Tag Archives: privacy rights

Recent rulings indicate Fifth Amendment may join Fourth Amendment as critical consideration in courts’ efforts to apply constitutional protections to smartphones and other new technology

By Brian J. Willett on 23 January 2019 Posted in In the Courts

The Fourth Amendment right of the people “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects” has been center stage in debates over technology that scarcely could have been imagined at the time it was written. See, e.g., Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018); United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 … Continue Reading

Florida Appeals Court rules Fifth Amendment bars compelled production of iPhone passcode, iTunes password

By Brian J. Willett on 6 November 2018 Posted in In the Courts

On October 24, 2018, the Florida Court of Appeal for the Fourth District ruled that the state could not compel the production of a defendant’s iPhone passcode and iTunes password because doing so would violate the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination. The ruling in G.A.Q.L. v. State of Florida is encouraging for privacy advocates but … Continue Reading

Federal Appeals courts decline to exclude cell phone location information collected without warrants pre-Carpenter, but Carpenter’s future impact still unclear

By Brian J. Willett on 30 August 2018 Posted in In the Courts

In his dissent in Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018), Justice Kennedy observed that “the Cyber Age has vast potential both to expand and restrict individual freedoms in dimensions not contemplated in earlier times.” Justice Kennedy worried that the ruling, which held that a warrant is generally required for police to access … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit affirms class certification denial in genetic information privacy case

By Brian J. Willett on 24 August 2018 Posted in In the Courts

In a decision that may give genetic testing companies reason to breathe a sigh of relief, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed on August 21 the denial of a class certification bid by consumers suing under Alaska’s Genetic Privacy Act (the Act). In Cole v. Gene by Gene, Ltd., Plaintiff sought … Continue Reading