[ The Creepy Factor ] White House’s proposed “Privacy Bill of Rights” all focus on the backstage data. Hartzog said, “Protections must be broader in scope if they’re to be meaningful at all.” Government biggest consumer of data While many look to policymakers to draft the next round of privacy regulation, other parts of the government are consuming large quantities of data as part of surveillance and investigation. Facebook and other social media sites, cell phone records maintained by third-party entities, and a smartphone’s subscriber identity module, or SIM card, are just a few of the places police agencies look when building their body of evidence in criminal investigations, but court opinions have not answered what implications there may be under the Fourth Amendment, explained Professor Ric Simmons. “The good news for police is that today, when most people communicate, they’re keeping a semi-permanent record of what they’re saying to each other. That makes for great evidence,” he said, “but they’ll almost always need a warrant to go after the computers and smartphones.” However, only a subpoena is needed for most requests made of third parties that maintain information on customers, including private companies that have tracking tools on customers’ phones and cars, said Simmons, who taught a seminar on computer crime and surveillance this fall. Paraphrasing another expert in the field, Simmons explained that an FBI agent may not even need to enter the
2005
Google buys Keyhole, Inc., a CIA-funded company that developed the Earthviewer 3D program, which later becomes Google Earth. California enacts a law requiring companies to notify consumers of any security breaches involving their personal information. Other states quickly follow suit.
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2006
Working in data privacy becomes popular, and IAPP membership reaches 2,000.
T H E O H I O S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
Facebook, which dropped the “the” in 2005, opens up to anyone over the age of 13. The world’s first “tweet” is sent at 9:50 p.m. March 21 by Jack Dorsey: “just setting up my twttr.”
field for surveillance in another decade. Rather, investigators could simply request emails from Google, download a person’s Foursquare check-ins, and ask major retailers for the detailed purchasing records they keep to build the case for an arrest warrant. “We give so much information to private companies that we aren’t necessarily aware of – everything from our online shopping habits to GPS tracking of our location,” Simmons said. “Any information you give to a third party is not protected under the Fourth Amendment. If you share it with another person, you share it with the world, including the government.” The U.S. leads the world in the number of requests countries make for Google users’ data, according to a report the company released in November. In the first six months of 2012, nearly 8,000 requests were made for information on more than 16,000 accounts. Government entities wanted to review various Google products, including Gmail, Google Docs, and search queries. It was a 26 percent increase in requests from the six months prior. Other companies, including Twitter, Dropbox, and LinkedIn, have started reporting out the government requests for data they receive as well. Meanwhile, consumers share information about their location to cell phone service providers each time they check email, send a text, or make a call. The information does not require voluntary disclosure from the customer; it’s generated automatically. Cell phone companies keep months of data on file, and they do not have to disclose to their customers when such records are passed on to law enforcement.
2007
Apple Inc. unveils the iPhone with its touchscreen technology, and stylus pens around the world are chucked into the trash for good.
2008
Google integrates Street View into Google Earth.