Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog : Texas Internet, Information Technology, eCommerce & E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney Peter S. Vogel : Gardere Wynne Sewell Law Firm : Dallas TX

Steve Jobs admitted that Apple made mistakes in how it handled location data on the iPad and iPhone, but claims the data was not used to keep tabs on the whereabouts of customer. In the meantime Google announced that it used Android phone location data anonymously and with user consent to provide services to its users and did not announce any changes. On the other hand, Apple will shortly provide a software update to limit the location cache to no more that 7 days.

Marc Rotenberg (executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center) was pleased that “Apple acknowledged a mistake and they fixed it.”

It’s unlikely this is the end of the controversy as surely some bad event will force governments do re-think location data privacy issues.

Do you like the notion that Apple and/or Google are tracking your location?

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Researchers reported that Apple iOS4 operating system secretly logs unencrypted location data for iPhones, iPads, and those computers on which the devices synch to iTunes. Apparently the data resides on these devices only, so the largest problem will occur if the devices are lost, stolen, or hacked into. As a result of this revelation Senator Al Franken sent Steve Jobs a letter in which he raised a number of questions including:

Why does Apple collect and compile this location data?
How is this data generated (GPS, cell tower triangulation, WiFi triangulation, etc.)
Why is this data not encrypted?
Does Apple believe that this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policy?

We all know that cell phone contain GPS devices so our location hardly a secret, and Google even uses GPS movement to help display Traffic on Google Maps.  However Apple’s collection of this data creates a new level of public awareness.

What do you think?

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Q1 revenue increased $8.6 Billion which is 27% higher than a year earlier, however there are a number of critical legal issues facing Google which I included in my recent eCommerce Times column. Those legal challenges include the recent rejection of the long-running Google book settlement by US Circuit Judge Denny Chin regarding Google’s plan to digitize millions of books from libraries around the world. As a result of Google's unfavorable  launch of Buzz now the FTC will have oversight over Google’s privacy policy for the next 20 years. Also Google has antitrust issues in the EU and US. In spite of these challenges it appears that Google is economically success and doing well. However it’s difficult to predict how long Google can succeed with these complex legal issues to contend with.

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Although Social Media users rely on information posted on Wikipedia, a recent ruling in a US Federal Court is a reminder that US Federal Courts refuse to accept Wikipedia as a credible source. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson of Louisville, Kentucky recently denied a new trial for Karen Sypher who was convicted of trying to extort money from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. In his order Judge Simpson wrote:

…defense counsel appears to have cobbled much of his statement of the law governing ineffective assistance of counsel claims by cutting and pasting, without citation, from the Wikipedia web site

… The court reminds counsel that such cutting and pasting, without attribution, is plagiarism.

… Finally, the court reminds counsel that Wikipedia is not an acceptable source of legal authority in the United States District Courts.

Even though the Smithsonian Institution is now teaming up with Wikipedia that does not validate Wikipedia postings for the Courts. As time moves on Wikipedia may be a reliable source for the Courts, but when is still unpredictable.

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The NY Times is now charging for its content except for bloggers and Social Media users (including Facebook & Twitter) who are not charged for NY Times content at all. Under the new system for charging, visitors to the NY Times enjoy 20 free articles each month and otherwise the NY Times has a charging scheme that allows paper subscribers to not pay extra.  Other payment options include iPad and/or BlackBerry users who will be charged beyond the 20 free articles. As a matter of fact if a Facebook user wants to sign up on the NY Times website they have to allow the NY Times access to their Facebook profile.

Here’s what Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Publisher of NY Times had to say:

Readers who come to Times articles through links from search engines, blogs and social media will be able to read those articles, even if they have reached their monthly reading limit. This allows new and casual readers to continue to discover our content on the open Web. On all major search engines, users will have a daily limit on free links to Times articles.

The big question is really how the NY Times will use Social Media user data, and what an interesting evolution of news and Social Media! 

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