Woman sacked For Deleting App That Tracked Her 24×7

Myrna Arias, has filed a lawsuit against Intermex her former employer (a money transfer service), for invasion of privacy, retaliation, and unfair business practices and is seeking damages in excess of $500,000. She claims she was fired for uninstalling an app from her iPhone, that let her boss, John Stubits, track her movements 24 hours a day.

The app Xora, allows an employer to monitor workers locations on a Google Map. They can also see where they have been, the route they have driven and where they are now.

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The lawsuit alleges: “After researching the app and speaking with a trainer from Xora, Plaintiff and her co-workers asked whether Intermex would be monitoring their movements while off-duty. [Arias boss, John] Stubits admitted that employees would be monitored while off duty, and bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments ever since she had installed the app on her phone.

“Plaintiff expressed that she had no problem with the app’s GPS function during work hours, but she objected to the monitoring of her location during non-work hours and complained to Stubits that this was an invasion of her privacy. She likened the app to a prisoner’s ankle bracelet and informed Stubits that his actions were illegal. Stubits replied that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion.
“He confirmed that she was required to keep her phone’s power on ‘24/7’ to answer phone calls from clients. Stubits scolded Plaintiff when she de-installed the app in late April 2014 in order to protect her privacy.”
 
“The app had a ‘clock in/out’ feature which did not stop GPS monitoring, that function remained on. This is the problem about which Ms. Arias complained. Management never made mention of mileage. They would tell her co-workers and her of their driving speed, roads taken, and time spent at customer locations. Her manager made it clear that he was using the program to continuously monitor her, during company as well as personal time,” Arias’ attorney, Gail Glick said.

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200 Year old law to be used to avoid speeding fine in court

A top Queensland barrister will use case law dating back 200 years to try to avoid a $146 speeding fine.

Tony Morris QC is mounting a landmark legal challenge against Queensland's speed-camera laws, The Courier-Mail reports.

Mr Morris says he wasn't driving when his Volvo was photographed doing 57km/h in a 50km/h zone last year.

But he won't say who was behind the wheel.

He has invoked a spousal privilege case from 1817, arguing it's unconstitutional for a Queensland court to fine him when there's evidence he was not the driver.

He says he was in a meeting with top judges when the Volvo was snapped, and they are willing to testify that he was with them.

He argues the spousal privilege principle, established in England 200 years ago, means a husband can't be compelled to provide information that incriminates his wife

 "I decline to identify the person who was in charge of the vehicle at the relevant time," Mr Morris reportedly wrote in a letter to the Department of Transport

 

Earlier this year, Mr Morris wrote to federal, state and territory attorneys-general saying he planned to challenge parts of Queensland's speed-camera laws.

Under the laws, the registered owner of a car has two options: name the driver or say they don't know who was driving. Car owners can't, under the law, say they know who the driver was but refuse to give a name.

Mr Morris has told The Courier-Mail he can't see why he should dob someone in for driving the car when the legislation is invalid.

He said the Volvo caught by the speed camera was not his usual car, but would not tell the paper who usually drove it.

The case will go to the Court of Appeal within weeks.

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Cyclist riding at 41mph - is speeding fine lawful?

A cyclist in London’s Richmond Park has been fined for riding his bike at more than twice the speed limit – just four months after a Royal Parks spokesman said that speed limits in the places it manages don't apply to cyclists.
 
Rory Palmer pleaded guilty to breaking the park’s speed limit of 20mph on Sawyers Hill on 2 January this year, reports This Is Local London.

Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court was told that police officers spotted the cyclist overtaking cars as he headed towards them from the direction of Richmond Gate. The officers were conducting an anti-speeding operation close to Barn Wood, said to be busy with vehicles at the time in question.

The rider, admitted when stopped that he had been traveling too fast, telling officers, "I know, I'm sorry."

Mutahir Ahmed, speaking in mitigation, said: "Cycling is his hobby and he understands how dangerous it was. It was a windy day and he was coming down the hill.

“He did realise at the time he was going above 20mph but did not have a speedometer."
Magistrates fined him £65 plus a £20 surcharge and he was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £65.

BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine was stopped for 'speeding' in Hyde Park in November of last year. A Royal Parks spokesman subsequently told him that there was no speed limit for cyclists in Hyde Park - and, by extension, any of the other 10 parks or open spaces it manages in London. So was Rory Priors fine lawful?

What do you think? should speeding limits apply to vehicles such as bicycles that don't have numberplates or speedometers?

Surely if you don't admit fault under these circumstances something to do with "not knowingly breaking the speed limit" would come in to play

Maybe cyclists should start investing in camera detectors as well as car drivers, then at least you would get alerts and it would tell you your speed!

Ban on Smoking in Private Cars

The Government will bring in legislation to introduce standardised plain cigarette packaging before the end of this Parliament, health minister Jane Ellison has announced.

The minister also announced that the ban on smoking in private cars will come into force on October 1 of this year.

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