This and That in Court Tech – September 2018

eCourts Conference

News on the eCourts 2018 conference, a new ODR pilot for small claims cases in Utah, security problems with the GovPayNow.com website, the IBM Watson AI based closed captioning system, and the UK Metropolitan Police developed mobile fingerprint system.

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eCourts 2018 Conference Filling Up Fast

If you intend on attending the eCourts 2018 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 10-12, 2018, you should register very soon as it looks to be selling out soon.  Also, the Regular Play registration rate, that saves $100 is only good until September 30, 2018.  Here is the link to the conference registration page:  https://e-courts.org/register/

Utah Courts Begin Small Claims ODR Pilot

From the LawSites blog we learned that the Utah State Courts have launched a new small claims online dispute resolution pilot program with the Justice Court in the West Valley City suburb of Salt Lake City.

The article describes how the system works:

“The ODR program can be accessed from both computer desktops and mobile devices. Parties will be able to communicate via chat, upload documents and prepare settlement agreements.

A plaintiff’s filing of a small claims affidavit and summons begins the ODR process. The plaintiff must log into the account within seven days or the case is dismissed without prejudice. The summons served on the defendant provides directions on logging in to the ODR site.

Once logged in, the defendant is asked a series of generic questions designed to determine the extent to which the defendant agrees or disagrees with the claim and willingness to enter into a payment plan as part of a settlement. If the defendant fails to log in within 14 days, a default judgment may be entered. However, a defendant may ask to bypass ODR if the defendant needs ADA assistance, does not speak English, or does not have Internet access.

GovPayNow.com Leaks Customer Records

Brian Krebs blog, KrebsonSecurity.com reported on September 18, 2018, that:

“Indianapolis-based GovPayNet, doing business online as GovPayNow.com, serves approximately 2,300 government agencies in 35 states. GovPayNow.com displays an online receipt when citizens use it to settle state and local government fees and fines via the site. Until this past weekend it was possible to view millions of customer records simply by altering digits in the Web address displayed by each receipt. 

On Friday, Sept. 14, KrebsOnSecurity alerted GovPayNet that its site was exposing at least 14 million customer receipts dating back to 2012. Two days later, the company said it had addressed “a potential issue.”

The full article on the data breach is available at https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/09/govpaynow-com-leaks-14m-records/

IBM Watson Automating Broadcast Closed Captioning Services

In a press release on September 6, 2018, “Sinclair Broadcast Group Taps IBM Watson Media to Automate Live Broadcast Closed Captions” we learned about “Watson Captioning” that will be used for live captioning of the companies live news productions. 

According to the IBM website on Watson Captioning:

“a new standalone offering that helps to solve these challenges. Watson Captioning leverages AI to automate the captioning process, while ensuring increased accuracy over time through its machine learning capabilities. In turn, this saves businesses both time and money, and delivers a scalable solution. Watson Captioning is a customizable offering that provides flexibility and productivity, can be easily managed across compliance standards, and has the potential to transform industries beyond media and entertainment.”

Perhaps even the “court industry”?

UK Police Develop Mobile Fingerprint Device

In a press release from August, 15, 2018 we learned that the Metropolitan Police in the UK have created INK (Identity Not Known) biometric device that:

“scans suspects’ fingerprints and according to the force will confirm their identity within 60 seconds if they are known to police databases.  

The in-house system has been built and tested by the Met’s Digital Policing division and Transformation Directorate. 

Along with other forces the Met has been using similar technology since 2012, but it said the new kit is cheaper which allows six times as many devices to be deployed. It plans to roll out 600 devices to frontline officers across London in the next six months. 

It said this will reduce the need for suspects to be taken to police stations to have their identity checked, which should enable faster apprehension of offenders, keep officers on the streets for longer and free up limited custody space for offenders. 

The force also said it will save an estimated £200,000 in support costs per year.”

Congratulations on this achievement are in order.