Social Media Reputation, Sexting, and Privacy

If you have been given a second or third chance to rebuild your reputation don't ruin it with a bunch of sexts. Last night, The New York Post reported that former Congressman Anthony Weiner was sexting another woman who was not his wife. In the past five years, this is the third time he has been publicly caught for this type of behavior.

Weiner's sexting cost him his job as a Congressman in 2011, his chance to become the mayor of New York City in 2013, and now his marriage.  In addition to his marriage, multiple news organizations such as NY1 and The New York Daily News have either suspended or terminated their relationship with him.  In other words, sexting has destroyed his personal life and his career as a politician/political pundit.  

While the American public loves a great comeback story, this time may be different for Weiner.  One of his sexts included a photo of his son lying next to him in bed with his shirt off. The sexts associated with his son may lead to an inquiry into potential child endangerment charges and/or utilized by his soon to be ex-wife wife in a custody battle. While the American public generally forgives those involved in sex scandals, they may not forgiving this time because a young child was unnecessarily dragged into Weiner's troubling personal activities.

I have advised many clients over the years who have either lost their jobs due to sexting, been blackmailed due to dumb online posts, or had their personal lives destroyed (i.e. marriage dissolved or personal relationship ended) due to inappropriate social media activity.  My job is to protect my clients' reputation.  Unfortunately, too often clients and potential clients contact me for counsel after an activity has been exposed.  In general, if they would have been proactive and sought advice prior to their activity becoming public their post incident options would be much different.    

During Weiner's 2011 sexting scandal, I spoke with several media outlets about his social media behavior and the law.  His 2013 sexting scandal and this current incident demonstrates continued poor judgement.  It appears that in the five years since Weiner resigned from Congress due to inappropriate social media activity he hasn't learned anything about social media, reputation, or personal privacy.     

The bottom line is that you must be careful every time you send a digital message.  You never know whom you are really talking with on the Internet.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.   

Microsoft Takes A Stand Against Online Violence and Hate Speech

According to Business Insider, Microsoft is making it easier to report online threats and abuse. The company has created a new form to report content posted on its consumer services that may constitute online violence or hate speech.

Some of the content that may constitute violations against Microsoft's new policy includes: postings that advocate violence based upon age, disability, gender, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. The policy specifically states, "[p]lease note that not all content that you find offensive is considered hate speech and, in reviewing your report, Microsoft may choose to take no action."

For years, the Internet has been the Wild Wild West when it comes to speech. Sometimes this a good thing while in other instances this atmosphere has created some very troubling situations. Microsoft's new policy is a positive development that is worth trying.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.   

Bank Privacy in the Social Media Age

Have you ever read the annual bank privacy notices that you receive in the mail? If not, it may be a good time to do so.  The FDIC has a website filled with information regarding how banks may protect or utilize your personal financial information for purposes other than account maintenance.

I recently updated some of my privacy choices for one of the banks I do business with and found it to be more cumbersome than anticipated.  I initially tried to make the appropriate updates online but the process was not consumer friendly so I contacted my bank.  The choices I made to help better protect my privacy and reputation included: Do not call with bank offers; Do not email with bank offers; Do not send me offers in the mail from the bank; and Do not share my personal financial information with bank affiliates or third parties.

I can't recall the last time this bank sent me an offer that was worth taking advantage of and I have never received an offer from one of this bank's affiliates or a third party that does business with the bank that was worth accepting.  In general, I have found these marketing offers to be worthless and a waste of my time.

The stronger your privacy choices are the less likely you will become a target of a scam. Protecting your privacy will help better protect your personal and professional reputation.    

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Social Media Reputation, Employee Complaints, the NLRB, and Chipotle

The National Labor Relations Board recently upheld a decision by an administrative law judge against Chipotle that ruled the company violated an employee's right to complain about his job when it required him delete tweets that were critical of the company and then subsequently fired him.  

The employee deleted some personal tweets after Chipotle's national social-media strategist saw them in January 2015. According to The New York Daily News, one of the offending posts stated: 

@ChipotleTweets, nothing is free, only cheap #labor.  Crew members make only $8.50hr how much is that steak bowl really?

How did Chipotle's national social media strategist identify that the Twitter account that had the offending Tweets came from one of its employees?  Did the employee identify himself as such? Why would the social media strategist think this tweet or group of tweets was so offending that it needed to ensure that the Tweets were deleted?  Did the social media strategist realize that his/her actions had the potential to create a social media crisis? 

Chipotle's social media strategist's actions led to tremendous legal bills for the company and numerous negative articles about the company's social media policy. One take away is that too many "social media experts" do not understand how to properly draft, implement or follow corporate social media policies.  

Many "social media experts" have never had the proper training on how to handle this type of situation and how to avoid a social media crisis.  In this case, the best path forward after seeing one or more negative tweets would have been to ignore it/them.  It would have saved the company tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and other related costs.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.   

Social Media Cyberbullies Unfairly Attack Reputation of Gabby Douglas

As an American, I am very proud of how our Olympians are doing in Rio. Many of our athletes have had to overcome tremendous personal obstacles just to have an opportunity to compete at the Olympics.  One such athlete is Gabby Douglas who has been a star performer for years.  

Gabby Douglas has won 3 Olympic gold medals while representing the United States (two at the 2012 London games and one at the 2016 Rio games) and multiple gold medals in the world championships.  She is not just an all around Olympic champion but also a class act who conducts herself professionally in public. Always smiling and being classy, despite public set backs and dumb questions from the media is extremely difficult for anyone, especially someone who is just 20 years of age.

After Gabby Douglas' team won the all around gold medal in gymnastics, a handful of Internet cyberbullies criticized her for not putting her hand over heart during the playing of our national anthem during the medal ceremony. In years past, these online critics would be ignored. Unfortunately, some members of the international media gave these cyber-bullies an out sized platform to unfairly criticize the way Gabby Douglas conducted herself.

If these ignorant cyber-bullies knew their Olympic history they would realize they had no basis for their criticism. For example, some members of the original Dream Team in 1992 that featured some of the best basketball players to ever suit up didn't put their hands over their hearts during the playing of our national anthem at their medal ceremony.

Even though Ms. Douglas was perfectly respectful during the competition and afterward and owed nobody an apology, she still gave one to get this ridiculous story out of the media cycle. Sometimes the best course of action to put a matter to bed is to apologize and move on, other times it may be best to ignore unfounded criticism, and sometimes it is best to challenge the critics.

When a potential social media crisis is about to strike it is imperative to understand how to properly respond.  Your professional reputation or the reputation of your business may hang in the balance of your actions.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Feds To Protect Social Media Reputation of Nursing Home Residents

On Friday, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it would crack down on nursing home operators whose employees record and post on social media demeaning audio, images, and video of their residents.  

ProPublica recently documented almost fifty incidents during the past several years where nursing home and assisted living facility employees took unauthorized abusive photos of their patients and posted them online without permission.  ProPublica's investigation prompted Sen. Charles Grassley to contact the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Civil Rights to work on a solution to this increasingly troubling problem.  

Posting photos of others in vulnerable positions is not just a problem in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in hospitals, it is also a problem in other areas where people may unclothe. For example, earlier this year, 2015 Playboy Playmate of the Year Dani Mathers took a naked photo of a fellow gym member of LA Fitness getting out of the shower and posted it on Snapchat for "sh#ts and giggles". 

Social media abuse is increasing faster than the law can keep up. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to ensure that their employees are properly trained about these issues by legal experts to avoid easily preventable multi-million dollar social media privacy lawsuits.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Reputation Expert's Career Over After Social Media Outrage

When I first read this Business Insider interview with Saatchi and Saatchi's chairman Kevin Roberts about gender diversity, I was surprised by his statements and his admission that he doesn't spend any time on gender issues.  If these comments were made in 2006 and not 2016 I don't believe they would have led to his ouster.

What has changed in the past 10 years?  The ubiquity of social media and other digital platforms that can make you the most popular person in the world one minute and the biggest a@#$)*e the next. In the Social Media Age, any comment in either the physical or digital world has the potential to damage one's personal and professional reputation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kevin Roberts was due to retire in May 2017 before his Business Insider interview was published.  However, that changed quickly after social media users re-tweeted the Business Insider article and other media outlets picked up the story.

Before agreeing to an interview or appearance on any traditional or digital platform it is important to properly prepare. I regularly speak to the media and counsel clients on how to interact with journalists.  Not everyone is ready for the attention that may occur after they are interviewed about an issue.

Your reputation may forever be negatively altered by one wrong statement to the media or Tweet. There may also be tremendous legal consequences involved when you speak to the media or post online so when you are unsure about what to do don't forget this famous saying:  "better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt".

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Online Reputation, Snapchat, Draymond Green, and Penis Pics

According to Webster's online dictionary, reputation is: "the common opinion that people have about someone or something."  One's reputation may be a mix of how you conduct yourself at home, at work, at the gym, at your place of worship, online, etc...

Over the weekend, NBA star Draymond Green accidentally posted a photo of his penis on social media platform Snapchat.  He initially claimed on Twitter that his account was hacked; however, he soon apologized and admitted to the mistake.  Green stated that he meant to send the photo as a private message but hit the wrong button.  

While the incident appears to be short lived, it was a distraction that didn't need to happen.  In addition to being a member of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, he is also a member of Team USA's basketball team and is representing our country at the Rio Olympics later this week.  If this incident occurred during the Olympic games it may have become a much bigger deal.          

In general, unless you need to send a photo of your private parts to the doctor because of a medical condition you should not be taking photos of yourself naked or of others.  I have heard too many horror stories from too many clients about how they wanted to impress a significant other(s) so they sent naked photos of themselves only later to regret it.    

Kim Kardashian's sex tape success was an aberration in the naked fame game.  Her father had been famous for being friends with O.J. Simpson, and her mother's 2nd husband was Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner who was one of the most famous athletes of the 1970's.  So she had a well thought out game plan on how to create and capitalize on getting naked in front of a camera.  In contrast, there are countless stories of others whose lives were destroyed because of naked images of themselves were published for the world to see.  

Protecting your privacy is paramount in protecting your reputation. Therefore, its imperative to understand how to protect yourself from a digital mistake in the Social Media Age.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

Online Reputation: Will Miss Teen USA Lose Her Crown Over Tweets?

The Miss Teen USA pageant is currently in the middle of a social media crisis.  According to CNN, soon after Karlie Hay won the pageant on Saturday night it was uncovered that in 2013 and 2014 she had made multiple posts on Twitter that used a racial slur towards African-Americans.

Ms. Hay quickly apologized when asked about the racial slurs on her Twitter account and subsequently made her Twitter account private.  While this is a good initial response, it is too soon to determine if this will be enough to avoid a forced resignation.  

As of this writing, the pageant is still behind Ms. Hay.  However, I don't want to speculate what the pageant organizers will do if there is a groundswell of pressure to strip Ms. Hay of her title that was not anticipated. When I advise clients about similar issues there are many factors at play.  Legal, financial, and reputation issues are intertwined in the Social Media Age so organizations generally don't have a lot of time to make a decision.

Over the years, there have been several instances where a pageant winner was forced to resign after winning. The most famous occurred in 1984, when Vanessa Williams resigned as Miss America for posing nude before she was crowned Ms. America. According to Time Magazine, Ms. Williams was given the impression the photos would be in silhouette form and she would not be identifiable. Unfortunately, Ms. Williams signed a model release which enabled the photographer to do whatever he wanted with the photos which included selling them to Penthouse Magazine.

Old Facebook posts and Tweets are regularly held against students when applying to schools and job applicants when applying for employment. The bottom line is that you must be careful about how you carry yourself in both the physical and digital world to ensure that you don't harm your reputation and the reputation of others.     

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.

Playboy Playmate Under Criminal Investigation For Snapchat Photo

According to Entertainment Tonight, the LA Police Department has opened an investigation into 2015 Playmate of the Year Dani Mathers' Snapchat activity after it received a complaint from LA Fitness. It appears that the investigation is centered around an alleged illegally disseminated private image Ms. Mathers took of a fellow gym member inside an LA Fitness club. While Ms. Mathers was in the bathroom/shower area of an LA Fitness gym she took a naked photo of another person and posted it on Snapchat with some negative comments.  

Subsequently, the naked photo Ms. Mathers posted went viral and she has gone from being the bully who body shamed a fellow gym member for personal pleasure to a target herself.    If the person in the photo comes forward Ms. Mathers could face up to six months in prison for her behavior.

Since Ms. Mathers published the naked photo, she has been suspended from her radio show and banned from all LA Fitness gyms.  Online, thousands of people have also stated how disgusted they are about Ms. Mathers' actions.      

Ms. Mathers' behavior demonstrates she didn't even realize what she had done was wrong. Her apology shows she doesn't have a clue about the law or proper digital behavior.  Ms. Mathers only apologized for posting the photo on Snapchat.  She admits in her so called apology that she had the intent to take the naked photo of stranger and share it with her friends.  This demonstrates a lack of remorse and understanding of the seriousness of the situation.

People have an expectation of privacy in bathrooms whether they are in a public restroom or a private club.  Those who violate this expectation of privacy should be held legally accountable. If Ms. Mathers is sued by the person whom she photographed I wouldn't be surprised if a settlement or judgement is either six or seven figures. The Erin Andrews jury verdict and subsequent settlement is the benchmark to measure these types of privacy violations.  

The bottom line is that companies need to better train their employees about these issues because one dumb Snap, Tweet, or Post can create millions in legal liability.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.

Microsoft Wins Major Data Privacy Decision For Users

Microsoft won a major privacy legal victory for users today when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can't use a U.S. search warrant to access customer data stored overseas.  The unanimous 3-0 ruling is a victory for the rule of law, privacy, and the usage of new technologies such as the cloud.

The case started in 2013 when a New York federal judge issued a warrant for the emails of a drug trafficking suspect.  Some of the requested content was stored in Microsoft's computers in Ireland so the company refused to turn the data over unless the U.S. government followed well established international rules on obtaining evidence in a foreign country. 

In 2014, the U.S. Southern District of New York ruled that search warrants issued under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) enable the government to access data stored anywhere in the world. This ruling had affirmed a magistrate judge's decision that focused on who controls the data and not the location of the data.  The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimous ruling clearly demonstrates that the lower courts misinterpreted the SCA and Congress' intent on digital privacy.

During the past several years, I have attended numerous conferences and congressional hearings on the issues surrounding this case.  I have listened to many of the legal and public policy arguments as to why the lower courts' rulings must stand or be reversed. Today's ruling is a victory for privacy rights in the Digital Age, democracy, and technology public policy.  In short, the general legal protections that apply to the physical world have been extended to the digital world.

My hope is that other courts focused on similar privacy issues take notice of this decision and that Congress sooner rather than later enacts common sense data privacy laws for the Digital Age. The U.S. must be a leader in technology public policy and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has taken our country a step in the right direction.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.     

Pokemon Go, Augmented Reality, and Legal Liability

Pokemon Go is the hottest mobile game sweeping the world.  It can easily be downloaded onto a mobile device and it incorporates the physical world into the virtual world.  In other words, its an augmented reality game.

Pokemon Go uses your phone's GPS and camera while you play the game.  In addition, Techcrunch has reported that the game wants permission to collect a tremendous amount of your personal information.  Generally, you should just say no to allowing for this type of personal data collection.  

While there are thousands of games that can be downloaded onto your phone this appears to be the first popular augmented reality mobile game that has gained international traction.  It has become so popular that criminals are utilizing it to rob and harm users.  According to published reports, at least 9 Pokemon Go users have been lured and robbed while using the app.

It may be a matter of when and not if a Pokemon Go user who has become a victim of one of these crimes sues the game's publisher for creating an "attractive nuisance" or some other type of tort.  Due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act it may be difficult for a potential Pokemon Go plaintiff to win a lawsuit based upon this or similar causes of action.

The bottom line is that users must understand the risks inherent when downloading and utilizing digital games.  Just because something may look harmless on your phone, that doesn't make it necessarily so.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved. 

Will Dallas Police Tweet Create Millions In Legal Liability?

Social Media has changed our society forever.  Our physical lives have become so intertwined with our digital lives that it is difficult to keep them separate.  Unfortunately, many people, businesses, government entities, schools, and other organizations still don't have a clue about the legal ramifications of every single Tweet, post, snap, livestream, etc...

During the past several days, we have had multiple terrible tragedies occur that were either streamed live on Facebook or posted online soon after the incidents occurred.  The facts surrounding the shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana where police officers shot and killed African-American men who may have been armed but not brandishing their weapons or acting in a menacing way are very troubling.  Due to the proliferation of cell phones and social media, footage of these incidents and/or aftermath have been viewed and shared millions of times around the world before the authorities have had the time to investigate what happened.  

Unfortunately, it appears that many government agencies do not understand the legal implications of social media.  A case in point is what happened in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Dallas where at least 12 police officers were shot and 5 tragically killed in a senseless attack on law enforcement who were at a peaceful protest for the shootings that occurred in Louisiana and Minnesota. According to multiple published reports, the shooter "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers".

In the chaos that ensued after the shootings, the Dallas Police Department Tweeted out a photo with the caption:  "This is one of our suspects. Please help us find him!"  Within hours of the Tweet, the person pictured in the photo had allegedly received thousands of death threats. This person ended up not being connected in any way to the Dallas tragedy and was just a person exercising his First and Second Amendment rights in a public street during a peaceful protest.  

I am not sure who on the Dallas Police Department published the irresponsible Tweet but it may create tremendous legal liability for the agency.  In 2013, The New York Post settled a lawsuit for inferring that a couple of innocent people were involved in the Boston Marathon terrorist attack. Seventeen years earlier, the 1996 terrorist bombing at the Atlanta Olympics made a pariah out of Richard Jewell after law enforcement carelessly leaked his name to the media as the prime suspect in that terrible attack.  

Since 2011, the Dallas Police Department has spent approximately $6 million dollars on lawsuit settlements.  Most of those settlements were related to police brutality and other misconduct issues. I am not aware of a case where the police department has created a a social media fire storm that put an innocent man's reputation and safety at risk.        

The bottom line is that organizations need to better understand the legal and societal issues inherent with social media.  This includes better policies, education, and training. Over the years, I have seen too many entities create bad policies and not hire the right people to properly advise, educate, and train their employees about digital issues.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved. 

Cheating Website Ashley Madison Investigated By FTC

Last year, the website Ashley Madison was hacked and the personal information of its users was uploaded online.  This wasn't just any website, it was one that catered to people looking to cheat on their significant other.  Subsequently, the company's CEO resigned and its revenues drastically decreased.  

Soon after the hack was reported, I stated that "it would not surprise me if the FTC became involved in the matter". It appears that the FTC has decided to investigate the company because according to Reuters it has opened an investigation into Ashley Madison's creation of fake female profiles or fembots to increase user engagement with its male customers.  Hiring companies that specialize in creating misleading daily active users (DAU's) or other metrics is such a common phenomena that on the season finale of HBO's Silicon Valley this issue became what appears to be an integral part of the series moving forward.  

There is a tremendous amount of fraud online because it is very difficult for perpetrators to be exposed and held accountable for their actions. The digital space is teaming with not just unethical companies but also "self described experts" that intentionally mislead others about their background and service offerings to build their reputation. 

While its too early to speculate on the focus of the FTC investigation, this should be a wake up call regarding trusting companies or "self described online experts" with your organizations' sensitive data.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved. 

Reputation Update: Florida Prosecutor Fired Over Facebook Comments

Last week, I wrote that Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis was suspended for posting online inflammatory messages about the city of Orlando in wake of the tragic nightclub terrorist attack.  Instead of being provided the opportunity to continue as a prosecutor he has been fired.

At the time of his suspension, his office stated, "Mr. Lewis violated the SAO9 social media policy. The social media policy was adopted and implemented on February 20, 2015, as part of SAO9’s code of conduct. Every employee is required to sign the policy. Failure to comply can result in discipline up to and including termination."  

Yesterday, the State's Attorney stated, "Whether you [Mr. Lewis] intended to convey that all those who attend nightclubs are animals (the zoo reference) or whether the reference to 'debauchery' was meant to express some objection to the lifestyle choices of those who attended this club, we will never know. I cannot believe that a man of your intelligence would not realize that your comment could bear that interpretation.....I can no longer defend you as a prosecutor free of bias. Therefore the recommendation of termination is also upheld. You shall remain on suspension until June 30, 2016 at which time your employment with this office will be terminated."  

The bottom line is just because you have the ability to post an opinion on Facebook doesn't mean that its a good idea to do so.  Therefore, the next time you hear a self styled social media expert/guru/ninja, etc... state how important it is to "be authentic" or "share more" online you know that that person doesn't know the first thing about social media, reputation, or the law.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved.    

BREXIT Will Alter Technology Public Policy, Privacy, and the Law

The votes have been counted regarding the BREXIT which was the referendum on whether Great Britain would stay in the European Union or leave and the result is that the UK will exit the EU.  The vote to leave won by more than a million votes (52%-48%; 17,410,742-16,141,241).

In the short term, stock markets around the world are plunging due to the uncertainty. However, when the dust has settled the legal and regulatory work on how to adjust to this change in relationship will begin. While the vote will have a tremendous effect on many international issues, it appears that the UK's data protection rules may be unaffected.  In the short term, this appears so; however, in the long term this may change.

The vote was a surprise to many lawyers and technology public policy analysts and this is demonstrated by the lack of planning in the event that the UK voted to leave the EU. Will other countries follow the UK's lead and will this create new alliances? While current trade deals may not be affected by the vote, new rules and regulations will be needed and future trade deals involving the UK and the EU will need to account for this result.  

Change is generally hard.  The people of the UK have spoken and in a democracy the will of the people must be followed.  Even though it is too soon to speculate on how this vote will ultimately affect technology public policy and privacy issues there are a lot of unanswered legal issues surrounding the process in which the UK will leave the EU.

 Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved. 

Restaurant's Reputation Harmed Over "Fatty" Receipt on Facebook

A Rhode Island restaurant recently fired one of its employees who identified a customer on a receipt as "fatty".  The former employee who was also the son of the owner is no longer allowed to eat at the restaurant or come onto the property. The owner immediately apologized for the incident and has tried to reach out to the upset customer to personally make amends. Unfortunately, after this matter has gone viral the owner is now receiving death threats and the incident has gone from local news to national news.    

There is no excuse for the now former employee to have identified the customer as "fatty". However, instead of first posting the receipt on Facebook why didn't the customer try to notify the manager about the situation? This incident will now be tied to not only the restaurant, the owner, and the fired employee, but also to the customer.  Not everything that happens to us needs to be shared and broadcast digitally for the entire world to see. The customer may now be forever tied to the term "fatty". 

The old adage that "sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me" still needs to be taught to our children because we live in a country that has strong protections against limiting the freedom of speech.  While name calling is childish and has no place in a professional environment, it happens.  How you respond to being called something that offends you goes into determining your overall reputation.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved.    

FTC Fines Advertising Network For Illegal Mobile Tracking

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that mobile advertising company InMobi will pay a $950,000 civil penalty and implement a comprehensive privacy program to settle FTC charges it deceptively tracked the locations of hundreds of millions of consumers, including children, without their knowledge or consent to serve them geo-targeted advertising.

According to the FTC, InMobi misrepresented that its advertising software would only track user locations when they opted in. However, InMobi was tracking user locations whether users opted in or refused to provide permission. InMobi's advertising network has a reach of more than one billion devices via thousands of apps so there is a staggering amount of data that the company has illegally obtained. 

Under the terms of its settlement with the FTC, InMobi is subject to a $4 million civil penalty, which is suspended to $950,000 due to the company's financial position. The company will be required to delete all information it collected from users and it is prohibited from collecting consumers’ location information without their affirmative express consent. InMobi must also institute a comprehensive privacy program that will be independently audited every two years for the next 20 years.

How much money did InMobi make by intentionally deceiving consumers?  This deception demonstrates why there needs to be stronger laws and greater enforcement mechanisms in place to deter and stop illegal behavior. 

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved. 

Florida Prosecutor's Reputation Destroyed Over Facebook Comments

Be careful what you say online because it may come back to hurt you.  Unfortunately, too many people don't heed this advice and this time an attorney has forever harmed his reputation because of unprovoked online posts. Florida Assistant State Attorney Kenneth Lewis was suspended for posting online inflammatory messages about the city of Orlando in wake of the tragic nightclub terrorist attack.  His comments violated his employer's social media policy.

It appears that Mr. Lewis has been investigated for previously posting inappropriate online comments.  Just because you have a right to say something doesn't mean its a good idea to do so.  For years, people have felt less inhibited to attach their names to very incendiary online comments because its so easy to do so from the comfort of your own home.  Unfortunately, many people don't realize that comments meant for just friends or family may be seen around the world in just seconds.

Will Mr. Lewis be passed over for promotion because of this issue?  Will Mr. Lewis' online comments encourage his employer to terminate his employment for this or other behavior?  Will his online activities hurt his ability to transition to another employer?

In the Digital Age, it is imperative to understand how the Internet may help or harm your personal and professional reputation.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved.

Doctors Yelp Review Responses May Create Millions In Legal Liability

The Washington Post has an interesting story about how some doctors and health care professionals are responding to negative reviews online.  In essence, it sounds as though some members of the health care profession are violating the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by providing very personal details about a patient's care in response to negative online reviews.  

While some people believe that HIPAA provides strong privacy protections to patients there is no private right of action allowed for an individual to sue  for a violation of the act.  One option is to file a HIPAA privacy complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR).  Another option is review your state's medical privacy laws to determine if there is a state based privacy claim.  

In 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a $1.44 million dollar claim against Walgreens for a state based medical information privacy action.  In that case, a Walgreens employee violated a patient's privacy by viewing a customer's prescription records and disclosing that information to a third-party.       

The bottom line is that doctor practices, hospitals, and other health care providers should have the proper policies in place and be trained about legal social media issues that may affect their practices. Just because a social media "expert"/"guru"/"ninja", etc.... may advocate responding to a negative online review you may want to get a second opinion from a lawyer who understands the legal, privacy, and reputation ramifications of doing so.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved.

Teenager Sues Virginia Prosecutor Over Erect Penis Photo Demand

According to The Washington Post, a teenager who was caught up in a sexting investigation has sued a Virginia prosecutor for civil rights violations.  While the police were investigating sexting between two teenagers in 2014 they obtained a warrant to force the teenager to enable law enforcement to take photos of his genitalia. Fortunately, the public was notified of this ridiculous situation and the teenager was not required to take a photo of his erect penis for evidence.

This request created a major public uproar.  It sounded like those requesting the photos had been fans of the the 1980's movie Porky's when physical education teacher Ms. Balbricker asked the high school principal if he would sanction a penis (tallywacker) lineup of several students so she could identify which student stuck his penis through a peep hole in the girl's bathroom. Ms. Balbricker claimed that she could identify the offending student's penis because it contained a distinctive mole. In the movie, the request for the penis line up was denied. 

The detective who handled the case killed himself last year after being accused of molesting two young boys so this raises further doubts regarding the motive for photos of the teenager's erect penis.I initially wrote about the case in 2014 and stated, "My hope is that prosecutors and judges across the country realize that this is the wrong way to deal with sexting by teenagers."

The bottom line is that teenagers should be provided more education about these issues instead of outright punishment for these types of situations.

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq.  All rights reserved.

NFL Draft Social Media Lessons For NCAA Schools & Student-Athletes

The 2016 NFL draft demonstrated why people need to become more educated about social media, digital privacy, reputation, and the law. Since starting this blog in 2009, I have been warning the public about the dangers associated with digital technologies and social media and how to protect yourself from becoming a star in a viral social media pr crisis.

Several minutes before the NFL draft started on Thursday, a video was posted on NFL prospect Laremy Tunsil's personal Twitter account that allegedly showed him wearing a gas mask and taking bong hits.  

While Mr. Tunsil is not the first college student who has admitted to trying drugs or drinking too much (i.e. President's Clinton, Bush, and Obama), he is the first to have had this information go viral right before he was expected to be drafted and earn millions of dollars.

This video allegedly cost Tunsil approximately $13 million dollars in salary and his agent $390,000 in fees.  It may have even destroyed Tunsil's marketability as a celebrity spokes person which could have earned him millions more and his agents hundreds of thousands of dollars in commission. This matter will go down as one of the most expensive digital mistake's on record.

This wasn't the only digital evidence of Mr. Tunsil's activities in college.  A short time after the bong video was posted, a text message exchange appeared on Mr. Tunsil's personal Instagram account that appears to demonstrate that his college program (University of Mississippi) was paying for some of his personal expenses which is an NCAA violation.

    

This post may lead to an NCAA investigation which could cost the University of Mississippi tens of millions of dollars.  Ole Miss may be forced to forfeit games Tunsil appeared in, lose scholarships, become ineligible for future bowl games, etc... Additionally, sponsorship revenue may decrease, and the university may be forced to spend millions in legal fees and compliance costs to investigate and defend their actions. Coaches and athletic administrators may also be fired because of this evidence.

Tunsil was obviously targeted because the hacker(s) acquired the digital evidence and struck at the most opportune time to inflict serious damage to his reputation.While it appears that multiple state and federal laws were violated, until the matter is fully investigated it is too early to determine what criminal and/or civil action may be taken.  

These types of issues will only increase in the future.  As I told The New York Times, "Its very challenging with these computer crimes because people can hide their tracks... Even if you find the person who hacked, can you even collect on the judgment?"

The bottom line is that education is the best way to protect against becoming a victim. When a crisis like this occurs, it is imperative to understand how to properly respond to ensure that your organization has its legal and pr ducks in a row to limit any damage to your reputation.  

Copyright 2016 by Bradley S. Shear, Esq. All rights reserved. 

Erin Andrews Settles Multi-Million Dollar Internet Privacy Lawsuit

Earlier this year, Erin Andrews won a $55 million dollar privacy lawsuit against those whose actions and/or negligence resulted in a naked video of her being uploaded onto the Internet for eternity.  During her trial, the jury found that the hotel where she was video taped naked to be liable for approximately $26 million of the $55 million dollars in damages awarded.

According to The Tennessean, the hotel that was held to be negligent in protecting Ms. Andrew's privacy has settled its portion of the lawsuit.  While terms of the settlement are confidential, it wouldn't surprise me if Ms. Andrews settlement was between $15-$20 million dollars.  The settlement was reached before the judge was about to rule on whether the hotel could be on the hook for the entire $55 million dollars.

We may never know the exact settlement amount.  However, the bottom line is that Ms. Andrews will be naked on the Internet forever.  While Ms. Andrews has successfully persevered despite these circumstances, no amount of money will be able to permanently remove her online naked images and make things right.

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.



    

ESPN Fires Curt Schilling Over Facebook Post

ESPN fired Curt Schilling, a former major league baseball star after he made an offensive Facebook post.  This was not the first time that Schilling's social media behavior had gotten him in trouble; however, this post was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  It showed a photo of a man that appeared to be dressed as a woman and stated, "LET HIM IN" TO THE RESTROOM WITH YOUR DAUGHTER OR ELSE YOUR'RE A NARROW MINDED, JUDGMENTAL, UNLOVING, RACIST BIGOT WHO NEEDS TO DIE!!!

Last year, Schilling was suspended from ESPN for an offensive Tweet that compared some Muslims with Nazis.  In that case, Schilling deleted the post and quickly apologized. However, during this social media crisis instead of apologizing for the post quickly he doubled down and defended it on his blog.  

Schilling has the right to voice his opinions. However, under his agreement with ESPN there is most likely a morals clause and under ESPN's social media policy it most likely enables it to fire him for making those opinions public on social media.  Most jobs in the U.S. are at-will meaning that employees may be fired for any reason or no reason at all that doesn't violate public policy (i.e. discrimination-age, race, gender, religion etc...) 

Schilling's reputation has taken a tremendous hit.  It is highly questionable whether he will be given another opportunity by a large media company to be a sports commentator.  It wasn't just one offensive social media post that did him in.  Schilling's cumulative comments online and offline and how he responded to them made it easy for ESPN to fire him.  

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Thailand Wants Foreigners To Register Their Social Media Accounts

According to The Washington Post, Thailand wants foreigners who move to the country to register their social media account information with the government.  A Thailand government spokesman has stated that the request is not mandatory; however, the form that ex-patriots must complete does not indicate that this information is optional.

This new request is not surprising since governments around the world are increasingly monitoring and tracking the digital habits of those within their boarders and around the world. The question is which country will follow in Thailand's foot steps?

 Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million In Gawker Naked Video Lawsuit

Privacy still matters in the Digital Age.  A Florida state jury awarded former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan $115 million dollars in a lawsuit against the online publication Gawker for publishing a video of him taken without his consent of him having sex with his former best friend's wife.

$55 million dollars of the jury's award was for economic harm and $60 million dollars was for emotional distress.  Punitive damages may also be awarded next week so its possible the award may substantially increase.

The recent Erin Andrews $55 million dollar Internet naked video award set the bar for privacy violations in the Digital Age and the Hogan case appears to have taken it several steps further. While both of these cases may be appealed and its doubtful that either will ever receive close to the figures that these juries have awarded, these awards demonstrate that the public is ready to punish those who destroy the personal privacy of others on the Internet.    

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Internet Ruined My Life After Show

The Syfy Chanel is hosting a new program called, "The Internet Ruined My Life" on Wednesday evenings at 10pm est.  The show profiles stories of those whose lives have been uprooted because of an inappropriate Tweet, or digital activism, or other Internet related activity.

The after show which discusses the stories profiled each episode is hosted by Diana Garber of Cyberwise and Sue Scheff, who is an Author and Internet Safety Expert.  I am honored to be a guest on the after show tomorrow.  I will also be appearing with Dr. Pamela Rutledge who is a Media Psychology Expert.

The after show will occur online at 12 est on March 17, 2016.  The issues that will be discussed demonstrate the importance of understanding the legal, psychological, and safety issues of your digital behavior. The link to the after show is: https://blab.im/cyberwise-aftershow-the-internet-ruined-my-life

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Erin Andrews Naked Video Lawsuit and Privacy in The Digital Age

The Erin Andrews naked video stalking matter is one of the most troubling examples of what can happen when your privacy is destroyed when illegally created video is uploaded onto the Internet. Ms. Andrews is a sports reporter who has worked at ESPN and is now at Fox Sports. In 2008, a stalker by the name of Michael David Barrett started to follow her and thought it would be a profitable economic venture to video record her nude and then sell the images to the highest bidder.

Mr. Barrett followed Ms. Andrews to the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University. While at the hotel, he figured out how to obtain Ms. Andrews' room number by using a house phone and asking to be connected to her room. When being transferred, Ms. Andrews' room number appeared on the phone's display.  With this information, Mr. Barrett asked the hotel if he could stay in a room next to Ms. Andrews and he was granted his wish.

Once Mr. Barrett obtained Ms. Andrews room number, he utilized a hack saw to remove her door's peephole.  When he heard that she was showering he uncovered her door's doctored peephole and put his cell phone to the opening and recorded approximately four and a half minutes of her naked. After he was finished, he tried to sell the video. There were no interested bidders so he uploaded it online anyway.

Mr. Barrett was subsequently prosecuted for his crimes and Ms. Andrews filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Barrett and the hotel operator/owner where the incident occurred.  According to testimony during Ms. Andrews' civil trial against those she is trying to hold legally responsible for this incident approximately 17 million people have so far viewed the video of her naked.  

Through no fault of her own, she has been seen naked all over the world for more than 7 years.  No technology will be able to permanently scrub this the content from the Internet.  While Ms. Andrews has prospered in her career despite this very disgusting incident, I believe she has lost out on tens of millions of dollars in potential income and business opportunities.  Because of this situation, she has to spend a tremendous amount of time and money on security and privacy protocols along with mental health assistance. The emotional toll has been devastating and will continue for years to come.

There is recent precedent for a multi-million dollar damage award for emotional distress for privacy damages. Last year, rapper 50 Cent was ordered to pay $5 million dollars in damages for leaking a naked video of a woman who had fathered a child with a rival of his. Therefore, juries have begun to understand that damages should be awarded for destroying one's personal privacy.

Interestingly, NBC News has reported that a representative of one of the defendants/a witness who has testified was accused of watching Ms. Andrews' naked video in a restaurant yesterday. This appears to demonstrate that one of the defendants do not take this matter seriously. After watching some of the testimony and reading about the activities of those acting on behalf of the defense, I hope Ms. Andrews wins her case and is awarded millions of dollars.

The hotel owed a duty of care to protect Ms. Andrews' privacy. It failed. But for the hotel's negligence in deploying technology that would enable others to obtain the room numbers of their guests, this incident would not have occurred. The hotel's choice of technology put the personal privacy and safety of Ms. Andrews and other guests at risk. Ms. Andrews will always be naked on the Internet and has incurred significant damages that I believe have been proven at trial.  Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me if she is awarded millions of dollars in damages.

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Judicial Redress Act Signed

In a positive development, President Obama has signed the Judicial Redress Act yesterday.  The new law will enable citizens of some of our allies to sue the U.S. government for violating their personal privacy rights.

The bill passed with bipartisan support in both the U.S. House and Senate and signed by the President soon after he received the bill.  The enactment of this piece of legislation was needed in order for the new U.S.-EU Privacy Shield Agreement to move forward in Europe.  

The bottom line is that the enactment of the Judicial Redress Act extends some of the privacy rights our citizens have to the citizens of our allies and demonstrates that our country is serious about protecting the personal privacy of their citizens.  This signals that the U.S. may be moving towards ensuring stronger digital privacy rights when it comes to matters that may affect international commerce.  

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

NFL Star Files Twitter Lawsuit Against ESPN

According to The New York Post, New York Giants star Jason Pierre-Paul has filed a lawsuit against ESPN and one its reporters, Adam Schefter, for Tweeting a photo of his medical records.  Last July 4th, Pierre-Paul was involved in a fireworks accident that severely damaged one of his hands and the incident created a feeding frenzy among the media to determine the extent of Pierre-Paul's injuries.  

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the hospital and its employees owed a duty of medical privacy to Pierre-Paul.  The media is not a covered entity under HIPAA so it doesn't apply to ESPN or Schefter.  It has been reported that the hospital that treated Pierre-Paul has already settled with him most likely because it had the most to lose if the matter went to trial since it was a covered entity under HIPAA.

While HIPAA doesn't cover ESPN/Adam Schefter's actions, Pierre-Paul may have an actionable claim under Florida state law or common law. If ESPN/Adam Schefter contacted me before posting Pierre-Paul's medical records on Twitter, I would have advised against Tweeting out the photo or posting it online on another platform due to potential legal liability. While its too soon to speculate on how Florida state law or common law may affect the outcome of this case, it should make people think long and hard before they post the medical records of others online without expressed written consent.    

I have previously written about ESPN's corporate social media policy that covers its reporters here and here.  The bottom line is that professional sports teams, athletes, and those that work in the sports field need to become better educated about the legal implications of their actions whenever they utilize digital platforms. One wrong post or action/inaction that leads to a digital post may create millions of dollars in legal liability.  

Copyright 2016 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.

Apple vs. the FBI: We Can Have Both Privacy And Security

Can we have both privacy and security?  That is a question that has been popular since 9/11/2001.  I believe we can have both.  As someone who personally witnessed the terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center from a couple of blocks away (and became homeless because of them and eventually moved), I am fully well versed on these issues from the security side.  As an attorney who focuses on technology and privacy issues and who has advocated for stronger personal privacy laws on the state and federal level, I also understand the inherent privacy issues.

To recap the latest privacy vs. security debate: the U.S. Justice Department is demanding that Apple help unlock an iPhone that was utilized by the San Bernardino terrorists who killed 14 people and injured 22 in 2015.  Without getting too technical, the FBI has requested (there has been multiple requests/back and forth between the parties) that Apple create software or disable some security protections on an iPhone that would weaken its encryption to allow the FBI to ensure that it may access the contents on the device.  According to The New York Times, the FBI has also requested that Apple assist it with unlocking at least 9 other iPhones.

Weakening encryption or creating back doors into our technology may sound like a good idea for this one case; however, there are and will be other cases where similar requests will be made to access information stored on electronic devices.  If the FBI is provided a back door for this one case, security services from others countries will also demand one for their cases (there could be demands for access to phones belonging to government political opponents or to whistle blowers) as well. In addition, hackers may also utilize back doors which would harm the privacy and personal security of all of us.

I am in favor of law enforcement being able to access digital content when a valid warrant has been obtained.  However, the legal process needs to be followed before content requested is turned over. In general, a major problem with our current legal process is that our digital laws are outdated. For example, the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act which governs email access was created before we had smart phones and the Internet as we know it.  The judiciary is stuck trying to interpret laws that are woefully out of date.

Congress must step up to fix this process.  Bills such as the Email Privacy Act, and the Law Enforcement Access To Data Stored Abroad Act-LEADS need to be enacted because these bills demonstrate that government is willing to update our laws to better reflect how we utilize technology. Absent a legislative fix, private industry has a challenge when law enforcement makes certain demands which are more than just data requests. Should they comply absent trying to block these demands through the courts or should they fight law enforcement demands via a flawed legal process?

This case and others like it demonstrate the need for more dialogue on these issues and the enactment of legislation that provides clearer guidance on how to handle these issues. Technology is moving too fast to leave it solely up to the judiciary to try to interpret how laws enacted decades ago for a different time should apply in the Digital Age.  Our personal privacy and national security demand that Congress and the White House work on a long term solution to these important privacy and security issues.

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.  

Kurt Rambis, Twitter, Sports, and Social Media Reputation

The Kurt Rambis Twitter Fail has been blown way out of proportion by the media. Coach Rambis allegedly "liked" a female masturbation photo.  Whether he intentionally "liked" it or it was "liked" by accident is up for debate.  Unfortunately, in the Digital Age any non-puritanical digital activity may become a news story for those who hold high profile positions in the world of sports, entertainment, government, politics, business, etc....

When using a digital device, it is easy to accidentally "like" a Tweet or indicate a preference for a particular post when scrolling up or down on a smart phone.  I have accidentally "liked" Tweets in the past and didn't realize it until reviewing my digital activity at a later date. It is entirely possible that Coach Rambis' Twitter account was hacked. Did the hackers also make Coach Rambis follow @GreatAssDaily?   

I have had multiple clients who have been targets of hacking and other nefarious digital attacks. If Mr. Rambis' account was hacked as the Knicks claim he/the team should file a complaint with the proper state and/or federal authorities. 

Whomever is advising the Knicks and Coach Rambis regarding this matter failed miserably. There are significant legal, business, and personal and corporate reputation issues involved. The bottom line is that many PR firms and social media consultants don't understand how intertwined these issues have become in the Digital Age and it shows when an incident like this occurs.

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

US-EU Safe Harbor Deadline Passes Without A New Data Transfer Deal

According to The New York Times, United States (US) and European Union (EU) officials were unable to reach an agreement on an updated International Safe Harbor agreement before the January 31st deadline. The agreement covered how digital data (i.e. social media content, financial data, etc..) could be transferred between the continents.

The Safe Harbor Agreement that was implemented in 2000 between the US and EU contained principles that allowed companies (i.e. tech companies and other multi-national companies) to comply with EU data protection laws when moving data from Europe to the United States.  US companies that process and/or store individuals' data may self certify that they adhere to 7 principles that comply with the EU's data protection laws.

The 7 principles include:  notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement.  The initial Safe Harbor agreement was meant to be an interim agreement; however, it lasted approximately 15 years.  A couple of years ago, EU and US regulators began negotiating an updated agreement to take into account how technology has changed over the years. Last October, before a new agreement was finalized, the current one was invalidated by the European Court of Justice via a compliant from Austrian privacy advocate Max Schrems.  Mr. Schrems gained publicity several years ago for his privacy advocacy that was highlighted in the documentary Terms and Conditions May Apply when he demonstrated how much data Facebook was collecting about each of its EU users.  

Now that the deadline has passed, what comes next?  According to The New York Times, the sides still have a lot of details to work out. Therefore, until a formal announcement is made it is premature to speculate on the next step.  As I told LAW360 the other day, businesses need certainty regarding transatlantic data transfers and if an agreement is not forthcoming companies will need a Plan B. 

If consumer groups file complaints as The New York Times indicated may occur, these issues may need to be adjudicated via the courts. At this point, uncertainty is the status quo and this may create unintended service disruptions for companies that transfer digital data between the continents. My hope is that an agreement is reached sooner rather than later that is flexible enough to account for future technology changes.  

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

How Much Is Your Data Worth To Facebook?

Facebook recently released its fourth quarter 2015 earnings and it demonstrated that the social media giant is hitting its stride.  It made an average of $3.73 off each of its users around the world.  However, in the United States and Canada, it made an average of $13.54 off each of its users.

What do these figures mean exactly?  Well, it demonstrates that there is value in the information you provide to Facebook in exchange to utilize their service.  Therefore, every time you provide Facebook information about your personal life (i.e. date of birth, marital status, kids, etc...), upload a photo, "like" a corporate page, etc...that is data that may be sold to data brokers, advertisers, and others.  There is tremendous value in your personal information.

Due to Facebook's very troubling privacy policy and data usage practices, I don't trust the platform with my personal data and/or my family's information.  I have limited personal information on my Facebook account with intentionally misleading content to protect my family's personal privacy and safety.  Your Facebook account may create tremendous legal problems for yourself and put you and your family's personal safety at risk so the value of your data should be a wake up call.

If someone wants to get in touch with me they can call me or email me.  Those who want to say hello know that poking me via Facebook will not get my attention.  It never has and never will.

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

Ex-St. Louis Cardinals Scouting Director To Plead Guilty To Hacking

Accessing the digital accounts of others without their authorization may destroy your career and lead to prison.  Last year, the FBI began investigating the St. Louis Cardinals because it was alleged that one or more of their employees may have hacked into the Houston Astros internal computer network. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Chris Correa, the former director of scouting at the St. Louis Cardinals plans to plead guilty to 5 of 12 hacking charges.  Soon after the investigation became public, Correa's employment with the Cardinals was terminated.  Why did Crorrea illegally access the Houston Astros internal network?  It appears that it was done for competitive reasons (i.e. money-winning the World Series can be very lucrative for an organization and its employees). 

Computer crimes is a growing industry and it will only increase as companies put their intellectual "crown jewels" in the cloud.  Therefore, it is imperative for companies to train their employees about cbyersecurity, cybercrime, and privacy to ensure their employees understand what they can and cannot do online.  Ignorance may lead to personal criminal penalties and corporate legal and financial liability. 

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.

Will Twitter's New Rules Lead To An NRA Account Suspension?

In order to post to most websites and social media platforms you click "I agree" to their terms of service.  In many instances the terms provide platform owners great flexibility on how to deal with visitors to their websites.  In other words, if you want to play in their sandbox you need to agree to their rules.

Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that Twitter changed its rules at the end of last year in an attempt to limit harassment.  In particular, Twitter's new rules state:     

Any accounts and related accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension.

• Violent threats (direct or indirect): You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.
• Harassment: You may not incite or engage in the targeted abuse or harassment of others. Some of the factors that we may consider when evaluating abusive behavior include:
• if a primary purpose of the reported account is to harass or send abusive messages to others;
• if the reported behavior is one-sided or includes threats;
• if the reported account is inciting others to harass another account; and
• if the reported account is sending harassing messages to an account from multiple accounts.
• Hateful conduct: You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories.

Earlier today, The New York Daily News reported that an NRA controlled Twitter account tweeted a message with the photos of two Brooklyn state lawmakers with bullets next to their photos.  This Tweet appears to have been in reaction to new legislation announced that would limit ammo purchases in the state of New York.  Does the Tweet referenced in The New York Daily News violate Twitter's new rules? 

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court in Elonis v. United States stated that mens rea (intent) was required to be proven under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) of the U.S. Code (federal law).  While the Elonis case focused on criminal prosecutions, it doesn't affect whether Twitter or other websites can make their own rules on how people may interact on their platforms.  Therefore, Twitter may at its own discretion decide to suspend the referenced account.

Copyright 2016 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.