It is no coincidence that following President Obama's address today about the National Security Agency's (NSA) collection of phone call data, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases concerning the police's warrantless collection of data from the seized cell phones of arrestees. The Court will decide whether the police violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against warrantless search and seizure. Both the NSA controversy and the two cell phone cases (U.S. v. Wurie and

The Transportation Security Administration has failed to comply with the D.C. Circuit Court’s order to make a notice-and-comment rulemaking on its use of the Advanced Imaging Technology (also known as body scanners). Jim Harper explains that the TSA needs to follow the law and has begun a petition to the White House for the TSA to adhere to the D.C. Circuits Court ruling. The petition states: “Defying the court, the TSA has not satisfied public concerns about privacy, about

Google scored a verdict for the defense on Wednesday in its smart phone battle with Oracle Corp. after a jury discarded all claims of patent infringement. The Recorder shared Google’s official statement: “Today's jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle's patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem..." However, the trial judge, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, has said that he expects the case to reach the U.S. Court of Appeals for t

A new software program promises to help colleges maintain diversity in admissions in a way that complies with last year's Supreme Court