Upload
pamela-henry
View
218
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
CLASS TOPICS – CHAPTER 13, PRIVACY
TOPIC 1 – “HUMAN-FLESH SEARCH
ENGINE” (TEXTBOOK CHAPTER 13)
See “Web vigilante justice in China draws cry for reform”
“Wang Fei's infidelity deeply upset his wife. She wrote of her distress in a diary, and then jumped from their 24th floor balcony.
Her family posted details of Wang Fei's affair on the Internet, angrily blaming him for his wife's suicide. Soon, tens of thousands of Chinese web users knew about Wang Fei.”
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
2
TOPIC 1 – “HUMAN-FLESH SEARCH
ENGINE” (CONT.)
“Many felt incensed, so they revved up a "human-flesh search engine," which is what Chinese Internet users call their Web hunts. They appealed to fellow Chinese to ferret out information about the philandering husband and humiliate him. They posted photos of Wang Fei and details about his job, his car's license-plate number and his national ID number. Even his parents were drawn into the fray.”
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
3
TOPIC 1 – “HUMAN-FLESH SEARCH
ENGINE” (CONT.)
“In April, Duke University student Grace Wang was vilified after she tried to seek a middle ground between pro- and anti-Tibet independence forces on the North Carolina campus. Internet users in China tracked down her parents in Qingdao, dumping feces at their doorstep and forcing them into hiding.”
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
4
TOPIC 1 – “HUMAN-FLESH SEARCH
ENGINE” (CONT.)
How would we analyze the Fei and Wang incidents under US law?
Lawsuits against individual bloggers or information providers
Lawsuits against the ISPs
Sources of law are drawn from the following slide
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
5
TOPIC 1 – (CONT.) THE LEGAL PROCESS- AN OVERVIEW
1st Tier - Law Sources
1. US Constitution
2. Federal Statutory Law
3. State Constitution
4. State Statutory Law
5. Local Law
Above sources are created by lawmakers and interpreted by courts – Stare Decisis is important regarding precedents
2nd Tier - The Common Law Process
Stare Decisis, or
Overruling Precedent, or
Creating First Precedent
Common law is created by and found only in state court opinions
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE,
6
TOPIC 2 – VARIOUS INTRODUCTORY PRIVACY
CONCERNS (TEXTBOOK PAGES 564-70)
Drug testing for student athletics
See Vernonia School Dist. v. Acton
Employee drug and alcohol testing
See, e.g., DOL, Laws and Regulations
Genetic Testing
See Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
Polygraph testing
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
7
TOPIC 2 – VARIOUS INTRODUCTORY PRIVACY
CONCERNS (TEXTBOOK PAGES 564-70)
Biometrics and video surveillance
Surveillance through GPS systems or RFID tags
Personal use of camera telephones
See Exhibit 13.1, page 570
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
8
TOPIC 3 – MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS & ACTIVITIES IN THE WORKPLACE (TEXTBOOK
PAGES 570-82)
In 1997, Chevron Oil Company settled a lawsuit brought by four employees claiming that Chevron’s internal email system was used to disseminate sexual offensive content , such as “25 Reasons Why Beer is Better than Women”
The settlement - $2.2 million
Source: Ann Carrns, Prying Times: Those Bawdy E-mails Were Good for a Laugh-Until the Ax Fell, WALL ST. J., Feb. 4, 2000, at A1
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
9
TOPIC 3 – MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS &
ACTIVITIES IN THE WORKPLACE (CONT.)
Management and legal considerations may prompt monitoring company email messages, employee Internet activities, and other employee behavior
Company concerns include
Reducing risk of legal liability
Protecting assets
Preventing loss of productivity
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
10
TOPIC 3 – MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS &
ACTIVITIES IN THE WORKPLACE (CONT.)
According to a recent survey of US companies
76% monitor employee web surfing
55% monitor company email
36% monitor activities on employee computers including screen shots and keystrokes
Source: American Mgmt Ass’n & The ePolicy Institute, 2005 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey 1, 3 (2005) at 1
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
11
TOPIC 4 – MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS &
ACTIVITIES IN THE WORKPLACE (CONT.)
Hypothetical
You are fired after your employer discovers an adulterous affair between you and a company customer
The discovery was based on material gained from your MySpace account, your company email account, and your personal Hotmail account
Using Exhibit 13.2, textbook page 574, compare this scenario to Smyth, textbook page 575, Fraser, textbook page 577, and Fischer, Pittman handout page 23
JEFFREY PITTMAN - CYBERLAW & E-COMMERCE
12