Entries tagged with: Location Privacy

30 result(s) displayed.

Report Details EU States' Use of Automated Decision-Making During Pandemic

In a report released this week, AlgorithmWatch analyzed how 16 countries throughout the European Union have adopted automated decision-making tools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deployment of these tools is widespread across the EU, including voluntary exposure notification apps,...

Unsealed Documents: Google Employees Knew Location Privacy Settings Were Misleading

Documents recently disclosed in Arizona's consumer protection lawsuit against Google show that the company's employees admitted Google's location privacy settings were "confusing" and potentially misleading. The suit, brought by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, alleges that Google violated the Arizona...

D.C. Circuit Reverses District Court Ruling on Unsealing Electronic Surveillance Records

Last week, the D.C. Circuit reversed a lower court decision and ruled that electronic surveillance records in closed federal investigations are subject to public access. Investigative journalist Jason Leopold and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press litigated for...

EPIC Obtains Records about Utah's Contact Tracing App; State Hasn't Conducted Privacy Audit of App

Through a Freedom of Information request, EPIC has obtained records concerning Utah’s "Healthy Together” COVID-19 app. The documents include a presentation from Twenty Holdings, Inc., the company that developed the app, and include details of its development. The records reveal...

Senator Markey Says Contact Tracing Plans Must Protect Privacy

Senator Edward Markey [D-MA] has outlined nine key principles to guide federal leadership on coronavirus contact tracing in the United States. In a letter sent today to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Senator Markey urged the administration to design...

DOJ Responds to EPIC FOIA on Location Data

In response to EPIC's Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department for information about the use of location data, including cell phone records, to counter the pandemic the DOJ wrote there are no "responsive records." EPIC had asked...

European Commission Seeks Anonymized Location Data, Citing Coronavirus

The European Commission has reportedly asked telecom companies to turn over anonymized cell phone location data, citing a need to track the spread of the novel coronavirus. The planned transfer would give the Commission access to location information and other...

EPIC Seeks Records About Lawfulness of Use of Location Data for Public Health Surveillance

EPIC has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Justice seeking legal analysis concerning the collection and use of GPS and cell phone location data for public health surveillance. EPIC explained "The Department of Justice plays...

EPIC Seeks Records About White House Plan to Use Cellphone Data for Coronavirus Tracking

EPIC has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Office of Science and Technology Policy seeking information about the White House plan to use cell phone location data for public health surveillance. According to news reports, the White...

Government Considers Location Data to Track Coronavirus

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Government is in active discussions with tech companies about tracking telephone customers to monitor the spread of the coronavirus. Cellphone data is currently protected under federal privacy law. In the Carpenter case, the...

FCC Proposes Fines for Wireless Location Data Violations

Today the FCC announced proposed fines against T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint for selling customers' location information. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said: "This FCC will not tolerate phone companies putting Americans' privacy at risk." The companies are given an an...

FCC Announces Enforcement Action on Location Privacy

FCC Chairman Pai has announced upcoming enforcement actions against wireless carriers that disclosed subscribers' location data. Last year Members of Congress called an emergency briefing with the FCC and urged the agency to investigate companies that were selling subscribers' location...

Facebook Admits to Location Tracking, Ignoring Privacy Settings

Facebook has admitted that it can determine a user's location even after the user has disabled location services. The statement came in response to a letter from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.). Sen. Hawley tweeted: "There is...

EPIC Pursues Release of Location Tracking Orders

EPIC has moved for summary judgment in EPIC v. DOJ, concerning law enforcement's collection of cell site location data through "§ 2703(d) orders." In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that these searches were unconstitutional. EPIC filed multiple...

Following EPIC Suit, AccuWeather Changes Location Tracking Practices

Following a DC consumer protection suit that EPIC filed against AccuWeather in 2018, the company has stopped deceptively gathering users' location data. In its Complaint, EPIC charged that AccuWeather grabbed consumers' location data even when they expressly opted out of...

EPIC Challenges Justice Department's Refusal to Search for Location Tracking Orders

EPIC has filed an amended complaint against the Justice Department, charging that the agency engages in a "pattern and practice" of violating the Freedom of Information Act. Earlier EPIC filed a FOIA lawsuit to compel the DOJ to disclose records...

International Privacy Experts Adopt Recommendations for AI, Location Tracking

The International Working Group on Data Protection has adopted new recommendations for artificial intelligence and location tracking. The Berlin-based Working Group includes data protection authorities who assess emerging privacy challenges. The IWG report "Privacy and Artificial Intelligence" sets out fairness...

Senate to Consider Nomination of William Barr for Attorney General

This week the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on the nomination of William Barr for Attorney General. In a statement to the Committee, EPIC warned that "Mr. Barr has consistently supported warrantless surveillance of the American people." EPIC pointed...

Congress Asks Google, Apple About Smartphone Data Collection

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Larry Page seeking information about the data collection capabilities of smartphones. Prompted by recent privacy scandals, the representatives asked Google and...

EPIC Urges Supreme Court to Steer Clear of Warrantless Vehicle Searches

EPIC has filed an amicus brief in Byrd v. United States, a case about warrantless searches of rental vehicles. EPIC urged the Supreme Court to recognize that a modern car collects vast troves of personal data. EPIC explained cars today...

Supreme Court to Hear Two Fourth Amendment Cases

The Supreme Court has agreed to review two Fourth Amendment car search cases. In Collins v. Virginia, the Court will decide whether police can search a vehicle parked in the driveway of a private home without first obtaining a warrant....

DC Court: Warrantless Tracking with "Stingray" Violates Fourth Amendment

The D.C. Court of Appeals has ruled that warrantless use of a cell-site simulator or "stingray" violates the Fourth Amendment. The court found that Stingray devices enable "officers who possess a person's telephone number to discover that person's precise location...

EPIC Urges Supreme Court to Apply Constitution to Cell Phone Data

EPIC has filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in Carpenter v. United States concerning the Fourth Amendment and location data. EPIC urged the Supreme Court to reject a 1970s case, Smith v. Maryland (1979), that allows for the warrantless collection of calling...

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Privacy of Cell Phone Location Data

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Carpenter v. United States, a case concerning the privacy of cell phone location data. At issue is data that can be used to track cell phone users and whether police are required...

House Committee to Examine Cell Phone Surveillance

The House Subcommittee on Information Technology will examine law enforcement use of "Stingrays," a technique for tracking cell phones users. The Department of Justice adopted guidelines that require a warrant before using Stingray devices to track the location of mobile...

Appeals Court Upholds Fourth Amendment Protection of Location Data

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Fourth Amendment protects a cell phone user's location records and that officers must get a warrant to inspect them. The Fourth Circuit is the first federal appeals court...

Federal Court Finds Fourth Amendment Protects Cell Phone Location Data

A federal court in California ruled that police must get a warrant before obtaining a user's location records. The court found individuals have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their cell phone location data, based on the Supreme Court's recent...

In the States: NH Adopts Location Privacy Law

New Hampshire has enacted a strong location privacy law that requires a judicial warrant for access to cell phone location data. New Hampshire joins several other states that protect the privacy of cell phone location records, by public law or...

EPIC Launches State Policy Project

EPIC has launched the EPIC State Policy Project to track legislation across the county concerning privacy and civil liberties. The EPIC State Project will identify new developments and model legislation. The Project builds on EPIC's extensive work on emerging privacy...

FTC Reaches Settlement with Customer Tracking Technology Firm Over Privacy Violations

The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with the firm Nomi, whose sensors recorded the physical location of customers in stores using their mobile devices' MAC addresses. Nomi's privacy policy stated that customers would be able to opt out of...