Home : Privacy & Technology

U.S. Among World's Worst Surveillance Societies 1,000,000 terrorists poised to strike America? The ACLU marked the addition of the one millionth name to the DHS terrorist watchlist in an event on July 14, 2008.  The roll over of the “ACLU Watchlist Counter” to 1,000,000 confirms the warnings the ACLU has been making for years: the TSA is pinning American security on a system of watchlists that are bloated, inefficient, ineffective and unfair.   If you believe you have been harmed due to a U.S. government watchlist, use this form to share your story. Total Information Awareness Lives A stunning new report indicates the NSA has effectively revived the Orwellian “Total Information Awareness” domestic-spying program that was banned by Congress in 2003.  In response, the ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for more information about the spying.  And, we moved the Surveillance Clock one minute closer to midnight.  More. . . Expert Findings on Surveillance Cameras New ACLU White Paper Summarizes Real World Studies KEY RESOURCES > SWIFT > Data Mining > Fusion Centers > Combatting the Surveillance Industrial Complex > Surveillance > How Monopoly Control of the Internet Threatens Free Speech > Domestic Spy Satelites > Forensic DNA Databanks > Bigger Monsters, Weaker Chains > Real ID > 5 Reasons Not to Create a National ID Card > Science Under Siege > International Policy Laundering Project > Airline Security > Face-Recognition Technology > The Growth of an American Surveillance Society > Electronic Passports > Financial Privacy > What's Wrong With Public Video Surveillance? > The Cybercrime Treaty > Position statement on RFIDs > The FBI's Power to Rifle Through Your Records and Personal Belongings Without Telling You (PDF) > Through the Keyhole: Privacy in the Workplace, an Endangered Right > FAQ on the National Census > Other ACLU Documents on Privacy

State Police Return DNA Sample (8/28/2008)
BOSTON - The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts today welcomed the return of the DNA sample voluntarily provided by Keith Amato as part of the investigation into the 2002 murder of Christa Worthington.

Preliminary Congressional Investigation Finds Watch Lists Plagued with Systemic Flaws (8/22/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – In response to today’s Wall Street Journal article on the flaws found in the terrorist watch lists by a preliminary congressional investigation, the American Civil Liberties Union calls on all presidential candidates, as well as current President Bush, to pledge to put a moratorium on the use of the lists unless major overhauls are made. The investigation found the current database system beleaguered with flaws and technological hurdles. Not only that, but the program being designed to replace the current database is facing similar systemic difficulties, while the contractors hired for its creation are struggling to move toward completion.

Federal Government Expands Database on Travelers (8/20/2008)
Washington, DC – Once again the federal government is expanding its collection of data on innocent travelers, the American Civil Liberties Union said today, with the Department of Homeland Security creating dossiers of travelers who pass through U.S. border checkpoints, maintain these files for 15 years, and share this data broadly – including providing access to courts and attorneys in civil litigation like divorce proceedings.

Fusion Centers Part of Incipient Domestic Intelligence System, ACLU Warns (7/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – The nation’s growing network of “fusion centers” is part of an incipient de facto domestic intelligence system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Today the ACLU released a report detailing spying on Maryland peace demonstrators, a mysterious domestic-spying scandal at a California military base and other recent incidents, confirming that its warnings about fusion centers were coming true.

ACLU Urges Congress to Define Medical Privacy as Patient Control of Electronic Health Records (7/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today urges the House Energy and Commerce Committee to require patient control of medical records and compensation for privacy breaches to be a part of the standards set for converting to electronic patient records. The ACLU cautions that H.R. 6357, the “Protecting Records, Optimizing Treatment, and Easing Communication through Healthcare Technology Act of 2008” or the PRO(TECH)T Act, has insufficient privacy provisions and leaves patients vulnerable to bad, lost, stolen or misused data.