Category «Civil Liberties»

Cryptographer and Harvard Scholar – NSA broke Internet’s security for everyone

Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica: “To say that there are a lot of people who are angry with the National Security Agency (NSA) right now would be an understatement. But the things that are getting the most political attention right now—such as the invasion of the privacy of American citizens and spying on the leaders of American …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Internet, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

National Programmes for Mass Surveillance of Personal Data in EU Member States and their Compatibility with EU Law Study

Follow up to Committee Inquiry on Electronic Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens – Sixth Hearing, see DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS’ RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS – National Programmes for Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and its Compatibility with EU Law. See also another version of this document …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Governments can do more to regain trust, says OECD report

Government at a Glance 2013: “The global economic crisis has undermined trust in government. Today only four out of ten citizens in OECD countries say they have confidence in their national authorities. Not surprisingly, trust declined in the countries hit hardest by the crisis, such as Ireland, Greece, Slovenia and Portugal. But measures can be taken to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care

Government to Release More NSA Documents and FISA Court Opinions in Response to EFF Lawsuit

“On Monday, the US Department of Justice will release to the public hundreds of additional pages of government documents concerning its use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the provision of law the NSA relies on to collect the call records of millions of Americans. The disclosures will follow closely on the heels of yesterday’s reports in …

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

EPIC – Government Audit Finds TSA’s Behavioral Analysis Program “Ineffective”

“The Government Accountability Office issued a report to Congress finding that the Transportation Security Administration’s behavioral analysis program, known as “Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques” (SPOT), is ineffective. The GAO determined that there is no scientifically valid evidence for behavior indicators, and that TSA screeners cannot reliably interpret passenger behavior. The GAO report also notes that …

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

New England Journal of Medicine – Preventing Gun Deaths in Children

Preventing Gun Deaths in Children – Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., and Sean Palfrey, M.D. N Engl J Med 2013; 368:401-403 January 31, 2013 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1215606 “As practicing pediatricians who have lost patients to gun violence, we join our colleagues in mourning the 20 children and their teachers who were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Our sadness is …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Health Care

Commentary on Google’s latest transparency report – what is missing that they cannot reveal

Rebecca J. Rosen – The Atlantic: “Today brings the release of the first Transparency Report since the Snowden revelations about widespread government surveillance, and Google’s tone has changed dramatically. In contrast with the warm glow of corporate benevolence Google has tended to exude in these moments, today’s Google Blog post announcing the new Report is a touch surly, …

Subjects: Blogs, Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Google Report Shows Growing Government Demands for User Data, Highlights Need for ECPA Reform

CDT – “Today’s Transparency Report from Google, which shows a sharp increase in government demands for user data, provides the latest in a long list of reasons why Congress should act now to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), to make it clear that government officials must obtain a warrant in order to access email and other communications stored …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

FAA Releases Drone Roadmap, Privacy Not Required for Test Sites

EPIC – “In a press release, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the “roadmap” for the integration of drones into domestic airspace. After considering numerous public comments on the privacy impact of aerial drones, the FAA proposed a regulation that requires test site operators to develop privacy policies but does not require any specific baseline privacy protections. The FAA rulemaking came …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

Report – Telecoms plan shielded European Internet

Via Deutsche Welle: “Deutsche Telekom says the scandal over US and British eavesdropping has prompted German providers to contemplate an inner-German or inner-European Internet. Data would no longer be routed and stored via other continents.  Germany’s state-backed Telekom confirmed on Sunday that German providers were discussing an Internet confined within Europe’s “Schengen” countries. One project code-named …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, EU Data Protection, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

Introducing a Public Advocate into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Courts

Introducing a Public Advocate into the  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Courts:  – Select Legal Issues. Andrew Nolan , Legislative Attorney; Richard M. Thompson II , Legislative Attorney; Vivian S. Chu, Legislative Attorney, October 25, 2013. “Recent revelations about the size and scope of government foreign surveillance efforts have prompted some to criticize the level of scrutiny that the courts – established under the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research, Legislation, Patriot Act, Privacy

UK Guardian – Google and Facebook may be our best defenders against Big Brother

The big online companies are calling for urgent reforms to protect us from having data intercepted – Jemima Kiss “Surveillance is the undercurrent in every tech conversation now, a lens for understanding our vulnerability and exposure to every part of the online world. This is not a choice between catching terrorists and what David Cameron astonishingly …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy