Blog

Facebook’s proposed headquarters expansion would inject tens of thousands of new workers into one of the tightest housing markets in the country, yet its environmental study denies any impact on housing demand or displacement pressures. Read More

I’m the first to admit: I love Pokémon Go. Another thing I love? Privacy. I was shocked to find out that in signing up to explore the Pokémon world, I'd given Pokémon Go permission to explore my Gmail inbox. Read More

Imagine: You pull out your phone to record police misconduct—suddenly, your camera just doesn’t work. Turns out, your phone’s camera has been disabled by an infrared emitter. Apple’s newly patented technology may make this possible. The technology places an infrared sensor in your phone that has the potential to be disabled remotely. While the technology is being promoted as a tool to prevent the ... Read More

Santa Clara County has passed a landmark law to stop secret and discriminatory surveillance. The passage of this new law comes on the heels of San Jose's secret acquisition of a drone, the Santa Clara Sheriff's attempt to quietly buy an invasive cell phone tracking device, and revelations that Fresno and Bay Area police departments have been using social networking software that monitors Black Liv... Read More

It’s pretty simple: our social media content is protected by the First Amendment. That’s why the ACLU is concerned that the federal government is pressuring social media companies to limit content on platforms that hundreds of millions of people use every day. Read More

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter is no longer going to allow US intelligence agencies to access a Twitter-affiliated business service that compiles and analyzes the hundreds of millions of daily tweets on the service. Read More

This week, we’re attending the “Color of Surveillance” conference in Washington, D.C., meeting leaders and activists from across the country who are shining a light on discriminatory surveillance. When technology advances, the tools of surveillance change but the color of surveillance remains the same. Here in California, we’re seeing communities fighting back against the secretive purchase and un... Read More

When Twitter released its most recent transparency report in late February, users got their first glimpse into the content the company removes for violating its terms of service after it receives formal legal demands. This is a step forward. Read More

Today is not a typical ACLU day for me.I am going to Apple’s shareholder meeting to show my support for a company that is standing up for the privacy and security of people around the country and around the world.The federal government’s order for Apple to create a backdoor into the iPhone is not about just one phone. It is about all of our phones and devices, everywhere.Just like we rely on stron... Read More

The privacy and free speech mistakes of tech companies led to tons of embarrassing and costly stories last year. These missteps could've been avoided with better planning and processes in place, but many companies lack the resources to navigate this terrain. Read More

The ACLU of Northern California is outraged by the death of Hernan Jaramillo, who died in 2013 while Oakland police officers restrained him and ignored his cries of “I can’t breathe.” Footage of the incident was released this week by the Oakland Tribune. Read More

Anaheim Police have spent almost a decade secretly building an inventory of powerful cell phone surveillance devices and making them available to neighboring cities in Orange County, Documents obtained [MC1] by the ACLU of California reveal. Read More