Blog

By Sandra FultonACLU Washington Legislative OfficeToday in the Senate there was a major win for freedom of speech and the Internet. In a largely partisan vote Senate Democrats defeated a resolution introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) which would have overturned the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) open Internet rules that are set to go into effect this month.Though the FCC's... Read More

We know that the government takes advantage of outdated privacy law to demand our personal information from online services that collect and hold our data. But what we rarely know is exactly how often this happens: the government isn't required to reveal how many demands for information they make or how many individuals are affected, and companies rarely volunteer this information. One of the very... Read More

Today, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) turns 25 years old. On October 21, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed ECPA into law. As Wired reported today on the "Aging 'Privacy' Law," ECPA was passed "at a time when e-mail was used mostly by nerdy scientists, when phones without wires hardly worked as you stepped out into the backyard, and when the World Wide Web didn't exist. Four pr... Read More

By Christopher CalabreseWashington Legislative OfficeWe were planning to do a blog post every day to draw attention to Electronic Communication Privacy Act's (ECPA) anniversary but Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) gave us an anniversary present and we couldn't resist doing an extra one to crow about it.The senator announced today that the Senate Judiciary Committee, w... Read More

Catherine CrumpACLU National OfficeCongress hasn't updated our basic electronic privacy law since 1986, long before most Americans sent their first email. So it's no surprise that our privacy protections haven't kept pace with new technological advancements. The current law even allows the government to read virtually all of our emails without a warrant. This extraordinary power is an egregious vi... Read More

This week, our federal online privacy law turns 25. The ACLU is hosting a blog series that will address some of the many reasons why the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) is in need of an upgrade! Spread the word using #UpdateECPA, and to learn more about your dotRights, visit www.aclu.org/ecpa.In honor of ECPA's 25th birthday this week, Congress had the chance to walk down di... Read More

By Christopher CalabreseWashington Legislative OfficeBack in June Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) filed companion bills in the House and Senate to protect cell phone users' privacy. The "Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act" (GPS Act) would require law enforcement to get a warrant before they access location information. The goal is to protect privacy b... Read More

By Rekha ArulananthamACLU National OfficeWhat were you doing in 1986? Maybe you were wearing acid wash jeans, crimping your hair, or watching Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell in 1986's Stand By Me. In 1986, Congress was enacting the law that protects the privacy of online communications, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).Now, think for a second abo... Read More

These days, most people carry a cell phone with them everywhere they go: to work, to church, on vacation, and more. And cell phone carriers may capture and retain records of your location even when you're not using your phone. Does that mean that the government can simply demand these records from your carrier without a warrant? Unfortunately, according to Judge Royce Lamberth of the D.C. District... Read More

On Sunday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Reader Privacy Act of 2011, giving Californians strong legal protection for records of their reading habits in the country. Thanks to everyone who wrote to their legislators and the governor in support of the Act!The law requires the government and civil litigants to demonstrate a compelling interest in obtaining reader records and show that the in... Read More

BART's shutdown of wireless service last month in response to a planned protest—and the ensuing public backlash—underscored just how essential wireless access has become to our daily lives. Nearly 50 million of us carry smartphones, and we do so because we want to access the full range of ideas and information available on the Internet not just at home or the office but also when we're out and abo... Read More

By Jay StanleyACLU National OfficeToday the ACLU won a significant victory in our battle to ensure that cell phones don't become Big Brother tracking devices. Following a four-year fight, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to comply with our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and turn over the names and docket numbers in numerous cases... Read More