Internet Governance
Optimizing Self: The European Commission reportedly may fine Google three billion Euros, nearly three times the Commission’s largest fine yet, for Google allegedly favoring its shopping services over the competition in its search results.
Privacy
Spies Disguised As Spies: A Philadelphia Police Department SUV, armed with automatic license plate readers capable of collecting thousands of license plate images per minute, was masqueraded as a Google Maps vehicle.
Punt Return: Opening the door for recognition of intangible non-economic privacy harms, the Supreme Court remanded Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins back to the Ninth Circuit to reconsider whether inaccuracies in Mr. Robins’ personal data profile were “concrete” injuries to merit statutory damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Information Security And Cyberthreats
For Sale: A posting on the dark web offers user IDs, email addresses and SHA1 hashes – “unique, verifiable cryptographic representations” of users’ passwords – for over 167 million LinkedIn users; it is believed that the data derives from a 2012 hack previously purported to have only affected 6.5 million.
Build A Cyber Wall: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper cautioned that the Presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump may be special targets for foreign hackers.
Forty-hour Hack-week: A “professional hacking group with a specific mandate,” linked to network infiltrations in South Korea and Saudi Arabia, is systematically targeting key government and private sector organizations in India; interestingly, the Indian hacks only take place during a Monday through Friday workweek.
Intellectual Property
Prepare For The Worst: As technology improves and self-driving automobiles enter the mainstream, Google was granted a patent for a car hood with an adhesive coating that can protect pedestrians struck by autonomous vehicles from “secondary impact” injuries.
Free Expression
Examination Nation: The Iraqi government shut down Internet access for everyone in all provinces under its control during three different three-hour time periods, when students were taking exams, in order to prevent web-enabled cheating.
On The Lighter Side
Virtual Office Hours: “…I wanted to nominate Jill Watson as an outstanding TA in the [Computer Information and Office Systems] survey [course]!”
Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law and Founding Academic Director, CLIP
N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP