Happy Monday Law Streeters! We hope you enjoyed your weekend. ICYMI, we had some pretty great stories last week. From cell phone plans that give to charity, to South Dakota passing discriminative laws against LGBT couples, check out Law Street’s best of the week below!

New Career, New Phone, New Cause: 5 Reasons to Check out TPO Mobile

Any change in life–whether it be a graduation, a new job, or a move, always comes with a hefty to do list. TPO Mobile wants to help make that to do list a little shorter–by helping you find the perfect cell phone plan. And not only will TPO Mobile help you save some money with a reasonably priced and reliable phone plan, it will also help you check off one other thing on that to do list: making sure you set aside some money for charity.

South Dakota Passes Law Legalizing Discrimination Against LGBT Couples

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard signed SB-149 on Friday, a law that protects private foster and adoption agencies from being sued for refusing to place children with an LGBT couple. While other states have similar laws, South Dakota is the first to enact one since the SCOTUS decision that legalized gay marriage in 2015.

What’s Going on with Canada’s Cannabis Raids?

Months before lawmakers in Canada are expected to take up marijuana legalization legislation, police in Toronto have been raiding dispensaries; a number of individuals have been charged at this point. Just last week, police raided dispensaries across three cities. The targets were all Cannabis Culture branches, the popular chain owned by Canada’s so-call “Prince of Pot” Marc Emery. Emery and his wife were arrested at an airport last week and charged with drug trafficking, conspiracy, and possession. They were en route to a cannabis festival in Spain.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Does privacy even exist in the digital world these days? Many argue no, as more and more companies use elaborate software to track their customers’ precise locations, spending habits, facial features, and shopping preferences. Uber is just the latest company to come under fire for going “big brother” on its customers.

Uber recently announced a plan to track customers through the app, even if the user shuts it off, deletes it, and even turns off the GPS function. Last Monday, a formal complaint was filed against Uber by the nonprofit research group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, DC. This was done in an effort to get the agency to prohibit the taxi-service company from instituting these new changes.

Uber will soon be able to track your location even if you exit the app and have GPS turned off http://t.co/RZUN2EaMej pic.twitter.com/StttNhjVqr

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) June 23, 2015

These new updates are expected to take effect around July 15th, a decision that Uber announced on May 28th, although not without some serious uproar.

If you are an Uber user, your every move will soon be able to be tracked; this revelation has left many customers on edge. What’s most appalling about this update is that it will let the company trace not only the whereabouts of its customers, but also everywhere that they’ve ever traveled while they’ve had the app on their phones. This is a major issue that people have with this update since the company will retain all the past location data of its consumers, with no indication when this information will be deleted, if ever.

Despite the backlash over this new policy, Uber stated that there is no support for these allegations made by EPIC. It claims that these changes in data collection are being done solely to help Uber optimize its services so that it can improve customer satisfaction. The company believes that it is completely necessary to track its customers’ every move in order to provide optimal services with shorter wait times. Uber does not see any problems with this new update, nor any truth in the many complaints against it. It also claims that its customers’ privacy is of its utmost concern.

Uber has a reputation for breaching the privacy of its customers, as this is not the first time that the app has been criticized by the public. It has encountered numerous lawsuits lately, such as when it was accused of tracking a customer without first receiving consent, cheating customers, and failing to meet local regulations in the United States.

Despite there being some extreme opposition to this change in the privacy policy of the app, there are some people who see the benefits of it. Some state that since this update has the potential to drastically change a customer’s experience so it is worth the hassle. This update would likely help Uber to figure out where most of its customers are so it can concentrate drivers in the most popular areas.

Uber remains one of the growing giants of the tech industry, it has been valued at $40 billion even though it was created only six years ago, and it continues to grow at absurd rates. For a company that is still so new, it is imperative for it to maintain its following and to keep the public’s interest. It currently provides millions of trips a day for users across the globe, and so the last thing Uber wants to do is upset its loyal customers.

Infringing on people’s privacy can be quite daunting, especially for those who have secrets to hide. Americans today are very conscious of their security, and so the thought of a company having access to your exact location at all times can seem frightening. Uber claims that it will give all customers the option of whether or not to report their location data back to the company, however, this choice will not be possible to disable on all phones.

Not only will this new update track customers’ locations, but it will also access users’ contact lists upon approval. Uber is doing this so that it can send promotions to riders’ friends and family, and to also implement its improved “split fare” feature. Communicating with a person’s contacts in such a manner might even be breaking a federal law, which states that a company can’t call or text people without first getting written permission.

It seems that Uber tried to keep the implications of this new update under the radar, although EPIC is not about to let it slide for violating its customers’ fundamental rights to privacy. The group is outraged at this new policy change, as it stated that it finds it to be a threat to people’s overall safety and privacy rights, it could create a substantial risk of harm for customers, and that it would “constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice.”

Don’t people have the right to feel secure within their own devices? In an age where virtually anything can be found or performed online, people want to feel like their privacy is always being protected. There is currently no word as to whether the FTC will investigate the claims made by EPIC, although it might have to as this story continues to develop and gain publicity.

Toni Keddell

Toni Keddell is a member of the University of Maryland Class of 2017 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Toni at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Congress by The Sunlight Foundation

The Sunlight Foundation is an educational organization with the mission of increasing transparency in the U.S. government and shining light on the information that, though readily available to the public, is over overlooked.

The Sunlight Foundation’s newest release, Congress for iPhone and Android, is a user-friendly law and bill tracker that allows users to view bills in their real-time process. Congress offers all of its features for free, with the mission of educating and informing the public about governmental activities that often do not receive enough attention.

Features:

• Track and view bills as they happen
• View legislator profiles in the house and senate
• Connect with legislators through Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and their respective governmental websites
• View how legislators have voted on bills and see what they have sponsored
• Follow bills to receive activity updates as they happen

You may also be interested in The Sunlight Foundation’s many other apps including:

Sitegeist

Sitegeist combines open data in a way that allows users to learn more about the area around them. Using publicly available APIs, the app presents infographics with statistics on the people, housing, events, environment and history of a location.

Ad Hawk

Ad Hawk  helps identify political ads as they air. Ad Hawk makes an acoustic fingerprint based on audio recorded while a television or radio ad plays and compares it against a central database for a match. The application will then display information about the candidate, organizations, issues and other relevant information.

Sunlight Health

Sunlight Health is an application to look up healthcare services, medical suppliers and prescription drugs. Using data from government and nonprofit institutions, the app shows government ratings of hospitals and nursing homes, nearby locations to purchase home medical supplies and research on various prescription drug options.

[Sunlight Foundation]

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Featured image courtesy of [sunlightfoundation via Flickr]

Davis Truslow

Davis Truslow is a founding member of Law Street Media and a graduate of The George Washington University. Contact Davis at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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