PATRIOT Act Update: After a successful call-in day, the focus shifts to Congress
Thousands of patriots fought their way through jammed White House phone lines on April 5 to call on President Obama to keep his campaign promises by vetoing any PATRIOT Act extension unless it includes substantial new protections. The timing was perfect, just a day after he launched his re-election
PATRIOT Act reform: April 5 “phone the White House” day
On April 5, 1792, President George Washington vetoed a bill — the first time in U.S. history that the presidential veto was exercised. On the anniversary of this day, we’re calling on Barack Obama to exercise his presidential powers to veto any PATRIOT Act renewal bill that does not include
Action alert: House voting TONIGHT on PATRIOT Act renewal
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: some of the worst clauses of the Patriot Act will sunset unless Congress renews them by the end of month. The Administration is working with its allies in Congress to extend the National Security Letters , “sneak-and-peak”, and warrantless wiretapping. With so
The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures
EPIC’s kicking off the new year with a bang on January 6 in Washington DC: This one-day public conference will be devoted to an assessment of the TSA airport security procedures and recommendations for reform. Experts in law, aviation security, and health safety, advocates for flyers rights, privacy protection, and
Resources for National Opt Out Day
Wednesday, November 24, is National Opt Out Day. We Won’t Fly, a grassroots organization that’s taken the lead in organizing, describes the goals The goal of National Opt Out Day is (1) to educate the traveling public about airport naked-body scanners and the new “enhanced” TSA groping so they can
Transgender Travelers and New TSA Policies
Note from Autumn: The National Center For Transgender Equality (NCTE) has come out with a
Constitution Day 2010: We’re all talking to each other
A lot of these people that are upset in this country are upset with big government, and for a lot of the people, including these Tea Party people, they don’t like the PATRIOT ACT…. So, I am looking at organizing with people of all different backgrounds and political ideologies, to fight for the
The Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference and a Social Network Users’ Bill of Rights
This week’s ACM Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference comes at a perfect time, in the midst of firestorm about Facebook privacy, and with issues like privacy of healthcare information, the ‘smart grid’, intelligent transportation systems, and cybersecurity steadily affecting more and more people in our day-to-day lives. We’ve got a
Social network activism and the future of civil liberties
Social network activism for civil liberties has made great progress so far. Some simple steps from organizations and bloggers can take things to the next level.
Social network activism and the future of civil liberties
The most recent skirmish on the Patriot Act reauthorization battle ended badly for civil liberties. Despite passionate speeches all around in the Senate Judiciary Committee public hearings and classified briefings, in the end, only Senators Feingold, Durbin, and Specter stood up for the Constitution. As Marcy Wheeler says, we