Entries tagged with: Locational Privacy
36 result(s) displayed.
House Subcommittee Considers Geolocation Privacy
The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations today heard testimony today on proposed Geolocation Privacy safeguards for the collection and use of location data generated by cellphones and other devices. As EPIC recently noted in a letter...
EPIC Testifies in Austin on Texas Location Privacy Bill
EPIC's Appellate Advocacy Counsel Alan Butler testified before the Texas State Assembly on a privacy bill for telephone location data. The House bill, would establish a warrant requirement for location data and a comprehensive reporting requirement, similar to the federal...
EPIC Highlights Need for Broad Reform of Federal Privacy Law
In response to a request from the House Judiciary Committee, EPIC has recommended a comprehensive review of the federal communications privacy law. Congress will begin hearings this week on ECPA Part 1: Lawful Access to Stored Content. EPIC's letter to...
EPIC Testifies Before Maryland Legislature on Location Privacy
EPIC Appellate Advocacy Counsel Alan Butler testified before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee on H.B. 887, a location privacy bill that will establish a search warrant requirement for the collection of private location information. Mr. Butler discussed the current state...
California Attorney General Releases Mobile App Privacy Guidelines
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has issued a report describing best practices for mobile application privacy. The report, "Privacy on the Go," recommends that app developers implement safeguards such as privacy-by-design and notice, but stops short of setting forth a...
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Location Privacy Bill
The Location Privacy Act of 2011, sponsored by Senator Al Franken has been reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill requires affirmative consent for the collection and disclosure of location information, an important protection for cell phone users...
Senate Committee to Consider Location Privacy Bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider S. 1223, the Location privacy Act of 2011, sponsored by Senator Al Franken. The bill would establish important privacy protections for cellphone users and require affirmative consent for the collection or disclosure...
Massachusetts High Court Allows Limited Warrantless Search of Cellphone Call Logs
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled that no search warrant is required to check the recent call list of a flip phone seized during a lawful arrest. However, the Court in Commonwealth v. Phifer emphasized that the ruling...
GAO Recommends New Safeguards for Locational Data
"Additional Federal Actions Could Help Protect Consumer Privacy," a report from the Government Accountability Office, essentially says that users of mobile devices have no idea what information about them is collected or how it is used. The report explains that...
Rep. Markey Introduces Mobile Privacy Act
Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced "The Mobile Device Privacy Act," a bill that would require companies disclose the existence of monitoring software to consumers and obtain consent before using this software to collect personal information. The bill, H.R. 6337, would...
EPIC: Voters Should Be Wary of 2012 Election Apps
EPIC has released a report, "Smartphones and the 2012 Election," which focuses on the potential risks to voters who download election-related apps to their smartphones and tablets. The report contends that these apps promote greater citizen participation in e-democracy, but...
Federal Court to Hear Arguments in Cell Phone Tracking Case
The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has tentatively scheduled oral argument in the first week of October for a current case, In re US Application for Historic Cell-Site Location Information, addressing whether the Fourth Amendment allows the Government...
EPIC Calls on FCC to Require Mobile Phone Carriers to Protect Privacy
EPIC, joined by Consumer Watchdog, submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission on the privacy and security of information stored on mobile phones. The comments discussed the various privacy risks created by the business practices of many carriers, and recommended...
Court Orders Twitter to Disclose User Records, Denies User's Ability to Challenge Order
A New York judge has ordered Twitter to turn over user data for an Occupy Wall Street protester. The user challenged the order under the Twitter terms of service, but the court ruled that the user had no standing. EPIC...
EPIC Supports Geolocation Privacy Act, Suggests Improvement
In a Statement for the Record, EPIC has expressed support for H.R. 2168, the "Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act," which prohibits the interception of location information by private parties and government agents acting without a search warrant. The bill will...
EPIC Files Suit for FBI "Sting Ray" Cell Phone Tracking Documents
EPIC has filed a FOIA lawsuit against the FBI for documents related to the Government's use of cell phone tracking technology, known as "Sting Ray.".For more than 15 years the FBI has used cell-site simulator technology to track the location...
EPIC Urges Court to Uphold Location Privacy in Cell Phone Tracking Case
EPIC filed a "Friend of the Court" brief in the Fifth Circuit urging the court to uphold Fourth Amendment protections for cell phone users. In the case, In re US for Historical Cell-Site Data, the lower court held that the...
EPIC Urges Court to Uphold Location Privacy in Cell Phone Tracking Case
EPIC filed a "friend of the court" brief in the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the court to uphold Fourth Amendment protections for cell phone users. In State of New Jersey v. Thomas W. Earls, the lower court held that...
Supreme Court Upholds Fourth Amendment in GPS Tracking Case
Today the Supreme Court unanimously held in U.S. v. Jones that the warrantless use of a GPS tracking device by the police violated the Fourth Amendment. The Court said that a warrant is required "[w]here, as here, the government obtains...
Senator Franken Asks Carrier IQ to Explain Data Collection Activities
Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) has sent a letter to Carrier IQ about reports that it has been collecting sensitive consumer information from millions of smartphone users. The data includes text message content, websites visited, user locations, and detailed call records....
