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Earlier today, Facebook announced the rollout of privacy settings for mobile users. Providing privacy controls for mobile users is important and we hope that more companies will take this step. We were also pleased to see that these new Facebook mobile controls are even better than the normal web interface in some ways.But on the flip side, they are missing a few key elements that are crucial for ... Read More

On June 16, ten of the nation's top privacy organizations sent a joint letter to Facebook detailing outstanding privacy concerns. Facebook's response glossed over many of the critical points raised about necessary next steps. The following reiterates our concerns and addresses Facebook's response to our June 16 letter. We look forward to discussing these issues and Facebook's plans in more detail ... Read More

Today, ten of the nation's top privacy organizations, including the ACLU of Northern California, EFF, EPIC, and CDT, sent a joint letter to Facebook calling for the social networking giant to fix remaining issues concerning user privacy and control.Facebook recently took a step in the right direction and addressed some of its privacy issues. But Facebook users' personal information is still visibl... Read More

Update! The judge in two movie industry lawsuits against BitTorrent users has ordered the plaintiffs to explain why they lumped thousands of users into only two lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the District of Columbia issued orders in each of the cases yesterday requiring the plaintiff to show in writing by June 21 why all of the defendants except one in each case (that's defe... Read More

Yahoo is making another attempt to move into the social networking space this week with the launch of "Pulse." It encourages users to share "Updates," including comments on news items, pictures posted to Flickr, and other content shared on various Yahoo services with others–and makes it easy for anyone to track these updates. Here's our quick take on Pulse's plusses and minuses for privacy.PlusYah... Read More

Time Warner Cable recently asked a federal court to quash subpoenas it received seeking the identities of thousands of its customers. The subpoenas came as part of several lawsuits filed by members of the movie industry who allege the individuals downloaded certain movies using BitTorrent.The lawsuits were all filed by the Washington, D.C., law firm "U.S. Copyright Group" (USCG). Six virtually ide... Read More

Facebook has come under withering fire recently for its recent string of privacy-unfriendly practices, from its "privacy transition" that took away privacy controls to "instant personalization" that instantly shares personal information with third party pages without the user's consent.These failings led over 80,000 people to sign ACLU petitions demanding that Facebook give users control over all ... Read More

Facebook has been taking heat for its recent privacy-unfriendly practices, from the "privacy transition" that took away privacy controls to "instant personalization" that instantly shares personal information with third party pages without the user's consent. In response, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published an op-ed in the Washington Post today, claiming that Facebook has "heard the feedback" a... Read More

Google has just announced the release of "Encrypted Search," allowing search users to prevent third parties from intercepting and viewing their search terms or search results. Although limited right now, this is a positive step by Google and a good example of how companies can use technology to improve--rather than erode--the privacy of their users. (Encrypted Search will eventually be available a... Read More

What you choose to read says a lot about who you are, what you value, and what you believe. That is why you should be able to read about anything from politics to health without worrying that someone is looking over your shoulder. But, as books move into digital form, new reader privacy issues are emerging.Digital book services are capturing detailed information about readers including who they ar... Read More

Grand Jury Issued Subpoena To Twitter Demanding Twitter Users' IdentitiesHarrisburg – The ACLU of Pennsylvania announced today that it is representing two anonymous Twitter users who have criticized State Attorney General Tom Corbett on a social networking site. Corbett's office asked a grand jury to issue a subpoena earlier this month to Twitter demanding the identities of his critics."Any subpoe... Read More

Raliegh – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of North Carolina today sent a letter to North Carolina Secretary of Revenue Kenneth Lay reiterating concern over a recent request by the state Department of Revenue (NCDOR) for the private records of Amazon.com customers. The letter informs Lay that the ACLU will take legal action on behalf of North Carolina residents who are Amazon.com cu... Read More