Janet Stiven Comments on Privacy Issues Spawned by Government Seizure of AP Phone Records

Tells Law360 “Companies Need to Understand Framework Governing How and When Business Information Can be Accessed”

Press Mentions

5.17.13

Janet A. Stiven, a Chicago-based business attorney and Dykema Member who assists clients in an outside general counsel role as well as with strategic business and technology transactions, and protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights and trade secrets, is quoted in a  May 16, 2013 Law360 article that addresses the secret seizure of phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors by the Department of Justice in early 2012 and the resultant debate over privacy and security.

In the article, Stiven notes that when freedom of the press—an essential component of a free society—is  compromised, it calls for “a bigger and broader discussion of the need to balance national security concerns with the expectation of privacy for business records.”

Stiven adds that companies should be prepared to take an active role in these debates. “They need to understand the current framework governing how and when the government can access their business information without notice, and decide whether they think these methods are appropriate,” Stiven said.