Privacy Digest

Gag Lifted, Brewster Speaks! - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying:

The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL, agreed to the unsealing of the case, and lifted a gag order — finally allowing the Archive’s founder, Brewster Kahle, to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand. Check out this video for Kahle's story in his own words.  read more »

Ominous Signs of a Forthcoming "Compromise" on Telco Immunity - Tell the House To Stand Firm - Via EFF: Deep Links:

This morning, CongressDaily reported that Senator Jay Rockefeller is now privately circulating a new "compromise" proposal on surveillance legislation, only a day after it was reported that the telecoms themselves have begun shopping their own "compromise" proposals around the Hill. You may remember Sen. Rockefeller as the force behind the surveillance bill passed by the Senate in February, which included blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies like AT&T that are alleged to have participated in the National Security Agency's illegal warrantless wiretapping program.

Although the details of the Rockefeller proposal are still unclear, indications are that the so-called "compromise" on telco immunity may well be nearly identical to the original Senate immunity provision, with only a few cosmetic changes.  read more »

A New Look at the Hub of AT&T's Spying Program - Via EFF: Deep Links:

Our class action lawsuit against AT&T for collaborating with the National Security Agency in the massive, illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications includes powerful evidence of a secret room in San Francisco.

But the hub of the spying program may be just outside of St. Louis, in a Missouri town called Bridgeton. A special report from local station KMOV puts the pieces together in a comprehensive and disturbing story about this dragnet surveillance, with the help of AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein. Watch the video on the KMOV site for a fresh look at a key piece of this spying puzzle.

(Read Original Article - Via EFF: Deep Links.)

EFF Answers Your Questions About Border Searches - Via EFF: Deep Links:

Readers of my deeplink on safeguarding your laptop and digital devices from warrantless searches at the border responded with both questions and answers. Some readers wondered whether you have an obligation not to destroy information on your laptop. Others pointed out that U.S. citizens may be detained, but not turned away, at the U.S. border. Many technologists wrote to offer cryptographic solutions, or warnings about encryption schemes that are not as secure as they should be. In this post, I answer the question about destruction of information and reproduce or summarize, with permission, others' suggestions about protecting your laptop from arbitrary searches. I haven't done any independent analysis of these techniques or tools, so your mileage may vary.  read more »

FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge - Via EFF: Breaking News:

San Francisco - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand.

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," said Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."  read more »

FBI Lifts Gag Order on Internet Archive - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying:

It’s official: the FBI withdrew its national security letter (NSL) demand that it had issued to the Internet Archive last November. NSLs demand personal records like Web site visits and e-mail addresses without prior court approval, and NSL recipients are forbidden, or "gagged," from telling anyone about the demand. So now that the NSL has been withdrawn, the gag has been lifted, and Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, can speak freely about his battle to protect Internet Archive users' privacy rights.  read more »

FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses - Via Threat Level:

The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning.

On November 26, 2007, the FBI served a controversial National Security Letter on the Internet Archive, asking for records about one of the library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint (.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco.  read more »

Backroom FISA Deal in the Making? - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying:

There was chatter on the blogs last week that FISA compromise was in the works, but it wasn't until late Friday night that our lobbyists confirmed that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is working on a compromise bill with Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) — yes, the same senator known for taking thousands of dollars of campaign contributions from the telecom companies he's angling to protect with immunity. Hoyer and Rockefeller may try to lock in a deal within the next few days.  read more »

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Genetic Privacy - Via ACLU Blog - Privacy & Technology:

Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 493, the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and the bill is now headed to President Bush for his signature.
This is a victory for all Americans who value their genetic privacy: GINA prevents employers and health insurance companies from discriminating against applicants based on their genetic code, which, thanks to modern science, reveals a lot about your body's predisposition towards illness and disease.  read more »

What's Up with the Secret Cybersecurity Plans, Senators Ask DHS - Via Threat Level:

The government's new cyber-security "Manhattan Project" is so secretive that a key Senate oversight panel has been reduced to writing a letter to beg for answers to the most basic questions, such as what's going on, what's the point and what about privacy laws.

The Senate Homeland Security committee wants to know, for example, what is the goal of Homeland Security's new National Cyber Security Center. They also want to know why it is that in March, DHS announced that Silicon Valley evangelist and security novice Rod Beckstrom would direct the center, when up to that point DHS said the mere existence of the center was classified.

Those are just two sub-questions out of a list of 17 multi-part questions centrist Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) sent to DHS in a letter Friday.  read more »

DNA database constitutional, high court rules - Via The Burlington Free Press :

Law-enforcement authorities have the right to collect, analyze and store DNA samples from people convicted of nonviolent felonies, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday.

In a narrow 3-2 opinion, justices determined the government's interest in monitoring forensic profiles of criminals outweighs their privacy rights.

Police and government lawyers argued they need the DNA database to identify the perpetrators of crimes, to exclude the innocent from suspicion, to deter crime and to help find missing people. The high court agreed those goals allow police to swab a convict's mouth, laboratory personnel to analyze and store the data, and local authorities to transmit the information to federal law enforcement.  read more »

Court-Approved Wiretapping Rose 14% in '07 - Via Threat Level:

Last year might have been a rough year for U.S. home prices, but growth in government wiretaps remained healthy, with the eavesdropping sector posting a 14% increase in court orders compared to 2006. In 2007, judges approved 4,578 state and federal wiretaps, as compared to 4,015 in 2006, according to two new reports on criminal and intelligence wiretaps.

Editor: Interesting graphic removed. Go to original site for that [...]

State police applied for 27% more wiretaps in 2007 than in 2006, with 94% of them targeting cell phones, according to figures released by the U.S. Courts' administrator. In 2007, state judges approved 1,751 criminal wiretap applications, without turning any of them down, according to  the report (.pdf). That's a near-three fold increase in state wiretaps since 1997. Federal criminal wiretaps remained fairly constant -- hovering around 500 -- though exact numbers aren't known since the Justice Department has begun withholding information from the administrators of the U.S. court regarding sensitive investigations.  read more »

Congress Must Investigate Electronic Searches at U.S. Borders - Via EFF: Breaking News:

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a broad coalition, including civil rights groups, professional associations and technologists, called on Congress today to hold oversight hearings on the Department of Homeland Security's search and seizure of electronic devices at American borders.

The press has widely reported disturbing stories about U.S. citizens subject to intrusive searches of their laptops and cell phones. But a recent court decision found that customs officials can search travelers' computers at the border without suspicion or cause. In a letter sent to the House and Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees today, the coalition urges lawmakers to consider passing legislation to prevent abusive search practices by border agents and to protect all Americans from suspicionless digital border inspections.

"Our computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices hold a vast amount of personal information like financial data, health histories, and personal emails and letters," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "In a free country, the government cannot have unlimited power to read, seize, and store this information without any oversight."

So far, the Department of Homeland Security has refused to release its policies and procedures for conducting these intrusive searches. EFF and the Asian Law Caucus have filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security to obtain the information through the Freedom of Information Act.  read more »

Protect Digital Privacy at the Border and Beyond! - Via EFF Action Alerts:

Join a broad coalition of groups in urging key congressional committees to take action to protect travelers' digital privacy rights!

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in the caseU.S. v. Arnold holding that the Fourth Amendment does not require government agents to have reasonable suspicion before searching laptops at the border, including international airports. Meanwhile, a number of national newspapers have documented unnerving reports from travelers whose electronic devices have been seized as they crossed U.S. borders.  read more »

FBI wants to move hunt for criminals into Internet backbone - Via Ars Technica :

FBI director Robert Mueller's testimony to the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives on Wednesday gave a tiny glimpse of the future of law enforcement online, and it raised some tough questions about the evolving line between public and private in a networked world.

In a blog post on the hearing, CNet's Declan McCullagh reproduced the most relevant portion of the testimony—an exchange between Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Director Mueller on the subject of the FBI's role in detecting and stopping illegal activity on the Internet. Issa began the discussion with the analogy of an FBI raid on a bookie, where the Bureau obtains a warrant to get proof of illegal activity. He then moved to the subject of online crimes and the ongoing barrage of cyberattacks on civilian, government, and military targets, asking Mueller what types of legal powers he would need to be able to obtain proof of those attacks in order to bring a prosecution.

Mueller responded with the follow revealing nugget.  read more »