privacy rights

When the government releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act, it still has to protect human beings' personal privacy. This week, AT&T asked the Supreme Court to apply the same privacy principle to corporations. A ruling is months away, but it didn't sound like even the conservative wing of the court was buying it.

Last week during the Data is Money panel at SXSW, Aaron Patzer, the CEO of popular personal finance management Web site Mint.com, ignited a firestorm of controversy by bragging about the high quality of real time data that Mint is able to see -- such as which movie rental services are used most,...