A new piece of federal legislation would delay consumers’ ability to hold businesses legally accountable for failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — a move that some critics say could allow companies to never comply with the ADA in the first place. [More]
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TSA May Want To Flip Through Your Summer Reading Next Time You Fly
By 6.26.17
At this point, most travelers know that your electronics, your shoes, your food, and your liquids are going to have to come out of your bag (or off your person) and get extra screening just so you can get on a flight. But now, it seems books — good, old-fashioned paper books — may be joining that list. [More]
KKK’s Years-Long Battle To “Adopt” Stretch Of Georgia Highway Headed To Trial
By 7.5.16
Four years after the Ku Klux Klan set off a lengthy legal battle by applying to adopt a stretch of road in northern Georgia near the North Carolina border, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the controversial group’s lawsuit against Georgia can move forward. [More]
Court: NSA Bulk Phone Data Collection Program Is Illegal
By 5.7.15
A federal appeals court has ruled this morning that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program is in violation of federal law. [More]
Privacy Advocates Sue Virginia Police Over Data From Automatic License Plate Scanners
By 5.6.15
By itself, your license plate doesn’t say much except in what state, month, and year you registered your car. But start tracking where and when that license plate goes, and you’ve suddenly got a whole huge pile of personal data about all the comings and goings in someone’s life. We’ve reported before that license plate scanning by public and private entities is both widespread and unregulated. Now, the ACLU is suing police in one state to get them to stop. [More]
From AT&T To Verizon: What The Web’s Biggest Players Told The FCC About Net Neutrality
By 7.18.14
The FCC originally planned to stop taking comments about their net neutrality proposal on Tuesday. But after demand overwhelmed and crashed their antique IT system, they extended the deadline to 11:59 p.m. (EDT) tonight. As of yesterday, well over one million comments had been entered, and that number’s still going up. Clearly, the public cares — but what is the public saying? [More]
Judge Stops Town From Punishing Drivers Who Use Headlights To Warn Others Of Speed Traps
By 2.5.14
Flashing your headlights is a well-established means of communicating any number of things to other drivers on the road. It could be a reminder for the other driver to turn on their lights (or turn off their brights). Maybe it’s a call to your traveling partners in another car to pull off at the next exit. It’s also a way for some people to alert other drivers about a police speed trap up ahead. Some towns have outlawed that practice, but a federal judge says that’s going too far. [More]
Judge: NSA’s Mass Collection Of Telephone Data Is Legal
By 12.27.13
A U.S. District Court judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, and others over the National Security Agency’s mass collecting of information about U.S. consumers’ telephone use, saying that the program is legal while leaving it up to lawmakers to decide whether it’s a program that should exist at all. [More]
Apple, Google, Facebook & Other Tech Giants Pen Letter Asking For NSA Transparency
By 7.18.13
In the wake of that whole thing where the National Security Agency is reportedly snooping on people, a whole bunch of tech industry giants have banded together with privacy advocates to send a letter to the lawmakers and President Barack Obama asking for some transparency when it comes to government surveillance. [More]
IRS: Just Because We Said We Can Read Your E-mails Without A Warrant Doesn’t Mean We Did It
By 4.17.13
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union published a 2009 IRS handbook in which the agency states that Americans “do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in [e-mail] communications.” Yesterday, the IRS’s acting commissioner appeared before lawmakers to clarify the agency’s actual stance on the issue. [More]
ACLU Files Suit To Stop Police From Searching Cell Phones Without Warrant
By 3.20.13 — Updated: 1.17.14
A decade ago, searching someone’s cell phone would give you a list of names and numbers, maybe some recent texts. But now, the average smartphone could contain as much personal and sensitive information as a desktop computer, yet many law enforcement agencies argue they don’t need a warrant to search these devices. That’s why the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the city of San Francisco and its chief of police. [More]
ACLU Agrees To Defend KKK’s Bid To Adopt Stretch Of Georgia Highway
By 6.27.12
The American Civil Liberties Union has finally made a decision whether or not to help the Ku Klux Klan adopt a stretch of Georgia highway, and has landed on the side of defending the controversial group. And now the plot has thickened, yet again: Officials in Union County, where the highway runs, say the KKK isn’t a part of that county and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to adopt the road. [More]
ACLU Not So Sure If It’s Going To Help The KKK Adopt Georgia Highway
By 6.15.12
After a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was denied its application to be part of Georgia’s adopt-a-highway program, the group is turning to an unlikely potential ally — the American Civil Liberties Union. It seems the ACLU is slightly uneasy about helping the KKK, but not because of the group’s beliefs. The ACLU isn’t sure if the KKK’s freedom of speech has been violated or not. [More]
Public Menace? Las Vegas Wants To Ban Gigantic Hula Hoops
By 8.9.10
We’ve never been to Las Vegas, but apparently there is a serious problem with giant hula hoops going on. According to AOL, the Las Vegas City Council is considering banning hula hooping on a five-block pedestrian mall called “The Fremont Street Experience.” (Warning: link is annoying.) [More]
ACLU Makes Walgreens Sell Men Emergency Contraceptives
By 7.9.10
The ACLU says it found out Walgreens stores in Texas and Mississippi refused to sell emergency contraceptives to men, then pressured the pharmacy to order those locations to fall in line with corporate policy and let the men have their morning-after pills. [More]
ACLU Jumps In On Amazon's Privacy Fight
By 5.21.10
The North Carolina Department of Revenue wants to hit up Amazon for detailed info about purchases by residents of the state, but Amazon is fighting back in federal court, and now has won over the American Civil Liberties Union as a tag-team partner, WRAL of North Carolina reports. [More]
Quiz Yourself About Facebook Quiz Applications And Privacy
By 9.5.09
What do Facebook applications know about you and your friends? What do you know about what Facebook applications know about you? If you have Facebook, you can take this handy quiz from the ACLU of Northern California that tests your knowledge of Facebook, privacy, and outside developers.
Do You Have Any Naked Pictures Of Your Mother? The TSA Does
By 6.11.08
The TSA recently announced that airport security scanners which can see under clothing are being installed at 10 U.S. airports, according to the AFP. Travelers will enter glass booths while a 3-dimensional full-body image is rendered using “millimeter waves.” Because the image gives a clear representation of travelers’ bodies and genitalia, it has some people concerned about their privacy. More, inside…
