Author Archives: dbdumbprivacy

The big news of Wednesday was that the FTC and 46 state Attorneys General filed separate antitrust suits against Facebook. Earlier this year I wrote about the novel antitrust theory advanced in the House Subcommittee on Antitrust that privacy violations are evidence of platform market power.[1] This is an argument relied on heavily in theContinue reading “Privacy & Antitrust Part 3”

So, California’s Proposition 24 passed. What does it mean for privacy in the Golden State? One of the down-ballot measures I was watching on Tuesday was California’s Proposition 24. The expansion of the state privacy law won comfortably, by nearly 1.7 million votes, but was overshadowed in media discussions by the more controversial Prop 22,Continue reading “Prop Up My Privacy Rights: A Prop 24 Examination”

Apple is stuck in a damned if they do, damned if dont protect privacy conundrum. I’m never one to watch Apple events, but NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway pointed out on his podcast last week that Apple CEO Tim Cook made privacy a tentpole selling point of the new Apple HomePod announcement.[1] Privacy is notContinue reading “Actually, Apple is Marketing Privacy, and More Antitrust Talk”

Today, three stories on surveillance: 1. The Path Forward Is CLEAR Two weeks ago, I wrote about the complicated relationship between corporate and government surveillance. I used Amazon’s recent product offerings to point out the dangers of compiling a large amount of user data under one corporate umbrella. Well maybe I should have waited, becauseContinue reading “No, YOU’RE in Charge of Privacy”

On October 6th, the House Subcommittee on Antitrust released its Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets, an analysis of the anticompetitive effects of the major tech companies. Though not the primary focus of the report, data protection and privacy practices are a consistent concern throughout the 449-page document. In particular, privacy and data protection issuesContinue reading “Is Privacy Part of Antitrust Now?”

Amazon announced two big new products this week: Amazon One, a palm-scanning biometric payments system, and the Ring Always Home Cam, a surveillance drone that flies around your house. This is in addition to the recent Amazon Halo announcement, a fitness wearable that judges your body fat percentage by taking very personal pictures of you.[1]Continue reading “Selling Surveillance”

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Kenneth Walker said on a recorded call to 911. “Someone kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend.”[1] “I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night,” Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly wrote in an email to fellow LPD officers.[2] Yesterday, a grand jury in Louisville declined to pressContinue reading “What happened in Louisville?”

Can college sports teams refuse to release COVID-19 testing results? Before its first game of the 2020 season, Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley announced the team would no longer make public the number of coronavirus positive cases on the team.[1] The Sooners, which test players three times a week, felt releasing this information would leadContinue reading “College Football Teams Trying to Hide Busted Coverages in COVID Testing”

On a normal afternoon at his job, Rob gets a phone call so preposterous he thinks it is a prank. “Come down to the local precinct. You’re under arrest. If you do not come peacefully, we will come arrest you.” Rob, like a normal law-abiding citizen, thinks these teens have gone too far and ignoresContinue reading “Let’s Pretend AI Facial Recognition is Bad”

If you’re a state-endorsed peacekeeping organization, how do you respond when people refuse to keep the peace? One option, apparently favored by law enforcement here in Philadelphia, is to let people go hog wild, then later identify and prosecute them from all the videos other people took of them breaking the law. I doubt anyoneContinue reading “An Accountability Moment for Police and Protestors”