hacker’s launched a spam attack […]
The Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-TX), have sent letters of inquiry to nine leading industry data brokers, like Acxiom, Epsilon, Experian, and Equifax. The purpose of the letters is to determine if stricter regulations are needed for companies who rarely interact with consumers on […]
Mr. Adam Liptak, reporter for The New York Times, recently wrote a compelling article on the unparalleled amount of warrant requests used by law enforcement agencies through the judicial system. For the most part, the American public is unaware that in 2011, cellphone carriers were hit with approximately 1.3 million requests for subscriber information, which for […]
Negotiations in the ongoing debate over how internet service companies, like Facebook, Inc., and Google, Inc., will be able to use personal information to track the browsing habits of its patrons have apparently hit a stalemate. Unless mediators between the Obama Administration, privacy advocate groups, and Internet industry firms can come to some sort of amiable […]
A lawsuit was filed in San Jose, CA, on June 15, 2012, seeking class action status against LinkedIn, Corp., stemming from the recent data breach of user passwords that ended up on a Russian Internet forum. The lawsuit filed by a Chicago-based attorney, Ms. Katie Szpyrka, accuses LinkedIn of deceiving its customers and for failing to implement […]
Mr. Alnoor Ebrahim, former AT&T executive, admitted to a Federal Court in Lower Manhattan today that he sold AT&T sales figures on Apple and RIM products to traders who purchased shares based on that information. In a plea agreement with the federal government, prosecutor’s are recommending a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison for Mr. Ebrahim’s […]
In a first of its kind legal action, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) today announced that Pasadena-based, Spokeo, Inc., agreed to an $800,000 settlement over charges that the data collecting company improperly compiled and sold people’s personal information for use by potential employers in screening job applicant’s. Without admitting any guilt and as a part […]
In The New York Times today, Ms. Nicole Perlroth, started her column with “LinkedIn is a data company that did not protect its data.” This is a very powerful statement coming on the heals of a cyber-attack that posted the usernames and passwords of over 6 million LinkedIn users on a Russian Internet forum. Has […]