Jul 19

New Jersey now requires search warrants for cellphone location data

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New Jersey now requires search warrants for cellphone tracking data

For all the worries about sweeping US surveillance programs, Americans are claiming at least a few victories in the fight for privacy. Just look to New Jersey’s Supreme Court for an example — it has ruled that police need search warrants to obtain tracking information from cellular carriers. Citing a ruling that requires warrants for GPS tracking devices, the court has decided that attempts to obtain cellphone location data represent searches and fall under constitutional oversight. Cellphone users can expect a reasonable level of privacy when they sign up for service, according to the Supreme Court. While there’s no law on the books to restrict tracking, like there is in Montana, the ruling sets a precedent for police monitoring that could extend beyond New Jersey’s borders.

[Image credit: Jeff Schuler, Flickr]

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Via: New York Times

Source: New Jersey Supreme Court (PDF)

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Jun 13

Supreme Court rules that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented

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DNP Supreme Court rules that naturally occurring genetic material cannot be patented

In a plot twist straight out of Orphan Black, the Supreme Court has ruled that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented, but synthetic biological material is fair game. The case involved Myriad Genetics, a company specializing in molecular testing, after it tried to patent two genes — BRCA1 and BRCA2 — that are often linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The Association for Molecular Pathology filed the suit, arguing that the patent would place undue restrictions on research since only Myriad would be allowed to tinker with those genes. The ruling established that isolating naturally occurring genetic material — as Myriad did — wasn’t enough to justify legal ownership, but so-called complementary DNA (meaning it’s man-made) would be eligible for patenting. Myriad had no comment at the time of this writing, but Sandra Park, an attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project said, “Myriad did not invent the BRCA genes and should not control them. Because of this ruling, patients will have greater access to genetic testing and scientists can engage in research on these genes without fear of being sued.”

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Via: CNN

Source: Supreme Court of the United States

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Jul 19

French Supreme Court orders Google to censor piracy related terms in Instant search and Autocomplete

Posted in: Today's Chili

French Supreme Court orders Google to censor piracy related terms

The French Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that Google must censor terms such as “torrent,” “RapidShare,” and other phrases that could be related to illegal file sharing. The decision was in response to a case brought by SNEP, a French music industry group, requesting that Google be forced to censor its results and be held accountable for facilitating piracy. The court ruled that the Mountain View company couldn’t be held responsible for people’s decision to click through to sites containing illegal material. But it reversed a lower court decision, demanding that related terms be removed from its autocomplete database to making finding such content more difficult. Google was understandably disappointed by the ruling, especially since the company already actively blocks some piracy related search terms. But, that apparently wasn’t enough for the SNEP. Check out the ruling itself at the more coverage link.

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French Supreme Court orders Google to censor piracy related terms in Instant search and Autocomplete originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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