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People are talking about internet content filtering, especially since the ACLU won its case against the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which tried to censor all speech about sex from the internet. But don't be confused between voluntary use of filters as an alternative to a criminal statute and governmentally imposed filters. ACLU First Amendment attorney Chris Hansen explains more about filt... Read More

Today is the second annual Data Privacy Day, an international holiday "devoted to spotlighting computer privacy and protection issues." While Data Privacy Day is only two years old, warnings about online privacy have been popping up since 2000. Nearly a decade later, articles are still being published warning users about old and new risks to privacy online–and how we can protect ourselves.After al... Read More

Download the Winter 2009 ACLU-NC Newsletter and read about our latest events and initiatives. Read More

Moving to protect the free speech rights of anonymous online posters, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a motion on Nov. 19, 2008 asking a San Francisco federal court to reject two landlords' attempt to require a website to identify people who had posted anonymous criticisms of their apartment complexes. The motion was jointly filed with Public Citizen. We further sought to have the... Read More

We have just won a victory for privacy and against biometrics, thanks to many of you!Thousands of faxes and emails from ACLU of Northern California members were critical in getting the California Legislature to send a letter rejecting the Department of Motor Vehicle's proposal to begin embedding biometric information — face and fingerprint scans — into our drivers' licenses.The DMV was trying to g... Read More

Facebook, hardly a stranger to controversy, set off yet another firestorm recently when it changed its Terms of Use. The previous terms of service explicitly stated that Facebook's license to use user-created content expired as soon as the user deleted the content or cancelled her account:You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the lic... Read More

If you live or work in San Jose, please speak up for free speech and say no to library internet censorship!The San Jose City Council is deciding whether to install blocking software on library computers and endanger access to important information about healthcare, sexuality, art, and politics. If you live or work in San Jose, please tell the San Jose City Council and the Mayor that library Intern... Read More

ACLU of Northern California released a new report revealing that California continues to spend more money on the death penalty, even while fewer counties actually send anyone to death row. Read More

Should San Francisco 49ers' fans have to give up their privacy as the price of admission to the game? Dan and Kathleen Sheehan think the answer is no and have filed a lawsuit challenging the 49er's policy, instituted in 2005, that requires every man, woman, and child attending a 49ers home game to submit to a pat-down search of their bodies. On March 2, 2009, the California Supreme Court rejected ... Read More

The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that the 49ers' policy of requiring pat-down searches to attend games at Candlestick Park raises serious privacy concerns that the team must justify at a trial. The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) brought the lawsuit challenging the policy on behalf of Dan and Kathleen Sheehan, long-time 49ers season ticket holders, aft... Read More