PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

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Book Review: Harold Schechter’s The Devil’s Gentleman

The Devil's Gentleman

Harold Schechter, The Devil’s Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century – Ballantine Books (October 2007) Harold Schechter, an American literature professor at CUNY, has written a gripping account of the criminal trial and appeal of Roland Molineux, a case that grabbed headlines throughout the late 1890s. His book, The Devil’s […]

Book Review: Lawrence Friedman’s Guarding Life’s Dark Secrets

Guarding Life's Dark Secrets

Professor Lawrence M. Friedman (Stanford Law School) Guarding Life’s Dark Secrets: Legal and Social Controls over Reputation, Propriety, and Privacy (Stanford University Press, November 2007) ISBN: 978-0-8047-5739-3 Professor Lawrence Friedman‘s Guarding Life’s Dark Secrets: Legal and Social Controls over Reputation, Propriety, and Privacy is a wonderful and accessible history of the norms and law that […]

Statutory Interpretation and Legislative Unresponsiveness

Statute Books

I see it happening over and over again. A legislature passes a statute. A new situation arises, one that doesn’t seem to have been anticipated by the legislature at the time of passing the statute. Judges must interpret the statute, and they often make one of two arguments: (1) had the legislature anticipated the case […]

Facebook’s Beacon, Blockbuster, and the Video Privacy Protection Act

Facebook Beacon

The news has been buzzing lately about Facebook’s Beacon, where participating websites share personal information with Facebook. Beacon originally had a poor notice and opt-out policy, but after significant public criticism, Facebook changed to an opt-in policy. Even under the new opt-in policy, however, the participating companies are still turning data over to Facebook, and […]