Home : Privacy & Technology

ACLU Raises Spying Issue at BellSouth Shareholder Meeting on AT&T Merger (07/21/2006)
ATLANTA -- BellSouth's proposed merger with AT&T should be approached with great caution because of AT&T's entanglements with illegal NSA spying, the American Civil Liberties Union said at a BellSouth shareholders meeting held here today to consider the merger.

ACLU Wins Challenge to North Carolina's Cohabitation Ban (07/20/2006)
BURGAW, NC - The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina today applauded a state court decision declaring the state's 201-year-old ban on cohabitation to be unconstitutional.

Lawmakers Confirm NSA Spying Program (06/30/2006)
WASHINGTON - USA Today reported today that fully 19 members of Congress have confirmed that the National Security Agency has built a massive database of American phone records for the purpose of monitoring American calling patterns. USA Today is also reporting that five of those lawmakers have confirmed that AT&T has participated in the program and stated that BellSouth did not. Three lawmakers stated that Verizon did not participate in the program but its subsidiary, MCI, did.

ACLU Seeks Information About Government Use of Brain Scanners in Interrogations (06/28/2006)
NEW YORK—In the face of suspicions that the government is using cutting-edge brain-scanning technologies on suspected terrorists being held overseas or at home, the American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it had filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with all the primary American security agencies.

Government Drops Demand for Library Records (06/26/2006)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today declared victory in their legal battle with the FBI over a Connecticut library group's right to keep patron records private. After dropping their vehement defense of the gag provision accompanying the request, the FBI has now abandoned the demand all together.

ACLU Urges Court to Reject State Secrets Claim in NSA Case (06/21/2006)
DETROIT -- The federal government should not be allowed to avoid judicial review of the National Security Agency's illegal spying program by invoking the state secrets privilege, argued the American Civil Liberties Union in legal papers released today.

House Judiciary Committee Adopts Request for Illegal NSA Spying Documents; ACLU Welcomes Unexpected Move, Calls for Thorough Congressional Oversight (06/21/2006)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the House Judiciary Committee as that panel unexpectedly adopted a "resolution of inquiry" to formally seek any and all documents held by the president and attorney general relating to warrantless requests made by the National Security Agency and other Federal agencies to telephone service providers regarding the records of their customers’ calls.

ACLU Urges House to Rein In Illegal NSA Spying Program, Bipartisan Proposal Would Require Administration Respect the Rule of Law (06/20/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House of Representatives to support a bipartisan amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act for FY 2007 that would cut off funding for warrantless wiretapping conducted by the National Security Agency. The measure is sponsored by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Bob Inglis (R-SC) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

ACLU of Iowa Challenges Use of Speed Cameras in Davenport (06/14/2006)
DAVENPORT, IA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today began the defense of a Davenport automobile owner who received a speeding ticket in the mail based upon pictures of his vehicle taken by an automated traffic enforcement camera.

ACLU To FCC: Review of AT&T-BellSouth Merger Must Look At NSA Spying (06/06/2006)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union said today that it has filed formal comments reminding the Federal Communications Commission of allegations that AT&T and BellSouth illegally provided customer information to the National Security Agency, and pointing out that under existing law the FCC cannot permit the pending merger between those two companies to proceed without investigating the merit of those allegations.

ACLU of Ohio Encouraged by Lawmakers’ Approval of State DNA Testing Bill (05/18/2006)
COLUMBUS, OH -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today said it was pleased by the passage of State Senate Bill 262 by the Ohio House, which extends the window of opportunity for convicted criminals to petition the state to test DNA evidence to prove their innocence. The bill received widespread support from criminal justice advocates, law enforcement and various legislators.

ACLU Says Specter’s NSA Legislation Would Pardon President’s Illegal Actions; Group Calls for Inspector General Investigation (05/16/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly condemned a new proposal drafted by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) that embraces the president’s claims of inherent power to secretly wiretap Americans without meaningful checks. Also today, the organization renewed its request to the Justice Department’s Inspector General to open an investigation into the involvement of the department in the warrantless spying on Americans by the National Security Agency.

NYCLU Joins State Senator Tom Duane in Challenging Expansion of State's DNA Database (05/15/2006)
ALBANY, NY - At a news conference in Albany today, the New York Civil Liberties Union stood with State Senator Tom Duane as he called for answers to questions about legislation that would expand the state's DNA database to include DNA from all persons convicted of any crime, including non-violent felonies and misdemeanors.

ACLU Condemns NSA's Massive Database of Americans’ Phone Call Records, Demands Full, Thorough Congressional Investigation (05/11/2006)
WASHINGTON – In a story released today in USA Today it was revealed that the NSA has been collecting call information about millions of American residents and businesses served by Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth. One industry insider referred to it as the “largest database ever assembled in the world.” The American Civil Liberties Union strongly condemned the Bush administration’s most egregious abuse of power to date.

Secret DHS Agreement to Share Passenger Data in Violation of Agreements Is Confirmed (04/25/2006)
WASHINGTON – The text of a secret agreement that the Department of Homeland Security executed with the Centers for Disease Control to share airline passenger data confirms what the American Civil Liberties Union had feared, which is that the U.S. government is distributing information that it explicitly promised it would not share. This is very troubling for several reasons.