It’s a pleasure for me to present a guest post submitted by Jarry Taylor, a partner with Maynard, Cooper & Gale PC — one of Alabama’s leading law firms located in scenic Birmingham. And… he’s my dad! Thanks to Jarry/Dad for contributing to Tropophilia!
The American Bar Association’s Litigation News reports on a recent phenomenon many of us law types have been talking about, namely the change in the way investigations are performed and how to get information about people involved in legal cases. Forget the old style gum shoe black cloak, long-lens photographer investigator (although they do still come in handy sometimes). We’re now talking about finding out all sorts of neat and interesting stuff from MySpace, Facebook and even Match.com.
Have a witness you’re about to depose in a case coming to trial next month? Worried you might not know all there is to know about him? Think you should fork out money for an investigator to dig up information about him? Nah, it’s all right there on the internet and in the social networking world where nothing is sacred.
“They” tell you to be careful what you post as a student because colleges, grad schools and employers will check out those crazy photos you thought it would be fun to share with your buds. But, those beyond those years or the witless still include information that, sometimes, can be very helpful to the inquiring lawyer on the other side of a case. Courts are now having to deal with evidentiary questions, and report decisions on whether such information is admissible in court or not. Even if it’s not substantive information relevant to your case, it can always go to the credibility of that witness.
“I solemly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Google.” Oh, and that applies to lawyers, too!
This has to be a first.
I’m sure most of you have at least seen the headlines by now: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been accused of engaging the services of a pricey prostitute service multiple times over the past year. More or less incriminating himself, Spitzer has announced his plans to resign effective this Monday.
More and more details have emerged from the ether over the past few days about the scandal, and tonight the New York Times revealed the identity of “Kristen” — the prostitute cited in the affidavit that mentioned Spitzer — to be 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupré. There are three main sources used for the article: 1) a confirmation from someone “familiar” with the prostitution operation that Kristen and Dupré are one and the same person; 2) interviews with both Dupré and her mother; and 3) Dupré’s MySpace page.
Yes, that’s right. For a feature article that will no doubt be on the front page of the print edition tomorrow morning, the New York Times editors have allowed extensive quotations from a social networking profile. All three photos from the article were photos uploaded by Dupré to her MySpace page. There is a prominent link to her profile from the article. The journalists cite some of her listed musical influences, and even quote lyrics from some of the music that Dupré has recorded and uploaded.
Continue reading ‘Watch What You Put Online… Even If You’re A Prostitute’
It’s been a long time coming and has a ways to go still, but Google Health is on the way.
Google confirmed last week that it is testing this new product (click here for a screen shot) with the Cleveland Clinic, followed by another update on Thursday by Google VP (and total babe, btw) Marissa Mayer:
One of the most exciting and innovative parts of Google Health is our platform strategy. We’re assembling a directory of third-party services that interoperate with Google Health. Right now, this means you’ll be able to automatically import information such as your doctors’ records, your prescription history, and your test results into Google Health in order to easily access and and control your data. Later, this platform strategy will mean that you will be able to interact with services and tools easily, and will be able to do things like schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and start using new wellness tools.
Meyer assures us that Google is emphasizing privacy, security, and user control in its Health offering. But as Nick Carr points out, Meyer is careful to leave open a future loophole. “We won’t sell or share your data without your explicit permission,” she says (with my emphasis). Hmm.
Google Health is sure to be a useful product, but there is certainly a risk in putting your most private of information in a third party’s hands. When it is released, would you consider using Google Health?
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user j.reed.
The Story
Mashable reports that Google introduced an “invisibility” feature into its Gmail version of Google Talk over the weekend. I am very much against this type of feature, and am disappointed that Google has chosen to implement it.
If you’ve used AOL Instant Messenger (or its Microsoft and Yahoo! competitors), you’ll be familiar with the invisibility option: while you are able to see which of your contacts are online and even initiate conversations with them, it appears to them as if you’re offline.
The Argument
Instant messaging is a form of social networking. By choosing to become invisible, you’ve chosen to selectively participate in your social network. You have elected to receive all the benefits while experiencing none of the risks or costs. I believe that this goes against the very social nature of the whole social networking phenomenon.
Continue reading ‘Invisibility: A Violation of the Social (Networking) Contract?’
Which one’s the terrorist?
Nick Carr blogs today about concern shown by American intelligence authorities about the security vulnerabilities of increasingly popular virtual worlds such as Second Life. He cites this Washington Post article, which in turn quotes from a newly-issued paper from the “Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity”:
“Unfortunately, what started out as a benign environment where people would congregate to share information or explore fantasy worlds is now offering the opportunity for religious/political extremists to recruit, rehearse, transfer money, and ultimately engage in information warfare or worse with impunity.”
The article goes on to note that the CIA has already set up shop on some “private islands” in Second Life for “meetings and training.” And then there’s this:
Virtual worlds could also become an actual battlefield. The intelligence community has begun contemplating how to use Second Life and other such communities as platforms for cyber weapons that could be used against terrorists or enemies, intelligence officials said. One analyst suggested beginning tests with so-called teams of cyber warfare experts.
As Keanu Reeves would say: “Whoa.”
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Pathfinder Linden.
