Mark J. Fitzgibbons has an opinion piece in the National Law Journal Government has gone overboard disclosing personal information about citizens. Two recent cases involving disclosure of personal information filed with the government for “public records” show two different approaches to fighting back. In Doe v. Reed, Washington Secretary of State, 130 S. Ct. 2811 (2010),…
Search Results for: Ostergren
Appeals Court Protects Free Speech for Privacy Advocate
From EPIC.org: Privacy Advocate Betty Ostergren has won in federal appeals court in her challenge to a state law designed to prosecute her for drawing attention to the state’s online publication of SSNs. In Ostergren v. Cuccinelli, the court ruled that the Commonwealth of Virginia may not prosecute Ostergren for publishing the SSNs of state…
Commentary: The Virginia Watchdog back in court
The Virginia Watchdog case was back in court this week. PogoWasRight.org has been following this case and the efforts of Betty “BJ” Ostergren since 2006. If you’re new to the case, the matter is simple to explain: BJ doesn’t want states putting your Social Security numbers online in their publicly available databases like land records…
Hanover activist going to court in privacy vs. free speech case
Frank Green reports that Betty “BJ” Ostergren of the Virginia Watchdog will be back in court tomorrow: A privacy advocate will be in court tomorrow defending a ruling last year that enables her to publish records with the Social Security numbers of state officials on her Web site. In June, a federal judge ordered Virginia…