Back in July, Matt Landis updated us on several of the stories confirming Lancaster’s technology sector continued to thrive in 2018. As we close out the year, let’s look at a few more that made the news in our area during the second half of the year!
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A few months ago I wrote about the Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s avoidance of ruling on whether employers have a duty to protect their employees’ personal information. We now have an answer to that question (at least in this Commonwealth) from Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court: Yes, yes it does.
On the eve of Thanksgiving the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released its decision in Dittman v. UPMC. This lawsuit was brought by employees of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center over a data breach that leaked the employees’ names, birth dates, social security numbers, and bank account information. But the existence of a duty by UPMC to protect this personal information remained in doubt. The Court ended this debate by ruling:
an employer has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to safeguard its employees’ sensitive personal information stored by the employer on an internet-accessible computer system.
For employees, this is a decision that should be heralded as an important protection against identity theft. After all, what choice does an employee have but to give personal data to their employer? That the employer must protect that information is just common sense.…
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When a Stranger Decides to Destroy Your Life (Gizmodo)
This article has been on my mind quite a bit lately, as it highlights some of the worst that social media and the internet has to offer. If you think “it can’t happen to me or my business”, I’d suggest you read this article and consider how you might change your behavior online.
Having worked with clients who are victims of online harassment, unfortunately the circumstances in this article hit close to home. If you are the victim of harassing conduct online, I suggest reaching out to an attorney well-versed in these issues sooner rather than later to discuss your options and develop a plan to minimize the impact on your life and business.
Lancaster Virtual Reality Lounge opening on North Queen Street this November (LancasterOnline)
The name says it all: Lancaster Virtual Reality Lounge will offer a virtual reality arcade experience in downtown Lancaster beginning in November 2018, offering over 200 games and activities to try.…
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This post is part of our ongoing series exploring the impact of technology on legal issues. For an introduction to the series and a collection of the posts in the series, check out this post.
Bing. Bing. Bing. Bing. That would be the sound of a text message showing up on my phone, watch, iPad, and computer all at the same time. Don’t worry, I actually have the sound turned off on all but one of those devices, so I don’t drive myself and everyone around me insane. I love the convenience of it. No matter which device I am using, I can easily respond to a text or call without having to figure out where the heck I left my phone. And because my fiancé has sworn off all things Apple, I never have to worry about him seeing any surprises I’m planning.
But we’re not like most couples. Most couples I know have the same type of phone and if it is an iPhone, they often share the same Apple ID. Sure, this is convenient for a number of reasons. But what happens when a couple decides to separate and forgets that their ex has access to all of their text messages? Or can see their emails? Sadly, I’ve had more than one client who discovered their spouse was unfaithful because the spouse forgot their devices were linked. I’ve had clients who can’t figure out how their ex found out about someone they were talking to months after separating even though they were never seen together publicly and most communication was limited to texting. If you shared an account or had your texts or calls going to another device that you do not have exclusive control over, you need to be mindful that your ex may still have access to what you assume are private calls or text messages.…
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This post is part of our ongoing series exploring the impact of technology on legal issues. For an introduction to the series and a collection of the posts in the series, check out this post.
“Thank you. We have received your automatic payment.” “Sign up for automatic bill pay to reduce your student loan interest rate.” “Ensure your payments are never late! Sign up to automatically pay your bill.” “Reminder, monthly payment scheduled.”
Those email subject lines are taken directly from my personal email account. I receive regular inquiries trying to persuade me to switch to automatic payments for all of my monthly bills. Clearly from some of the subject lines you can see that I do have some bills (the small ones) set for automatic bill pay and flatly refuse to set up others. Why? Well in my law school days it was more to prevent an inadvertent overdraft than anything else. However, now, it is more to prevent a mess in the event of my death. Horribly morbid. I know. But I have a very good reason.…
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This post is part of our ongoing series exploring the impact of technology on legal issues. For an introduction to the series and a collection of the posts in the series, check out this post.
Lawyers often get a bad rap for being resistant to change and behind the times with technology. To combat this issue, states are beginning to require technology training as a part of continuing legal education to maintain a law license.
Many more states have already implemented technology-based requirements directly into their ethical rules. For example, Pennsylvania lawyers are required by the Rules of Professional Conduct to “keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.”
At Russell, Krafft & Gruber, technology is more than just an ethical requirement. We see technology as an essential tool to help us provide our clients with the best legal representation.
Here are just a few ways that our firm uses technology:…
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This post is part of our ongoing series exploring the impact of technology on legal issues. For an introduction to the series and a collection of the posts in the series, check out this post.
A few years ago, I wrote a blog article about Facebook’s New Legacy Contact, wherein you can appoint someone to manage your account posthumously. When you fail to appoint someone, Facebook’s current policy allows your next of kin to only have partial access to the account in order to either turn it into an online memorial page or to delete it entirely.
It seems that the highest court in Germany has taken issue with this limited access for a legacy contact, having recently determined that a minor’s parents have the right to inherit their daughter’s Facebook account. The parents of a 15 year old girl who passed away in 2012 sought access to her Facebook account in order to determine if her death was suicide. Facebook refused, citing their Legacy Contact policy and concern for the privacy of the girl’s other contacts. The Federal Court of Justice in Germany held that the account was similar to a person’s letters or private diary, both of which would pass on to a person’s heirs under German law.…
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Lancaster County continues to be an attractive marketplace for entrepreneurs in the technology sector. Over the last few weeks, the below articles caught my eye as interesting examples of what Lancaster has to offer to growing companies:
$50,000 Big Idea contest for tech entrepreneurs names 7 finalists
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern…
With all the uproar about Facebook’s use of our data and businesses bracing to deal with the EU’s GDPR, it is easy to forget there is no general obligation to protect your personal information. The Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision last week in Enslin v. Coca-Cola, et al. is the latest reminder of that fact.
Shane Enslin is a former employee of Coca-Cola. As part of his employment, he submitted, as we all do, personal information including his social security number. Coca-Cola discovered that one of its IT staffers was stealing company laptops and taking them home for his own use or giving them to others. Among the devices stolen were machines used by human resources employees that contained sensitive personal information, like Enslin’s social security number. After the devices were stolen, Enslin was the victim of identity theft.…
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What do robots and lawyers have in common? Although some might suggest there are a lot of less than stellar similarities, none of which apply to the fine attorneys of Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP, of course, they are both now able to engage in successful public debate. That’s right, a robot computer took on two humans, including the 2016 Israeli national debate champion, and won!
The program, called Project Debater, was developed by IBM and exists as a freestanding black computer that’s roughly the height and width of a person. Project Debater participated in two debates in front of an audience of mostly journalists. At the conclusion of each debate, the audience was asked whether the debate swayed their opinion on the topic. While the humans won the debate on government subsidies for space exploration, Project Debater successfully changed the mind of nine audience members regarding an increased use of telemedicine, winning that debate. …
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