In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have sought access to private data on the cell phones of two journalists. Such incidents are offensive because they threaten the independence of the press and pose specific risks to confidential sources. This government overreach also highlights how weak legal protections...

UPDATE August 29, 2017: Uber has announced a roll back of the post-ride tracking and that it will re-enable iOS users to use the “While Using” location privacy setting. As we explained in the post below, there are many legitimate reasons that a rider would want privacy in their...

The Supreme Court issued an important ruling today in the long-running patent battle between Apple and Samsung. The appeal involved some of Apple’s infamous design patents on rounded corners. The Federal Circuit had ruled that Apple was entitled to all of Samsung’s profits from the infringing phones....

The federal government just got new hacking powers with virtually no debate, including in Congress. But the fight isn’t over.
It’s not too late to debate—or even reverse—the update to federal rules governing search warrants, which now lets investigators use one warrant to search an untold number of computers...

Books checked out from a library and terms searched on library computers can reveal a teenager’s questions about sexual orientation, a neighbor’s religious leanings, or a student’s political interests. Libraries across the country, particularly public libraries, make it part of their mission to serve the most vulnerable and underserved user...

Kafka wrote in his parable The Problem of Our Laws, “It is an extremely painful thing to be ruled by laws that one does not know.”
By this standard, America has long been in pain. Secret law runs rampant in the United States, particularly when national security is...

The Onion once ran a piece titled “I invented YouTube back in 2010.” The joke, of course, is that YouTube launched in 2005. This month’s Stupid Patent of the Month is just as ridiculous. US Patent No. 8,856,221, titled ‘System and method for storing broadcast content in a...