Tag Archives: privacy

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According to Twitter’s terms of service, users own their tweets, but Judge Matthew Sciarrino has issued a subpoena requiring Twitter to release tweets in relation to the Occupy movement in New York. In his decision, Judge Sciarrino states that users have no reasonable expectation of privacy once they post. Twitter, however, maintains that the issue really centers around ownership of the tweets and that rests firmly with users: the tweets simply aren’t Twitter’s to turn over. Read the full story here.

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A new law in Maryland will protect employees from having to disclose passwords to employers. The new law is likely to be followed by a similar one in California and Senate has a bill- the  Password Protection Act 2012. Thomas Bartlet’s article “Online Privacy Laws Can Cause Discovery Woes, ” looks at why too much information in Discovery is neither helping the system nor individuals.

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By Michael Kernan

A major issue for Facebook going forward is going to be how it handles Right of Publicity claims by its users. Advertisers love Facebook because they have found that a friend endorsing their product has more impact on you as a consumer than a costly celebrity endorsement. The problem, as identified in the Facebook lawsuit recently settled, is Facebook users are claiming that Facebook has no right to use their name or likeness in such ads. Facebook sought to dismiss a lawsuit based upon claims that it violated its users’ Right of Publicity, but the judge refused to dismiss that lawsuit.

Facebook has now settled that lawsuit by paying $10 million to charity. (See Kevin Smith’s article.) It will be interesting to see how Facebook handles these claims going forward. The solution may lie in Facebook amending its terms of use. “Consent” is a defense to Right of Publicity actions.

Please see our article next week on terms of use.

 

You may also be interested in our previous entry on “The Right of Publicity in the Digital Age“.

For further background on the class action lawsuit and Facebook’s initial reaction to it, see the following two articles:

“Facebook Class Action Lawsuit Seeks$15 Billion for Privacy Violations” by Brian Prince.

“Facebook Hit with Lawsuit Alleging Privacy Wrongs” by John P Mello Jr.

 

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Edward Wyatt reports on the FTC charging Myspace with privacy violations in his article, “F.T.C. Charges Myspace With Breaking U.S. Law in Sharing Users’ Personal Information.”


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The Password Protection Act was introduced in both houses of Congress this week. The Act would protect employees from having to divulge any social media passwords to their employer. Read more in Bob Sullivan’s article Bill Would Make Facebook Snooping, Digital Spying By Employers Illegal.

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The rules for online defamation may be a matter for individual courts to determine according to “Online Defamation: Is it Any Different?” by Steven Price. Like many issues in cyberspace, defamation is still being defined and refined in the online environment.

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The 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act is preventing what will no doubt be a very lucrative link between Netflix and Facebook. The law pre-dates today’s internet technology and needs to be updated, but there are still privacy concerns that need to be addressed. Eric Engleman explores the issues in “Netflix-Facebook Link Stalls as Bork Law Unchanged.”

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The US government wants to be able to mine all social media more efficiently in the name of national security. In addition to privacy concerns, are issues with finding software that can accurately determine risks. Marcus Wohlsen of the Associated Press reports in “US Government Seeks to Mine Social Media to Help Predict Future.”

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Apparently, people can’t stop tweeting and blogging about Facebook. Since 2009, Facebook has been a leading topic on blogs and Twitter. Read “The Facebook Fascination on Social Media” to learn more about what the hot topics were on Facebook.

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We’ve featured a few articles now on the contentious issue of who owns your social media contacts. Jonathan Barrick has some useful comments on “Who Owns the Account? Navigating the Minefield of Social Ownership.” The article provides tips on how to assess the issue when part of your job responsibility includes maintaining a social media presence.

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