Landau, "A Gateway for Hackers:
The Security Threat in
the New Wiretapping Law"

50th Anniversary of Landmark Ruling in NAACP v Alabama
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in NAACP v. Alabama, one of the most important privacy cases of the last century. Professor Anita L. Allen, a leading privacy scholar, author of many books and articles, and a member of the EPIC Board of Directors, wrote an essay to celebrate the anniversary of the decision. (June 30)

Under Pressure, Charter Cable Drops Internet Snooping Plan
Today, Charter announced that it will scrap its plan to intercept internet traffic for marketing purposes. The fourth-largest American cable company's plan recently came under fire from Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX). Congressman Markey welcomed today's news, and urged other companies to delay any similar plans until "important privacy concerns can be addressed." In May, Charter announced its intention to partner with NebuAd and spy on its customers' internet activities. Legal experts questioned the legality Charter's snooping program, citing federal laws, including the Wiretap Act and the Communications Act, which prohibit interception and disclosure of wire and electronic communications. For more information, see EPIC's page on Deep Packet Inspection and Privacy. (June 24)

OECD Secretary General Seeks to Formalize Civil Society Participation, Expresses Support for International Privacy Standards
At the OECD Ministerial conference on the Future of the Internet Economy, the Secretary General of the Paris-based research and policy-making organization recommended that the OECD "begin the process of formalising the participation of civil society and the technical community in the work of the OECD on the Internet economy." The OECD also reaffirmed support for the 1980 Privacy Guidelines, which are "the foundation for most countries privacy standards." Civil Society groups gathered in Seoul for a Public Voice Forumand to participate in the Ministerial conference. More than 70 organizations endorsed the "Civil Society-TUAC Seoul Declaration." (Jun. 20)

Supreme Court Rejects Limits on FOIA Requests
In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court upheld the right of individuals to request documents under the Freedom of Information Act, even if similar documents were previously requested by others. The Court rejected the Federal Aviation Administration's contention that it may ignore requests if the agency previously received identical requests from different requesters. The Court also rejected the agency's "virtual representation" claim, that a FOIA requester can be "virtually represented" by a previous requester who sought similar records. The Court based its decision on America's "deep-rooted historic tradition that everyone should have his own day in court." For more information, see EPIC's FOIA Litigation Manual and FOIA Litigation Docket. (June 13)

EPIC Urges Congress to Safeguard Medical Privacy
In response to a request from Congressman Edward Markey, EPIC recommended strong medical privacy safeguards in a bill that would establish a national framework for electronic health records. EPIC commended Congress for raising the vital issues implicated by digital health records, and recommended effective and meaningful privacy safeguards for consumers’ personal medical information. EPIC detailed the privacy threats posed by electronic medical records, and recommended that Congress: recognize Americans’ right to the privacy of their personal health information; provide enhanced protections for especially sensitive medical information; give patients the right to sue if their medical privacy is beached; and require commonsense security measures. For more, see EPIC's page on medical privacy. (June 13)

EPIC Urges Senate to Crack Down on Spyware
Today EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg presented testimony on Spyware in a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. EPIC said Internet users face ongoing threats from Spyware and similar techniques. EPIC supported the Counter Spy Act but cautioned that a federal spyware law should not replace stronger state laws. EPIC also urged the Senate to address new surveillance techniques, such as deep packet inspection and Social Networking advertising. For more, see EPIC's page on personal surveillance technologies. (June 11)

Homeland Security Extends Control Over Workers, Travelers
President Bush has signed Executive Order 12989 which gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to review employment eligibility for all federal employees and federal contractors. The decision to expand "E-Verify" comes after Congress rejected the President's verification proposal and a federal court struck down the agency's attempt to establish similar authority by regulation. EPIC testified in Congress in 2007 against the "Employment Eligibility Verification System." Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration, a division of Homeland Security, will now require travelers to present identity documents or to be"cooperative." See EPIC Spotlight on Surveillance: "National Employment Database Could Prevent Millions of Citizens From Obtaining Jobs" and EPIC Amicus in Gilmore v. Ashcroft. (June
10)

Privacy Groups - "Google.com Should Link to a Privacy Policy"
EPIC and a coalition of a dozen organizations, many based in California, have urged Google to include a link from its homepage to its privacy policy. In a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the groups say that the Internet giant is required by California privacy law to post the link. They also point out that posting it is the"widespread practice of commmercial web sites." Press release. For more infomation on Google and Privacy, see EPIC's page Privacy? (June 3).

EPIC Speaks at DC City Council on Video Surveillance
EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg appeared before the DC City Council today to support the efforts of Council Members to suspend the "VIPS" Surveillance System and to urge the City Council to investigate the role of the firm L-1 Identity Solutions, the leading vendor of camera surveillance equipment. See EPIC's page Video Surveillance and Observing Surveillance. (June 2)

Canadian Law Students File Privacy Complaint Against Facebook
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic today filed a 35-page complaint under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act against Facebook, alleging 22 separate violations of Canadian privacy law. CIPPIC Press Release. See EPIC Facebook Privacy page. (May 30)

EPIC Supports New Internet Privacy Standard
EPIC has expressed support for the DNSSEC proposal now under consideration at ICANN. The DNS security extension should help protect users from attempts by hackers to spoof, masquerade and hijack websites. The Public Interest Registry proposed to implement DNSSEC for the .ORG domain. DNSSEC is already in use by the top-level country code domains of Sweden, Bulgaria, Brazil and Puerto Rico. See EPIC Page on DNSSEC. (May 26)

President Signs Genetic Nondiscrimination Act
President Bush has signed in law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment. However, the Act does not address the privacy risks associated with the collection and storage of electronic health records. See EPIC page on Genetic Privacy. (May 21.)

Congressman Barton Urges Scrutiny of Google's Privacy Practices
In a letter (pdf) to Google's Eric Schmidt, the top Republican of a powerful Congressional committee has asked the Google CEO to explain its privacy practices since the acquisition of Internet advertiser Doubleclick. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) also pressed Google about the retention of persistent identifiers, such as IP addresses and User IDs. Last year, EPIC, CDD and US PIRG urged (pdf) the Federal Trade Commission to impose privacy safeguards as a condition of the Google Doubleclick merger. Earlier this year, EPIC recommended (pdf) to the European Parliament that IP addresses be considered personally identifiable information. A subsequent report (pdf) from the Article 29 Working Group endorsed this approach. See EPIC's Privacy? Proposed Google-Doubleclick Merger page. (May 21)

CFP 2008 Launches Today
The 18th Annual Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference: CFP: Technology Policy '08, starts today in New Haven Connecticut. This year's panels include E-Deceptive Campaign Practices; Social Networks and User Generated Content; and New Challenges for Spyware Policy. CFP 2008 is focused on technology policy, noting "This election year will be the first to address US technology policy in the information age as part of our national debate." For the election year, EPIC has launched the Privacy '08 campaign. (May 20)

Senate Explores Role of US Firms in China
A hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee today examined "Global
Internet Freedom: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law." Representatives from Google, Yahoo, and Cisco answered questions about corporate practices. The surveillance firm L-1, which was the focus of a recent Rolling Stone article did not not participate. EPIC and Privacy International publish Privacy and Human Rights, a detailed report on the state of privacy around the world which discusses new systems of surveillance in China. (May 20)

Previous Top News Archive

- DAY 30 -
Letter from Advocates (June 3, 2008)
Current Google.com page
Proposed Google.com page

Spotlight on Surveillance

Proposed ‘Enhanced’ Licenses Are Costly to Security and Privacy

Hot Topics

June 2008
Automated Targeting System
Deep Packet Inspection
Domestic Surveillance
Facebook
FISA
Fusion Centers
Google/DoubleClick
Iraqi Biometric Identification System
Medical Record Privacy
National ID
National Security Letters
Open Government
Olympic Privacy
Passport Privacy
Phone Records
Search Engine Privacy
Social Networking Privacy
Voter Registration Databases

EPIC Docket Highlights

June 2008
EPIC v. FTC
EPIC v. VSP (Fusion Centers)
EPIC FTC Complaint (Google)
Gonzales v. ACLU
EPIC v. DHS (passenger data)
EPIC v. DOJ (NSA surveillance)
EPIC v. DOJ (IOB reports)
EPIC v. DOD (TIA/fee waiver)
Illegal Sale of Phone Records

EPIC amicus briefs:
Crawford v. Marion County (Voter ID)
Doe v. Chao (Privacy Act)
BATF v. Chicago (FOIA)
Watchtower Bible v. Stratton (Anonymity)
Reno v. Condon (DPPA)
Smith v. Doe (Megans Law)
Gilmore v. Ashcroft (Secrecy)
ACLU v. DOD (Secrecy)
Gonzales v. Doe (Wiretap)
Hepting v. AT&T (Wiretap)
Herring v. US (Errors in databases)
Hiibel v. Nevada (Anonymity)
IMS Health v. Ayotte
(Medical privacy)
Kehoe v. Fidelity Bank (Consumer privacy)
Kohler v. Englade (DNA)
NCTA v. FCC (Phone records privacy)
New Jersey v. Reid
(ISP subscriber privacy)
Peterson v. NTIA (WHOIS data)
US v. Councilman (Wiretap)

Complete EPIC Docket