Socially Aware

November 04, 2014 - Privacy, Employment Law, Litigation
What’s in a Like?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In the pre-Facebook era, the word “like” was primarily a verb (and an interjection sprinkled throughout valley girls’ conversations). Although you could have likes and dislikes in the sense of preferences, you could not give someone a like, claim to own a like or
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October 29, 2014 - Privacy, Cloud Computing
Privacy in the Cloud: A Legal Framework for Moving Personal Data to the Cloud
For many companies, the main question about cloud computing is no longer whether to move their data to the “cloud,” but how they can accomplish this transition. Cloud (or Internet-based on-demand) computing involves a shift away from reliance on a company’s own local computing
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October 20, 2014 - Privacy
Entangled in the Web of Things. By Finding New Uses for Data, the Internet of Things Heralds a Host of Challenges.
From our sister blog, MoFo Tech : Within a decade, analysts say, the “Internet of Things” will have transformed our lives. Billions of Internet-connected devices will monitor our homes, businesses, cars, and even our bodies, using the data to manage everything from appliances to
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October 10, 2014 - Privacy
Breaking Old Ground: California Again Amends Data Security Breach Law
By: Nathan D. Taylor
Not to be outdone by Florida, California has yet again amended its data security breach law and again in groundbreaking (yet confusing) fashion. On September 30, 2014, California Governor Brown signed into law a bill ( “AB 1710” ) that appears to impose the
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August 05, 2014 - Privacy
Picture This: Online Photos and Big Data
As the quality of visual recognition software continues to improve, privacy concerns have grown concomitantly. Because we now document our lives with so many pictures posted to social media— Facebook hosts over 250 billion photos, with 350 million new photos added every day —photographs
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July 20, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
Data for the Taking: Using the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to Combat Web Scraping
By: Aaron P. Rubin
“Web scraping” or “web harvesting”—the practice of extracting large amounts of data from publicly available websites using automated “bots” or “spiders”—accounted for 18% of site visitors and 23% of all Internet traffic in 2013. Websites targeted by scrapers may incur damages resulting from, among
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June 27, 2014 - Privacy, Wearable Computers
Google Glass Into Europe – A Small Step or a Giant Leap?
Google Glass (“Glass”) is the most high profile of the new wearable technologies that commentators predict will transform how we live and work. Until now, the Android-powered glasses were only available in the U.S. However, as of this week, Glass has been launched in
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June 13, 2014 - Privacy
“Do You Want to Know a Secret?” The Risks Posed by Anonymous Social Apps
First we had social media platforms, but recently a variety of “anti-social” media platforms have emerged—well, anti-social in a sense. For years, social media platforms have encouraged (or even, in some cases, required) us to use our real identities, with the aim of building
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May 27, 2014 - Privacy
California AG Offers Best Practices for Do Not Track Disclosures; Crucial Compliance Questions Left Unanswered
By: Julie O'Neill
California Attorney General Kamala Harris released a long-awaited report entitled Making Your Privacy Practices Public (Report) on May 21, 2014. The Report recommends “best practices” for compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). It was originally intended to answer critical questions about
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May 20, 2014 - Privacy, Litigation
French Consumer Association Takes on Internet Giants
Earlier this year, the French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir initiated proceedings before the Paris District Court against Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., accusing these companies of using confusing and unlawful online privacy policies and terms of use agreements in the French versions
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