The Mysterious Disappearance Article III Groupie
Having unmasked himself as Article III Groupie, David Lat has disappeared. We haven’t heard a word from him. His blog is now offline. Why? What’s become of David? Will his blog be back?
Author: Daniel Solove
Posts by Daniel Solove
Article III Groupie Disrobed: Thoughts on Blogging and Anonymity
“Article III Groupie” is the pseudonym for the mysterious author of a wildly popular blog about the federal judiciary, Underneath Their Robes. The blog is a lighthearted and witty discussion of the federal judiciary, chronicling the lives of judges and law clerks. Article III Groupie (or A3G for short) describes herself as an attorney from a Top 5 […]
FTC: Letting Experian Keep the Spoils
Suppose a company engages in an unfair and deceptive trade practice. It makes about $1 billion. The FTC investigates. A settlement is reached for a fine of $1 million and refunds to only some customers — yielding a net penalty of several million dollars — just a fraction of the spoils. That’s deterrence . . […]
ChoicePoint: More Than 145,000 Victims?
ChoicePoint just won’t be outdone. They were, after all, the company that started all the extensive attention on data security breaches. Back in February 2005, ChoicePoint announced that it had improperly sold personal data on about 145,000 people to identity thieves. Pursuant to a California data security breach notice law, ChoicePoint notified the affected individuals […]
Your Microsoft Word Documents Can Rat on You
Many people don’t realize that Microsoft Word encodes information about the authors and editors of each document. It’s called “metadata.” For example, some of this data is contained under the “Properties” section of the “File” pull down menu. An article in the New York Times describes what can be revealed when metadata is examined:
National Security Letters
Did you know that the FBI can issue a letter to an Internet Service Provider or a financial institution demanding that they turn over data on a customer? The letter doesn’t require probable cause. No judge must authorize the letter. The FBI simply issues the letter and gets the information. There’s a gag order, too, […]
Hi-Tech Rat Race: Law Enforcement Surveillance and New Technology
Brian Bergstein writes in an AP article about the issue of law enforcement surveillance and technology: With each new advance in communications, the government wants the same level of snooping power that authorities have exercised over phone conversations for a century. Technologists recoil, accusing the government of micromanaging — and potentially limiting — innovation. Today, this tug […]
Using Lawsuits to Unmask Anonymous Bloggers
An interesting recently-filed lawsuit raises the issue of whether a company can file a lawsuit just to find out the identity of an anonymous blogger in order to fire him. The case involves an employee of Allegheny Energy Service who posted an anonymous comment to a Yahoo! message board devoted to his company. He made the posting […]
Free Credit Reports: My Exciting Adventure
Under the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, the credit reporting agencies must provide a yearly free credit report to individuals who request it. This was one of the benefits given to consumers by the law in return for extending the federal preemption of certain state law regulations.
Genetic Testing: Further Debate with Richard Epstein
Richard Epstein has posted a reply continuing our debate over whether employers should be able to use genetic testing information to make employment decisions regarding employees. Here are the posts in our debate so far: 1. Solove, IBM vs. NBA: Using Employee Genetic Information 2. Epstein, Two Cheers for Genetic Testing 3. Solove, A Reply to Richard Epstein […]