A version of this article first appeared in the Daily Journal on May 22, 2018. When you share your DNA with a private genealogy database, it’s not only potential relatives searching for matches. The Golden State Killer case shows that law enforcement—and others—may be searching your DNA too,...

Among the many privacy challenges posed by social media, one has flown largely under the radar: balancing defendants’ due process rights to access exculpatory information against the crucial privacy protections of the Stored Communications Act (SCA). Here’s the problem: prosecutors have broad powers to demand access to stored communications as...

It’s a bad idea to come after romance authors’ favorite double entendres. Unfortunately, Faleena Hopkins, holder of a trademark on the word “cocky” and a shaky understanding of trademark law, fired a bunch of shots and not only missed the mark, but managed to turn her entire industry against her.Hopkins...

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it will wedge its way into an already-crowded corner of online commerce. The social networking site plans to use its giant storehouse of personal data to create a dating service, promising to help users find “meaningful relationships,” not just “hookups,” as Facebook CEO...

Do you use Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile? If so, your real-time cell phone location data may have been shared with law enforcement without your knowledge or consent. How could this happen? Well, a company that provides phone services to jails and prisons has been collecting location information on...

Anyone looking at their inbox in the last few months might think that the Internet companies have collectively returned from a term-of-service writers' retreat. Company after company seem to have simultaneously decided that your privacy is tremendously important to them, and collectively beg you take a look at their updated...

Kids are often the involuntary early adopters of controlling, abusive technology, whether that's spying school laptops, location tracking phones apps, or teenager-repelling buzzers that emit tones that adult ears can't hear. If you want to see your future, look at what we're doing to the kids.

Kids are often the involuntary early adopters of controlling, abusive technology, whether that's spying school laptops, location tracking phones apps, or teenager-repelling buzzers that emit tones that adult ears can't hear. If you want to see your future, look at what we're doing to the kids around you.

Encryption is back in the headlines again, with government officials insisting that they still need to compromise our security via a backdoor for law enforcement. Opponents of encryption imagine that there is a “middle ground” approach that allows for strong encryption but with “exceptional access” for law enforcement. Government officials...