1



						Exam Number: 				


GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER
EXAMINATION
"THE LAW OF INFORMATION PRIVACY"
(3 HOURS)



Professor Rotenberg					May 13, 1996


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. This is an OPEN book examination.

2. You should select three of the following four questions.  
Each question will receive equal weight.  There will be no 
additional credit for answering a fourth question.

3. Use only one side of the paper.  Write clearly.

4. I will consider only the material that is in the exam book 
or in the typed submission.

5. Organize your answers carefully.  Note the particular 
format requested in each question.

This exam consists of 3 pages including this cover page.  
Please be sure that your exam is complete.



PLEASE DO NOT TURN THE PAGE
UNTIL THE PROCTOR GIVES THE SIGNAL



GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER
EXAMINATION
"THE LAW OF INFORMATION PRIVACY"
(3 HOURS)


Professor Rotenberg					May 13, 1996


Question 1

	You are counsel in a Texas law firm.

	You receive a call from a very distraught Barbara Davis.  Ms. 
Davis explains to you that she has recently received threatening 
and sexually explicit communications from a Texas inmate.  The 
inmate obtained access to personal information about her as a 
result of a work program established by the Texas prison system 
and Data Miners Inc., a national marketing firm.  Under the work 
program, prison inmates keypunch personal surveys, public record 
information, and other data collected by Data Miners. Apparently, 
one of the inmates recorded her name, address, home phone, and 
other personal information.

	Ms. Davis says that as a result of the communications from 
the inmate she feels personally threatened.  She has changed her 
phone number, purchased a $3,000 home security system, and is now 
considering moving to another state.

	Describe the possible causes of action against Data Miners. 
Discuss how Data Miners might reply.   What are Ms. Davis's 
chances of success?  


Question 2

	You are counsel to the House Judiciary Committee.

	A recent hearing revealed that some marketing companies sell 
personal information about children including home address, age, 
birth date, sex, telephone number, and estimated family income.  
It was also revealed that companies are now gathering information 
on children from World Wide Web sites set up for young people.  
The information includes favorite TV shows, commercials, musical 
groups, and personal interests. You have been asked by the 
Chairman of the Committee to draft a bill to protect the privacy 
of children's data.  

	Outline and briefly describe the sections of the Children's 
Privacy Protection Act.


Question 3

	You are a clerk to a federal judge.

	A new investigative technique -- Message Identity Content 
Analysis (MICA) -- allows law enforcement agents to determine the 
likely author of an anonymous Internet message by comparing the 
sentence structure and word choice in a particular message with 
all of the publicly available postings made on the Internet.  In a 
recent case federal prosecutors brought an indictment against an 
individual for illegal narcotics sale.  A critical message was 
posted anonymously to the Internet, but federal prosecutors were 
able to develop a lead and eventually to charge a suspect based on 
the use of the MICA technology.

	Defense has now moved to suppress the evidence, arguing that 
admission would violate the First and Fourth Amendments. Write a 
brief memo for the judge on whether the motion should be granted.


Question 4

	You are general counsel to the Watkins Buggy Whip and 
Ethernet Enterprises.  

	Watkins has an undergone a dramatic transformation in the 
last century.  As one of the early leaders in the buggy whip 
industry, Watkins has since managed to adapt and adjust and is now 
one of the leading makers of Ethernet routers, a popular 
technology for high-speed computer networks.  However, none of 
this has anything to do with the request you just received from 
the CEO Marge Watkins IV to develop a workplace privacy policy for 
her company.  She is interested in one of those "general codes of 
conduct" that would make clear to Watkins' employees what the 
rules will be for electronic mail privacy, employee record 
confidentiality, and video surveillance. (Watkins has recently put 
in place an elaborate CCTV network with cameras in every room.)

	Outline a workplace privacy code for Watkins Inc.


END OF EXAM

WRITE NOTHING AFTER TIME IS CALLED