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.
VICTORY! Santa Clara County Abandons Plans to Purchase a Stingray
May 06, 2015
We just learned that Santa Clara County will not be moving forward to purchase an invasive Stingray mobile tracking system.
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Smart Devices Make Everything Easier – Like Spying On Users
Apr 27, 2015
We live in a world where everyday devices collect and transmit data, but consumer privacy awareness is only beginning to come into focus for the Internet of Things.
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Get a Warrant! Senate Committee Approves E-Privacy Bill
Mar 24, 2015
Today the California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety approved the CA Electronic Privacy Act. CalECPA would require police to get a warrant before searching devices or digital data.
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Police Shouldn't Engage in Indiscriminate Secret Cell Phone Surveillance
Mar 10, 2015
The ACLU filed lawsuits against two CA law enforcement agencies. The people deserve to know if these agencies are using StingRays without appropriate judicial authorization.
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Feds Refuse to Release Documents on 'Zero-Day' Security Exploits
Mar 03, 2015
Federal agencies served with a Freedom of Information Act request are refusing to release documents related to their purchase, use and disclosure of zero-day exploits, keeping the American public in the dark about a practice that leaves the Internet and its users less secure.Zero-day exploits are special software programs that take advantage of security vulnerabilities in software that are un...
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After a Decade's Fight for Net Neutrality, Major Win for Internet Free Speech
Feb 26, 2015
The people have spoken. And, today, the Federal Communications Commission listened. A majority of FCC commissioners voted in favor of historically strong open Internet rules.It appears they have done what the ACLU and other free speech groups have been suggesting for years: put net neutrality rules on firm legal footing to prevent large internet companies from using their market pow...
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Santa Clara Board Votes to Proceed with Controversial Surveillance Tech
Feb 25, 2015
Despite criticism from the ACLU and Supervisor Joe Simitian, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a sheriff’s department request to use more than $500,000 of federal grant money to purchase a Stingray cell phone tracking system.Simitian perhaps put it best when he told Sheriff Lori Smith during Tuesday’s meeting of the supervisors that, “Just to be clear, we're being ask...
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ACLU to Santa Clara Sheriff: Don’t Sneak this Stingray by the Public
Feb 23, 2015
The debate over cell phone surveillance comes to the heart of Silicon Valley on Feb. 24, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to purchase a Stingray. Unfortunately, the public wasn't told about it.
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Local Surveillance Reform at a Tipping Point in Oakland
Feb 10, 2015
Public participation in decisions about whether to equip police with surveillance technology is often the exception rather than the rule in California and across the country. Oakland knows this all too well.
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It's Time to Protect Digital Privacy in California
Feb 08, 2015
The technology that we use for everything from balancing our budget to finding a date is constantly evolving – but the laws that protect our electronic information are stuck in the digital dark ages.
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Cops Complain about Being Tracked on Waze: “Do as We Say, Not as We Do”
Jan 29, 2015
Do you have the right to tell others that you saw an on duty cop in public? According to law enforcement in two Associated Press articles this week, the answer is “No.”
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Cybersecurity Doesn’t Have to Mean Sacrificing Privacy
Jan 13, 2015
Are our work emails, our medical records, and our financial information safe online, or have we been leaving our digital doors unlocked? What will President Obama propose to keep our digital world secure?
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