Privacy Articles • Software Expert Witnesses & Litigation Consultants

March 3, 2020 • by Quandary Peak Research

Court Rules Facial Recognition Lawsuit Against Facebook Can Proceed

On August 8, 2019, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in a unanimous decision that a class action lawsuit against Facebook can proceed in court. Patel et al v. Facebook Inc. potentially exposes the technology giant to billions of dollars in lawsuits should a court rule in…

A Closer Look at California’s Data Privacy Law

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ‘drew first blood’ as it relates to regulating technology companies relying on consumer data to generate revenue. The state of California soon followed suit, passing the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in June 2018. The CCPA took effect on January 1, 2020, ushering in…

What Does DNA Use for Facial Mapping Mean?

In the latest prominent, science fiction-imitating example of the symbiotic relationship between the science and technology, the New York Times reports that China is leveraging new technology in an attempt to use DNA samples to construct an image of a person’s face. The process, known as DNA phenotyping (or DNA facial mapping),…

TikTok Chinese Ownership Raising National Security Concerns

China’s growing sphere of influence in the global technology sector is an especially fraught area of concern for US lawmakers. Early development of nascent or popular technologies means prominent, profitable footholds for patent holders while paving a path for future growth, and accusations of espionage are not unusual. A trade war between…

Data’s Role in Big Tech’s Antitrust Fight

The era of minimal oversight for the biggest technology companies appears to be ending. The Justice Department and FTC will split oversight of Google and Amazon, and the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to a long-simmering antitrust suit against Apple. Taken together, it is becoming clear that lawmakers are poised to take…

Lawsuits Alleges U.S. Cellphone Carriers Sold Customer Location Data

New class-action lawsuits have been filed against major US cellphone carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint in US District Court in Maryland. Each suit alleges violation of Section 222 of the US Communications Act in mostly identical terms via (in the words of the AT&T suit) the real-time “collection of geolocation data…

May 1, 2019 • by Quandary Peak Research

Researchers Questioning Amazon’s Facial Recognition Technology

Artificial Intelligence technology is transforming previously unfathomable ideas into concrete realities on a daily basis. One flagship application is facial recognition technology, which has been embraced by law enforcement for identifying suspects – a development that has its detractors but remains touted for its crime prevention potential. For all its potential, however,…

ACLU vs. Government: Should There Be Rules Governing Hacking?

The rise of mobile technology means we are rarely disconnected from a vast ecosystem of services and content. With more people online sharing more than ever, personal data has become currency, and entire business models are predicated on harvesting and deriving insight from that information. But technology companies have lost the benefit…

Legal Troubles Don’t Mean Diminished Ambitions for Big Tech

Big Tech took some unprecedented hits in 2018. For the first time in memory, previously unassailable companies found themselves squarely in government and public crosshairs alike, answering for a series of (often data-centric) misdeeds. But even as questions loom and skepticism increases, these issues – and the ensuing public backlash – remain…

Amazon, Apple, Bloomberg, and…Chinese Spies?

The story feels like something out of a novel or a movie. In October, Bloomberg Businessweek published a lengthypiecedetailing how Chinese spies had, during the manufacturing process, installed chips in servers purchased by major tech companies—creating “a stealth doorway” into their respective networks. The report alleged that two of the companies were…