Reference no: EM132721653 , Length: word count:3500

LAWS 6361-801 Information Privacy and Cybersecurity - University of Colorado

Question 1

Bob, a school teacher, was the victim of arson when his home was set on fire and a substantial part left burned and uninhabitable. While the crime was still being investigated, a local newspaper became interested and Alice, a new journalist with the paper who just graduated from university, was assigned to look into the crime as a potential story.

Alice engages in many activities to learn more about Bob. Over the course of one week, she interviews his neighbors and coworkers about his habits, activities, and what they know about him. She also follows him around to learn about his daily habits. She sets up an interview with him under the pretense that she is considering enrolling her child in the school where Bob works.

In addition, Alice talks to several people at the police department in charge of investigating the crime. Alice learns from one of these sources that the police have opened an investigation into Bob under the theory that he was directly responsible for the crime. Related to the investigation, police have hidden a special ultra-sensitive directional microphone outside of the hotel where Bob is staying. The microphone is on public property, but points toward a window of Bob's second-story room that he tends to leave open. They use it to monitor any conversations that take place within the room. They also take several high-resolution photographs of Bob while he is at a public supermarket and run them through the FBI's facial recognition database. The source does not think the police applied for or received a warrant for either of these activities.

Finally, Alice creates a fake social media account using a fictional name and a photo of one of her friends. She uses the profile to connect with Bob online and gains access to his entire profile, including information that he has restricted to those within his network. She also purchases his full Spokeo profile, which mis-identifies his salary and occupation.

Using all of the information she has collected, Alice writes a story on Bob that runs on the front page of the newspaper and in the online edition. The story discusses his status as a suspect in the arson case, as well as information on his social habits. She selectively discusses his social media posts and writes that he exhibits aggressive tendencies based on an incident where he got into a prolonged and heated altercation with another person in the written comments responding to a news story that he shared on his profile. She writes that he is in a relationship with Trent, a
teacher at a neighboring school, and questions if Trent was with Bob the evening of the arson.

Based on the story and its description of the police investigation, Bob loses his job. He is also ostracized from his family who did not know that he was in a relationship with another man and believe that it conflicts with their closely-held religious views. Bob becomes deeply depressed

and has suicidal thoughts. He starts seeing a therapist regularly to try to cope with the fallout of the article. He retains you as a lawyer and seeks information on his legal options.

Write a letter to Bob. In it you should explain his potential avenues of legal address against Alice, the newspaper, the police department, or any other party, citing specific legal or regulatory precedent where relevant. Your letter should address:
(a) any potential claims,
(b) possible defenses that may be presented, and
(c) the likely outcomes in the court.

Question 2

Mugg is a globally-utilized facial recognition company that sells software to primary schools in order to track attendance. The company's privacy policy explains that it is based and operates solely in the U.S. state of Laconia and only the laws of the state of Laconia apply, regardless of where the software is purchased or used. Mugg requests that school districts avoid notifying parents of the use of the software.

One day, Eve, a Mugg employee, unintentionally copies a file to a public partition of a computer storage service. The file contains unencrypted log-in information (user names and passwords) for a large number of administrative users, many of which have access to all files stored in Mugg's databases. The file remains there for 4 months before Mallory, another employee, discovers and deletes it. While it was on the public partition anyone who was able to find or guess the link would have been able to access the file, though it wasn't discoverable through internet search engines. Mallory finds no evidence that anyone outside of Mugg ever accessed the file.

Six months later, FBI Agent Carol Smith is in charge of an investigation named Operation Stroller. Operation Stroller is investigating MRKT, an online marketplace used, among other things, to distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). Through the investigation, Agent Smith is able to identify the person who owns MRKT as Frank Walters. Frank is a Canadian
living in Toronto, though he regularly travels to New York. Agent Smith, following the proper querying procedures, searches the surveillance database of §702 of the FISA Amendments Act for information relating to Frank Walters and finds several key communications that provide the names of individuals who may be his associates, including Grace Hoppington, a U.S. citizen who appears to have known Frank for some time. Agent Smith further queries the database for any information related to Grace and receives additional records.

Using this information, Agent Smith applies for and receives a court order under the Stored Communications Act to compel Frank's email provider to turn over all opened messages or messages older than 180 days. The court order was based on specific and articulable facts

showing reasonable grounds to believe the communications were relevant and material to Agent Smith's investigation. No notice is given to Frank.

Agent Smith also applies for and receives a court order under the Wiretap Act (a "super warrant") to install a NIT on any computer that accesses MRKT. The NIT is designed to collect IP addresses and keystrokes and to activate the devices' cameras at random times to capture
images. It then transmits that information back to a computer operated by the FBI in real time. The NIT ends up on 100 computers.

Based upon materials uncovered in the investigation, Frank is convicted of crimes related to the distribution of CSAM. Specifically using information obtained through the NIT, 50 others are also charged for possession of CSAM, including Grace. During a more thorough analysis of Grace's computer, videos from Mugg's database of grade school-aged children sitting in class are found. The files would have been accessible using the log-in information that was in the file Eve made publicly accessible. It is unclear how Grace obtained the files.

You are an attorney working for a non-profit organization with a mission to react to and, when appropriate, initiate litigation in the interest of promoting privacy and cybersecurity. Your boss asks you to look at this case.

Write a memo answering two questions:
(a) What challenges, either statutory or constitutional, may be available to Frank, Grace, and the other individuals convicted in Operation Stroller specifically related to the government's surveillance activities or methods, and
(b) What, if any, liability may Mugg be open to and what are the likely outcomes of those challenges (civil, criminal, or administrative)?

Question 3

AirBNB is a company that facilitates accommodations and activities largely through a practice known as "crowd sourcing." You are a lawyer at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Your supervisor sends you the below report from the Wall Street Journal.

Using the factual information from the report and relevant provisions from the AirBNB privacy policy (link and text below), write a memo to your supervisor answering the following question:

Does the activity alleged by the Wall Street Journal constitute an unfair and/or deceptive trade practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act?

Attachment:- Information Privacy and Cybersecurity.rar