Civil Liberties in the Digital Age: Weekly Highlights (11/2/2012)

More Than 25% Of Android Apps Know Too Much About You [Dark Reading – Kelly Jackson Higgins]

“Some 26 percent of Android apps in Google Play can access personal data, such as contacts and email, and 42 percent, GPS location data – in many cases, whether they need it or not… Other findings from the research: 31 percent of the apps access phone calls or phone numbers, and 9 percent employ permissions that could cost the user money, such as incurring premium SMS text message charges.”
See Also Exposing Your Personal Information – There’s An App for That [Juniper Networks – Daniel Hoffman]

Suing over surveillance secrets [SCOTUS Blog – Kali Borkoski]

“This morning, the Court will hear oral arguments in Clapper v. Amnesty International. The case began as a challenge by (among others) lawyers, journalists, and human rights activists to the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expanded the ability of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor international communications by U.S. citizens.”

California Threatening Developers With $2,500 Fine Per Download For Privacy Violations [TechCrunch – Gregory FerenStein]

“The California Attorney General is threatening scores of app developers with massive fines for non-compliance with privacy notification laws.”
See Also United, Delta Said to be Warned by California on Privacy [Bloomberg Businessweek – Joel Rosenblatt and Douglas MacMillan]

FTC staff: US should sue Google for misuse of standards-based patents [Ars Technica – Joe Mullin]

“Staffers at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have formally recommended the government bring an antitrust lawsuit against Google, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. Now FTC commissioners will have to decide whether to whether to act on that recommendation.”

Court OKs warrantless use of hidden surveillance cameras [CNET – Declan McCullagh]

“Police are allowed in some circumstances to install hidden surveillance cameras on private property without obtaining a search warrant, a federal judge said yesterday.”

Romney and Obama Campaigns Leaking Web Site Visitor Data [New York Times – Natasha Singer]

“The presidential campaign sites BarackObama.com and MittRomney.com have recently ratcheted up their use of third-party Web trackers. These are companies, like ad networks and data brokers working on behalf of the campaigns, that collect information about users’ online activities to show political ads to people tailored to their own interests and beliefs.”

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