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Facebook is once again rolling out changes to its user interface, including new Applications and Games Dashboards that it says will "mak[e] it easier for you to find and interact with applications." And, once again, these changes affect your privacy: now other users can easily find out which applications you use, whether that's a popular game, a dating app, or our Facebook quiz. Just like the chan... Read More

Recently I wrote about the allegedly Chinese cyber attack on Google and how it highlighted a point that the ACLU and security experts have been making for years – that creating government backdoors into our communications network for the purpose of surveillance creates security problems.Security expert Bruce Schneier subsequently wrote about the same issue at greater length in this excellent CNN p... Read More

We've already blogged generally about the Federal Trade Commission's "Exploring Privacy" roundtable, and asked you to sign onto the ACLU of Northern California's petition demanding more transparency about when and why companies share our information with the government and others. In this blog post we're going to focus on the privacy implications of social networking sites and the ways that third ... Read More

We've already blogged generally about the Federal Trade Commission's "Exploring Privacy" roundtable and asked you to sign onto the ACLU of Northern California's petition demanding more transparency about when and why companies share our information with the government and others. In this blog post we're going to focus on the privacy implications of cloud computing services and why it is so importa... Read More

On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be in California for the second of its "Exploring Privacy" roundtables. The ACLU will be there sounding the alarm about privacy implications of social networking and cloud computing services. (Check back here for blog posts drilling down into each of these services, with specific recommendations for how the FTC can improve privacy in these areas... Read More

Back in July 2008, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a new policy regarding searches of documents and electronic devices at the border. CBP asserts it has the right to conduct these searches of any traveler – citizens and noncitizen alike "absent individualized suspicion," – meaning no suspicion of wrongdoing is even required to conduct a search. Despite an update to the policy in August ... Read More

Computerworld is reporting that the hacking attack on Google (which prompted it to tell the Chinese government it would no longer censor on its behalf) exploited a system the company set up to help the government access its users' data:They apparently were able to access a system used to help Google comply with search warrants by providing data on Google users, said a source familiar with the situ... Read More

Over the past several years, there have been two reliable things about Facebook: it has often stated that privacy was important to the company – two years ago, privacy was "the vector around which Facebook operates" – and its actions have often contradicted that.As we start a new year, it doesn't look like much has changed.A month ago, when Facebook announced a major privacy overhaul, users were t... Read More

On January 5, President Obama addressed airport security in remarks responding to the Christmas Day attack on a plane headed for Detroit.The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:"We welcome President Obama's emphasis on better information and intelligence sharing between government agencies. Our limited security resources should... Read More

The ACLU recently submitted a statement about behavioral advertising to the Joint Subcommittee Hearing of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The statement explained that wide collection of personal information of a consumer "draws a personal portrait unprecedented in scope and detail" and asked Congress to pass laws that protect us from having this information accessed and used against us.... Read More

With the holiday season underway, travelers are bracing themselves for the countless hassles that come with modern travel. Most have adapted to waiting on long security lines, taking off their shoes and parting with their bottled water. But international travelers often don't realize that they might also have to endure border officials viewing their Web histories. And their financial records. And ... Read More

Responding to public outcry over Wednesday's new privacy settings, Facebook backtracked today, announcing that it would allow users to hide their list of friends from both visitors to their profile and search results. However, you've still lost the ability to control this information: you can't select specific groups who can see your friends lists (it's either displayed or it isn't) and you can't ... Read More