Social Data

As online social media grow, it is increasingly important to distinguish between the different threats to privacy that arise from the conversion of our social interactions into data. One well-recognized threat is from the robust concentrations of electronic information aggregated into colossal databases. Yet much of this same information is also consumed socially and dispersed through a user interface to hundreds, if not thousands, of peer users. In order to distinguish relationally shared information from the threat of the electronic database, this essay identifies the massive amounts of personal information shared via the user interface of social technologies as “social data.” The main thesis of this essay is that, unlike electronic databases, which are the focus of the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs), there are no commonly accepted principles to guide the recent explosion of voluntarily adopted practices, industry codes, and laws that address social data. This essay aims to remedy that by proposing three social data principles — a sort of FIPPs for the front-end of social media: the Boundary Regulation Principle, the Identity Integrity Principle, and the Network Integrity Principle. These principles can help courts, policymakers, and organizations create more consistent and effective rules regarding the use of social data

The Fight to Frame Privacy

In his important new book, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security, Daniel Solove argues that if we continue to view privacy and security as diametrically opposed to each other, privacy will always lose. Solove argues that the predetermined abandonment of privacy in security-related disputes means that the structure of the privacy-security debate is inherently flawed. Solove understands that privacy is far too vital to our freedom and democracy to accept its inevitable demise. The central thesis of this Review is that Solove\u27s polemic is a strong and desperately needed collection of frames that counterbalances the nothing to hide argument and other refrains so often used in privacy disputes. Nothing to Hide is succinct and accessible. In his ambitious quest to concisely respond to a wide range of problems, however, Solove risks leaving the reader unsatisfied, wanting more details about his proposals to untangle the tension between privacy and security. Yet this critique does not detract from the importance of this book as a collection of frames to counter a popular narrative in the privacy and security debate

Website Design as Contract

Few website users actually read or rely upon terms of use or privacy policies. Yet users regularly take advantage of and rely upon website design features like privacy settings. To reconcile the disparity between boilerplate legalese and website design, this article develops a theory of website design as contract. The ability to choose privacy settings, un-tag photos, and delete information is part of the negotiation between websites and users regarding their privacy. Yet courts invariably recognize only the boilerplate terms when analyzing online agreements. In this article, I propose that if significant website features are incorporated into the terms of use, or if these features induce reliance, they should be considered enforceable promises. For example, the ability to increase privacy settings could be legitimized as an offer by the website to protect information. A website design could also render an agreement unconscionable if it manipulated, exploited, or confused a user. Finally, website design could serve as evidence of a subsequent agreement, or “operational reality,” between the parties. By providing a theory of website design as contract, this article shifts the focus of online agreements away from unread standard-form legalese to an approach that more accurately reflects the agreement between websites and users

Reviving Implied Confidentiality

The law of online relationships has a significant flaw—it regularly fails to account for the possibility of an implied confidence. The established doctrine of implied confidentiality is, without explanation, almost entirely absent from online jurisprudence in environments where it has traditionally been applied offline, such as with sensitive data sets and intimate social interactions. Courts’ abandonment of implied confidentiality in online environments should have been foreseen. The concept has not been developed enough to be consistently applied in environments such as the Internet that lack obvious physical or contextual cues of confidence. This absence is significant because implied confidentiality could be the missing piece that helps resolve the problems caused by the disclosure of personal information on the Internet. This Article urges a revival of implied confidentiality by identifying from the relevant case law a set of implied confidentiality norms based upon party perception and inequality that courts should be, but are not, considering in online disputes. These norms are used to develop a framework for courts to better recognize implied agreements and relationships of trust in all contexts

Gaining Momentum: A Review of Recent Developments Surrounding the Expansion of the Copyright Misuse Doctrine and Analylsis of the Doctrine in Its Current Form

The United States intellectual property ( IP ) system is the foundation for incentives for authors and inventors to create and invent so that their work will be distributed to the public for the betterment of society. These incentives, in the form of limited monopolies over creations via patents, copyrights, and trademarks, are becoming increasingly important as the United States depends upon intellectual property to sustain its economy. As the intellectual property industry grows, it becomes vital to preserve the impetus behind its creation: the public good, or more specifically, the public\u27s ability to make use of and enjoy new ideas and creations. Antitrust laws, namely the Sherman Act, which seek to suppress monopoly abuse and promote competition, seemingly contradict the limited monopoly granted to IP owners. Traditionally, courts have resolved this tension in the only way possible that preserves the essence of both statutory regimes, particularly the integrity of the federal patent and copyright statutes: Exercise of the exclusive rights granted to an inventor or author, without more, is not unlawful under antitrust law. In order to trigger a violation of antitrust laws, an owner of intellectual property must attempt to expand the monopoly granted to the owner beyond the scope of rights he may legally claim in the intellectual property, or enter into agreements with others regarding the intellectual property rights (including others holding intellectual property rights in different products) that restrain trade. This Article addresses the judicially created defense to copyright infringement actions that limits these expansion attempts known as copyright misuse. This doctrine has become necessary in order to preserve the balance between intellectual property and effective competition. This necessity is reflected in the doctrine\u27s recent judicial recognition and the failure of antitrust law and other pro-competition doctrines to remedy the problems presented by new technologies. Part II of this Article is a brief review of general copyright law and its relationship with antitrust law. Part III will chart the development of the copyright misuse doctrine up to the twenty-first century, summing up the prevalent ideology of the doctrine, and Part IV will explore the recent developments affecting the doctrine and analyze the courts\u27 treatment of the doctrine. Finally, Part V will consider the arguments for and against adoption of the doctrine by the courts. It will evaluate the doctrine\u27s strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other proposed vehicles for furtherance of a pro-competition model

Body Cameras and the Path to Redeem Privacy Law

From a privacy perspective, the movement towards police body cameras seems ominous. The prospect of a surveillance device capturing massive amounts of data concerning people’s most vulnerable moments is daunting. These concerns are compounded by the fact that there is little consensus and few hard rules on how and for whom these systems should be built and used. But in many ways, this blank slate is a gift. Law and policy makers are not burdened by the weight of rules and technologies created in a different time for a different purpose. These surveillance and data technologies will be modern. Many of the risks posed by the systems will be novel as well. Our privacy rules must keep up. In this Article, I argue that police body cameras are an opportunity to chart a path past privacy law’s most vexing missteps and omissions. Specifically, lawmakers should avoid falling back on the “reasonable expectation of privacy” standard. Instead, they should use body cameras to embrace more nuanced theories of privacy, such as trust and obscurity. Trust-based relationships can be used to counter the harshness of the third party doctrine. The value of obscurity reveals the misguided nature of the argument that there is “no privacy in public.” Law and policy makers can also better protect privacy by creating rules that address how body cameras and data technologies are designed in addition to how they are used. Since body-camera systems implicate every stage of the modern data life cycle from collection to disclosure, they can serve as a useful model across industry and government. But if law and policy makers hope to show how privacy rules can be improved, they must act quickly. The path to privacy law’s redemption will stay clear for only so long

Unfair and Deceptive Robots

Robots, like household helpers, personal digital assistants, automated cars, and personal drones are or will soon be available to consumers. These robots raise common consumer protection issues, such as fraud, privacy, data security, and risks to health, physical safety and finances. Robots also raise new consumer protection issues, or at least call into question how existing consumer protection regimes might be applied to such emerging technologies. Yet it is unclear which legal regimes should govern these robots and what consumer protection rules for robots should look like. The thesis of the Article is that the FTC’s grant of authority and existing jurisprudence make it the preferable regulatory agency for protecting consumers who buy and interact with robots. The FTC has proven to be a capable regulator of communications, organizational procedures, and design, which are the three crucial concepts for safe consumer robots. Additionally, the structure and history of the FTC shows that the agency is capable of fostering new technologies as it did with the Internet. The agency generally defers to industry standards, avoids dramatic regulatory lurches, and cooperates with other agencies. Consumer robotics is an expansive field with great potential. A light but steady response by the FTC will allow the consumer robotics industry to thrive while preserving consumer trust and keeping consumers safe from harm

Host Fish Assessment and Gravidity for the Mussel Elliptoideus sloatianus

Elliptoideus sloatianus (purple bankclimber) is a freshwater mussel that m endemic to the Apalachicola River Basin, which includes the Chattahoochee, Flint, Chipola, and Apalachicola Rivers. Populations of E. sloatianus also exist in the Ochlockonee River, which discharges independently from the ACF basin into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1998, E. sloatianus was listed as federally threatened due to the loss of suitable habitat and the potential blockage of host fish passage into areas where the mussel lives. For this study, we located three populations of £. sloatianus in the Flint River in southwest Georgia. Gravid mussels were collected in late winter through early spring when the river was above normal flow. The early collection time allowed for fertilization in the river and glochidial development in the lab. To determine the larval host fish of E. sloatianus, trials were conducted using 16 species of fish, 7 of which successfully transformed E. sloatianus glochidia to the juvenile stage. Percina nigrofasciata (blackbanded darter) transformed significantly more juveniles than the other 6 species, suggesting it is potentially a primary host. In addition, the period of gravidity for E. sloatianus was determined to be late-March to mid-June by weekly observations at 3 study sues on the main-stem Flint River located in southwest Georgia. Cages were employed to hold some mussels at the sites where they occurred to ease monitoring. Surveys showed that E sloatianus individuals were found in areas of the main-stem river that provided a stable substrate and moderate to high stream flows