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Documents Show U.S. Ignored Security and Privacy Warnings On Passports; Decisions Will Leave Americans Vulnerable to Violence, ID Theft, ACLU Says (11/24/2004)
NEW YORK -- The Bush Administration spurned warnings by privacy and security experts and foreign governments when pushing new remotely readable biometric passports, according to State Department documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. Because of the U.S. action, passports issued to Americans in coming years will contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips that will broadcast all the personal information on a passport to anyone who comes within range with an RFID reader.

ACLU Says Pending Test of Secure Flight Would Violate Law, Congress Required GAO Report Before Allowing Private Data To Be Used (11/19/2004)
WASHINGTON - Days before the nation's busiest travel season starts, the American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Department of Homeland Security to clarify its plans to begin testing the "Secure Flight" airline passenger screening program. Government officials had indicated that testing of the controversial program will begin shortly even though a congressionally mandated pre-launch review of the program has yet to be completed.

Court Hears Arguments in ACLU No-Fly Class-Action Lawsuit (11/04/2004)
SEATTLE--At a hearing here today, the American Civil Liberties Union presented arguments to advance the first nationwide class-action lawsuit challenging the government's controversial No-Fly lists, which are distributed to all airlines with instructions to detain or interrogate passengers whose names match thousands of names listed.

ACLU Urges Virginia Legislators Not To Put Radio Computer Chip in Driver's Licenses (10/06/2004)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today urged Virginia not to become the first state in the nation to place radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in its driver's licenses.

ACLU Calls for Protection of Privacy and Freedom As Congress Continues Examination of 9/11 Commission Recommendations (08/16/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged caution as three key Senate committees convened special recess hearings to examine some of the 9/11 Commission findings. At issue are proposals that, if enacted, would have a long lasting negative impact on the privacy and freedoms of future generations of Americans.

Emerging "Surveillance-Industrial Complex" Is Turbo-Charging Government Monitoring, ACLU Warns in New Report (08/09/2004)
NEW YORK - The government is rapidly increasing its ability to monitor average Americans by tapping into the growing amount of consumer data being collected by the private sector, according to a major report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU Links Pizza Delivery to Privacy Erosion in New Online Video (07/26/2004)
NEW YORK--In a new online video unveiled today, the American Civil Liberties Union takes a break from its serious side to illustrate how new technologies and weak privacy laws can be used to reveal sensitive information about a person involved in even the most mundane of business transactions, including ordering a pizza.

ACLU Applauds End of CAPPS II (07/15/2004)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today praised the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration for killing the passenger profiling system known as CAPPS II.

ACLU Washington Director Asks Democratic Committee To Include Strong Stand for Civil Liberties in Party Platform (06/19/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Democratic Party Platform Committee to include strong language in its 2004 platform to protect and promote civil liberties.

ACLU Says Cybercrime Treaty Warrants Extensive Examination; Could Import Un-American Laws to the U.S. (06/17/2004)
WASHINGTON - As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered a key international cybercrime accord, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged Congress to hold further hearings to consider the ramifications of what it called a misguided and potentially dangerous treaty.

ACLU of West Virginia Sues Brooke County Sheriff for Conducting Intrusive Strip Search of Woman (04/26/2004)
CHARLESTON, WV - The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of a woman who says local police demanded that she pull down her pants so they could photograph her tattoo.

"Your Papers, Please:" ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Protect Right to Remain Anonymous (03/22/2004)
WASHINGTON -The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in an important case that will determine whether the police can arrest someone merely because the person refuses to identify himself.

Homeland Security Report on JetBlue Confirms TSA's Involvement in Privacy Scandal, ACLU Says (02/20/2004)
NEW YORK--A report released today by the Department of Homeland Security on the JetBlue privacy scandal confirms suspicions that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was involved, and highlights the inevitability that information will be misused, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Passenger Threat-Ranking System Rated "Red" For Stop By Congressional Investigators (02/12/2004)
WASHINGTON - A highly critical report by Congress' investigative wing released today vindicates the long-standing concerns of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups from across the political spectrum that the controversial airline passenger screening system known as CAPPS II poses severe threats to personal privacy and basic civil liberties in America.

ACLU Applauds Republican-Sponsored Privacy Protection Bill; Measure Would Place Key Protections into Federal Law (02/10/2004)
WASHINGTON - Days before the General Accounting Office is set to release a report on a controversial airline passenger data-mining program, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation that would incorporate key privacy protections into the operations of federal agencies. Similar legislation had passed in the House during the previous Congress but was not addressed by the Senate.

New Report Shows Why Americans Must Join With Europeans To Protect Privacy, ACLU Says (02/02/2004)
NEW YORK -- A new report issued today by European civil liberties groups reveals that the Bush Administration is trying to force Europe to adopt its own misguided and privacy-threatening approach to stopping terrorism through invasive data tracking systems, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Documents Acquired By ACLU Prove That MATRIX is a Data Mining Program (01/21/2004)
NEW YORK--New documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union prove that data mining is at the heart of the controversial MATRIX police database system and reveal that the federal authorities have been deeply involved in developing the state-run effort to spy on citizens.

ACLU Criticizes Plans to Go Forward With CAPPS II, Calls Dragnet Profiling Approach Fake Security on the Cheap (01/12/2004)
WASHINGTON - Responding to news reports this morning that, despite broad opposition from across the political spectrum, the Homeland Security Department intends to go forward with two highly controversial airline screening programs, the American Civil Liberties Union today strongly criticized the move. It called the two programs - called CAPPS II and Trusted Traveler -- wrong-headed both for national security and for civil liberties.

ACLU Calls On Senate to Reject Misguided International Cybercrime Treaty; Pact Would Require U.S. Police to Enforce Foreign Laws (12/18/2003)
NEW YORK-- The American Civil Liberties Union today decried President Bush's decision to submit the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention to the Senate for ratification, and called on the Senate to reject the treaty.

As Identity Theft Increases, ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Ensure Enforcement of Privacy Act (12/03/2003)
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in Doe v. Chao, a case that will go a long way toward determining whether individual citizens have an effective remedy against the government for violations of the Privacy Act, including improper release of Social Security numbers.