Tag: Legal

WWW2010 : danah boyd

danah boyd is with Microsoft Research New England and a research fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University; she was one of the first people to research social technical networks of teens Privacy and Publicity In The Context of Big Data …continue reading →

Internet Archive Stands Up To FBI

The FBI has withdrawn a secret demand that the Internet Archive provide details of a registered user's personal information. This is reportedly only the third time an organization has succeeded in challenging a National Security Letter (NSL). The enormity of this success: the NYT reports that the "FBI issued nearly 200,000 NSLs between 2003 and 2006." With a national security letter, the FBI can "require businesses such as libraries, internet service providers, banks, hospitals or telephone companies to provide customer records on request -- no court order (warrant) required." Courtesy of the US Patriot Act. At least one judge has ruled that NSLs are unconstitutional due to the gag order; the ruling is under appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. …continue reading →

FTC: Parents, Beware of Online Social Networks

FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that sexual predators are poised to "use the information that children provide on social networking sites to identify, contact, and exploit them, unless these sites are constructed to reduce access to this information, or users themselves take steps to limit unwanted access." The FTC has prepared a parental guide (pdf) and a teen guide (pdf). It is also investigating social networking sites like MySpace "to determine whether they are in compliance with COPPA" regarding collecting information on children under 13. (tip)continue reading →