Washington Markup
04/17/2012
E-Verify

Identity Theft and the War on Immigrants

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:41pm

The war on America's immigrants can lead to some very strange results. In a classic example, last year Republicans actually said, when it comes to immigration at least, new government regulations actually create jobs. But these attacks on immigrants cause real harm to ordinary Americans who don't think that immigration affects them. We've already talked about how mistakes in E-Verify, the federal database of eligible workers, can keep Americans from getting jobs. Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing that highlights another problem with E-Verify.

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04/16/2012
CISPA

Kicking off "Stop Cyber Spying Week"

By Mandy Simon at 12:00pm

Today we're launching a weeklong campaign called "Stop Cyber Spying Week" to draw attention to the massive civil liberties problems in H.R. 3523, better known as CISPA.

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04/02/2012
Online Privacy

A Primer for the Online Privacy Multistakeholder Process

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:12pm

What the heck is a multistakeholder process (MSP)? The word multistakeholder is so obscure that my computer's spell check doesn't even recognize it, yet it's come to dominate the online privacy conversation in recent weeks. That discussion will begin in earnest today with a filing deadline for comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration describing how a process should work and what it should cover (the comments we submitted are here). So what's going on with this MSP and what's in it for consumers?

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03/29/2012
TSA

TSA on the Defensive Again: Effective Security or Security Theater?

By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:18am

Monday's House hearing on TSA security measures examined whether airport security measures have been truly effective at preventing terrorism, or just create an illusion of safety.

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03/27/2012
Real ID

Yes, the States Really Reject Real ID

By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 3:21pm

Remember that time when Congress passed a law that tried to create a national database of drivers' information and turn drivers' licenses into national identification cards? And remember how groups from across the political spectrum joined forces to tell Congress, the president, and their state lawmakers that they objected to this law, known as Real ID, calling it an unfunded mandate that trampled on states' rights, decrying its lack of sufficient protections and potential to increase racial discrimination, worrying about its negative impact on the Amish and other religious denominations, fretting that it would create an expansive and cumbersome new bureaucracy or facilitate the tracking of individuals? Opposition to Real ID united everyone from the National Governors Association to the ACLU to the American Conservative Union, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and National Organization for Women to Gun Owners of America, to name a few.

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03/27/2012
Consumer Online Privacy

FTC Report: A Roadmap for Future Success?

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:21pm

The FTC's newly released privacy report is a roadmap to success on consumer privacy — now it's up to Congress to follow the directions

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03/21/2012
Real ID

Reading the Tea Leaves on Real ID

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:13pm

When a hearing is calm and subdued on an issue that has been contentious for seven years, is it news? Maybe - when that issue is Real ID. I blogged last fall about how Real ID was dead and the committee room for today's House Judiciary Committee hearing on Real ID had the atmosphere of a funeral home: quiet, unhurried, with no raised voices or angry emotions. It was sparsely attended both in the audience and among committee members, without a single rank-and-file Republican attending.

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02/23/2012
Consumer Online Privacy

Time to Get Down to Business on Privacy

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:16pm

Today, the White House released a new policy paper on consumer privacy which may mark an important turning point in the effort to return control over how our online information is handled.

The report contains two main elements. The first is a detailed description about what the administration believes are the core principles that should underpin consumer privacy. The principles go beyond familiar subjects like privacy policies and recommend additional rights for online users, including limitations on collection and use of their information, additional consumer access and accountability for use and misuse of information. These principles closely mirror existing best practices in data privacy law as well as the legal regimes in Europe and Canada.

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02/15/2012
Facebook

Facebook, Twitter and DHS: Which One of These Things is Not Like the Others?

By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:58pm

It's tricky monitoring public information online, especially if you're the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Having the government turn a blind eye to information that anyone can read seems strange, yet the practice raises significant questions. Apparently the House Homeland Security Committee feels the same way — that's why it's holding a hearing tomorrow on the Department of Homeland Security's monitoring of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

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01/24/2012
Location Tracking

Supreme Court Decision on GPS Tracking: A Spur to Action for Congress

By Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:59am

It's time for Congress to catch up with new technology and support the GPS Act!

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