ZDNet: News - RealNetworks rewrites privacy policy. In the wake of public backlash regarding its secret collection of user data, media software maker RealNetworks Inc. changed its Web site's privacy statement this weekend to more accurately reflect the data collection practices of its RealJukebox music software.

Slashdot | Your Rights Online | RealNetworks' RealJukeBox Monitors User Habits.

CNET.com - News - The Net - RealNetworks puts a patch on privacy concerns. Facing a barrage of privacy concerns, RealNetworks said today that it will cease collecting some personal information from Net music listeners and will disable a feature in its software that could have been used to track users.

New York Times - free registration required CD Software Is Said to Monitor Users' Listening Habits. RealNetworks' popular RealJukebox software for playing CD's on computers surreptitiously monitors the listening habits and certain other activities of people who use it and continually reports this information, along with the user's identity, to RealNetworks, said a security expert who intercepted and examined data generated by the program. David Banisar, a lawyer in Washington who specializes in Internet law, said that RealNetworks' surveillance practices could violate various state and federal statutes, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. "It's a new type of case that hasn't been brought before," he said. "But I think it's a pretty good case."

AskTog - On Walls and Mouseholes: Security and Privacy.

New York Times - free registration required Signatures on Cyberspace's Dotted Line. What began as a seemingly simple attempt to stimulate electronic commerce by giving so-called digital signatures the legal weight of their ink-and-paper counterparts has erupted into a partisan political battle in Congress that opponents fear could wipe out some basic consumer protections. ... At issue are the thousands of state and local laws that require institutions like banks and insurance companies to keep certain paper records and to notify customers by mail of certain situations, including default on their credit-card debts or loans; changes in the terms of a financial agreement, like increases in a monthly payment; foreclosure of a home mortgage; or cancellation of an insurance policy.

NYC Surveillance Camera Project.

Index of ACLU Materials on Privacy.

ACLU Action Alert: Protect Your Financial Records.

ACLU Press Release: 10-04-99 - Senate to Give Final Approval To Long-Sought Privacy Protections.

ACLU Press Release: 10-13-99 - ACLU, Eagle Forum and Ralph Nader Agree: 21st Century Privacy Problems Require 21st Century Privacy Protections. Statement of Nadine Strossen, President American Civil Liberties Union

ACLU Press Release: 10-20-99 - ACLU Joins Eagle Forum, Others, in Denouncing Privacy Provisions of Financial Services Bill. The American Civil Liberties Union today joined with organizations from across the political spectrum in denouncing the privacy provisions of a pending financial services bill and calling on President Clinton to veto the legislation if it is not strengthened. As early as today, a House-Senate conference committee will take a final vote on the bill, which would allow banks, insurance companies and mutual funds to affiliate with each other and to share data across what used to be a corporate divide. In several votes over the last week, the conference committee has repeatedly rejected strong privacy amendments.

ACLU Press Release: 10-25-99 - Consumer and Privacy Organizations, Legal Scholars Urge Appeals Court to Protect Consumers' Telephone Privacy. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today, 15 consumer and privacy organizations and 22 legal scholars urged a federal appeals court to reconsider a decision that would allow telephone companies to use private telephone records for marketing purposes. The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the case is of great importance to consumers across the United States. The brief, filed in support of a petition from the Federal Communications Commission, asks the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a privacy provision that was enacted by Congress in 1996 and implemented by the FCC.

ACLU - Privacy.

The Oval Office - Remarks By The President On Medical Privacy.

ACLU Press Release: 10-29-99 - ACLU Welcomes Clinton Medical Privacy Regulations; Says Major Components Must Be Strengthened. But even before today's announcement the ACLU said it knew that provisions dealing with law enforcement access to medical records would need to be strengthened. The proposal would permit the police to obtain medical records without a judge's approval. "The police should not be able to say to a hospital, 'give us Mr. Smith's medical charts because we think something's fishy,'" Weich said. "One of the most basic principles of American justice is that police must obtain a warrant from a judge before searching through your property. Medical records should be treated no differently."