{"id":409,"date":"2013-10-14T14:41:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T18:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=409"},"modified":"2013-10-14T14:42:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T18:42:33","slug":"yahoo-google-sued-for-violating-federal-wiretap-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2013\/10\/14\/yahoo-google-sued-for-violating-federal-wiretap-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Yahoo, Google Sued for Violating Federal Wiretap Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<style><!--\n\/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:\"Cambria Math\";\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-unhide:no;\n\tmso-style-qformat:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-no-proof:yes;}\na:link, span.MsoHyperlink\n\t{mso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-unhide:no;\n\tcolor:blue;\n\ttext-decoration:underline;\n\ttext-underline:single;}\na:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed\n\t{mso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-priority:99;\n\tcolor:purple;\n\tmso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;\n\ttext-decoration:underline;\n\ttext-underline:single;}\n.MsoChpDefault\n\t{mso-style-type:export-only;\n\tmso-default-props:yes;\n\tfont-size:10.0pt;\n\tmso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;\n\tmso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;}\n@page WordSection1\n\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\n\tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\n\tmso-header-margin:.5in;\n\tmso-footer-margin:.5in;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.WordSection1\n\t{page:WordSection1;}\n--><\/style>\n<figure id=\"attachment_410\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-410\" style=\"width: 448px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/yahoo-vs-google1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-410\" alt=\"Photo courtesy of http:\/\/tech4globe.com\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/yahoo-vs-google1.jpg\" width=\"448\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/yahoo-vs-google1.jpg 448w, https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/yahoo-vs-google1-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-410\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo courtesy of http:\/\/tech4globe.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\">by: Eric Donato, Executive Editor<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Google and Yahoo, titans of the internet search engine and email industries, have recently been sued in federal court for violating federal wiretap laws.\u00a0 Complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California allege that the businesses broke the law by scanning their users\u2019 email accounts for the purpose of engaging in targeted advertising.\u00a0<span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">The October 2 class-action lawsuit against Yahoo, brought on behalf of the residents of San Bruno, California, was filed less than a week after a similar complaint against Google survived a motion to dismiss in the same court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">You can find <a href=\"http:\/\/www.consumerwatchdog.org\/resources\/googlemotion061313.pdf \">Google\u2019s motion to dismiss here<\/a>, <\/span>and the<a href=\"http:\/\/epic.org\/privacy\/gmail\/Gmail-Order-09-26-13.pdf\"> district court\u2019s opinion here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Yahoo and Google use automated programs to \u201cread\u201d the content of incoming and outgoing email messages on their users\u2019 accounts.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>That information is scanned for recurring words that relate to marketable products and services.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Yahoo or Google sends that information to advertisers, who then work with the email company to place ads in individual email users\u2019 accounts.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">A person who sends or receives lots of emails about \u201cdrums,\u201d for instance, will see ads in Gmail about purchasing drums or taking drum lessons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The fact that Google and Yahoo engage in this practice is no secret; it is spelled out in the privacy policies of their email services, to which subscribers must consent if they want to open an account.\u00a0 <span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Professor Jacob Rooksby, an expert in Intellectual Property law at the Duquesne University School of Law, acknowledged that charging email companies with violations of the Wiretap Act \u201chas some rhetorical appeal, but I think that [those companies\u2019] terms of service\u2026should pretty much overcome that argument.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">By opening an email account with Google or Yahoo, \u201cyou\u2019re pretty much agreeing to them looking at your email, essentially, and mining it for their own purposes. That\u2019s why you have advertisements come up in Gmail that seem to have great relevance to you,\u201d Prof. Rooksby said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u201cIf you don\u2019t want that, don\u2019t sign up for it,\u201d said Prof. Rooksby.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">The Wiretap Act, which forms the basis of the lawsuits against Yahoo and Google, prohibits the \u201cinterception\u201d of electronic communications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Prof. Rooksby said the outcome of the litigation likely hinged on the court\u2019s interpretation of the word \u201cinterception,\u201d but expressed serious doubt about the plaintiffs\u2019 likelihood of success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u201cGiven the current composition of the Supreme Court, if it goes that far, and their view on\u2026contracting\u2026I don\u2019t think there\u2019s enough freewheeling privacy advocates to rule in their favor,\u201d said Prof. Rooksby.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Google and Yahoo permit their users to opt out of the targeted advertising feature. Even when opted out, however, complaints against the companies allege that emails are still read by software in order to create \u201cuser profiles\u201d of subscribers for the companies\u2019 pecuniary benefit.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">The complaints against Google and Yahoo also allege that those companies violated the Wiretap Act when their software \u201cread\u201d emails sent by people who had <i>not<\/i> agreed to the privacy policies of the email services in question. For example, where a Hotmail user sends an email to a Gmail account, the Hotmail user\u2019s email is \u201cread\u201d by Google software despite the fact that the Hotmail user has not consented to Gmail\u2019s privacy policy.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Prof. Rooksby suggested he was unconvinced that the distinction was material to the litigation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u201cI think that there\u2019s really\u2026norms building up that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in email that you send or receive,\u201d said Prof. Rooksby. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Prof. Rooksby explained that when a person communicates online \u201cit\u2019s not speaking in isolation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u201cYou\u2019re a part of a virtual online world,\u201d said Prof. Rooksby, \u201cand that world is in many ways akin to going out on the street and you and I having a conversation and it not being reasonable for me to expect privacy in what we\u2019re saying\u2026somebody walks by and hears, they can do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Yahoo\u2019s terms of service note that if its email-scanning feature is enabled and a user communicates with non-Yahoo users, then \u201cyou are responsible for notifying those users about this feature.\u201d<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>What significance that clause will have in the unfolding legal action remains to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Google spokeswoman Nadja Blagojevic responded to an inquiry about the denial of her company\u2019s motion to dismiss with an email reading \u201cw<\/span><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; background: white;\">e&#8217;re disappointed in this decision and are considering our options. Automated scanning lets us provide Gmail users with security and spam protection, as well as great features like Priority Inbox.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\"><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-size: 11.5pt; background: white;\">Yahoo refused to comment on its ongoing litigation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by: Eric Donato, Executive Editor Google and Yahoo, titans of the internet search engine and email industries, have recently been sued in federal court for violating federal wiretap laws.\u00a0 Complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California allege that the businesses broke the law by [\u2026] <\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"more_link clearfix\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2013\/10\/14\/yahoo-google-sued-for-violating-federal-wiretap-law\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-juris-blog","category-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}