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In a speech delivered at the United States Naval Academy on October 10, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein waded into the public debate between data privacy and law enforcement interests.  As part of a discussion moderated by former Covington cybersecurity attorney Jeff Kosseff, Rosenstein’s remarks discussed cyber issues facing law enforcement with a particular focus on the advent of “warrant-proof” encryption.  In his view, warrant-proof encrypted data and devices are unable to be intercepted or unlocked by law enforcement, even with a court order.

Noting that “[p]rivate sector entities are crucial partners” in the fight against cyber threats, Rosenstein expressed concerns about the role played by tech companies in advancing warrant-proof encryption.  While recognizing the need to balance important privacy interests against law enforcement priorities, Rosenstein argued that “[w]arrant-proof encryption defeats the constitutional balance by elevating privacy above public safety.”  He emphasized the threat posed to public safety when technology developers deprive law enforcement of “crucial investigative tools.”  Rosenstein advocated for “responsible encryption,” recognizing that this approach would not be one-size-fits-all and that solutions would likely look different depending on the company and technology at issue. 
Continue Reading Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Warns Against Warrant-Proof Encryption

By: Shel Abramson

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently dismissed with prejudice most claims asserted by consumer plaintiffs in In re iPhone Application Litigation, including causes of action under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”), the Wiretap Act, and other federal and state laws.  Plaintiffs asserted that Apple and a group of “Mobile Industry Defendants,” including Google, violated federal and state laws by allowing third party applications for “iDevices”—the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch—to collect and use plaintiffs’ personal information without consent.  This personal information included geolocation information, the iPhone’s unique device identifier (UDID), and other consumer information, such as age or gender.  Two separate putative classes of plaintiffs brought claims against Apple—an iDevices Class and a Geolocation Class.  With respect to defendant Apple, Judge Lucy H. Koh dismissed all of plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice, except for two California state law claims.  All claims against the Mobile Industry defendants were dismissed with prejudice.

In rejecting the SCA and Wiretap claims, Judge Koh provided a thorough analysis of why plaintiffs’ theories did not comport with these complex and specific statutes.  If followed by other courts, this precedent could have a far-reaching effect in limiting plaintiffs’ ability to use these federal statutes to pursue alleged harms arising out of online data collection and use.  We examine Judge Koh’s discussion in some detail after the jump.Continue Reading Key Holdings in the In re iPhone Application Dismissal Order

Yesterday, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted defendants’ motions to dismiss the consolidated, amended complaint in In re iPhone Application Litigation for lack of Article III standing, with leave to amend.  In finding lack of standing, the Court stated that plaintiffs’ allegations were “clearly insufficient” as plaintiffs did not allege “injury in fact to themselves” and “did not identify a concrete harm from the alleged collection and tracking of their personal information sufficient to create injury in fact.”  Further, the Court found that the plaintiffs had failed to allege any injury fairly traceable to Apple or any of the Mobile Industry Defendants.

In addition, the Court articulated specific deficiencies with respect to each of the causes of action, in the event plaintiffs choose to file an amended complaint.  These shortcomings include the fact that plaintiffs did not allege economic damages sufficient to meet the required threshold to state a civil claim under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  The Court also found, as an increasing body of authority has held, that a plaintiff’s “personal information” does not constitute money or property under California’s Unfair Competition Law.Continue Reading In re iPhone Application Litigation Dismissed

Senator Al Franken recently sent a letter to Apple and Google asking them to require all applications available in the Apple App Store and the Android App Market to have “clear and understandable” privacy policies.  He made a similar request at a Senate hearing on mobile privacy earlier this month. …

Continue Reading Franken Asks Apple and Google To Require Privacy Policies of Mobile Apps

CNET reports that Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is calling on the FTC to investigate Apple’s privacy practices, particularly with respect to location-based services.  In a letter to FTC Chairman John Leibowitz, Inslee expressed concern about users’ lack of awareness of “location-aware technology.”  He writes: 

“Citizens expect to be able to…

Continue Reading Congressman Calls for FTC Investigation of Apple’s Privacy Practices

For the fourth time in the past two months, Apple has been sued for allegedly violating the privacy of iPad and iPhone users.  Like the previous three suits (two of which we discussed in this post), Rodimer v. Apple, Inc. [PDF] alleges that Apple transmitted “personal information,” including Unique Device…

Continue Reading Apple Sued Again For Alleged Privacy Violations

Last week, iPhone and iPad App users filed two separate class action complaints against Apple and iOS App developers in the Northern District of California.  (The complaints are currently captioned Freeman v. Apple, Inc. and Lalo v. Apple, Inc.)  In both, the plaintiffs charge the defendant…

Continue Reading CFAA and Wiretap Act Claims Filed Against Apple and App Developers