World Information, Data & Cyber Security News & Legal Roundup

German cybersecurity agency prods users to ditch IE

Computerworld – Germany’s cybersecurity agency on Monday urged users to drop Internet Explorer (IE) and switch to a rival, like Chrome or Firefox, until Microsoft patches a new critical bug in its browser.

Democratic senators call for ‘cybersecurity’ executive order
CNET

Senators call for ‘cybersecurity’ executive order. This summer’s partisan sparring that derailed a federal cybersecurity law has resumed, with Democrats proposing an executive order and Republicans saying it would levy “more mandates.”

Cybersecurity scholarships to be offered
UPI.com

“The nation is in dire need of people who are capable of handling the cybersecurity challenges we face,” professor of computing and information sciences Xinming “Simon” Ou said. “We are lagging behind in the number of experts we have versus the threats.

Cybersecurity: Kay Bailey Hutchison condemns Obama’s ‘heavy handed …
Houston Chronicle (blog)

Amid escalating partisan rhetoric over the bipartisan goal of protecting U.S. computer systems from terrorist attacks, Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison criticized President Obama for a “heavy handed, regulatory regime” that would be created.

National Cyber Security Alliance Announces Theme for Data Privacy Day
The Herald | HeraldOnline.com

18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on helping all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online and official coordinator of Data Privacy Day (DPD), today …

When it comes to cybersecurity law, where do we draw the line?
ZDNet

Over the past few years, the Obama administration and Congress have taken a variety of legislative runs at creating comprehensive cybersecurity law. See Also: How cybersecurity is like Star Trek’s transporter.

Cyber security biggest challenge for universal credit, says David Freud
ComputerWeekly.com

Cyber security is the biggest challenge for the government’s universal credit roll-out, welfare reform minister David Freud has told a select committee. Speaking to a select committee, pensions minister Ian Duncan Smith said government had consulted …

NetLib teams with CIS to fight cyber security
Mass High Tech

Neil Weicher wants to win the battle in cyber security. NetLib, a Stamford, Conn.-based provider of encryption software founded by Weicher, has partnered with the Center for Internet Security, a non-profit focused on cyber security readiness.

UK spy agency tests Britons’ cyber skills
Reuters

The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) said those aged 16 or over and not already working in cyber security could apply to test their ability to guard a computer network but only 150 contestants at most would be eventually allowed.

Former FBI Cybersecurity Official Steven Chabinsky Thinks FBI is Doing Great …
ticklethewire.com

The FBI’s former top attorney for cybersecurity, Steven Chabinsky, who stepped down this month, thinks the FBI is doing a great job battling the problem, but told the Washington Post that the “federal government” has taken a “failed approach”.

Rep. Markey introduces Mobile Device Privacy Act (H.R. 6377)

Representative Markey is no stranger to mobile privacy issues. Last year, Rep. Markey asked the FTC to investigate the practices of the Carrier IQ software company as a possible unfair or deceptive act or practice.

On September 12, 2012, Rep. Markey, co-Chair of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, released H.R. 6377, “The Mobile Device Privacy Act.” The legislation would require companies to disclose to consumers the capability to monitor telephone usage, as well as require express consent of the consumer prior to monitoring.

“Just because a mobile device is hand held doesn’t mean it should hand over personal information to third parties without permission,” said Markey in a released statement.

Privacy Legal News Roundup

Trying to beat the heat? Peruse these top Privacy stories from around the web.

The Internet needs its own ‘declaration of independence’
Christian Science Monitor
A new ‘Declaration of Internet Freedom’ should spark a much-needed discussion about online rights and privacy.

Homeowners Bill of Rights passes in California
Examiner.com
According to Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles), the key provisions of the Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation include: “a requirement that a person or team of persons employed by a lender to be a single point of contact for the homeowner.

Facebook Joins California Mobile App Privacy Program
InformationWeek
California launched its mobile app privacy program in February 2012, just one day before the White House announced its proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. From the outset, the state announced that the six companies with the biggest mobile app …

How California’s New Homeowners’ Bill Of Rights Protects Against Wrongful Foreclosures.
ThinkProgress
The “Homeowners’ Bill of Rights,” pushed by state Attorney General Kamala Harris (D), aims to extend to the state level many of the protections ensured by the mortgage fraud settlement between six big banks and the federal government and states.

Descendants of the signers to read the Declaration of Independence on July 4
American Civil Liberties Union News and Information (blog)
“My professional career has been dedicated to advancing people’s rights and liberties as outlined in the Declaration and in the Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” said Murphy, the Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington …

Independence Day: Ghosts of SCOTUS on the fundamental right to privacy
Network World
While the Constitution may not specifically state the right to privacy, the Bill of Rights most assuredly protects aspects of privacy. In 1965, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on the landmark case, Griswold v. Connecticut, and the Justices referenced the …

Cash-Strapped Consumer And Privacy Groups Petition Commerce Dept For Better Participation.
techPresident
That’s the department that’s organizing the workshops that are meant to convene all U.S. stakeholders to develop a code of conduct to implement the administration’s Privacy Bill of Rights. The first workshop is taking place inside the Beltway on July …

Why Kansas City is getting Internet 100 times faster than everyone else
Alaska Dispatch
Yesterday, an impressive coalition of companies and Internet and human rights activists endorsed a Declaration of Internet Freedom that aims to start a discussion about the basic principles that should underlie online access. Among the 20000 groups or …

Celebrate your independence: You have rights as a taxpayer
Savannah Morning News
Years after the War the Bill of Rights was drafted and 10 amendments were added to our Constitution. … Privacy and confidentiality: The IRS may not discuss any of the facts and information given to them with anyone except in accordance with the law.

Do you have information or data privacy and security concerns? Contact David Adler at Leavens, Strand, Glover & Adler for a free consultation.

Mobile Privacy Standards Coming: U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Agency

Mobile carriers, app developers, and other technology stakeholders will meet with the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Agency on July 12 to discuss privacy standards for mobile use. The focus of the discussion will be the privacy practices of mobile apps and their transparency.

Applications will be the main focus on July 12 when enforcement begins. The initial series of meetings will decide on rights, obligations and enforcement of online and mobile device security under President Obama’s virtual “Privacy Bill of Rights”.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Communications and Telecommunication Administration (NTIA) has made the decision that it is now time to put the president’s Privacy Bill of Rights into effect. In order to get started, they have sent an invitation to all of the “privacy stakeholders” in order to “generate robust input” in the creation of the very first transparency code of conduct for consumer data collection and use.

The White House and Congress hopes that this discussion will eventually lead to a privacy bill of rights. July’s meeting will be webcast for the public.

Social Media & The Law: Recent Developments in Privacy, Security & Media

Statute Puts Online Libraries and Other Service Providers at Risk
Kansas City infoZine

A New Washington State Law Intends to Make Online Service Providers Criminally Liable For Online Postings. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing the Internet Archive in order to block the enforcement of SB 6251, a law aimed at combating advertisements for underage sex workers but with vague and overbroad language that is squarely in conflict with federal law.

NLRB General Counsel Issues Further Guidance on Social Media
National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) is closely scrutinizing employer social media policies.

Legal issues in the media
Social Media Legal, Regulatory & Compliance: Risks & Issues Social Media Slideshare presentation.

Putting the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights into Practice
Providing transparency in how consumer data is handled by mobile applications – this is the first topic for the National Telecommunications and Information…

US lawmakers propose digital bill of rights to safeguard privacy …
Two US lawmakers have proposed a digital bill of rights to safeguard consumer privacy rights and ensure internet freedom.

Stakeholders to Discuss Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will convene stakeholders July 12, 2012 in Washington, DC to develop a privacy code of conduct.

GPS, Location Data & Privacy Legal News Roundup

Congress Advances Bill To Protect Cell Phone Users’ Privacy
Forbes

The Supreme Court showed unanimity in its discomfort with electronically tracking people without a warrant in its GPS tracking decision in January. But as conveyed by the justices’ written opinions, the splintered reasoning behind rebuking the practice of placing a geo-tracking device on someone’s car without a warrant laid bare the disconnect between how far our technology has come and the outdated privacy protection laws that are struggling to keep pace.

Location Bill Would Slow Down Investigations, Officials Say
PC Magazine

At issue is the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act. Different jurisdictions have issued conflicting rulings about how to handle location-based data.

Police Efforts to Ban Citizen Taping Beaten Back by Obama’s DOJ
DailyTech

Cell phone data grabbing, GPS tracking, “national security letters”. Law enforcement argues that accountability via taping violates officers rights to privacy. ACLU disagrees.

Cops, ACLU clash over GOP bill tracking mobile phones
The Hill

The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act, sponsored by Reps. … if a grand jury prosecutor could subpoena historical GPS data in an investigation, …

Privacy Alert: Privacy Legal News Roundup

State Worker Notebook: Privacy a concern for some employees
Statesman Journal

The idea of context-specific privacy is gaining a lot of cachet, so much so that the Obama administration features it as a major aspect of a proposed new Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. “Consumers have a right to expect that companies will collect, store and use personal information in a manner consistent with the context within which it’s collected.

Third annual Privacy Identity Innovation conference opens today in Seattle
Virtual-Strategy Magazine

The White House recently recommended a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, and the European Union is days away from requiring companies to get consent from website visitors before storing advertising cookies on their devices.

San Francisco Tackles the Issue of Unlawful Government Surveillance
Highbrow Magazine
by Elliot Owen

San Francisco civil rights advocates who are concerned about what they call domestic spying on the city’s Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities are celebrating new legislation signed into law on May 9.

US Senator Takes Wrong Turn on DOJ’s GPS Tracking Requests
eWeek

US Senator Al Franken’s letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the US Justice Department requests for GPS location data from phone companies appears to be based on a flawed understanding of the law.

Failure of credit-reporting agencies to fix mistakes afflicts thousands
Toledo Blade

They can look like harmless errors: A misspelled name. A transposed number. A paid debt listed as past due. Mistakes on credit reports can inflict widespread damage. And because there are insufficient rules on how credit-reporting agencies must correct them, Americans are left virtually powerless to erase the mistakes.

Fashion Law: Legal News Roundup

Israel’s Ban on Ultra-Thin Models

FASHION-SAFRICA-NIGERIA-BAKARE (Photo credit: Bohan Shen_沈伯韩)

 

The Atlantic

By Talya Minsberg A new Israeli law prohibits fashion media and advertising from using Photoshop or models who fall below the World Health Organization’s standard for malnutrition. When a 14-year-old girl delivered a 25,000-signature petition this week to Seventeen asking them to curb their use of Photoshop, the magazine issued a press statement that congratulated the girl on her ambition but was conspicuously silent on changing their editorial practices.

An Impossible Conversation About the Met’s Spring 2012 Costume Institute Exhibit

Huffington Post (satire)

So, culturally and historically, the reason women care so much about fashion is that until very recently, we weren’t allowed professional, legal or vocal ways of expressing ourselves. Fashion was a way of articulating our feelings about ourselves.

Small Aussie fashion label turns George Lucas legal threat into ‘Star …
Dallas News Small Aussie fashion label turns George Lucas legal threat into ‘Star Wars‘ clothing deal.

AsianFashionLaw | Page 5
Fashion lawyers are legal experts too. Sometimes I feel as though people think I am in design studios all day twiddling my thumbs as I look at models wearing …
www.asianfashionlaw.com/page/5/

Adidas-India’s ex-MD slaps legal notice on company - Fashion United
The Adidas-saga in India seems to be taking a different turn. - Fashion India News, Network, Business Community, fashion industry, international, platform for …
www.fashionunited.in/…/adidas-indias-ex-md-slaps-legal-notic…

Social Media World Legal News Roundup

The Government Would Like You to Write a ‘Social Media Will’
The Atlantic

This person will be responsible for closing your email addresses, social media profiles, and blogs after you are deceased. Sounds good, but legally it’s tricky territory.

Rights Groups: Asian Media Freedoms Under Fire
Voice of America

SEAPA says the key trend is that governments are shifting focus from traditional broadcast and print media to social media and online news. SEAPA Executive Director Gayathry Venkiteswaran said online news sites have become the most frequent target.

Liberia: Will Social Media Increase Civic Engagement?
Global Voices Online

CT: The growing usage of the internet and social media in Liberia is certainly a progressive trend. Having worked in Liberia, can you briefly tell us how the internet and social media are viewed by the cross sections of the Liberia population?

Global Voices Online MyCorporation Introduces New Social Media Product
Sacramento Bee

By MyCorporation CALABASAS, Calif., May 3, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Calabasas-based company MyCorporation is releasing a new social media product to benefit small businesses, MyCorpSocial.

Students’ racist tweets about Boston hockey game put schools in a bind
msnbc.com (blog)

Hordes of angry hockey fans – presumably Boston Bruins fans — unleashed a barrage of racist rants on Twitter and other social-networking sites after the Washington Capitals beat the defending champion Bruins a week ago Wednesday on an overtime goal.

Keep it private – your Facebook password should not be shared: Commissioner …
Canada NewsWire (press release)

Some of the issues covered in depth in the paper include: Build up a positive online social media profile. “It is absolutely crucial to remember that anything you post online may stay there forever, in one form or another, so think carefully.

Canadians encouraged to plan for online estates
CBC.ca
(CBC)

Canadian consumers are being encouraged to consider their online property, including social media accounts, when planning a will. A new report released earlier this week by the BMO Retirement Institute raises concerns.

SNOPA
Continued concern about employers asking applicants and employees for their passwords to social media sites has led to the introduction of a federal bill.

Social Media World Legal News Roundup

The legal and regulatory environment impacting social media is constantly evolving. Here is a collection of recent articles impacting everything from law enforcement use of social media to new legislation.

A social media tip line for police
Boston.com
“Use of social media has provided an additional outlet for people to interact with law enforcement” says Lauri Stevens – founder of LAwS Communications, a consulting company that helps law enforcement agencies expand into social media.

Social media limits and the law
Monterey County Herald
Leland Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, introduced a bill that would prohibit employers, public or private, from requiring or requesting in writing a prospective employee to disclose user names or passwords for personal social media accounts.

Ariz. bill says unlawful to ‘annoy’ others online
BusinessWeek
“Speaking to annoy or offend is not a crime,” Media Coalition Executive Director David Horowitz said. Horowitz said if the proposal becomes law, speech done in satire, political debate or even sports trash talking could get people in unnecessary legal trouble.

Social Media in China, Innovation
Washington Post
Apr. 2, 2012 – April 2 (Bloomberg) — Vivek Wadhwa, fellow at Stanford Law School and head of academics at Singularity University, talks about social media in China and innovation.

UAE legal experts want libel to apply to social networking sites
GMA News
Claiming that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites can be used to spread rumors and false information, the legal community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is seeking that libel laws be applied to offenders on the Internet.

Is Your Facebook Password Like Your Mail, House Key, or Drug Test?
The Atlantic
A day after it was proposed, the amendment was voted down — almost entirely along party lines — thus closing one door to social media privacy legislation, at least on the national level. (There are similar social media privacy laws — full bills, …

Sponsor: Arizona bill isn’t aimed at Internet trolls
CNN
The fear is that the bill would prohibit hateful comments on news and social-media sites, amounting to a ban on so-called Internet trolling. The problem: The bill won’t do any of that, its sponsor told CNN on Wednesday. “I think they’re absolutely …

How Family Law Attorneys Use Social Media Evidence [Infographic]
PR Web (press release)
Family Law Attorneys Dishon & Block formally released today an infographic that illustrates how attorneys use social media to collect “smoking gun” evidence for divorce and child custody cases. With the advancement in technology and modernizing of laws …
See all stories on this topic »
PR Web (press release)