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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

If you are interested in dotRights online privacy issues and are interested in a more detailed analysis of the Fourth Amendment and the state of privacy today, check out The Crisis in Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence, the new issue brief written by Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst at the National ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Program.The issue brief delves into how rapid advancements in tech... 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

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

Rochelle Hamilton is an out lesbian high school student in Vallejo. For months, she faced harassment from her teachers because of her sexual orientation. She was even forced to attend a counseling group designed to discourage homosexuality. Robby M. faced years of harassment and bullying from his peers because of his sexual orientation. He and his mom pleaded for the school to intervene, but the s... 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

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

The Oakland City Attorney's proposed gang injunction is a misguided tactic for curbing violence, and a misappropriation of scarce public safety dollars.During a recent visit to a youth center in Oakland, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "We don't want to get tough on crime, we want to get smart on crime."Being smart on crime requires winning strategies to enforce existing laws today and inv... Read More

California's sex education policies are the envy of most other states. California is alone in having never accepted Title V federal abstinence-only-until-marriage funds, and state laws require that sex education in schools and state-funded community programs be comprehensive and bias-free. California's laws have served as models for other states and the federal Responsible Education About Life (RE... Read More

Today, an Alameda County judge granted a preliminary gang injunction in North Oakland. The ACLU of Northern California opposed the injunction, and filed a brief outlining civil liberties concerns. Read the response of Jory Steele, Managing Attorney at the ACLU of Northern California... Read More