August 11, 2011 by Tara Aaron | Category: Recent News | Tags: cyberspace, privacy, stored communications act
Aspatore Press, an imprint of Thomson/Reuters, has published Understanding Developments in Cyberspace Law: Leading Lawyers Examining Privacy Issues, Addressing Security Concerns, and Responding to Recent IT Trends(whew!), part of Aspatore’s Inside the Minds series. Rick contributed a chapter on the Stored Communications Act, “Overlapping Public and Private Spheres in Cyberspace: Fear, Exhilaration, the Internet and the Stored Communications Act.” Rick’s main thesis is that, when we consider the problem of balancing privacy and commercial interests in cyberspace, the fundamental issue is cyberspace forces us to confront the public parts of our lives that relate to our private business (e.g., where we shop, who are friends are, what products we like, where we go, and so forth), and there is no consensus how to treat that space (and the public-private dichotomy is unhelpful). This public-private space has always existed, but cyberspace–in particular its ability to track and remember details about our private business–has made this space decidedly uncomfortable. Until there is consensus on this issue, attempts produce a comprehensive set of rules to govern online privacy are doomed. Until then, we’ll have to live with outdated, highly technical statutes like the Stored Communications Act, a forward-looking, noble act of Congress … Read More»
