Home : Privacy & Technology : Surveillance & Wiretapping

ACLU, Global Coalition Launch International Surveillance Campaign (04/20/2005)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union joined a diverse coalition of civil liberties groups from around the world today in launching a new International Campaign Against Mass Surveillance (ICAMS), which calls on governments around the world to reject mass surveillance of citizens as an ineffective and undemocratic tool in the fight against terrorism.

ACLU Applauds End Of "Matrix" Program (04/15/2005)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the termination of the ""MATRIX,"" a controversial interstate information sharing program that combined government and private-sector data and made the results available to law enforcement officials across the nation.

Hearings Begin on New Bill that Will Protect Californians' Privacy Rights (04/12/2005)
SACRAMENTO -- A broad coalition of privacy rights, women, consumer, and civil liberties groups are supporting a bill introduced by State Senator Joe Simitian that would prohibit any document created by the state, county, or municipal government, from containing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or other device that can broadcast an individual's personal information.

ACLU of Massachusetts Questions Governor's Plan to Outsource Data Collection on Residents (03/31/2005)
BOSTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts today raised concerns about a decision by Governor Mitt Romney to spend tax dollars to give local law enforcement access to commercial databases that purportedly collect detailed information on 98 percent of all Americans.

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.

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.

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.

ACLU Calls New "Secure Flight" Passenger Profiling System Invasive, Inadequate and Ineffective (10/26/2004)
WASHINGTON - In comments filed with the Department of Homeland Security late yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union has offered deep criticism of the "Secure Flight" airline passenger screening program. The ACLU said that many of the privacy and civil liberties concerns identified in the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) remain with its successor, Secure Flight. The program is slated to be tested in November and December.

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 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.

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.

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.

GAO Report Reveals Four Potential Government Data-Surveillance Programs, ACLU Says (05/27/2004)
NEW YORK--A new report on "data mining" by the General Accounting Office reveals at least four programs that may be accessing and analyzing private-sector databases in ways that approach the "data surveillance" of ordinary citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Questions Michigan State Police's Authority to Participate in MATRIX Data Collection Without Oversight (05/20/2004)
DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today asked the state police to issue a formal ruling explaining why they believe that their participation in the "Multi-State Anti-Terrorist Information Exchange" (MATRIX), a controversial database surveillance program, is not subject to a state law requiring legislative approval of such activities.

ACLU Unveils Disturbing New Revelations About MATRIX Surveillance Program (05/20/2004)
MIAMI--The American Civil Liberties Union today released documents containing disturbing new revelations about the MATRIX database surveillance program, including the fact that it was under the direct managerial control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and that Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave a personal briefing on the program to Vice President Dick Cheney.

NYCLU Calls for Safeguards After Suicide Captured on Police Surveillance Camera Appears on Porn Website (04/01/2004)
NEW YORK - The New York Civil Liberties Union today called for clear police department regulations in the use and distribution of their surveillance cameras videotapes after a video of a tragic suicide surfaced on a pornography Web site.