Cincinnati.com had an interesting article last Tuesday not so much because of the specifics of the case involved, but respective of the overall & evolving issues of electronic surveillance, privacy, and the like entailed in it.

The cases in question were born in conjunction with a local divorce case in which a man, suspicious of his former wife, wired their home with cameras, microphones, phone taps, and computer-based software to monitor everything she did.

The recordings, which came out in the divorce proceedings in 2009 --but were disallowed --are now at the heart of two U.S. District Court lawsuits involving almost a dozen friends and relatives, a prominent Cincinnati defense attorney and a company that manufactures computer monitoring software over the growing use of surveillance technology and the right to privacy in the 21st century, according to the article.

"No criminal charges were filed, but Domestic Relations Judge Ronald Panioto declared the recordings from the parties' home were obtained by 'illegal means' when he threw them out of the couple's divorce in 2010.

"Privacy experts and divorce lawyers," the article comments, "say the case is unusual only because their fight is being played out in court and that high-tech snooping among friends, housemates and relatives is increasingly common, but that those targeted often don’t find out about it – or are too embarrassed to challenge it.

"The widespread use of that technology is proving a challenge for judges and police, who are struggling to resolve disputes over text messages and hidden cameras with privacy laws written in the days of rotary phones and cassette tapes," it continues, quoting Julie Wilson, spokeswoman for Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, who said, "With the technology evolving at such a rapid rate, the case law is in flux and quite often not a real black and white issue."

In keeping with the spirit of this developing sphere of question & inquiry, Marcus P. Zillman, timely enough appearing on Sabrina Pacifici's LLRX.com reference database, has "a comprehensive listing of both free and low cost privacy resources currently available on the Internet, including associations, indexes and search engines, as well as websites and programs that provide the latest technology and information on Web privacy. Also published Tuesday, this guide will help facilitate a safer interactive environment for your email, your internet browsing, your health records, your data storage and file sharing exchanges, and internet telephony." (Here)