Category «Civil Liberties»

Detekt – free tool that scans your Windows computer for traces of commercial surveillance spyware

Via FastCoExit: “Spyware like FinFisher contributes to a multi-billion dollar business. But until last week, activists had few ways to defend themselves, aside from the well-placed bit of duct tape over the computer camera and rigorous digital hygiene practices. That’s why Amnesty International, Privacy International, Digitale Gesellschaft, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation rolled out a …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Cybercrime, E-Commerce, E-Government, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

FCC Releases Redacted Manual for Mobile Surveillance

Follow up to previous posting – StingRay surveillance device intercepts a cellphone signals, capture texts, calls, emails and other data – via Slate, via TheBlot: A heavily redacted copy of the 2010 manual for StingRay and KingFish mobile data surveillance equipment was released by the FCC in response to a FOIA request by TheBlot over …

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

United Nations To Create Special Rapporteur on Right to Privacy

EPIC: “The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age that will lead to the selection of an independent expert on privacy. According to the resolution, the special rapporteur will have a broad mandate to assess developments, make recommendations, and promote the right to privacy. EPIC …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

5 ways to keep your data safe right now

Christopher Soghoian is a TED Fellow, and the principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he monitors the intersection of federal surveillance and citizen’s rights. Before joining the ACLU, he was the first-ever technologist for the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, where he worked on investigations of Facebook, Twitter, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, ID Theft, Internet, Privacy

Progress Report Panel Conducts Review of FBI Since 9/11 Commission Report

“A congressionally mandated panel charged with reviewing the FBI’s implementation of recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission Report in 2004 today issued its findings. The release of the 9/11 Review Commission’s report, The FBI: Protecting the Homeland in the 21st Century, followed 14 months of research, interviews, briefings, and field visits by commissioners and their …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research

Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life

“For patients and their loved ones, no care decisions are more profound than those made near the end of life. Unfortunately, the experience of dying in the United States is often characterized by fragmented care, inadequate treatment of distressing symptoms, frequent transitions among care settings, and enormous care responsibilities for families. According to this report, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Health Care

Destabilizing Property

“Rosser, Ezra, Destabilizing Property (March 1, 2015). Connecticut Law Review, Forthcoming; American University, WCL Research Paper No. 2015-1. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2581710 “Property theory has entered into uncertain times. Conservative and progressive scholars are fiercely contesting everything it seems, from what is at the core of property to what obligations owners owe society. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Economy, Financial System, Housing, Legal Research

Universal Periodic Review Report of the United States of America – Human Rights

Report of the United States of America  Submitted to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights In Conjunction with the Universal Periodic Review [includes link to country profiles database – See also the PDF version of the report. I. Introduction II. Methodology and Consultation Process III. Progress and Challenges A. Domestic Mechanisms for Human Rights …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Government Documents, Legal Research

New GAO Reports – DOE Facilities, Financial Company Bankruptcies, Geospatial Data, IRS Info Security, Military Personnel

DOE Facilities: Better Prioritization and Life Cycle Cost Analysis Would Improve Disposition Planning, GAO-15-272: Published: Mar 19, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 19, 2015. Financial Company Bankruptcies: Information on Legislative Proposals and International Coordination, GAO-15-299: Published: Mar 19, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 19, 2015. Geospatial Data: Progress Needed on Identifying Expenditures, Building and Utilizing a Data …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybersecurity, Economy, Energy, Financial System, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

StingRay surveillance device intercepts a cellphone signals, capture texts, calls, emails and other data

NYT – A Police Gadget Tracks Phones? Shhh! It’s Secret – “A powerful new surveillance tool being adopted by police departments across the country comes with an unusual requirement: To buy it, law enforcement officials must sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing them from saying almost anything about the technology… The technology goes by various names, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament published its Report ‘Privacy and Security: A modern and transparent legal framework’

“The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today published its Report ‘Privacy and Security: A modern and transparent legal framework‘. This Report includes, for the first time in a single document, a comprehensive review of the full range of intrusive capabilities available to the UK intelligence Agencies. It contains an unprecedented amount of information …

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

Americans’ Privacy Strategies Post-Snowden

Lee Rainie and Mary Madden: “It has been nearly two years since the first disclosures of government surveillance programs by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and Americans are still coming to terms with how they feel about the programs and how to live in light of them. The documents leaked by Snowden revealed …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy