Home : Privacy & Technology

ACLU of Florida Welcomes Judge Whittemore's Ruling in the Schiavo Case (03/22/2005)
MIAMI, FL -- Today Judge Whittemore found that even with the special law passed by Congress there is no basis to set aside the legal procedures in Florida for how these difficult, but intensely personal decisions are to be made. Both Congress and the President needlessly prolonged this tragic saga.

ACLU of Florida Criticizes Congress's Attempt to Subvert Court Rulings in Schiavo Case (03/18/2005)
MIAMI, FL -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida believes that Congressional leaders, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom Delay and Tom Davis, Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Reform, acted inappropriately by attempting to interfere in the legal proceedings involving Terri Schiavo by the issuance of a Congressional subpoena.

House Includes Asylum and Privacy Assault in 'Must Pass' Funding Bill; ACLU Urges Senate to Reject Sensenbrenner Measure (03/16/2005)
WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives today attached controversial anti-immigration legislation to an emergency military funding bill. The American Civil Liberties Union urged the Senate to reject the House's efforts to evade regular legislative order, saying that the REAL ID Act would make it more difficult to seek asylum, lay the foundation for a national ID card and chill free speech.

ACLU Applauds Senate Review of Identity Theft; Recent Data-Theft Scandals Highlight Need for Better Oversight (03/10/2005)
WASHINGTON - A key Senate committee should be supported for examining identity theft and the security of sensitive information at a time when most private information of millions of Americans has become vulnerable to theft and abuse, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Applauds Michigan's Withdrawal From MATRIX Program (03/08/2005)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union applauds the decision by the Michigan State Police to drop out of the MATRIX interstate public-private information -sharing program. The decision not only appears to reflect a recognition that Michigan's participation in the program is forbidden under state law, but is in fact in the best interests of the residents of Michigan. We hope that the other four states that continue to participate in this project - Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Connecticut - will follow suit.

ACLU Calls on Pennsylvania to Follow Michigan's Lead and Withdraw From "Matrix" Snoop Program (03/08/2005)
PHILADELPHIA - Yesterday, state police officials in Michigan announced that they were withdrawing from the controversial Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, more commonly known as MATRIX. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania calls on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to follow Michigan's lead by ending its involvement in this government supervised invasion of people's privacy.

New ACLU Legislative Counsel To Focus on Privacy Issues in Post 9/11 America (02/28/2005)
WASHINGTON - Timothy D. Sparapani today joined the Washington Legislative Office as Legislative Counsel on Privacy Issues. Sparapani will be a key member of the ACLU's "Safe and Free" team and will work closely with the ACLU's Technology & Liberty Project.

California Company Pulls out of Program to Track Student Movements (02/16/2005)
SAN FRANCISCO - The Sutter-based company InCom announced last night at a packed special school district meeting that it would end its pilot program to require students to wear Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) badges that track the students' movements. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) urged school officials to end the program after being contacted by several parents.

House Approves Assault on Immigrants' Rights and Privacy; ACLU Urges Senate to Reject Sensenbrenner Measure (02/10/2005)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged the Senate to reject legislation approved by the House today that would make it more difficult to seek asylum, lay the foundation for a national ID card and chill free speech in America.

ACLU, Allies Oppose Sensenbrenner's Anti-Immigrant Bill; Mean-Spirited Measure Would Hurt Persecuted, Undermine Privacy (02/09/2005)
WASHINGTON - In one of its first major actions this session, the House of Representatives is debating today anti-immigrant legislation introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). The American Civil Liberties Union renewed its opposition to the measure, H.R. 418 - the REAL ID Act -- joining a diverse coalition of privacy, immigrants' rights and conservative organizations who have raised concerns.

Parents and Civil Liberties Groups Urge Northern California School District to Terminate Use of Tracking Devices (02/07/2005)
SAN FRANCISCO - Parents in a northern California public school district and civil liberties groups are urging the district to terminate the use of Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFIDs) in mandatory ID badges that track students' movements.

Court Rules that Michigan State Police Must Disclose Information About MATRIX in ACLU Lawsuit (02/04/2005)
DETROIT - A judge ruled today that an American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan lawsuit, which challenges state police participation in the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX), can move forward with discovery. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the organization and three individuals, including former Michigan Governor William Milliken and a Catholic nun, who say that MATRIX is out-of-step with state law.

Sensenbrenner Renews Assault on Immigrants' Rights; ACLU Says Measure Would Hurt Persecuted Seeking Sanctuary (01/26/2005)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today opposed legislation introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), calling it an unnecessary assault on immigrants. The Sensenbrenner legislation includes several controversial provisions that were pulled from the intelligence reform legislation adopted by Congress last year.

ACLU Urges Michigan State Police to Stop Re-victimizing Identity Theft Victims (01/19/2005)
DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Western Michigan Legal Services (WMLS) today urged the state attorney general to stop re-victimizing victims of identity theft.