Category «Civil Liberties»

State Regulations and Their Protection of Electronic Book Data

A New Approach to Digital Reader Privacy: State Regulations and Their Protection of Electronic Book Data, Andrew A. Proia. Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 88, No. 4, 2013. “On October 3, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Reader Privacy Act into law. Currently, book service providers within California are prohibited from disclosing to third parties personal …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries, Privacy

Small San Francisco mobile company first to release transparency report

Wired – Kim Zetter: “A small telecom believed to be at the center of a historic court battle over government surveillance published its first transparency report on Thursday, noting that it had received 16 government requests for customer data in 2013. But the report may be most significant for what it doesn’t say. Credo Mobile, the …

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

NSA and GCHQ activities appear illegal, says EU parliamentary inquiry

Nick Hopkins and Ian Traynor, UK Guardian: “Mass surveillance programmes used by the US and Britain to spy on people in Europe have been condemned in the “strongest possible terms” by the first parliamentary inquiry into the disclosures, which has demanded an end to the vast, systematic and indiscriminate collection of personal data by intelligence agencies. The inquiry by the European …

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

Transcript: NSA Deputy Director John Inglis

“National Security Agency Deputy Director John C. “Chris” Inglis has spent most of his time recently defending the NSA from revelations by former contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden disclosed that the agency was gathering phone records of millions of Americans. Inglis retires(d) Friday [January 10, 1014). Before stepping down, he talked to Morning Editionco-host Steve Inskeep about running …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

EPIC Settles FOIA Case, Obtains Body Scanner Radiation Fact Sheets

“EPIC has received the documents that were the subject of EPIC’s Freedom of Information Act appeal to the D.C. Circuit in EPIC v. DHS (Body Scanner FOIA Appeal). The agency had previously withheld test results, fact sheets, and estimates regarding the radiation risks of body scanners used to screen passengers at airports. EPIC challenged the lower court’s determination that the factual material was “deliberative” and therefore exempt …

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

Paper – The Shooting Cycle – A Study of Mass Shootings in America

The Shooting Cycle – Josh Blackman, South Texas College of Law; Shelby Baird, Yale University, January 5, 2014. Connecticut Law Review, Vol 46, 2014. “The pattern is a painfully familiar one. A gunman opens fire in a public place, killing many innocent victims. After this tragedy, support for gun control surges. With a closing window for reform, politicians and activists quickly …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation

CRS – National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations

National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background, January 3, 2014: “Five statutory provisions vest government agencies responsible for certain foreign intelligence investigations (principally the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)) with authority to issue written commands comparable to administrative subpoenas. A National Security Letter (NSL)  seeks customer and consumer transaction information in national security investigations from communications providers, …

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

Trends in transition from classical censorship to Intenet censorship: selected country overviews

Dr Constance Bitso, Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria, South Africa; Prof Ina Fourie, Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria, South Africa; Prof Theo Bothma, Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria “Censorship is no longer limited to printed media and videos. Its impact is felt much more strongly …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Public Report on the Independent Assessment Process for Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo

“The Global Network Initiative today released a public report on the independent assessments of founding companies Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. The assessments looked at cases of government requests implicating the rights of Internet users, and found that each company is making a good faith effort to implement GNI’s Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy, and to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Internet, Search Engines

Internet Monitor 2013: Reflections on the Digital World

Internet Monitor 2013: Reflections on the Digital World, Urs Gasser….a collection of essays from roughly two dozen experts around the world, including Ron Deibert, Malavika Jayaram, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Molly Sauter, Bruce Schneier, Ashkan Soltani, and Zeynep Tufekci, among others. The report highlights key events and recent trends in the digital space. “This publication is the first …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research