Blog

The ACLU of California has obtained records showing that Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram provided user data access to Geofeedia, a developer of a social media monitoring product that we have seen marketed to law enforcement as a tool to monitor activists and protesters.We are pleased that after we reported our findings to the companies, Instagram cut off Geofeedia’s access to public user posts, a... Read More

California now has some of the strongest protections against policing for profit in the country. Although we had several legislative successes this year, two important, ACLU-sponsored bills died in the Legislature. Read More

In the 2010 Citizens United decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that independent political expenditures by corporations and unions are protected speech. Citizens United became a flashpoint because Americans are increasingly concerned about the impact of economic inequality on our political system. Read More

It goes without saying that speaking out against police violence or government overreach shouldn’t land you in a surveillance database. But it can, and it does.The ACLU of California has received thousands of pages of public records revealing that law enforcement agencies across the state are secretly acquiring social media spying software that can sweep activists int... Read More

When you are having meetings about transparency and building trust with law enforcement, the last thing you expect to hear is that they may be secretly spying on you. But that is exactly what happened to us as community activists with Fresno Faith In Community/Live Free. Read More

Public cynicism about government is at an all-time high – and we all know the reasons. That's why it's pretty remarkable when activists use public government processes to attack a scary and overwhelming problem like surveillance – and it works. Read More

When Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA in 2013, I didn’t yet know that my own city of Oakland had futuristic surveillance problems of our own. Oakland had quietly embarked on a path towards building a city-wide surveillance network called the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), comprised of over 700 cameras throughout schools and public housing, facial recognition software, automated license p... Read More

School is back in session, and by now, many students and teachers have returned to their classrooms to new and improved lactation accommodations policies. Read More

It’s a victory for free speech and academic freedom – but Cal’s move to cancel the course for no good reason should never have happened in the first place. Read More

Throughout the nation, police officers are legally allowed to take and keep your cash and property - even if you are never charged or arrested for a crime. All it takes is officers claiming they think your belongings were obtained through illegal means. Read More

It’s hard to speak with your face pressed against concrete. Or when you can’t breathe. Or with a broken neck. And even when you manage to speak, people in power seek to silence you. Just ask the San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick. Read More

The ACLU and EFF are urging the Federal Communications Commission to order local police to stop using Stingrays, at least until the FCC can create rules to protect against excessive secrecy and abuse. Read More