Legislation
Geolocation Privacy And Surveillance Act Introduced In US Congress
On February 15, the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (GPS Act) was introduced by a bipartisan group of US Congress members. Designed to enact comprehensive rules for both government agencies and commercial service providers, the GPS Act would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before using GPS data to track an individual?s location and would require service providers to obtain customer consent before sharing geolocation data with outside entities.
Four More States Propose Biometrics Legislation
In recent years, the plaintiffs? class action bar has focused its efforts on pursuing claims under legislative schemes that provide for statutory damages. The litigation explosion under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a textbook example of how enterprising lawyers exploit laws that provide for such uncapped damages in an attempt to extract large settlements for technical violations that, in many cases, have caused no cognizable harm. As plaintiffs begin to explore new claims under these legislative schemes, we seek to help our clients minimize their risk through heightened awareness of the technical requirements of new and existing laws, vigilant compliance programs, and aggressive defense against litigation. Biometrics is one such area.
NY Appeals Court Decision Signals Cybersecurity Whistleblowing Implicates Corporate Theft
Most people don?t think about what whistleblower laws may protect them until they need them. Many information security professionals may be surprised to learn that they are protected by the law although no law specifically protects ?cybersecurity? whistleblowers. This is because issues involving information security are rarely only about information security. The criminal case of […]
SIA Renews Support For Bipartisan DIGIT Act
The Security Industry Association (SIA) announced its continued support of the bipartisan Developing and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, reintroduced in the Senate on January 10th, 2017, by the Internet of Things (IoT) working group. The group consists of Sens. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Sen. Fischer, the bill?s chief sponsor, again recognized SIA as a key supporting organization in a press release.
Germany Approves Regulation To Allow Expansion Of Video Surveillance Network
Germany’s strict privacy laws prevent the widespread usage of surveillance cameras, but the coalition government on Wednesday approved regulation that could change things. Germany would allow more video surveillance in public places, under a draft law passed by the cabinet on Wednesday, reflecting growing security fears in a country that has for decades been wary of police intrusion. The bill was agreed in principle by the parties in Angela Merkel’s coalition last month, well before Monday’s deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that was claimed by Islamic State.
Bill Designed To Expedite Cross-Border Travel With Canada Passes Congress
A bipartisan bill designed to improve cross-border travel between Canada and the U.S. has passed Congress and is headed to the president’s desk. The bill, officially known as the ?Promoting Travel, Commerce, and National Security Act? aims to streamline travel and commerce between the U.S. and Canada by allowing for more pre-clearance of passengers traveling between countries. Pre-clearance is when passengers undergo border inspections prior to traveling and can help to avoid bottlenecks at border-crossings.
SIA Hails Passage Of Power And Security Systems Act
SIA has led a coalition in support of extending the current exemption for security and life safety products, which is set to expire on July 1, 2017. Without an extension, manufacturers must redesign EPS products to meet the ?no-load? standard, more than doubling their cost unnecessarily. H.R. 6375 is supported by SIA, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and the Electronic Security Association, which have also worked with energy efficiency community on the common-sense provision.
Evidence Lost? Utah Law No Help When Video Or Audio Not Saved
If a government agency loses a document or video that you need to help prove your case in court, you?re just out of luck. In several recent Northern Utah cases, data wanted as evidence in criminal or civil cases could not be produced by the agencies responsible. And watchers of government records access issues say there?s simply no recourse for anyone burned by the loss of records.
Drone Defense: Not So Fast Says FAA
Unmanned Aircraft are definitely a transformative technology. They open up the lowest parts of the airspace to productive use. At the same time, they also create new problems for privacy and security. As a result, interest in “drone defense” technology has been skyrocketing. It seems that there is a new innovative defensive system unveiled by entrepreneurs on a weekly basis. A new letter form the Office of Airports Safety and Standards, however, indicates that the FAA would like to slow down and coordinate this new technological stampede.
PA State Senate Bill Allows Police To Deny Requests For Officer Video
Legislation approved by the Pennsylvania state Senate on Wednesday would let police departments across the state refuse public requests for copies of video recordings by officers, unless a court orders the release. The bill sets a sweeping policy to exempt recordings from body cameras and dashboard cameras from public records requests in Pennsylvania.
FAA Deputy Administrator Says Privacy, Preemption Are Two Biggest UAS Issues
Marke ?Hoot? Gibson, the deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, said two of the biggest issues facing the FAA related to unmanned aviation systems, or drones, are privacy and preemption. Gibson said the FAA is not in the business of dealing with privacy, but there is a long history of case law dealing with traditional aviation. ?However, it has generally dealt with noise and airports —this is personal use— it comes right in your back yard,? he said, referring to unmanned aircraft.
Cities Seek Police Surveillance Transparency And Oversight
Legislative efforts began in eleven cities aimed at requiring police departments to be more transparent about the surveillance technology they use. The bills will also reportedly propose increased community control over the use of surveillance tools. These efforts, spearheaded by the ACLU and other civil liberty organizations, are important at a time when surveillance technology is improving and is sometimes used without the knowledge or approval of local officials or the public.
Maryland State Lawmakers, ACLU Consider Legislation To Regulate Police Surveillance
Maryland state lawmakers and civil liberties advocates are considering legislation that would regulate police surveillance programs —and require public disclosure— after the Baltimore Police Department ran a secret aerial surveillance program over the city for months. The head of the city’s delegation to the Maryland House of Delegates said the public should know where such technology is used, how the information is kept and the costs involved. The lawmaker, Del. Curt Anderson, is looking at proposing regulations in the next General Assembly session that all Maryland police departments would have to follow to do any kind of surveillance.
How A Prison Drug Smuggling Case In Kansas Led To A Showdown Over Recordings Of Inmate-Attorney Talks
When attorneys said in court recently that phone calls between lawyers and inmates at Leavenworth Detention Center had been recorded and obtained by federal prosecutors, the development was just the latest revelation in what a United States public defender says was a systemic violation of constitutional rights.
Robocops Are Here. It?s Time To Create Rules On How Police Should Use Them.
Micah Xavier Johnson, the Dallas shooter, will go down in history as a domestic terrorist who killed five officers and wounded nine others. He will also go down in history as the first person killed by an armed police robot. Johnson was killed in a standoff when Dallas police sent in a remote operated Remotec bomb disposal robot that had been jury-rigged to carry a pound of C-4 plastic explosives.
Does Snapchat?s Lenses Feature Violate Illinois? Biometrics Law?
An Illinois man has sued Snapchat for alleged violations of a state law that requires users to expressly consent to instances in which their biometric information is used. This is the second time a plaintiff has brought such a case under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Last year, a Chicago man sued Facebook on similar claims.
Appeals Court: States Can Restrict Concealed Weapons
Americans have no Second Amendment right to carry concealed guns in public, a federal appeals court in California ruled on Thursday in a significant blow to gun-rights activists and gun owners in a large swath of the Western U.S. The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 7-4 ruling, upheld a California law requiring residents to show ?good cause? for carrying a concealed handgun. Under the California law, personal safety alone doesn’t qualify as good cause, which is defined by county sheriffs. The plaintiffs, gun owners seeking licenses to carry their weapons concealed, said the policies in San Diego and Yolo counties where they live violated their Second Amendment rights.
State Senator Wants New Mexico to Consider Biometrics to Curb Voter Fraud
New Mexico State Senator and Minority Whip Bill Payne requested the secretary of state to consider implementing biometric measures, such as iris scans and thumbprint recognition, to curb potential voter fraud in New Mexico’s state elections.
N.J. Bill Would Ease Cops? Access to Private Videos
A New Jersey bill designed to make it easier for law enforcement to use private, outdoor video cameras in investigations was approved earlier this week by an Assembly panel. The legislation would let municipalities, through an ordinance, establish a registry that would allow any owner of a private outdoor video surveillance camera to voluntarily register the camera with the local police department.
NJ Bill Calling for Police Registry of Security Cameras Coming Into Focus
When a bad guy abducted a woman off the street in Philadelphia a few weeks ago and she was rescued when his car was located in Maryland, I marveled at the black box technology that found the vehicle. Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, NJ, was even more impressed with a nearby store’s video camera that recorded the entire incident and identified the car. So he crafted bill A-3843 permitting a municipality to enact an ordinance establishing a private outdoor video surveillance camera registry, requiring owners of such cameras to register them with police.