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“We are a coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum joining forces to fight mass surveillance by the National Security Agency. We have different missions, different goals, different communities that we represent. However, we all agree that mass surveillance is contrary to freedom and democracy. It must be stopped. Surveillance that sweeps up the communications of …
EPIC – “The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today made public the legal analysis justifying the Administration’s controversial “targeted killing” drone program. The action follows an earlier ruling by the federal appeals court in New York Times v. Department of Justice. The government had argued that this memo could not be disclosed under the Freedom of …
Via cdt – “The USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 3361) is the most significant national security surveillance reform legislation in more than a decade. The bill was watered down in the House prior to final passage, prompting CDT, other public interest groups, and many major technology companies to withdraw support for the bill. CDT is urging the Senate to make …
“A federal judge [on June 13, 2014] ordered the Department of Justice to hand over key opinions by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (also known as the “FISA court”) so the judge can directly review whether information about mass surveillance was improperly withheld from the public. The order is another victory in EFF’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit …
Adam Mazmanian via FCW.com: “Government officials can get ready to toss out their “For Official Use Only” stamps under a pending rule that would standardize how the government marks and stores information that is deemed sensitive but is not classified. The National Archives and Records Administration is leading the charge for a new policy on controlled …
“The Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Journalist’s Resource project at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy are pleased to release a new report: Who Gets a Press Pass? Media Credentialing Practices in the United States. Media credentials have long played a critical role in newsgathering …
EPIC – After almost five years, EPIC has obtained National Security Presidential Directive 54. The previously classified Presidential Directive contains the full text of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative and “establishes United States policy, strategy, guidelines, and implementation actions to secure cyberspace.” This Directive, which is the foundational legal document for all cybersecurity policies in the …
“A Florida judge has sided with the ACLU to order release of information about police use of “stingrays,” which are invasive surveillance devices that send out powerful signals to trick cell phones into transmitting their locations and identifying information. The Tallahassee judge’s pro-transparency decision stands in contrast to extreme secrecy surrounding stingray records in another …
“A coalition of transparency organizations set a new benchmark for transparency by publishing model Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations, building on FOIA’s 50-year legacy of making government more open and accountable. The groups—Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and the National Security Archive—all experts in FOIA litigation, recommend a common …
The Ghost Files published in Columbia Magazine, Winter 2013-14 by David J. Craig – writing about Columbia Professor Connolly’s Declassification Engine and his efforts to leverage big-data analysis to show what kinds of information the government is keeping classified. “…Then Connelly had an idea: could he use data mining to infer what types of information were being left out of the public …
Fiber by cities: Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle May 28, 2014 by susan crawford Developments and Lessons Learned – “This report provides detailed accounts of planning carried out in connection with community fiber networks in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA. It includes information about existing fiber assets that the cities identified, funding mechanisms that were …
News release: “As the global debate over the intelligence programs revealed by Edward Snowden approaches its first anniversary, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and ARTICLE 19 today published a new legal analysis of the Necessary & Proportionate Principles, a guiding framework for countries to apply international human rights law to communications surveillance. Currently, there are few legal …
