Wednesday, January 22, 2020


Why I teach encryption.
Joseph Menn reports:
Apple Inc dropped plans to let iPhone users fully encrypt backups of their devices in the company’s iCloud service after the FBI complained that the move would harm investigations, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The tech giant’s reversal, about two years ago, has not previously been reported.
Read more on Reuters.




Would this change if the defendants were covered by the GDPR or CCPA?
Facebook, Twitter hold evidence that could save people from prison. And they’re not giving it up
By the time the FBI raided Omar Ameen’s Sacramento apartment in August 2018, his extradition back to Iraq seemed all but inevitable.
Prosecutors must show only probable cause to secure his extradition, which would lead to Iraqi authorities conducting a criminal trial. It’s a fate Ameen’s defenders say would undoubtedly lead to his execution.
But new evidence has been unearthed that his attorneys say will show he was 600 miles away from Rawah at the time of the killing. Additionally, an Islamic State Twitter account that the company suspended, as well as a suspended Facebook account, could be instrumental in proving Ameen’s innocence.
But the social media giants are refusing to cooperate.
In Ameen’s case and a growing list of other criminal cases, attorneys for Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are citing the Stored Communications Act — a three-decade-old privacy law — to withhold information that might help prove the innocence of Ameen and other defendants.




Defining proper use of Facial Recognition.
Supreme Court declines to hear Facebook facial recognition case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a high-profile court battle over whether users can sue Facebook for using facial recognition technology on their photos without proper consent.
The high court rejected Facebook's bid to review the case, meaning the social media giant will likely have to face the multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit over whether it violated an Illinois privacy law.
The case, Facebook vs. Patel, hinges on a question over whether Facebook violated Illinois law when it implemented a photo-tagging feature that recognized users' faces and suggested their names without obtaining adequate consent. Facebook argued to the Supreme Court that the class-action case should not be allowed to proceed because the group of users have not proven that the alleged privacy violation resulted in "real-world harm."




If you are still doing it the old-fashioned way, are you negligent?
The Legal Research Tools Lawyers Are Using in 2020 and Beyond
Via LLRX The Legal Research Tools Lawyers Are Using in 2020 and Beyond The ABA’s annual Legal Technology Survey Report is the basis for Nicole Black’s overview of what free and fee-based legal research tools lawyers are using – and yes, a number of lawyers continue to use print collections as well as CD-ROMs.




Clearly someone needs to train up an AI Patent lawyer.
Update on Federal Register Notice on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patent Issues
As noted in our previous post, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a request for comments for a list of questions regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) Patent Issues in the Federal Register on August 21, 2019. While the comment period has closed, a few developments regarding AI patent issues have occurred that are particularly relevant.

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