The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down a major decision, Carpenter v. United States,1 concerning the Fourth Amendment’s application to the rapidly evolving technological landscape. The 5-4 decision dramatically alters the status quo concerning government requests for data about individuals that is collected and held by third parties. Under Carpenter, personal location information maintained by a third party that the government could previously obtain with a subpoena or similar order will now require a warrant meeting the standards of the Fourth Amendment.
By finding that information held by a third party is—in at least some circumstances—protected by the Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court has upended decades of precedent in an effort to keep the amendment relevant in the digital age. Although portrayed by the court as a narrow decision, like other recent Supreme Court decisions concerning privacy and the Fourth Amendment, Carpenter will likely result in a broad reconsideration of what information law enforcement can properly obtain without a warrant. Companies will now have to carefully consider their statements regarding the sharing of data with law enforcement, and how they will respond to law enforcement agencies’ requests for data without a warrant. Continue Reading
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled that a certified class action on behalf of Illinois Facebook users alleging that the social network unlawfully collects biometric data from photo tagging will go forward, denying both parties’ summary judgment motions. This case is one of the first major tests of the scope of Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
In the latest episode of the 
In a surprising twist, the California legislature rushed last week to pass one of the most comprehensive privacy laws in the country. The bill was introduced only a week prior, and within hours of passage, it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. As strict as the act is, it was enacted to avoid an even more restrictive ballot initiative, which the initiative’s sponsor agreed to withdraw.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently released its highly anticipated decision in the long-running case pitting the now-defunct medical laboratory LabMD against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), vacating the FTC’s data security order. In reaching its conclusion, the court held that the order’s requirement that LabMD establish a comprehensive information security program was unenforceable. This holding has broad implications for the FTC’s remedial powers in data security and privacy actions going forward, as requirements to establish a comprehensive security or privacy program have become common in FTC security and privacy settlements over the past 16 years. If the court’s decision stands, the FTC will likely need to enjoin specific acts or practices in its security and privacy orders, rather than relying on broad requirements that companies implement comprehensive security or privacy programs. 