FCC Chair Wheeler To Step Down

The Federal Communications Commission is about to get a big shakeup in terms of personnel and quite likely in policy. On Thursday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler [seen here], who pushed through controversial rules protecting net neutrality and guarding consumer privacy, announced he will step down from the commission on Jan. 20, the same day that Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president.

3 Panel urges better cybersecurity to President-elect Trump

A presidential commission on Friday made 16 urgent recommendations to improve the nation's cybersecurity, including creating a nutritional-type label to help consumers shop wisely and appointing a new international ambassador on the subject - weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The release of the 100-page report follows the worst hacking of U.S. government systems in history and accusations by the Obama administration that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election by hacking Democrats.

Illinois transgender student wins round in closely watched bathroom case

A federal magistrate judge recommended this week that a transgender girl at the center of a lawsuit over restroom and locker room access be able to use the girls' locker room at her Illinois high school, writing that the Constitution doesn't protect students against having to share such facilities with their transgender peers. In an 82-page report, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert sided against a group of students and parents who sought a preliminary injunction to force the girl to use the boys' locker room or a private bathroom while the court moves forward with the case.

Court: US does not have to disclose Army school trainees

A federal appeals court says the defense department does not have to disclose the names of foreign students who attend a U.S. Army school whose predecessor trained South American military officials who were linked to massacres and other crimes. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Friday that disclosing the names of students at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy that could expose them to violence.

Hack of San Bernardino attackera s iPhone raises big questions

After the attack in San Bernardino last December that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others, the FBI hired a private hacker to unlock the iPhone of one of the two dead terrorists. Perhaps the FBI learned some of Syed Rizwan Farook's evil secrets.

Judge in Texas temporarily blocks President Obama’s transgender rules

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration's order that requires public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. In a temporary injunction signed Sunday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the federal education law known as Title IX "is not ambiguous" about sex being defined as "the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth."

Google Reports Record Number of Government Requests for User Data

We just wanted to let you know that our site content is, of course, available to you absolutely free of charge. Our ads are the only way we have to be able to bring you the latest high-quality content, which is written by professional journalists, with the help of editors, graphic designers, and our site production and I.T. staff, as well as many other talented people who work around the clock for this site.

Microsoft Wins Protection for E-Mails in Non-US Data Centers

Microsoft won't be forced to turn over e-mails stored in its Ireland data center to the US government for a drug investigation, an appeals court said in a decision that may affect data security throughout the US technology industry. The ruling on Thursday overturned a 2014 decision ordering Microsoft to hand over messages of a suspected drug trafficker.

U.S. court to hear arguments in warrantless NSA spying case

A U.S. appeals court will weigh a constitutional challenge on Wednesday to a warrantless government surveillance programme brought by an Oregon man found guilty of attempting to detonate a bomb in 2010 during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. The case before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first of its kind to consider whether a criminal defendant's constitutional privacy rights are violated under a National Security Agency programme that allows spying on Americans' international phone calls and internet communications.

ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer to direct Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger today announced his appointment of Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the ACLU, as founding director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Last month, Columbia and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the creation of the new institute which will work-through litigation, research and public advocacy-to preserve and expand the freedoms of expression and the press in the digital age.

Activists, DoJ spar over Rule 41 changes to enhance FBI searches

EFF and privacy activists oppose Rule 41 changes, while the Department of Justice claims that the changes do not alter 'traditional protections' under Fourth Amendment. The fight over changes to Rule 41 kicked into high gear this week as privacy rights activists and tech firms joined forces to protest the changes in an open letter to Congressional leaders, urging them to block the changes before they become permanent at the end of the year.

Appeals court rules that cops don’t need a warrant to get your cell phone location

Police don't need a warrant to obtain mobile phone location data for a criminal investigation, a US appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case closely watched for digital-era privacy implications. The case decided by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia is among several pending in the courts on "location privacy," or whether using the digital data violates constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches.

Why Governments Hate It When Other Countries Have Low Taxes

During a visit to the World Bank this week, I got a sobering lesson about the degree to which the people working at international bureaucracies, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, dislike tax competition. For years, these organizations-which are funded with our hard-earned tax dollars-have bullied low-tax nations into changing their tax privacy laws so uncompetitive nations can track taxpayers and companies around the world.

Government Favors Open Hearing in Bridge Co-Conspirator Case

Unsealed filings in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case released Monday show federal prosecutors sided with media organizations in seeking a public hearing for an unidentified person trying to block the publication of a list of unindicted co-conspirators. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already ruled last Friday the June 6 oral arguments in Philadelphia are to be open.