Home : Privacy & Technology : Surveillance & Wiretapping

ACLU Asks International Group Not To Endorse Global Travel Surveillance System (03/30/2004)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the International Civil Aviation Organization not to adopt a standard for travel documents that would include biometrics and other provisions that it said would inevitably be used to create a system of global tracking and surveillance of travelers.

ACLU of Pennsylvania Calls On General Assembly To Bring Matrix Under Control (03/29/2004)
PHILADELPHIA -- In light of the recent decisions by New York and Wisconsin officials to terminate their participation in the controversial Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, more commonly known as MATRIX, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania today calls on the General Assembly to bring Pennsylvania's participation in MATRIX under legislative control.

ACLU Condemns Government Plans to Order Airlines to Turn Over Travel Details on 100 Million Americans (03/17/2004)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today criticized a plan to force the nation's airlines to turn over to the government the travel details of the hundred million Americans who fly. The plan was announced by the head of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at a Congressional hearing today.

ACLU of Michigan Calls on State Joint Appropriations Subcommittee to Investigate Cost of MATRIX Program (03/16/2004)
DETROIT -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said today that it would request a discussion of the controversial data-mining program known as MATRIX at a March 18 meeting of the state legislature's Joint Appropriations Subcommittees on State Police/Military and Veterans Affairs.

ACLU of Wisconsin Applauds Attorney General's Decision to Drop Out of Controversial MATRIX Data-mining Program (03/11/2004)
MILWAUKEE-The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin today commended Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager on her reported decision to end the state's short-lived participation in the controversial Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange known as MATRIX.

Ashcroft v. ACLU Press Releases (02/24/2004)
Press releases regarding Ashcroft v. ACLU and the battle over the Child Online Protection Act (COPA)

Homeland Security Report on JetBlue Confirms TSA's Involvement in Privacy Scandal, ACLU Says (02/20/2004)
NEW YORK--A report released today by the Department of Homeland Security on the JetBlue privacy scandal confirms suspicions that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was involved, and highlights the inevitability that information will be misused, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

ACLU Seeks Answers from Ohio Attorney General About MATRIX Data-Mining Program (02/19/2004)
CLEVELAND -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said today that it wants answers from the state Attorney General about Ohio's participation in the controversial "MATRIX" database surveillance system.

ACLU Questions Michigan State Police Involvement in Data Surveillance Program (02/17/2004)
DETROIT- Following a news report that the Michigan State Police admitted it has released information to a multistate police database, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today submitted a third ""Freedom of Information Act"" request about the state's participation in the new ""MATRIX"" surveillance system. This latest admission comes after the state denied involvement in the program in response to two previous FOIA requests from the ACLU.

Passenger Threat-Ranking System Rated "Red" For Stop By Congressional Investigators (02/12/2004)
WASHINGTON - A highly critical report by Congress' investigative wing released today vindicates the long-standing concerns of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups from across the political spectrum that the controversial airline passenger screening system known as CAPPS II poses severe threats to personal privacy and basic civil liberties in America.

ACLU Testifies on Newly Uncovered MATRIX Program Documents (02/10/2004)
NEW YORK -- Newly obtained documents concerning the MATRIX data surveillance program make it clear that, contrary to the claims of boosters, this state-run program represents part of a radical new trend toward mass-surveillance of the American people, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

New Report Shows Why Americans Must Join With Europeans To Protect Privacy, ACLU Says (02/02/2004)
NEW YORK -- A new report issued today by European civil liberties groups reveals that the Bush Administration is trying to force Europe to adopt its own misguided and privacy-threatening approach to stopping terrorism through invasive data tracking systems, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Documents Acquired By ACLU Prove That MATRIX is a Data Mining Program (01/21/2004)
NEW YORK--New documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union prove that data mining is at the heart of the controversial MATRIX police database system and reveal that the federal authorities have been deeply involved in developing the state-run effort to spy on citizens.

ACLU Criticizes Plans to Go Forward With CAPPS II, Calls Dragnet Profiling Approach Fake Security on the Cheap (01/12/2004)
WASHINGTON - Responding to news reports this morning that, despite broad opposition from across the political spectrum, the Homeland Security Department intends to go forward with two highly controversial airline screening programs, the American Civil Liberties Union today strongly criticized the move. It called the two programs - called CAPPS II and Trusted Traveler -- wrong-headed both for national security and for civil liberties.

ACLU Says New Border Fingerprinting System Likely To Sow Confusion, Tracking of Arab and Muslims Based on National Origin Will Continue (01/05/2004)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today warned that a new immigrant tracking program, known as US VISIT, can only increase confusion among immigrants to the United States in terms of when, where and how they have to register with the government, and will do nothing to end discriminatory tracking of Arabs and Muslims based on national origin and religion.

ACLU Asks Arizona School District to Reject Face-Recognition Checkpoints (12/17/2003)
PHOENIX -- The American Civil Liberties Union today asked state education officials and the Washington Elementary School District Board to reconsider a plan to install facial recognition-enabled video cameras at Royal Palm Middle School to identify sex offenders and missing children who visit the school.

ACLU Disappointed at First Significant Expansion of PATRIOT ACT in Intelligence Bill, Takes Heart in Closer-Than-Expected Vote (11/20/2003)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union expressed its disappointment at the House's passage today of an intelligence bill that will expand PATRIOT Act records gathering powers by subjecting more businesses to "national security letter" authority, but pointed to today's much closer-than-expected vote as another sign of the growing momentum to revisit and narrow the controversial USA PATRIOT Act.

What Is The Matrix? ACLU Seeks Answers on New State-Run Surveillance Program (10/30/2003)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today filed simultaneous state ""Freedom of Information Act"" requests in Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania about those states' participation in the new ""MATRIX"" database surveillance system. It also released an Issue Brief explaining the problems with the program, which also operates in Florida and Utah.

As Congress Puts Controversial CAPPS II Program on Hold, ACLU Urges TSA to Abandon Super Snoop Profiling System (09/30/2003)
WASHINGTON - Following Congressional action to put the notorious Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System, otherwise known as CAPPS II, on hold, the American Civil Liberties Union today strongly urged the Transportation Safety Administration to completely abandon its plan to build the controversial system.

Congress Dismantles Total Information Awareness Spy Program; ACLU Applauds Victory, Calls for Continued Vigilance Against Snoop Programs (09/25/2003)
WASHINGTON - The Senate today passed legislation that would dismantle the cyber-surveillance program previously called ""Total Information Awareness."" The American Civil Liberties Union hailed the victory and said President Bush should acquiesce to overwhelmingly public concern about privacy rights and allow the program to die.