open to all two women

Blog

We can be pretty sure that each new day will bring two things: new threats to our civil liberties, and new stories of people standing up for their rights and winning. Behind every court ruling is a person. Behind every landmark law is a movement. Read the stories and hear the voices that ground our work.

ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Develop for Privacy Challenge: Build Apps to Improve Mobile Privacy

Feb 04, 2011
With all their convenience, smartphones can also collect and share vast amounts of data that can paint a detailed picture about someone's life: your current location, where you have been, who you know, what you search for online, and more. Without strong privacy protections, smartphones and other mobile devices can pose a real threat to your privacy.The ACLU is working with companies and other org... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Spying On Surfing: Why We Need a "Do Not Track" List

Jan 28, 2011
Christopher CalabreseACLU Washington Legislative OfficeThe new model of Internet advertising scares the heck out of us. It's called behavioral targeting. What that amounts to, in a nutshell, is following you around the web from site to site recording your movements and using that record to sell you personalized ads. All those ads that pop up on the side of articles on your favorite websites like E... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Don't Hide Your Gun in Your iPhone(?!)

Jan 05, 2011
In a case with chilling privacy implications, the California Supreme Court recently held that police officers can search the entire contents of a cell phone whenever they arrest someone, no matter how small the suspected crime or how relevant the cell phone contents might be. Why? Because it's just like a backpack, according to the Court, and previous cases have stated that backpacks can be search... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

First Amendment Groups Urge Protections in Aftermath of WikiLeaks Document Release

Dec 22, 2010
ACLU And Others Publish Open Letter To Public Officials Addressing Proposed Legislation And CensorshipNEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of free speech organizations today sent an open letter to public officials cautioning against the prosecution of third party publishers for publishing leaked government documents and efforts to limit the rights of individuals to view th... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

FTC Joins the Online Privacy Chorus

Dec 01, 2010
Your online activities say a lot about you: what you like, where you go, and even who you know. And companies are often eager to collect this kind of detailed information about you. So we're pleased that the FTC has joined the chorus calling for companies and lawmakers to give us all greater control over our own personal information.One of the key elements of the FTC's proposal is a "do not track"... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Location-Based Services: Time for a Privacy Check-In

Nov 16, 2010
Need to get directions when you are lost? Want to know if your friends are in the neighborhood? Location-based services–applications and websites that provide services based on your current location–can put this information and more in the palm of your hand. But navigating the complex web of privacy policies and settings for these services can be far more difficult. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook Single Sign On and Location API: Initial Thoughts

Nov 03, 2010
Facebook and other online services evolve at a breathtaking pace. But these new tools and technologies can make it harder than ever to control our own information. We need to understand how our personal information is collected, used, and shared, and we need real control over that information—especially when it might be shared with many different parties.Today's Facebook announcements highlight th... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Federal Court Upholds Amazon Users' Privacy And Free Speech Rights

Oct 26, 2010
Seattle – A federal judge ruled late Monday that government requests for detailed information about Amazon.com customers violate Internet users' rights to free speech, anonymity and privacy. The ruling came in a lawsuit originally brought by Amazon to stop the North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR) from collecting personally identifiable information about customers that could be linked to th... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook Application Privacy Breach Exposed

Oct 18, 2010
This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the most popular Facebook apps consistently share information about you and your friends with advertisers and other third parties, no matter what your privacy settings are. This isn't the first time a significant and ongoing privacy invasion and violation of Facebook's own rules has been uncovered not by internal Facebook oversight but by an... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Want to Know What Your Android Apps Are Really Doing?

Oct 14, 2010
If you have an Android phone, you've probably downloaded a few apps. And when you installed those apps, you were told a bit about what information those apps might access about you, things like your location information, phone number, contact and call lists, and more. That's a good start towards transparency… but wouldn't you also like to know what information your apps are actually accessing, how... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

ACLU Defends Amazon Customers' Rights in Court Today

Oct 13, 2010
Today, the ACLU will be in a federal court in Seattle arguing that the North Carolina Department of Revenue's (NCDOR) demands for detailed purchase information made by Amazon.com customers is an unconstitutional violation of those customers' rights to free speech, anonymity and privacy.The NCDOR asserted it needed this information for tax collection purposes, so Amazon responded by furnishing a li... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook's Latest Changes Put More Control in Your Hands

Oct 07, 2010
On Wednesday, Facebook announced a set of changes to its user experience. Overall, these changes are clearly positive, addressing some of the issue we raised in an Open Letter to Facebook in June and re-emphasizing the company's principles of giving users control of their own information. We hope that Facebook will extend these changes to help address the "app gap" and further improve privacy and ... Read More