American Civil Liberties Union

The Technology & Liberty Project monitors the interplay between cutting-edge technology and civil liberties, actively promoting responsible uses of technology that enhance privacy and freedom, while opposing those that undermine our freedoms and move us closer to a surveillance society.


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Privacy Technology : Students : Press Releases

ACLU Applauds Boulder Valley School District's Decision To Limit Searches Of Students' Cell Phone Text Messages (04/21/2008)
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Colorado announced today that it welcomes a decision of the Boulder Valley School District ("BVSD") to limit searches of students' cell phone text messages, an issue the ACLU raised in a letter made public in October, 2007. In that letter, the ACLU asserted that non-consensual searches of text messages violate a Colorado criminal statute designed to protect the privacy of telephone and electronic communications.

ACLU ISSUES ALARM ABOUT MIDDLETOWN PLAN TO ELECTRONICALLY MONITOR SCHOOL CHILDREN (01/07/2008)
Claiming that the program raises “enormous privacy and safety concerns,” the RI ACLU has called on Middletown school officials to halt a planned pilot program in which elementary school children will be tagged with electronic chips to monitor their whereabouts. The program, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, will track the movements of Aquidneck Elementary School students who take school district buses by placing RFID chips on the children’s backpacks.

ACLU of Ohio Files Lawsuit Over School’s Strip Searches of Teenage Girls (02/02/2006)
COLUMBUS, OH - The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of eight students who were illegally searched by staff at the Vern Riffe Career Technology Center on January 20, 2006. The lawsuit names the school district, the superintendent and three staff members as defendants. In all, 20 students were searched.

ACLU Settles Landmark Lawsuit Over Release of Student Information to Military Recruiters (01/27/2006)
ALBUQUERQUE – In the first settlement of its kind, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today announced that the Albuquerque Public Schools will no longer send students’ contact information directly to military recruiters without properly notifying parents of their right to opt out of such information sharing.

ACLU Applauds Rhode Island’s Move to Protect Students’ Right to Privacy from Military Recruiters (11/17/2005)
PROVIDENCE, RI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today commended the state Department of Education for issuing an advisory to all school district superintendents, reminding them of their obligation to protect the privacy rights of students in interactions with military recruiters. The advisory, issued this week by Commissioner Peter McWalters, follows an ACLU survey released in August, which revealed that many local school districts did not have proper procedures in place to inform parents and students about their legal right to control the release of student information to the military.

Rhode Island Schools Not Protecting Students' Rights to Withhold Information from Military Recruiters, ACLU Survey Finds (08/31/2005)
PROVIDENCE, RI -- As students head back to school, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today released a survey of school district practices across the state showing that many districts are not fully protecting the privacy rights of students in interactions with military recruiters. In a letter sent to school district superintendents across the state, the ACLU of Rhode Island urged administrators to improve their procedures to inform parents and students about their right to control the release of student information to the military.

ACLU of Florida Urges Schools to Inform Parents, Students of Right to Withhold Disclosure Of Student Information From Military Recruiters (08/10/2005)
MIAMI - In a letter sent to school superintendents across the state, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today urged administrators to improve their procedures for informing parents and students about their right to control the release of student information to military recruiters, colleges and the general public.

Pentagon Student Database Another Example of the Government's Out-of-Control Information Grab, ACLU Says (06/23/2005)
NEW YORK -- The recent revelation that the Pentagon is working with a private company to create information dossiers on millions of American college and high school students as young as 16 for the purpose of military recruiting is yet another example of the government's rampant and unregulated collection and use of our personal information.

ACLU of New Mexico Sues School District for Violating Privacy Rights of Students and Parents (05/06/2005)
ALBUQUERQUE -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today filed a lawsuit against the Albuquerque Public Schools department for failing to properly notify parents of their option to prohibit public schools from directly sending their children's contact information to military recruiters. The ACLU charges that the school district's current practices violate students' privacy and due process rights, as well as provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

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.

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.

ACLU of Ohio Urges School to Rescind Punishment for Student Who Criticized School in Off-Campus Postings (05/06/2004)
CLEVELAND -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today sent a letter to Lancaster City Schools' Interim Superintendent on behalf of the family of a student who was suspended and is currently being expelled for creating a website that skewers school administrators and staff. The website was created and maintained off school grounds, using no school resources.

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.

PA Court Says School's Punishment for Internet Speech Violated Student's Rights (02/26/2003)
PITTSBURGH - A federal judge today ruled that a local school district violated the free speech rights of a student when it kicked him off the volleyball team because he posted an Internet message from home criticizing an art teacher.

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