PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

Cell Phone Stalking

Cell Phone Location Tracking

According to the Wall St. Journal, “more than 25,000 adults in the U.S. are victims of GPS stalking annually, including by cellphone.”  The article notes that a cell phone account holder can track everyone on the account.  Users are notified by text message but can’t stop it. This tracking policy might work well with a […]

Naked Lies and the Airport Body Scan

Airport Screening Privacy TSA

Despite many objections, the TSA has been moving forward on using new airport body scan machines that show people’s naked bodies.   I blogged about these machines here [link no longer available].  “Never fear,” they told us.  “We care about privacy.  We really care!  And so we promise we won’t store the images.” So much for […]

Is it Illegal to Post an Image of the FBI’s Seal?

FBI 01

According to CNN: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has threatened Wikipedia with legal action if the online encyclopedia doesn’t remove the FBI’s seal from its site. The seal is featured in an encyclopedia entry about the FBI. Wikipedia isn’t backing down, however. The online encyclopedia — which is run by a nonprofit group and […]

How to Fix the Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Process

Supreme Court Justices

There are few defenders of the Supreme Court Justice confirmation process. Every time it occurs, we go through a charade of hearings, where candidates are coy about their positions on most issues and talk about “neutrality” and being a mere “umpire.” Who are they kidding? We all know that no judge is neutral or a […]

An Interview with Dawn Nunziato on Virtual Freedom: Net Neutrality and Free Speech in the Internet Age

Virtual Freedom

My colleague at George Washington University Law School, Professor Dawn Nunziato, has recently published a provocative book about the First Amendment and the Internet — Virtual Freedom: Net Neutrality and Free Speech in the Internet Age (Stanford University Press 2009). Her book explains that, contrary to the prevailing understanding of the Internet as a haven […]

Do Young People Care About Privacy?

Photo Selfie - Do Young People Care About Privacy?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked when talking about my book, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet is what to do about the troublesome younger generation which “doesn’t seem to care about privacy.”  “Those foolish kids,” some people say, “they have no concept of privacy.  They just […]