EPIC – “For the first time, a federal court has lifted a national security letter gag order, allowing an Internet Service Provider to publish the FBI’s demands for records of user web browsing history, IP addresses, online purchases, and location information. The FBI issues thousands of NSLs each year, forcing companies to disclose troves of… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Patriot Act
Adblock Browser, Do Not Track and Acceptable Ads
“Adblock Plus has launched the Adblock Browser, and we’re excited to announce that DuckDuckGo is the default search engine in Adblock Browser on iOS and Android! We’ve been working with the EFF to promote a new “Do Not Track” (DNT) standard for web browsing. We hope this new DNT policy will better protect people from… Continue Reading
Federal Court Invalidates 11-Year-old FBI gag order on National Security Letter recipient Nicholas Merrill
Calyx Institute: “A federal district court has ordered the FBI to lift an eleven-year- old gag order imposed on Nicholas Merrill [document is redacted] forbidding him from speaking about a National Security Letter (“NSL”) that the FBI served on him in 2004. The ruling marks the first time that an NSL gag order has been… Continue Reading
EFF Provides Evidence to Courts on Telecoms Collection of Metadata
“This week EFF presented evidence in two of its NSA cases confirming the participation of Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T in the NSA’s mass telephone records collection under the Patriot Act. This is important because, despite broad public acknowledgement, the government is still claiming that it can dismiss our cases because it has never confirmed… Continue Reading
Strategic Five-Year Technology Investment Plan for Aviation Security 2015 Report to Congress
Via FedBizOpps: “The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Office of Security Capabilities is presenting the Strategic Five-Year Technology Investment Plan. The Plan was prepared pursuant to a requirement in Section 1611 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296), as amended by Section 3 of the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act (P.L. 113-245). It presents… Continue Reading
Justice Department Announces Enhanced Policy for Use of Cell-Site Simulators
“The Justice Department today announced a new policy for its use of cell-site simulators that will enhance transparency and accountability, improve training and supervision, establish a higher and more consistent legal standard and increase privacy protections in relation to law enforcement’s use of this critical technology. The policy, which goes into effect immediately and applies… Continue Reading
EFF amicus brief in SCOTUS case on seizure of historical cell site records from a cell phone provider
EFF – “Americans have the right to expect that digital records of their daily travels—when they left home, where they went, and how long they stayed—is private information, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of the United States. Weighing in on one of the most important… Continue Reading
Injunction against metadata collection reversed by U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit
EFF – “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s opinion [August 28, 2015] in Klayman v. Obama is highly disappointing and, worse, based on a mistaken concern about the underlying facts. The court said that since the plaintiffs’ phone service was provided by one subsidiary of Verizon—Verizon Wireless—rather than another—Verizon Business—they couldn’t prove that they… Continue Reading
Another Snowden Reveal – Telecom Giant Provides Massive Data Pipeline to NSA
NYT and ProPublica investigative reports: “The National Security Agency’s ability to spy on vast quantities of Internet traffic passing through the United States has relied on its extraordinary, decades-long partnership with a single company: the telecom giant AT&T. While it has been long known that American telecommunications companies worked closely with the spy agency, newly… Continue Reading
Statement by the ODNI on Retention of Data Collected Under Section 215 of USA PATRIOT Act
July 27, 2015: “On June 29, 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the Government’s application to resume the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program pursuant to the USA FREEDOM Act’s 180-day transition provision. As part of our effort to transition to the new authority, we have evaluated whether NSA should maintain access to the… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Laura Poitras suing to shine light on travel detainment
Via The Intercept: “Over six years, filmmaker Laura Poitras was searched, interrogated and detained more than 50 times at U.S. and foreign airports. When she asked why, U.S. agencies wouldn’t say. Now, after receiving no response to her Freedom of Information Act requests for documents pertaining to her systemic targeting, Poitras is suing the U.S.… Continue Reading
NSA collected and stored social media, email, chats of non targeted Americans
Via The Atlantic – “The Washington Post’s latest article drawing on Snowden’s leaked cache of documents includes files “described as useless by the analysts but nonetheless retained” that “tell stories of love and heartbreak, illicit sexual liaisons, mental-health crises, political and religious conversions, financial anxieties and disappointed hopes. The daily lives of more than 10,000… Continue Reading
