Jul 9th, 2008 · A Senate panel is grilling executives from major Internet players — including Google, Microsoft and Facebook — about privacy Wednesday. A small Silicon Valley startup called NebuAd is actually the company likely to get the most scrutiny. The firm tracks the online behavior of Internet users then serves up targeted banner ads.
Jul 4th, 2008 · A court has ordered Google to turn over a database that links users to every video they've watched on the popular Web site YouTube. Jennifer Urban, director of the University of Southern California Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, says the ruling has big implications for online privacy.
Jun 27th, 2008 · The Justice Department has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit with former Army scientist Steven Hatfill, who was named as a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks. He claimed his privacy rights were violated in the case.
Jun 27th, 2008 · A court has ruled employers don't have the right to read text messages sent by employees even if the employer is paying for the service. Peter Swire, law professor at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, discusses the ruling.
Jun 12th, 2008 · The nation's eighth-largest Internet service provider has a new plan to monitor its customers' online activity — everything from Web searches and e-mail to reading sports scores — in order to create targeted advertising. But privacy experts are pushing back.
Jun 11th, 2008 · Medicare has just launched a pilot program to get doctors to computerize their offices. Officials say electronic health records will cure many of the ills of modern medical care, but some doctors are concerned about the loss of privacy for patients, and the cost of computerization.
May 1st, 2008 · Is it ever OK for writers to tell private stories for the good of the public? In a round-table discussion, three prominent writers — Annie Proulx, Uzodinma Iweala, and Michael Ondaatje — talk about the role of privacy in the public world of literature and the media.
Apr 30th, 2008 · The U.S. Border Patrol has started doing spot checks on ferries coming from Washington state's San Juan Islands. These are domestic ferry routes, completely inside the borders of Washington state. The new scrutiny has some islanders upset, saying it's a violation of their privacy to have to identify themselves when traveling inside the United States.