Category «Free Speech»

Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss in NSA Surveillance Case

ACLU: “A federal court issued an opinion and order in ACLU v. Clapper [American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper, 13-cv-03994, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)], the ACLU’s challenge to the constitutionality of the NSA’s mass call-tracking program, ruling that the government’s bulk collection of phone records is lawful under Section 215 of the Patriot Act and under …

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

Research – MetaPhone: The NSA’s Got Your Number

by Jonathan Mayer, a grad student at Stanford – Co-authored with Patrick Mutchler – via the Web Policy Blog “MetaPhone is a crowdsourced study of phone metadata. If you own an Android smartphone, please consider participating. In earlier posts, we reported how automated analysis of call and text activity can reveal private relationships, as well as how phone subscribers are closely …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Mail, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Patriot Act, Privacy

Google Transparency Report: Government removal requests continue to rise

“We launched the Transparency Report in 2010 to provide hard evidence of how laws and policies affect access to information online. Today, for the eighth time, we’re releasing new numbers showing requests from governments to remove content from our services. From January to June 2013, we received 3,846 government requests to remove 24,737 pieces of content—a 68 percent increase over the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Gallup – Record High in U.S. Say Big Government Greatest Threat

Now 72% say it is greater threat than big business or big labor, by Jeffrey M. Jones: “Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor, a record high in the nearly 50-year history of this question. The prior high for …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

Trends in Insurance Coverage and Source of Private Coverage Among Young Adults Aged 19–25

Trends in Insurance Coverage and Source of Private Coverage Among Young Adults Aged 19–25: United States, 2008–2012. Whitney K. Kirzinger, M.P.H.; Robin A. Cohen, Ph.D.; and Renee M. Gindi, Ph.D. Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 2008–2012: The percentage of young adults with private health insurance coverage increased from the last 6 months of 2010 through …

Subjects: Economy, Free Speech, Government Documents, Health Care

Investigation Reveals More Than One Million Requests By Law Enforcement for Americans’ Mobile Phone Data

“As part of his ongoing investigation into wireless surveillance of Americans by law enforcement, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released responses from eight major wireless carriers that reveals expanded use of wireless surveillance of Americans, including more than one million requests for the personal mobile phone data of Americans in 2012 by law enforcement. This …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Patriot Act, Privacy

Tech Giants Call for Global Government Surveillance Reform

“The undersigned companies believe that it is time for the world’s governments to address the practices and laws regulating government surveillance of individuals and access to their information. While the undersigned companies understand that governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety and security, we strongly believe that current laws and practices need to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Microsoft, Patriot Act, Privacy

American Library Association gathering support to protect user metadata and privacy

The Hill, Kate Tummarello: “…You need to have some freedom to learn about what you think is important without worrying about whether it ends up in some FBI file,” said Alan Inouye, director of the Office for Information Technology Policy at the American Library Association (ALA). Government snooping of libraries has a long history. Under the Patriot …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Mail, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Legislation, Libraries, PC Security, Privacy

WordPress – Striking Back Against Censorship

“The mission of WordPress.com is to democratize publishing. We’re inspired every day by the ways creators use our platform to bring their voices to the world. Unfortunately, we also see many cases of censorship aimed at WordPress.com authors and users. One area where we’ve seen a number of problems is the censoring of criticism through abuse …

Subjects: Blogs, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Copyright, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Legal Research

Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and Its Compatibility with EU Law

Bigo, Didier and Carrera, Sergio and Hernanz, Nicholas and Jeandesboz, Julien and Parkin, Joanna and Ragazzi, Francesco Rossi and Scherrer, Amandine, Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and Its Compatibility with EU Law (November 6, 2013). Liberty and Security in Europe Papers No. 61. Available at SSRN. “In the wake of the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, EU Data Protection, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

UN General Assembly Third Committee Approves Text Titled ‘Right to Privacy in the Digital Age’

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 18 draft resolutions today, including one on “The right to privacy in the digital age”. “Through this resolution, the General Assembly establishes, for the first time, that human rights should prevail irrespective of the medium and therefore need to be protected both offline and online,” Brazil’s representative …

Subjects: Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy