Privacy

WHOIS database

WHOIS is the popular label for a variety of Internet directories that allow users to find information on individual owners of specific domain names and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. As the only tool of its kind, it provides fairly limited information (e.g., address, Internet service provider names); however, the program still has been the source […]

Vernonia School District v. Wayne Acton, 515 U.S. 646 (1995)

In the late 1980s, the Vernonia (Oregon) School District perceived an increase in drug and alcohol use among its students and quickly took measures to address the problem. The district implemented drug education classes and used drug-sniffing canines to help detect the presence of drugs on school campuses. Acting on the administrators’ claim that student […]

Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988

After a list of Robert Bork’s video rentals was published in a newspaper during his failed Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1988, Congress took swift action and passed the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. 62710. The act prohibits videotape service providers from knowingly disclosing information regarding a consumer’s rental or purchase […]

Village of Bella Terre v. Borass, 416 U.S. 1 (1974)

In Village of Belle Terre v. Borass, the United States Supreme Court upheld a village zoning ordinance targeting nontraditional residences consisting of more than two unrelated people. The lower courts reached contradictory results based on the challenge to the ordinance under the constitutional right to privacy. After applying the rational basis test, Justice  O. Douglas’s […]

Voice identification

Alexander Graham Bell’s father envisioned that a person could be identified by the sound of his or her voice. The concept was to create a visual representation of the spoken word based on subtle differences in pronunciation. In 1941, Bell Telephone in New Jersey produced a sound spectrograph for mapping a voice on a graph […]

Voyeurism

Voyeurism is deriving sexual pleasure by secretly peering into the private affairs of another individual, often while the other individual is disrobing or engaging in a sexual act. Clinically, voyeurism is considered a type of paraphilia, a disorder in which an individual has difficulty controlling certain sexual impulses that are considered antisocial. A central trait […]

Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294 (1967)

In March 1962, an armed robber entered the Diamond Cab Company in Baltimore, Maryland. The robber made off with several hundred dollars but was followed by two cab drivers to a house on Cocoa Lane. One driver radioed a description to the company dispatcher, who then relayed the information to the police. Within minutes, the […]

United States v. Steagald, 451 U.S. 204 (1981)

In early 1978, an anonymous informant contacted an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and indicated he might help the agency locate Ricky Lyons, a fugitive wanted on drug charges. The informant provided a telephone number in Atlanta, Georgia, where Lyons could be reached during the next day. The DEA contacted agent Kelly Goodowens […]

United States. v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303 (1998)

In April 1997, Edward Scheffer, an airman in the United States Air Force, failed to appear to work, could not be located on base, and was declared absent without leave from the service. During a routine traffic stop, an Iowa state police officer identified Scheffer and placed him under arrest, holding him until he could […]

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act)

On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), P. L. No. 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (2001). The massive, 342-page act amended at least 15 existing laws, and it expanded the investigative […]