Oakland Privacy

On January 15 the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from the parties to and amici of the case Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. The legal issue at hand is the validity of a preliminary injunction that the district court of the 5^th Circuit granted to the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), the nonprofit non-partisan trade association for the adult industry (the Industry), blocking the implementation of Texas’s age verification law, HB 1181.

Like several other laws that have been passed in different states, HB 1181 sought to force would-be visitors to websites that host Industry content. Specifically, per the law, a site must verify the age of a visitor if at least 1/3 of that site’s hosted content qualifies as “harmful to minors,” in an attempt to protect children from the harmful effects of consuming pornographic material. However, it is possible that this broad and generic language will be applied to a significant amount of non-pornographic material as well, including R-rated movies. HB 1181 will harm the Industry and it will not protect children. For a more detailed description of how this will happen, refer to my essay on California’s version of an age verification bill, AB 3080.

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Human rights organizations called for Governor Newsom and other California leaders to take immediate action to protect Californians’ data privacy from anticipated attempts by federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies to violate residents’ fundamental rights under the incoming Trump-Vance administration.

In addition to Oakland Privacy, groups from California that are calling for action include Consumer Attorneys of California, Courage California, Economic Security CA, California LGBTQ Health & Human Services Network, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and NextGen California. National groups endorsing bold action by state leaders to proactively confront the data privacy threats posed by a second Trump administration include Accountable Tech, EPIC – the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, GreenLatinos, Media Alliance, Public Citizen, and UltraViolet Action.

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One of the world’s largest DNA collections in private hands, ancestry testing company 23AndMe with over 14 million genotypes, seems headed for a chaotic ownership change after CEO Anne Wojcicki warned of incoming bankruptcy and the entire board quit.

While 23andMe’s genetic tests can sometimes provide useful history for some genetically-linked medical conditions, the vast majority of people who willingly sent their saliva to the company were merely seeking to get an analysis of their ancestors heritage for curiosity or entertainment.

The company’s bankruptcy is perhaps not a huge surprise as there is no repeat model for DNA testing – once it’s done it’s done – and the company may have exhausted the supply of willing testers. But the DNA bank’s exclusion from HIPAA, the lack of state laws in most states outside of California (which has a genetic privacy law) and the company’s definition of the DNA in its possession as a salable asset, make the internal crisis a privacy disaster for millions of people with large and measurable risks.

How can you protect yourself if you went for the DNA testing game?

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