Home : Privacy & Technology

ACLU Denounces FBI Tactics Targeting Political Protesters (08/16/2004)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today denounced the FBI's use of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to monitor, interrogate and suppress anti-war and other political protesters and called on individuals who have been targeted for investigation to come forward.

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.

After Latest Data Release Controversy, ACLU Urges Census Bureau to Create Privacy Advisory Committee (08/05/2004)
NEW YORK--In a letter sent today to the Director of the Census Bureau, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) expressed consternation over the Bureau's provision of detailed data on individuals of Arab descent to the Department of Homeland Security, and urged the Bureau to create "a new outside body to advise the bureau on privacy and civil liberties issues."

ACLU of Michigan and Former Governor Charge State Police with Violating Data Collection Law Through Controversial MATRIX Database Program (08/03/2004)
DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today announced the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of its members and three individuals, including former Michigan Governor William Milliken and a Catholic nun, asking the court to stop the state police from participating in MATRIX, the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange surveillance program, until they are willing to comply with state law.

ACLU Calls on Massachusetts Transit Authority to Discontinue Subway Searches After Democratic Convention (07/28/2004)
BOSTON - The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts today called upon the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to discontinue its policy of searching commuters on the Boston-area train and subway system, despite a court ruling today upholding the constitutionality of such searches in the unique and narrow circumstances of the Democratic National Convention.

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.

Is CAPPS 2 Really Dead? ACLU Asks Homeland Security Chief Whether Controversial Passenger Profiling Still Has a Pulse (07/20/2004)
NEW YORK-In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, the American Civil Liberties Union today asked for clarification on the status of the controversial CAPPS II airline passenger profiling system in the wake of contradictory statements from DHS officials about the program's demise. The ACLU also asked about the fate of personal information collected from American citizens and others for the testing of the system.

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.

In Victory for Online Free Speech, Supreme Court Upholds Block on Internet Censorship Law (06/29/2004)
NEW YORK - Recognizing the severe consequences of criminalizing online free speech, the Supreme Court today upheld a ban on yet another government attempt to censor the Internet, saying that content-based prohibitions of speech "have the constant potential to be a repressive force in the lives and thoughts of a free people."

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.