By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 1:24pm
Imagine you’re a principal confronted with these facts: according to a 2010 report, the dropout rates for Black and Latino males are well above 50 percent in most cities, and Black and Latino males are less likely than any other demographic to enroll in or graduate from college. What do you do? A) throw your hands up in disgust and frustration; B) institute single-sex classes; or C) research what actually works in improving student performance?
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 3:11pm
So, you’ve done it all right. You’ve meticulously chosen your Facebook privacy settings so that only your closest friends can see the most personal information about you. No one else has access. Or so you think.
Turns out, it’s more like your designated closest friends and anyone who advertises on Facebook. (And, P.S., anyone *can* advertise on Facebook. Doesn’t have to be a business.) Sure, advertisers aren’t given the exact identities of the individuals who are served their ads, but given the precise way that advertisers can choose their target audience — by some combination of location, age, interests, employer, etc. — anyone with a few cents to spend on an ad can undoubtedly unmask your most personal details if he/she wants to. In fact, Stanford Computer Science researcher Aleksandra Korolova has done just that. (Don’t worry — she targeted a friend whose personal information she already knew and did it in order to prove a point to Facebook.)
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 10:17am
A Justice Department chart released to the ACLU through a public records act request reveals the location data retention policies of the major mobile carriers. What's your carrier's policy?
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 2:12pm
Last week, the Wall Street Journal profiled the StingRay. And I don't mean the sea creature. The StingRay is a device that acts like a cell phone tower — except it doesn't help your phone complete calls. Rather, it fools your phone into thinking it's connecting to a cell tower and forces your phone to register its location — with the law enforcement agent wielding the device.
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 12:36pm
Today, 34 ACLU affiliates are filing 379 public records requests in 31 states around the nation, seeking information about how our local law enforcement agencies are using our cell phone location information to track us.
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 1:32pm
Remember back in the 1980s when some cars only had one side rear-view mirror? Remember how that was later made illegal, and cars were required to have mirrors on both sides as a matter of safety?
On Friday, Gen. David Petraeus was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, "It is time to take the rear-view mirrors off the bus with respect to certain actions out there." Now, I remember driver education, and I remember the video showing just how large buses' blind spots are and just how necessary their mirrors are. As any 16-year old in drivers' ed can tell you, rear-view mirrors — and the ability to see behind yourself — are paramount to safety on the road.
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 9:28pm
If you can’t get the two-thirds vote necessary to pass controversial legislation, do you a) scrap the bill and go back to the drawing board; b) provide time for debate and good-faith amendments to the bill; or c) lower the vote threshold so that the bill passes despite the doubts of your colleagues?
Well, House leadership chose c), and thus the House caved. I’m not sure if it’s a consolation that the House leadership had to change the rules of the game to make it happen. On Feb. 8, House leadership brought up a Patriot Act extension on suspension, and, thanks in large part to your activism, it failed to get the two-thirds vote necessary to pass. So, today, after perfunctory debate and no opportunities for amendment (save the obligatory Motion to Recommit afforded the minority party), House leadership brought up the extension for a simple majority vote. And thus, the Patriot extension through December 8, 2011 passed the House. You can see how your member of Congress voted here. Be sure to tell your representative how you feel about his/her vote. (You can reach him/her through the Capitol Switchboard – (202) 224-3121.)
