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Georgia court rules police need a warrant to get data from your car
Your connected car data might be safer from prying eyes -- Georgia's Supreme Court has ruled that police need a warrant to obtain personal data from cars. The decision overturns an earlier state Court of Appeals ruling that defended police obtaining crash data from a car in a vehicular homicide case. The state and appeals court "erred" by claiming that the data grab didn't violate defendant Victor Mobley's Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures, according to the Supreme Court.
Judge refuses to block the release of ‘The Laundromat’ on Netflix
A judge in Connecticut has refused to block the release of The Laundromat, which arrived on Netflix today. Earlier this week, the lawyers portrayed in the film filed a defamation claim, arguing that the movie unfairly cast them in a negative light. As Deadline reports, Judge Janet Bond Arterton has refused to issue the injunction, but only because Arterton says the Connecticut court had no jurisdiction over the issue. Instead, the case will be transferred to California.
FISA court: FBI use of NSA's electronic surveillance data was illegal
A US court ruled that some of the FBI's electronic surveillance activities violated the constitutional privacy rights of Americans. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) deemed that FBI officials improperly searched a National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence database for info on Americans. The ruling was made last year but just revealed by the intelligence community today.
Elon Musk painted as 'thin-skinned billionaire' in court documents
The fallout from Elon Musk's ill-advised "pedo guy" comments -- made last year about British cave rescuer Vernon Unsworth -- is not going away. In new court documents, Unsworth didn't hold back when it came to his opinion of the South African tech billionaire, accusing him of orchestrating "a malicious, false and anonymous leak campaign in the UK and Australian press."
California bill may fill data gaps in the criminal justice system
Inconsistent data isn't just a headache in the criminal justice system -- it could make the difference between someone going free or serving time. California might do something about that soon, though. The state legislature has passed a bill, AB-1331, that would improve data handling for criminal justice. The measure would set clear data collection and reporting standards for both the courts and law enforcement, such as a requirement that agencies hand over criminal ID and information, incident and court numbers. It would also let courts share some data with researchers hoping to interpret justice data and hold officials to account.
FTC crackdown targets operations responsible for one billion robocalls
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and its law enforcement partners are cracking down on robocallers. Today, the FTC announced that it's filed 94 actions against organizations responsible for more than one billion illegal calls. As part of "Operation Call it Quits," the FTC has opened four new legal cases and three new settlements, bringing the number of cases the FTC has filed against robocallers to 145.
ACLU: Police must get warrants to obtain personal data from cars
You might not think of your car as a treasure trove of personal data, but it frequently is -- performance data, phone contacts and location info may be sitting under the hood. And the American Civil Liberties Union wants to be sure police can't just take it. The organization is appearing as a friend of the court in Georgia's Supreme Court on June 19th to argue that personal data on cars is protected by the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment and thus requires a warrant. The appearance is tied to a case, Mobley vs. State, where police used a car's "black box" to level more serious charges.
Comcast to pay $9.1 million for adding service plans without consent
Comcast is facing the consequences of attaching plans to customers' accounts without their permission. A Washington state judge has ordered the telecom to pay about $9.1 million in penalties, plus restitution, for adding its Service Protection Plan (which only offset the basic cost of a tech visiting your home) to bills over 445,000 times between 2011 and 2016. The company was fully aware of the practice and did nothing to change its ways until after it filed its initial lawsuit, according to the state Attorney General's office.
US judge rules that feds can't force fingerprint or face phone unlocks
Authorities can't force people to unlock devices with their faces, fingers or irises, a magistrate judge from California has ruled. Forbes has uncovered a nine-page order denying the search warrant for an investigation looking into a Facebook extortion crime. While the judge admits that investigators were able to establish probable cause for the warrant, she called their request to unlock any phone on the premises with biometrics "overbroad." The request wasn't limited to a particular person or device, and authorities would've been able to get everyone in the house to open their devices.
Court rules accessing smart meter data constitutes a government search
Smart meters are designed to reduce energy consumption, lower household bills and, by extension, help the planet along a little bit. But could they also be used by the government to spy on you? This is the question that was thrown into the spotlight this week when the Seventh Circuit handed down a landmark opinion ruling, stating that data collected by smart meters is protected by the Fourth Amendment.
Apple and Samsung settle seven-year patent battle
It looks like Apple and Samsung are finally burying the hatchet over the long-standing US patent dispute they've been fighting for the past several years. According to Reuters, the settlement was filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday. No terms were disclosed.
Apple hit with $6.6 million fine in Australia over 'Error 53' fiasco
Australian authorities didn't buy Apple's explanation for the infamous Error 53 message, which bricked a lot of phones in 2016. The country's federal court has slapped the tech giant with a US$6.6 million fine a year after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against it over the phone-bricking error. If you'll recall, Error 53 disabled phones that were previously repaired by third-party companies, even if it was just to replace cracked screens. Apple originally refused to fix the issue and explained that it bricked the devices to protect users from potentially malicious third-party Touch ID sensors. It eventually relented and rolled out a software patch, but the ACCC still proceeded with its lawsuit.
German court says ad-blocking is legal
Germany's supreme court has dismissed a landmark case brought by a publisher looking to destroy ad-blocking services in the country. European behemoth Axel Springer was defeated in its years-long battle with Eyeo, the firm that owns AdBlock Plus. Springer argued that blocking adverts was in violation of competition law, while AdBlock's whitelist strategy was legally dubious.
Uber executives on the hook for criminal charges in France
France can bring criminal charges against Uber executives for operating an illegal taxi service, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has ruled. The decision stems from events in 2015, when France's government banned UberPop and said that if Uber managers told drivers to ignore the ban, they'd be committing "a criminal offense." Uber executives defied the ruling, and the situation culminated in a raid on Uber's Paris office and the arrests of Uber France CEO Thibaut Simphal and Uber European GM Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty.
Birkenstock vs. Amazon feud extends to search typos
In 2016 Birkenstock chose to stop doing business with Amazon, citing problems with counterfeit goods on the site and shady resellers. Now, the shoe company has a court win too, where a German judge ruled that Amazon can't even buy ads on variations of the name that shoppers may mistype. Birkenstock's case is that if someone is lured to Amazon's site, they won't find its real products, just counterfeits that could damage its reputation. Will these two work things out? Amazon's spat with Google doesn't seem to be cooling off, but earlier this year it did establish a partnership with Nike addressing similar concerns.
Court fines Apple for withholding evidence against Qualcomm
Apple and Qualcomm aren't exactly the best of friends, so it's quite surprising to hear that Cupertino is facing fines for failing to produce evidence for a lawsuit against the chipmaker. According to Bloomberg, a San Jose, California court has ordered Apple to pay $25,000 for each day (starting from December 16th) it fails to turn over documents the Federal Trade Commission needs for its lawsuit. The agency sued Qualcomm earlier this year over anti-competitive practices: it offered the tech titan, for instance, lower royalty fees if it exclusively uses its baseband chips for the iPhone.
EU decides to treat Uber like a taxi company, not an app
Europe's highest court has ruled that Uber is a transportation company and not some kind of middleman between passengers and drivers, like it has often claimed. The much-anticipated decision opens the door for member nations to impose stricter regulations on the company, especially where it operates the UberPOP service with non-professional drivers.
Tesla can sell EVs in Missouri again after court win
Auto dealerships in Missouri really don't want Tesla on their turf, and last year got a judge to ban the automaker from getting a license in the state. However, the Missouri Court of Appeals has overturned that verdict, allowing Musk & Co to resume selling cars directly to consumers. "We have been serving customers in Missouri for almost five years and have contributed to the state economy and jobs for Missourians -- something that will now continue," Tesla said in a statement.
EU lets luxury brands block goods from Amazon
Luxury brands in Europe have won the right to block sales of their products online if they feel it damages their image. An EU court ruled that Coty, the owner of brands like Calvin Klein, Covergirl and Chloe, can block its German distributor from using Amazon and other internet retailers. "Such a prohibition is appropriate and does not, in principle, go beyond what is necessary to preserve the luxury image of the goods," the European Court of Justice ruled.
Judge rules NYPD needed a warrant before using cell-site simulator
A Brooklyn judge has ruled that because the New York Police Department (NYPD) used a cell-site simulator, also known by the brand name Stingray, to track down a murder suspect without a warrant, some evidence against the suspect will be thrown out. As the New York Times reports, the NYPD initially denied using such a device in this case, but later conceded that it had. Following the suspect's arrest, he was picked out of a lineup by another victim, and that's what is being tossed out.
