Parliamentary oversight of security and intelligence agencies in the EU

One of the reasons for the lack of posts on this blog the past months is that I co-authored this large study (446 pages), together with Aidan Wills, for the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE). The study came out today, and also includes a number of attachments written by national [...]

Freedom of expression and privacy risks across the ICT sector

The BSR report ‘Protecting Human RIghts in the digital age’ describes the evolving freedom of expression and privacy risks faced by information and communications technology (ICT) companies and how these risks can be more effectively mitigated by the industry.  It focuses on the issues for telecommunications services; cell phones and mobile devices; internet services; enterprise [...]

EESC condemns body scanners as a breach of fundamental rights

(EDRI) On 16 February 2011, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) issued its opinion on the use of body scanners in EU airports. The EESC has opposed the eventual adoption of any measures that would introduce body scanners on an EU-wide level, and feel that the Commission Communication on the use of security scanners [...]

CoE Secretary General Speech on the right to privacy

In his speech the SG stressed the importance of new social media, but he said that they have ‘changed our understanding of privacy’. The fact is that the line between public life and private life is on the move, and if we do not act, this line will disappear. Today, privacy is challenged, more than [...]

Towards a tiered risk system at airports?

The NY Times reports that the several industry organizations are working on proposals to overhaul security checkpoints to provide more or less scrutiny based on the risk profile of each traveler. While the proposals are in the early stages, they represent a growing consensus around a concept that has the support of John S. Pistole, [...]

Former CIA and NSA heads on the ‘the need to know’, Wikileaks and increased information sharing

Michael Hayden and Samuel Visner have an open-ed in the Baltimore sun in which they defend wider information sharing, if aided by sound security practices and advanced technology to protect information Vital information sharing need not be a victim of WikiLeaks. The principle of “need to know” requires segmenting information according to sensitivity and topic. [...]

California high court rules no warrant needed to search cell phone text messages

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of California ruled Monday that law enforcement officers can legally search text messages on a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant incident to a lawful custodial arrest. The court held 5-2 that a search of the defendant’s cell phone text messages in the police station 90 minutes after the arrest did [...]

FBI director defends sting operations

(AP) FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday defended his agency’s use of sting operations in snaring terrorism suspects, a technique some have complained amounts to entrapment. The FBI has come under criticism over its repeated use of stings in which agents and informants walk a suspect through a carefully choreographed plot to carry out what [...]

Use of Night-Vision Goggles Not A Fourth Amendment Search

Orin Kerr reports that a state court in People v. Lieng, 2010 Cal. App. LEXIS 2106 (1st Dist. December 14, 2010), distinguished the goggles from the infrared thermal imaging device used in Kyllo v. United States: Kyllo is inapplicable to this case. First, night goggles are commonly used by the military, police and border patrol, [...]

German Ministry Issues Draft Law Regarding Data Protection on the Internet

(Hunton & Williams LLP) On December 1, 2010, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior (the “BMI”) issued a paper  entitled “Data Protection on the Internet,” which contains a draft law  to protect against particularly serious violations of privacy rights online. In its paper, the BMI rejects the adoption of a specific law to regulate [...]