Category «Civil Liberties»

Justice Department Releases Drone Privacy Guidance

EPIC – “The Justice Department has released extensive “Policy Guidance” for the use of drones by federal agencies. The Guidance bans the use of drones to monitor activities protected by the First Amendment, requires routine logs of drone use, and requires the protection of civil liberties and privacy in all cases. However, the Guidance “does …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy, Transportation

Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google

Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google – A review of James Palfrey’s new book ‘BiblioTech,’ and the culturally critical role libraries play. By Amien Essif / AlterNet – May 11, 2015 “James Palfrey, in his new book BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google, gives some …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

US DOJ IG Report – Review of the FBI’s Use of Section 215 Orders

FBI’s Use of Section 215 Orders: Assessment of Progress in Implementing Recommendations and Examination of Use in 2007 through 2009, Oversight and Review Division Report 15-05. May 2015. Redacted. “The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced today the release of a public version of its most recent report examining the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Defense, E-Government, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy

Du-Vote: Remote Electronic Voting with Untrusted Computers

Du-Vote: Remote Electronic Voting with Untrusted Computers. Gurchetan S. Grewal, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, UK;  Mark D. Ryan, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, UK; Liqun Chen, HP Laboratories, Bristol, UK; Michael R. Clarkson, Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, US. [via ReadWrite] “Abstract —Du-Vote is a new remote electronic voting …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research

Children’s Rights Under Regional Human Rights Law – A Tale of Harmonisation?

Nolan, Aoife and Kilkelly, Ursula, Children’s Rights Under Regional Human Rights Law – A Tale of Harmonisation? (May 19, 2015). Due to appear in Buckley, Donald and Leach (eds), Harmonisation of International Human Rights Law (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, Forthcoming). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2608102 “This chapter focuses on an area where a high level of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

Inspector General Warns: Significant Oversight of Section 215 Required

EPIC – “The DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General released a report this month detailing the FBI’s use of Section 215 and warning that “significant oversight” is required. The Inspector General describes the FBI’s expanding use of 215 to collect electronic information in bulk and criticized the agency for taking seven years to develop minimization …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Tech giants communicate opposition to decrypted data for law enforcement

Washington Post, Ellen Nakashima: “Tech behemoths including Apple and Google and leading cryptologists are urging President Obama to reject any government proposal that alters the security of smartphones and other communications devices so that law enforcement can view decrypted data. In a letter to be sent Tuesday and obtained by The Washington Post, a coalition …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Defense, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Microsoft, Patriot Act, Privacy

Reddit Now Sharing Notices with Chilling Effects

Chilling Effects Team on May 13, 2015 [Chilling Effects is a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.] “We at Chilling Effects are thrilled to share Reddit’s announcement that the site has begun sharing takedown notices with us! Following on the heels of the release of its first transparency report earlier this year, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

UK government rewrites law to permit GCHQ hacking

Privacy International – May 15, 2015: The Government has quietly ushered through legislation amending the anti-hacking laws to exempt GCHQ from prosecution. Privacy International and other parties were notified of this just hours prior to a hearing of their claim against GCHQ’s illegal hacking operations in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. In its legal filings, sent …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

Guardian – How we sold our souls – and more – to the internet giants

Bruce Schneier – Adapted from Data and Goliath by Bruce Schneier, published by Norton Book  – Last year, when my refrigerator broke, the repair man replaced the computer that controls it. I realised that I had been thinking about the refrigerator backwards: it’s not a refrigerator with a computer, it’s a computer that keeps food …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Commerce, Economy, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy