Privacy Digest

It's time for some sanity when it comes to security. - Via ACLU Alerts:

Planning a vacation? Thinking about traveling outside the country?

If you travel outside the United States, you can kiss your right to privacy, and perhaps your laptop, digital camera and cell phone, goodbye.

With no suspicion and no explanation, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone, or PDA as you enter the United States and download all your private information -- including your personal and business documents, emails, phone calls, and web history.

And what happens if you refuse to let the agents download your personal photos? Or if you have encrypted your private information? Then Border Patrol -- which is now an agency of the Department of Homeland Security -- can simply copy your entire hard drive or even take your device and hang on to it indefinitely.  read more »

Constitution Protects Location Information, CDT Argues - Via Center for Democracy and Technology:

In a July 31 amicus brief filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joined by CDT, ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, argued that cell phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment. The brief argues that a court should require the government to obtain a warrant based on probable cause in order to gain access to cell site location information stored by a cell phone company.

Amicus brief in In Re Application of United States [PDF] July 31, 2008

(Read Original Article - Via Center for Democracy and Technology.)

ACLU Calls FCC Penalty Against Comcast a Step Forward Toward Net Freedom - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

Urges Commissioners to Persevere in Defense of Consumers’ Rights and Net Neutrality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-675-2312, media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC – Today the Federal Communications Commission is expected to penalize Comcast for violating the FCC’s principles to ensure open access to the Internet.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“We applaud the FCC for taking enforcement action against Comcast. The nation’s second largest Internet service provider violated the commission’s open access rules by unlawfully blocking file-sharing services such as BitTorrent. Significantly, it violated the rules by which the Internet must operate if it is to remain an open forum.  read more »

Only Government Can Argue in Secret Spy Court, Feds Say - Via Threat Level:

The Bush Administration told a secret spying court Wednesday that it should not allow the ACLU to participate in the court's review of new blanket surveillance programs that sweep in milions of emails and phone calls that cross the border, arguing the matter is too sensitive for outsiders.

Under the new spying law passed by Congress in early July, the government may order Google or AT&T or AOL, to turn over every email, phone call or IM that enter or leave the country (with just a few caveats).

For nearly 30 years, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act largely banned such blanket surveillance being done inside the United States, requiring instead that the government get individualized court warrants.

But the government does have to explain to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court how the vacuum cleaner doesn't suck up communications that are known to be from Americans to Americans or purely domestic communications.

The ACLU wants to be there when that happens.  read more »

Fusion Centers Part of Incipient Domestic Intelligence System, ACLU Warns - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

WASHINGTON -- The nation’s growing network of “fusion centers” is part of an incipient de facto domestic intelligence system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Today the ACLU released a report detailing spying on Maryland peace demonstrators, a mysterious domestic-spying scandal at a California military base and other recent incidents, confirming that its warnings about fusion centers were coming true.

“If some in this country want to build a domestic intelligence apparatus, then let’s have a debate in Congress about that, and an up-or-down vote on the idea,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “Let’s not slide sideways into a fundamental change in the direction of our nation’s law enforcement system with little public awareness or debate.”  read more »

ACLU Urges Congress to Define Medical Privacy as Patient Control of Electronic Health Records - Via ACLU - Privacy:

PRO(TECH)T Act leaves electronic patient data vulnerable to theft and misuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-675-2312, media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today urges the House Energy and Commerce Committee to require patient control of medical records and compensation for privacy breaches to be a part of the standards set for converting to electronic patient records. The ACLU cautions that H.R. 6357, the “Protecting Records, Optimizing Treatment, and Easing Communication through Healthcare Technology Act of 2008” or the PRO(TECH)T Act, has insufficient privacy provisions and leaves patients vulnerable to bad, lost, stolen or misused data.

In addition, the ACLU urges the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health to consider how privacy protections will be built into new, high tech health systems as it hears testimony this Thursday. The subcommittee announced that protecting patient privacy and information security would be among the issues discussed at its July 24 hearing regarding health information technology. Other issues include potential costs and benefits, clinical capabilities and incentive effectiveness.

The following can be attributed to Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel:  read more »

Congress Should Demand Answers from Attorney General - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House Judiciary Committee to demand accountability from Attorney General Michael Mukasey during the Department of Justice oversight hearing scheduled for today.

"Mukasey was supposed to come in and clean up the Justice Department, but instead he seems to be intent on burying any evidence of wrongdoing by the Bush administration," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, "In addition to asking Congress to rubberstamp failed administration policies on torture and wiretapping, he's offered at least one new bad policy of his own by paving the way for the FBI to use racial and ethnic profiling as a factor in deciding whether to open up investigations," she said.  read more »

Federal Court Once Again Upholds Ban On Unconstitutional Internet Censorship Law - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

Decision Underscores ACLU's Decade-Long Challenge To So-Called Child Online Protection Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHILADELPHIA - In a clear victory for free speech today, a federal court once again upheld a ban on a law that would criminalize constitutionally protected speech on the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the unconstitutional Child Online Protection Act (COPA) on behalf of a broad coalition of writers, artists and health educators who use the internet to communicate constitutionally protected speech.

"For years the government has been trying to thwart freedom of speech on the Internet, and for years the courts have been finding the attempts unconstitutional," said Chris Hansen, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group. "The government has no more right to censor the Internet than it does books and magazines."  read more »

Key Internet Censorship Law Struck Down Yet Again - Via EFF.org Updates:

The ACLU, EFF, and a coalition of plaintiffs achieved yet another victory for online free speech this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed [decision, PDF] a district court's decision [decision, PDF] granting a permanent injunction against enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 (COPA), a federal law that would violate the First Amendment by imposing civil and criminal penalties on commercial website operators that publish sexually explicit material without also using credit card authentication or other technological measures to verify viewer age and block access by minors.  read more »

ACLU Asks FCC to Scrutinize ISP Surveillance of Customers’ Internet Habits - Via ACLU - Privacy:

Washington, DC – Today as part of the FCC field hearing at Carnegie Mellon University on broadband and the digital future, the American Civil Liberties Union will submit written comments about how Deep Packet Inspections (DPI) and other practices threaten Americans’ online privacy and a neutral Internet.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“The Internet has become one of the most important methods of communication in history because of neutrality rules. The Commission must use the information from today’s hearing on broadband and the digital future to take steps to ensure that speech and association on the Internet remain free.  read more »

ACLU Warns Against Intrusive Deep Packet Inspection - Via ACLU - Privacy:

Washington, DC – Americans’ online privacy was discussed today at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The hearing, titled “What Your Broadband Provider Knows About Your Web Use: Deep Packet Inspection and Communications Laws and Policies,” was meant to shed light on the practice of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) by Internet service providers (ISPs). DPI allows ISPs to track users’ Internet browsing activities and can be data mined for targeted marketing purposes. The ACLU urges members of the committee to be wary of the privacy landmines inherent in DPI.

The following can be attributed to Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel:  read more »

Former DoJ Official Caught on Terror Watchlist - Via Threat Level:

If a former assistant U.S. attorney general has trouble getting his name off the government's terrorist watchlist, there's little hope the rest of us can succeed in doing so.

Jim Robinson, former head of the Justice Department's criminal division during the Clinton Administration, has a top-secret security clearance. But that hasn't prevented him from being hassled and delayed several hours each time he flies on a plane. That's because Robinson has a common name that he shares with someone who he believes was added to the watchlist in 2005.

"I suppose if I were convinced that America is a safer place because I get hassled at the airport, I might put up with it," Robinson said. "But I doubt it."  read more »

Terrorist Watch List Hits One Million Names - Via ACLU - Privacy:

ACLU launches online watch list complaint form

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON, DC - The nation's terrorist watch list has hit one million names, according to a tally maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union based upon the government's own reported numbers for the size of the list.

"Members of Congress, nuns, war heroes and other 'suspicious characters,' with names like Robert Johnson and Gary Smith, have become trapped in the Kafkaesque clutches of this list, with little hope of escape," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Congress needs to fix it, the Terrorist Screening Center needs to fix it, or the next president needs to fix it, but it has to be done soon."  read more »

Interview with ACLU re: constitutional challenge to new FISA law - Via Salon: Glenn Greenwald:

(Updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)

This afternoon, I spoke with Jameel Jaffer, the Director of the ACLU's National Security Project, regarding the two legal proceedings commenced today by the ACLU challenging the constitutionality of the new FISA law. The roughly 20-minute discussion can be heard here.

The ACLU filed one action in the FISA court, requesting that -- contrary to how the FISA court normally works -- all proceedings regarding the constitutionality of the FISA law be open to the public and transparent, and that the proceedings be adversarial (i.e., that the ACLU -- rather than just the Government -- can participate). The other action was filed in a federal court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that the provisions which vest vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President are, for multiple reasons, violative of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU's lawsuits do not challenge the constitutionality of the telecom immunity provisions of the new FISA law because those sections will be challenged by EFF and local/affiliate ACLU groups in separate actions. The legal documents filed today by the ACLU are here.

In the podcast, Jaffer details exactly what warrantless surveillance powers the new FISA bill vests in the President, along with the reasons they are so pernicious.  read more »

ACLU Thanks Senators Who Stood for the Constitution - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

Washington, DC – After a brutal loss on the FISA Amendments Act today in the Senate, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed gratitude to the senators who cast their vote against the bill.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“There are a few senators who deserve praise for defending the Constitution today. We applaud Senators Feingold, Leahy, Dodd, and Cardin for their tireless efforts to improve this dismal legislation. We especially missed the presence of the recovering Senator Kennedy today; his speech in February was a high point in this legislative battle.  read more »