PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

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NASA v. Nelson

Daniel Solove     @daniel-solove.bsky.social
Founder of TeachPrivacy
January 20, 2011

NASA v Nelson

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided NASA v. Nelson, reversing the 9th Circuit 8-0.  My thoughts about the case are here and here [links no longer available], and as I predicted, the Court rejected the 9th Circuit holding that the government employment background check questionnaires violated the constitutional right to information privacy.  Fortunately, the Court kept its opinion narrow and didn’t use it as an opportunity to wipe out the constitutional right to information privacy, a right that the Court mentioned just a few times but that has taken on more of a life in the circuit courts.
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More Fun with the Airline Screening Playset: Body Imaging X-Ray Edition!

Daniel Solove     @daniel-solove.bsky.social
Founder of TeachPrivacy
November 19, 2010

Airline Screening Playset Playmobil Set 01

I’ve been following the recent controversy over the TSA’s body imaging X-ray machines, otherwise known as the “backscatter” or “exhibit-yourself-in-the-nude” devices.  It made me reminisce about an old post I wrote about the Playmobil airline screening playset.

Airline Screening Playset Playmobil Box 01

I had not used the playset for a while.  Five long years have elapsed since my post, and I had outgrown this toy and moved on to more advanced ones.  But this recent controversy made me regress. . . .

 

Airline Screening Playset Playmobil 03
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Are People Really Harmed By a Data Breach?

Daniel Solove     @daniel-solove.bsky.social
Founder of TeachPrivacy
September 22, 2010

Data Breach

“It’s just a flesh wound.”

— Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Over at Privacy & Security Source, Andrew Serwin, a leading privacy lawyer and author of an excellent treatise on privacy law, has a very thoughtful and informative post [link no longer available] about cases where courts found no harm to individuals by data security breaches.  Serwin observes:

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An Interview with Ronald Collins on Justice Holmes and Free Speech

Daniel Solove     @daniel-solove.bsky.social
Founder of TeachPrivacy
August 30, 2010

 

Ron Collins The Fundamental Holmes

In his new book, The Fundamental Holmes: A Free Speech Chronicle and Reader (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Ronald Collins guides us through the free speech writings of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.   Ron is the Harold S. Shefelman scholar at the University of Washington School of Law and a fellow at the Washington, D.C., office of the First Amendment Center.

Ron’s book contains numerous excerpts from Holmes’s great judicial opinions, correspondence, essays, and books.  Far from composing the book mainly of excerpts, Ron has provided very extensive commentary and background throughout.  Ron is steeped in the history of his subject and has a rich understanding of the law and theory of the First Amendment.  There is no better guide to help us understand Holmes’s work and thought as it relates to free speech.

I recently had a chance to talk with Ron about the book.

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Cell Phone Stalking

Daniel Solove     @daniel-solove.bsky.social
Founder of TeachPrivacy
August 5, 2010

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 pesky teenager, but what about cases of domestic violence?

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