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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

Amicus Brief Helps Protect Email Privacy

Jun 20, 2007
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the government must have a search warrant before it can secretly seize and search emails stored by email service providers. In reaching its decision in Warshak v. United States, the court closely followed the reasoning in an amicus brief filed in the case by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, and the Center for Demo... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

RFID Bills Pass Assembly Judiciary Committee Today

Jun 19, 2007
The California Assembly Judiciary Committee passed five important RFID bills today, including the Identity Information Protection Act (SB 30), which ensures that no RFID tags will be embedded into state-issued IDs, without privacy and security protections. The San Jose Mercury News published a story about the bills on the front page today. You wouldn't post your social se... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

ACLU Supports New Reporter’s Shield Law That Would Protect Bloggers

Jun 15, 2007
A new reporter's shield law, the Free Flow of Information Act, has been introduced in Congress. It would protect a broader group of people than earlier versions, including bloggers. It covers anyone engaged in journalism, such as gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or publishing of news or information. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

New Google Street Scenes - Serious Privacy Problems

May 31, 2007
Google's new Street View service, which allows users of Google Maps to view and navigate street-level images may help some people get around, but it raises serious privacy concerns for individuals who are unwittingly captured by Google's candid cameras. Several websites have already taken up the sport of posting links to snapshots of the streets preserved by Google's camera vans. ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook’s New Third-Party Applications: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

May 25, 2007
The blogosphere is buzzing with commentary about Facebook's announcement that the social networking site is opening its doors to third-party developers. The newly announced feature, Facebook Platform, allows third-party developers (including heavyweights like Microsoft and Amazon.com) to create their own applications to provide Facebook's users with enhanced functionality, such as the... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Landmark RFID Bill Overwhelmingly Passes California Senate

May 24, 2007
The Identity Information Protection Act (SB 30), the first bill in the country to require privacy and security protections for the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in state government-issued ID's passed the California State Senate this morning with a strong bipartisan vote of 33-2. Today's vote was an even more emphatic message to Governor Schwarzenegger that the priv... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

All Quiet on the Middle Eastern Front: Silencing the Speech of Military Troops

May 18, 2007
Earlier this week, the U.S. military ordered troops to stop posting to blogs and sending personal emails without getting clearance. More information here. And the regulations here. Now, the Defense Department is claiming that barring military troops from using social networking, video sharing, and other "recreational" sites such as YouTube and MySpace on military computers is purely a... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Some Tech Trying to Protect Privacy

May 17, 2007
We are now living in a world where the technology exists to keep track of everything we do and say and everywhere we go. Video surveillance, RFID chips that allow stored data to be read at a distance, and massive databases of who we call and what Internet sites we browse mean more information about our lives is being preserved, and being preserved for longer periods of time. Advances ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Governor Shrinking From Real ID?

May 10, 2007
While other states are courageously standing up to Congress' misguided national ID mandate, California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is giving his constituents a different, or shall we say, indifferent message. In response to constituent letters urging California to reject implementation of the REAL ID Act, the Governor's office simply replied: "The issue you have written about is ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Taking a Swipe at Our Privacy

Apr 12, 2007
Over the past two years, we have written extensively about the privacy implications of National ID cards (more information here) and the increased risks if radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are used in these documents (more informaition here). If we are all carrying National ID cards, the government will have a much easier time monitoring and tracking our movements and activi... Read More