Researchers’ Challenge to CFAA Moves Forward–Sandvig v. Sessions
This is a lawsuit brought by four professors and a media organization (First Look, publisher of the Intercept). Plaintiffs study real estate, finance, and employment transactions and seek to highlight the discriminatory effects of algorithms. To do so, they create…
Top Internet Law Developments of 2017 (Very Late)
[It’s a sign of my busy 2018 that I’m only now posting my annual Internet Law year-in-review recap. Better late than never?] 2017 was a generally OK year for me personally. My wife’s health has been stable, I was able…
UN’s “Privacy Rapporteur” Speaking at Santa Clara University April 9
We invite you to attend a talk, entitled “Privacy, Personality, and Progress on Surveillance,” by Prof. Joseph Cannataci. The talk will be at Santa Clara University on April 9, 2018, from 7 to 8:30 pm. More details and free RSVP at the event…
Plaintiff’s Location-Based Privacy Claim Against BART Reporting App Fails
In Moreno v. S.F. Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the plaintiff sued BART and Elerts Corporation for allegedly violating several California privacy statutes and infringing plaintiff’s common law and constitutional privacy rights. The court rejects the claims. BART, in cooperation…
Some Upcoming Internet Law and Privacy Events at Santa Clara Law
We’re holding some outstanding Internet Law and privacy events on campus this semester that I wanted to make sure you knew about: * January 30, noon to 1: Ed Felten on the Future of Artificial Intelligence * February 2, all day: Content Moderation and…
Narrow Definition of “Personally Identifiable Information” Kills VPPA Case–Eichenberger v. ESPN
This is a Video Privacy Protection Act case. Plaintiff downloaded the WatchESPN channel on his Roku device and used it to watch videos. When he watched a video, ESPN disclosed the plaintiff’s device serial number and video title to Adobe Analytics….
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Tracking Logged-Out Users–In re Facebook Internet Tracking
Facebook allegedly improperly tracked the activity of logged-out Facebook users on third party websites. Plaintiffs asserted claims based on common law rights and based on federal and state statutes, but the court previously rejected those. In the latest ruling, the court…
Privacy Plaintiffs Lack Standing Against NBA 2K15’s Face-Scanning Technology
This is a putative class action lawsuit against Take-Two, the video game publisher. Plaintiffs allege that the “MyPlayer” feature on NBA 2K15 violated Illinois’ biometric information privacy statute. The feature allowed players to upload a face-scan and then use a…
Section 230(c)(2) Protects Anti-Malware Vendor–Enigma v. Malwarebytes
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] In 2009, the 9th Circuit ruled that Section 230(c)(2) protected Kaspersky from liability for blocking Zango’s software as adware. Since that ruling, we have seen relatively few…
Is Wikileaks Protected by Section 230? The Trump Campaign Thinks So
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] In Cockrum v. Donald J. Trump for President (see the amended complaint), the Trump campaign is being sued for allegedly colluding with Wikileaks and the Russians…