“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… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
Rolling Stone – Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets
Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets by Janet Reitman, December 4, 2013. This story is from the December 19th, 2013 – January 2nd, 2014 issue of Rolling Stone. “Early one morning last December, Glenn Greenwald opened his laptop, scanned through his e-mail, and made a decision that almost cost him the story of his life. A… Continue Reading
EFF Introducing a Compendium of the Released NSA Spying Documents
EFF – “The ongoing NSA leaks, Freedom of Information Act lawsuits and government declassification continue to bring vital information to the public about the the ongoing efforts of the NSA and its allies to spy on millions of innocent people. What started out as news detailing the agency’s collections of users’ calling records, phone calls,… Continue Reading
Password Protection Laws Could Protect Much More than Passwords
O’Donohue, Sarah, ‘Like’ it or Not, Password Protection Laws Could Protect Much More than Passwords (August 1, 2013). 20 J.L. Bus. & Eth. (February 2014, Forthcoming). Available at SSRN “Employers and schools in several states are now prohibited from requesting access to the social networking accounts of their employees, students, and applicants as a result… Continue Reading
EFF – Encrypt the Web Report: Who’s Doing What
EFF: “We’ve asked the companies in our Who Has Your Back Program what they are doing to bolster encryption in light of the NSA’s unlawful surveillance of your communications. We’re pleased to see that four companies—Dropbox, Google, SpiderOak and Sonic.net—are implementing five out of five of our best practices for encryption. In addition, we appreciate that Yahoo! just announced several measures… Continue Reading
NYT – N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power
N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power By JAMES RISEN and LAURA POITRAS “Officials at the National Security Agency, intent on maintaining its dominance in intelligence collection, pledged last year to push to expand its surveillance powers, according to a top-secret strategy document. In a February 2012 paper laying out the four-year strategy for the N.S.A.’s… Continue Reading
Civil Society Groups and Tech Companies Call for Significant Reform to U.S. Surveillance Practices
“On November 21, 2013, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), on behalf of a broad coalition of civil society groups, trade associations, companies and investors, delivered this letter to Congressional leadership that called on Congress to reform U.S. intelligence surveillance practices. Signatories urged Congress to limit the scope of surveillance practices, reject bulk collection,… Continue Reading
BBC – Tim Berners-Lee says ‘surveillance threatens web’
“The warning came as he launched his World Wide Web Foundation’s annual web index report, tracking global censorship. It suggests that 94% of the countries in the index do not adequately monitor government internet interception. Thirty per cent of countries block or filter political content, it indicates. The report concludes that the current legal framework on government snooping… Continue Reading
Advocacy Groups – General Assembly Should Pass Strong Resolution on Right to Privacy in the Digital Age
Human Rights Watch: “The United Nations General Assembly should approve a new resolution and make clear that indiscriminate surveillance is never consistent with the right to privacy, five human rights organizations said in a November 20, 2013 letter to members of the United Nations General Assembly. After heated negotiations, the draft resolution on digital privacy initiated by Brazil and Germany emerged on… Continue Reading
Guardian – Fisa court documents reveal extent of NSA disregard for privacy restrictions
Spencer Ackerman, UK Guardian article – “Newly declassified court documents indicate that the National Security Agency shared its trove of American bulk email and internet data with other government agencies in violation of specific court-ordered procedures to protect Americans’ privacy. The dissemination of the sensitive data transgressed both the NSA’s affirmations to the secret surveillance court about the… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
