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ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

The Social Network: Facebook Behind the Scenes

Oct 05, 2010
The Social Network biopic that opened in theaters last week chronicles Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the beginnings of Facebook. The social network behemoth and its young and oft-embroiled founder and CEO are ripe fodder for Hollywood. But looking beyond the manufactured drama and snappy dialogue, we are right to be concerned about this company that knows and collects so much information ab... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

When Will California Stop Shackling Pregnant Women?

Oct 06, 2010
In California, we shackle pregnant women in prison.And despite widespread opposition, we will continue to do so.On Sept. 27, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have ordered county jails and prisons to stop shackling pregnant women. The bill, AB1900, required new guidelines on restraining pregnant women and would have encouraged counties to adopt these policies. It had o... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook's Latest Changes Put More Control in Your Hands

Oct 07, 2010
On Wednesday, Facebook announced a set of changes to its user experience. Overall, these changes are clearly positive, addressing some of the issue we raised in an Open Letter to Facebook in June and re-emphasizing the company's principles of giving users control of their own information. We hope that Facebook will extend these changes to help address the "app gap" and further improve privacy and ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

ACLU Defends Amazon Customers' Rights in Court Today

Oct 13, 2010
Today, the ACLU will be in a federal court in Seattle arguing that the North Carolina Department of Revenue's (NCDOR) demands for detailed purchase information made by Amazon.com customers is an unconstitutional violation of those customers' rights to free speech, anonymity and privacy.The NCDOR asserted it needed this information for tax collection purposes, so Amazon responded by furnishing a li... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Want to Know What Your Android Apps Are Really Doing?

Oct 14, 2010
If you have an Android phone, you've probably downloaded a few apps. And when you installed those apps, you were told a bit about what information those apps might access about you, things like your location information, phone number, contact and call lists, and more. That's a good start towards transparency… but wouldn't you also like to know what information your apps are actually accessing, how... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook Application Privacy Breach Exposed

Oct 18, 2010
This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the most popular Facebook apps consistently share information about you and your friends with advertisers and other third parties, no matter what your privacy settings are. This isn't the first time a significant and ongoing privacy invasion and violation of Facebook's own rules has been uncovered not by internal Facebook oversight but by an... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

Still No Explanation from California State Agency on Release of Confidential HIV Information

Oct 19, 2010
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has failed to provide a meaningful explanation for its illegal release of the names of some 5,000 HIV-positive Medi-Cal recipients to a third-party service provider, said attorneys at Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC), and HIV & AIDS Legal Services Alliance (HALSA). A letter delivered to the ag... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

ACLU to Attorney General: There is No Basis for Challenging California's Proposition 19

Oct 25, 2010
The ACLU of California sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), on Oct. 25, arguing that there would be no legal basis for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue to overturn Proposition 19 should it be approved next month by California voters, and urging the Justice Department not to change its current l... Read More