The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/411912
PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 68 In addition, individuals can purchase your information from data brokers for only around $5.00 per month. No screening is performed for these consumers of your data, so it's possible that someone can access your information for nefarious reasons and without your knowledge. If you want to look at another data broker, check out Spokeo. There you can search by name, address, user name, email address or court record. Remember that if you use a dating site, your profile will most likely be listed through a user name search. Spokeo allows you to search through their listings and view selected data on an individual at no cost. This free search will return the name, gender, approximate age and street on which the individual lives, including an aerial view of the neighborhood. For only $4.95 per month, you can unlock all the information associated with a person's profile, including their complete address, telephone number, dating and social site information, online user names tied to their real name through interaction with online dating or photo- sharing sites, and more. HOW CAN YOU MAKE IT STOP? You can and should remove yourself from Spokeo, but it will take some effort on your part. Search for yourself in the Spokeo database. Copy the URL in which you find information about yourself. Click Privacy (at the bottom of the Web page), and then under Removing Your Listing from Spokeo (also at the bottom of the page), click Opt Out. You must opt out of each URL separately. At a minimum, you'll want to search on your name, telephone number and address. Spokeo warns that information may reappear since it gets its data from other sources. It's a good practice to check back regularly to see if unwanted information has returned. Acxiom's About The Data website has you sign up by submitting proof of identity, then you are allowed to view a subset of the data Acxiom has collected about you. While this is a reassuring step, one would like to have the ability to correct all misinformation and regulate what data are collected in the first place. Automated solutions are also available for a fee: You can sign up with a company FEATURES such as Safe Shepherd that will notify you when private information appears on any websites or data broker sites. You can then select options to have Safe Shepherd initiate the data removal on your behalf. The only drawback, once again, is that there's a fee for this service. DEMAND MORE REGULATION Data brokers offer benefits, such as better use of companies' marketing dollars for targeted ad campaigns, but the overall service data brokers provide can be called into question on many levels. There is no validation of the accuracy of the information, and often you have no control over whether information about you can be corrected or removed. Of even more concern is that these data are shared indiscriminately with anyone willing to pay a fee. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a 2014 report on data brokers, so there is hope that this industry will be better regulated soon. Unmonitored actions can make you or those you care about vulnerable to being a target and subsequent victim. As people become more aware of the personal information being gathered, stored and sold about them, we will collectively demand more regulation over this invasion of our privacy. Achieving Speech Privacy by Niklas Moeller of K.R. Moeller Associates Ltd Efforts to prevent unauthorized access to information usually focus on securing documents and computers. However, in law offices, steps must also be taken to protect speech privacy. A common tactic is to construct walls that extend from the concrete floor all the way to the deck above, but the sound isolating ability of walls is sensitive to gaps such as those along the window mullions, ceiling and floors, and the plenum and ductwork. Even the most minor penetrations can allow conversation to travel into neighboring spaces. If a room fails to provide sufficient speech privacy, many believe that it was poorly constructed. Though there is truth to this position, it also assumes the correct technique is to rely entirely on physical isolation. Our ability to understand a conversation actually depends on two variables: • The volume of the speaker's voice • The background sound level in the space Traditional room construction reduces the volume of speech passing through the walls and doorway. However, if the background sound level in the adjoining space is lower than the speech entering it via the pathways described above, the conversation will still be heard and potentially understandable. With today's building standards, this is oen the case. When a sound masking system is installed, it increases the background sound level by five to 12 decibels. This solution consists of loudspeakers integrated in a grid-like pattern above the ceiling, which distribute a comfortable, engineered sound that most people compare to soly blowing air. The resulting ambient level either completely covers up conversations or reduces their intelligibility. It also decreases the frequency and intensity of disruptions caused by noise. When masking is included in overall acoustical planning, law offices can reduce the sound transmission class (STC) of walls and only build them to the ceiling, reducing the cost of initial construction and future renovation. Here, a tile with a ceiling attenuation class (CAC) of 35 to 40 is also recommended to lessen the flanking of sound through the ceiling and shared plenum. In areas demanding confidential privacy (0.05 Articulation Index or less), both full-height walls and sound masking should be used. Last, if audio surveillance is of concern, the system can be connected to transducers that transfer the masking sound to windows, walls, pipes and other physical structures, impeding the use of such equipment. PHOTO ©ISTOCK.COM/MEDIAPHOTOS