Law and Innovation

Fresh and interesting article posted on TechCrunch about the Report of the Advisory Council to Google on the Right to be Forgotten following the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling in Google Spain and Inc. vs. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja Gonzalez C131/12 (“the Ruling”) in May 2014.  It should be noted that this ruling doesn't establish a general "Right to be Forgotten" . As explained in the report, the implementation of the Ruling doesn't have the effect of “forgetting” information about a data subject. Instead, i t requires Google to remove links returned in search results based on an individual’s name when those results are “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive”. Therefore, Google is not required to remove those results if there is an overriding public interest in them “for particular reasons, such as the role played by the data subject in public life" (see report, p.3). Happ...

“The U.S. government doesn’t have the power to search a home in another country, nor should it have the power to search the content of email stored overseas” (David Howard - Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft). Microsoft's overseas data warrant dispute is definitely one the cases that privacy lawyers will be watching in 2015. The fight will now take place in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit . Here is a brief summary of the main issues at stake.  The debate over privacy and technology has intensified. As it is common with new technology, the advent of cloud computing brought with it a variety of legal challenges, including privacy, jurisdictions, and intellectual property concerns. The “idea” that location is irrelevant because data simply flows in the “Neverland world of the cloud” has come to an end. Recently, a U.S. District Judge held that Microsoft must comply with a U.S. search warrant to disclose the content of digi...

Fresh and interesting article posted on < Re/Code > about the first of a series of discussions (hosting by Google) on how one person's right to be forgotten should be balanced with the public's right to information, following a May 2014 court ruling that reinforced Europeans' "right to be forgotten". The discussion is streamed online at: https://www.google.com/intl/en/advisorycouncil/ Happy reading and discussion! "A panel appointed by search engine Google will hold the first of a series of meetings on Tuesday to debate the balance between privacy and the free flow of information after a May court ruling reinforced Europeans’ “right to be forgotten”. The event in Madrid will be the first of seven meetings in European capitals, as the Internet giant struggles with thousands of requests a month to remove from its search results everything from serious criminal records, embarrassing photos, instances of ...

Fresh and interesting  article from Mashable  about 2014's tech trends:  "Major innovations and tech sea-changes were few and far between in 2013. Unfortunately, what usually follows major advancements are refinements. These days, innovation tends to happen on a nano-scale, which means most people cannot see or experience that evolution.   LCD display technology, for instance, has been around for decades; the changes we’ve lately seen in screen size, width and resolution have, mostly, refined that original idea. Same with Flash-based and solid state storage. We make the technology smaller and more stable but rarely change the fundamentals.   Like 2013, 2014's tech trends may not fundamentally change our lives, but they will improve, alter and, on occasion, impede and frustrate our day-to-day activities. Bear with me a moment as I gaze into our hazy digital future. Here are a few predictions to emerge from the gloom.   1. Smart Home Tech Explosion...

Fresh and interesting article from Forbes , the American business magazine, and TechCrunch , about Google's location history Browser "mapping" your movements:  "A recent story on TechCrunch highlighted a little-known feature of Google's mapping services; the ability to record and display a daily history of your whereabouts  [emphasis added]. The service is called  Location History and is available via a web browser when you’re logged into your Google account. What you get is a Google Maps display that includes a calendar to specify the date for which you want to review your travels. An hourly graph is displayed below the map so that you can mouse over a specific time to see your location at that hour. Google even provides a play button that will automatically scroll through the timeline for you.  This location data is coming from your smartphone or tablet, of course. Google’s apps have the ability to periodically track your location, rega...