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ACLU Launches Privacy Lawsuit Against Yahoo!
testcase writes: "From the ACLU press release
'The suit, filed against Yahoo! by a user of the service's popular financial message boards, challenges the company's practice of disclosing a user's personal information to third parties without prior notice to the user. The full text of the suit is here "
American ./ readers may be interested in this site:
http://www.knowledge-basket.co.n z/privacy/top.html
You missed my point. Read the policy--it notifies you they will release your information when legally required, and doesn't say that they will notify you first. The ACLU says that they should--or must--notify you first, because of your right to privacy. I agree with the ACLU on this.
You'll see the same sort of language on credit-card agreements and all sorts of other consumer contracts. My understanding (IANAL and all that) is that from a legal standpoint you are considered "notified" when you receive a copy of the agreement for all situations described therein, except for those cases where the agreement provides for further notification.
This is based on my own reading of the policy and not based on any other information from Yahoo! or others. I assume you can say the same for your opinion. But consider this: if you are right, the case boils down to contract law, and thus won't set any precdence with regards to privacy. I doubt that you want that--the ACLU certainly doesn't. (And, yes, I've been a member.)
I understand that with IP addresses, etc you have less control of (unless you want to get techy and spoof) but you can certainly limit the amount of personally identifiable data you send out. I personally feel that it is important to stuff the warehouses with bunk. Increase the noise to signal ratio. Some ideas to this end:
In cases where you NEED to give personally identifiable information (i.e. ISP service, etc) why not throw in some creative spelling? Let 'em track David Smith, Daveed Smyth, and Dayvid Smeth.
Everytime you are in a store that offers one of those shopper member tracking cards (i.e. SafeWay), get one for a different person.. I've got one for Don T. Botherme and Anita Prawduct..
If you need to give out a date of birth, take the first day of the month you were born on (easy to remember)
Another thing I do.. (once tracked and marketed to) When dealing with physical junk mail, I save all the postage paid return envelopes and return the contents of the junk mail to the sender..
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air and light and time and space
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
p df
Thursday, May 11, 2000
NEW YORK--A federal lawsuit filed today in California could establish important protections for Internet privacy and anonymity, according to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
The suit, filed against Yahoo! by a user of the service's popular financial message boards, challenges the company's practice of disclosing a user's personal information to third parties without prior notice to the user.
Privacy and free speech advocates, including EPIC and the ACLU, have criticized Yahoo!'s policy on the ground that Internet users have a right to communicate anonymously and usually do so for valid reasons.
Over the past year, Yahoo! has been inundated with subpoenas issued by companies seeking the identities of individuals anonymously posting information critical of the firms and their executives.
"The right to anonymous speech should not be breached so easily," said Chris Hansen, a national ACLU lawyer who specializes in Internet speech.
Without notifying the targeted users, and without assessing the validity of the legal claims underlying the subpoenas, Yahoo! systematically discloses identifying information such as users' names, e-mail addresses and Internet protocol addresses. Yahoo! is unique among major online companies in its refusal to notify its users of such subpoenas and provide them with an opportunity to challenge the information requests.
Hansen said that the ACLU favors at least two legal protections for anonymous chatters. "Any complaint filed in court against an unknown Internet defendant should include specifics of the allegedly objectionable postings," he said.
"Also, a judge should not allow a lawyer to issue subpoenas in these cases without requiring that the Internet service provider notify the potential defendant that someone is seeking information about him and giving him an opportunity to enter court to protect his anonymity."
According to David L. Sobel, EPIC's General Counsel, "online anonymity plays a critical role in fostering free expression on the Internet, and has clearly contributed to the popularity of the medium."
"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that anonymity is a constitutional right, but practices such as those of Yahoo! may make that right illusory online," he added.
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles by "Aquacool_2000," a pseudonymous Yahoo! user whose personal information was disclosed to AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc., a publicly held company.
A copy of the lawsuit (in PDF) is available at:
http://www.epic.org/anonymity/aquacool_complaint.
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
Can you name me a SINGLE CASE brought by the ACLU that wasn't germane and noble?
Sure. (Actually, I can describe it for you - I don't have the cite handy.)
Man had a legally-owned gun locked in the safe at his office. Crook cracks the safe and steals the gun. Later, stolen gun is used in a crime where a victim is shot and injured. Victim sues the person from whom the gun was stolen. ACLU provides the lawyers for the plantif.
(For completeness: The guy whose gun was stolen from his office safe also held a post at the NRA.)
This was the same year the ACLU defended the American NAZI Party's right to march through a Polish suburb of Chicago. (I remember that because a Jewish friend didn't renew her ACLU membership the next time it came up. The ACLU asked her if it was because of the march. Nope: She thought the NAZIs should be able to march - at least partly so she could tell who they were and so they'd come within broom range of the Polish immigrants. B-) She quit over the suit against the guy whose gun was stolen and misused.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Seems like the ACLU's lawyers are trying to rig the game so no one can win (except themselves of course).
If you don't comply with a subpoena, you go to jail. Or, I guess the judge issuing the subpoena would slap down some hefty fines in the case of a corperation like Yahoo.
But if you *DO* obey the laful order of a court of law...
... the ACLU comes in and tries to sue you into oblivion?!?!?!?
You don't have to be any kind of lawyer to know that this kind of no-win situation is patently ridiculous. Just what ARE you supposed to do in a situation like this?
Sounds to me like this aquadrool person is miffed that Yahoo didn't fight his battle against the plantiff for him, and now wants to be seen as some poor victim of the big evil corperate Yahoo giant.
john
Imagine all the people...
Of course Yahoo is going to roll over and give away user profiles - everyone does.
If you want to protect your privacy, change your isp.
www.zeroknowledge.com - the world's only encrypted anonymous ISP. There is NO WAY to trace you whatsoever. Zeroknowledge can't even trace you when you're using their servers - and you're encrypted and routed through 3 countries first. A legal nightmare.
I use zeroknowledge and I post with impunity.
They sell a total privacy solution too - complete with information on how to protect yourself from places like yahoo.
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
Sounds like a direct violation of this clause.
The problem is that sleazy lawyers (Hi Helena!) can get subpoenas and use them to unmask the identity of their enemies, even if they don't intend to follow through with a lawsuit. This has become a common tactic when anonymous critics manage to upset large companies or scams^H^H^H^H^Hreligious organizations.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat