4th Amendment

A Tinfoil Hat Which Works: “Booster Bag” Is An Anti-Shoplifting Device Under Florida Statute

Make jokes about the paranoid and their tinfoil hats, but the “tinfoil bag” is the real-deal.  Until you stand right in front of the person you’re stealing from. Most retail stores, as you know, have security tower devices which detect when items with tags pass through the front door, sounding …

4th Amendment

Can the Government Compel Your Client to Decrypt a Hard Drive?

The Fourth  & Fifth Amendments and technology continue to collide as law enforcement seeks to compel defendants to unencrypt their computer harddrives.  Can they force your client to hand over the password? We discussed a similar issue in May about whether, under the Fourth Amendment, the Government could inspect the …

Privacy

Boston Bombing: Getting Your News From Internet vs. Television or Print

The recent bombing of the Boston Marathon lead to an unprecedented manhunt which shut down a city and drove a nation to watch the events unfold on live tv. But how “live” was it?   If you were to follow the news hashtags on twitter or listen to the police …

4th Amendment

Can the Government Search Your iPhone or iPad at the US Border?

Can Border Patrol rummage through the contents of your digital camera, laptop, smartphones, etc at the border? Yes, according to several recent cases and a broad exception to the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure). Read “Can They Search Your iPad or iPhone at the Border?” from the May 2013 Palm …

Privacy

Internet Safety for Parents & Students 2013

Last year we discussed, “there is no delete.”  This year we add to that: social media is not free; the price of admission is your personal information. A special thanks to Rosarian Academy for allowing me to speak to parents and students in separate sessions so parents can learn tips …

Evidence

What the Patreaus Scandal Tells Us About Email Privacy

This article discusses the Patreaus affair from the standpoint of practical email privacy tips for lawyers, law firms, their clients, and families. A brief explanation is provided how emails (or even fake email addresses) are traceable with free software and what data exists on the person’s computer to show what …

Privacy

Sniffing Unencrypted WiFi Does Not Violate Wiretap Act

A federal court in Illinois recently approved a party’s interception of user data on public WiFi systems at hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets and other commercial outlets.  This practice, known as sniffing, involves someone with a laptop, a Riverbed AiPcap Nx packet capture adapter (or equivalent), and free Wireshark network …

E-discovery

Lawyers in the Cloud

Considering using “cloud” storage for your law firm?  Or do you already use services like DropBox and GoogleDrive to transmit large attachments via email links?  Increasingly, lawyers like everyone else are moving towards the cloud.  Is it safe? What do you need to know before you commit?  If you already …

Defamation

First Amendment / Defamation Case Discusses “Religious Internet Filtration Software”

The case of Darrel Bilbrey v. David Myers and First Pentecostal, Etc. from Florida’s Fifth DCA may be a significant case as to the “church autonomy doctrine” but also yielded a reference to an interesting internet tool:  faith-based internet monitoring. Here’s how this came up in a court opinion: the …

Privacy

Florida “Do Not Call” List — Now Free

Register your home and mobile phones with the Florida Dept of Agricultural and Consumer Services’ “Do Not Call” list to prevent sales call to your home and cell phones. Previously, there was a charge for this service.  In light of new legislation, registration is free and easy. First, go to http://www.fldnc.com/ …

Privacy

Florida Court Orders Plaintiff to Produce Facebook Content

Consistent with most jurisdictions nationwide, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida circuit court judge ordered plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case to produce Facebook data in discovery.  Plaintiffs had objected to the production on the grounds that the request was overbroad, burdensome, not within the scope of discovery, and violated privacy rights. …

Privacy

What Are Your Jurors Doing on the Internet?

A persistent problem for the jury system has been jurors using the Internet during jury selection and trial.  Despite media coverage, the problem continues (even internationally). But there may be a positive side of this issue: jurors are, like the rest of us, often tied to the internet or smartphones.  Perhaps …

Privacy

U.S. Supreme Court, GPS Darts & George Orwell

The case of U.S. v. Jones is set for oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court next week and may resolve whether police may physically attach a GPS transmitter on a person’s car to track its movements for an extended period of time — without a warrant. Read the article …

Privacy

Facebook Security Settings for Lawyers (and Their Families)

As much as lawyers want to use Facebook for advertising, a key concern is security for their “public” accounts… and their personal ones.   This October 2011 article from the Palm Beach Bar Association explains, in step-by-step format, how to secure your Facebook accounts. In light of the recent Facebook …

Privacy

Internet Safety for Parents and Students / Children

While much of the focus on Internet safety is on our children, a lot of what they learn may come from the habits of their parents.  I had the pleasure to speak to a group of parents, and then a group of 7th and 8th grade students, at Rosarian Academy …