Court Ruling Permits Major Privacy Case Against Google To Continue

Judge Jay Bybee
(Image: UNLV Law School)

In a day when Apple presented new iPhones the NSA can effortlessly monitor, a three-judge federal court panel allowed the continuation of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by Google.

According to a story in today's technology section of The New York Times, the litigation involves Google's collection of personal data during its controversial Street View project. The court, the Times noted, "found little merit in Google's legal maneuverings, stating at one critical point that the company was basically inventing meanings in an effort to declare its actions legal."

One curiosity in the story is Judge Jay Bybee, who wrote the ruling. During the George W. Bush administration, Bybee was an assistant attorney general. His claim to fame? He signed the Torture Memos is 2002, which authorized "enhanced interrogation" techniques.