Epic Fail in Congress: USA PATRIOT Act Renewed Without Any New Civil Liberties Protections: Via EFF.org Updates.

Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to renew three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, after the Senate abandoned the PATRIOT reform effort and approved the extension by a voice vote on Wednesday night.

Disappointingly, the government's dangerously broad authority to conduct roving wiretaps of unspecified or "John Doe" targets, to secretly wiretap of persons without any connection to terrorists or spies under the so-called "lone wolf" provision, and to secretly access a wide range of private business records without warrants under PATRIOT Section 215 were all renewed without any new checks and balances to prevent abuse. Despite months of vigorous debate, when PATRIOT renewal bills providing for greater oversight and accountability were approved by the Judiciary Committees of both the House and the Senate, Democratic leaders' push for reform fizzled in the face of staunch Republican opposition buoyed by recent hot-button events such as the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day and the shooting at Fort Hood. [ Read more ... ]

Congress Drops the Ball on Upgrading Patriot Protections: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

We're sorry to say, but is anyone surprised that Congress has capitulated to post-underpants bomber fear-mongering and passed the three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act without so much as a debate?

Oh, you didn't hear about that?

Wednesday night, the Senate passed a straight one-year extension by voice vote, and last night, the House followed suit.

That’s right. No changes. Nothing. Nada. Zip, zilch, zero. (You get the picture.)

That leaves ordinary Americans like you and me without the civil liberties safeguards proposed by several bills last year. Both the House and Senate had bills that would have improved the Patriot Act. The Senate bill even had the support of the White House. But instead of passing the much-needed reforms, Congress: [ Read more ... ]

EPIC Urges Congress to Adopt Privacy Safeguards for Locational Data: Via EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center .

Today, EPIC submitted comments for an upcoming joint hearing on "The Collection and Use of Location Information for Commercial Purposes." EPIC cited the growing uses of location data for advertising and tracking purposes, typically without any legal protections, and noted widespread support among US and European consumer organizations for clear protections. EPIC recommended that Congress establish strong rules, similar to those in the European Union Eprivacy Directive, that would give users meaningful control over their locational data. EPIC had previously recommended that the F.C.C. establish guidelines for the protection of users' locational privacy. For more information, see EPIC: CPNI.

Read Original Article:(Via EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center .)

Should Tax Bills Be Public Information?: Via NYT > Privacy.

MANY people are phobic about letting others see their tax information. Perhaps they shouldn’t be.

If Americans all knew one another’s tax bill, they might be motivated to fill out their taxes correctly. “Disclosure could be an automatic enforcement device,” said Laurence J. Kotlikoff, professor of economics at Boston University.

And if the big inequalities in the tax system were brought to light — if you knew, for example, that a very wealthy neighbor paid no taxes at all — political support for tax simplification might climb.

Public disclosure of personal income tax filings is actually the norm in countries like Finland and Norway — and it was once practiced in the United States as well. [ Read more ... ]

FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited: Via Politics and Law - CNET News.

WASHINGTON--The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.

FBI Director Robert Mueller supports storing Internet users' "origin and destination information," a bureau attorney said at a federal task force meeting on Thursday.

As far back as a 2006 speech, Mueller had called for data retention on the part of Internet providers, and emphasized the point two years later when explicitly asking Congress to enact a law making it mandatory. But it had not been clear before that the FBI was asking companies to begin to keep logs of what Web sites are visited, which few if any currently do.

The FBI is not alone in renewing its push for data retention. As CNET reported earlier this week, a survey of state computer crime investigators found them to be nearly unanimous in supporting the idea. Matt Dunn, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the Department of Homeland Security, also expressed support for the idea during the task force meeting. [ Read more ... ]

Courts, Congress Shun Addressing Legality of Warrantless Eavesdropping: Via Threat Level.

Heads spun four years ago this weekend, when AT&T was accused of funneling every one of its customers’ electronic communications to the National Security Agency — without warrants.

A Jan. 31, 2006, lawsuit alleged major violations of the Fourth Amendment right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. Such a sweeping breach seemed far-fetched.

Yet months after the lawsuit was lodged, the Electronic Frontier Foundation produced internal AT&T documents allegedly outlining secret rooms in AT&T offices connected to the NSA, which was siphoning all internet traffic, from e-mails to Voice Over Internet Protocol phone conversations.

But four years and a mountain of court briefs and rulings later, the legal system has never addressed the merits of the allegations — and likely never will. Even Congress has weighed in and passed legislation to prevent the allegations from being heard.

And many — including the former AT&T technician who produced the documents in the case and the EFF — believe the alleged dragnet surveillance program continues unabated today.

“Nothing has stopped the dragnet,” said Cindy Cohn, the EFF’s legal director, whose case had grown to include all of the nation’s leading internet service providers. [ Read more ... ]

ACLU Opposes Proposed Legislation Making Constitution Optional In Terrorism Cases: Via American Civil Liberties Union.

Criticizing the Obama administration's decision to charge accused Christmas Day attacker Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in the criminal court system, members of Congress are calling for legislation requiring intelligence officials to be consulted about how to handle terrorism suspects after their capture, arguing that options other than the criminal justice system should be considered. The Washington Post, in an editorial on January 23, supported this approach. [ Read more ... ]

Congress takes a bold stand against surveillance abuses: Via Salon: Glenn Greenwald.

Fixating on and condemning abuses of other countries is one of the greatest weapons the U.S. Government wields for distracting attention away from its own transgressions:  like those gossip-obsessed individuals endlessly mucking around in and passing judgment on the personal lives of others as a means of ignoring their own failings:

The San Francisco Chronicle, yesterday:

Few expect Google Inc.'s stare-down with China to usher in a new era of openness across the Asian nation, but some believe -- or hope -- it could pressure the government to improve relations with foreign technology companies. . . . The Obama administration issued statements of support for Google, and members of Congress are pushing to revive a bill banning U.S. tech companies from working with governments that digitally spy on their citizens.

Verizon Terminating Copyright Infringers’ Internet Access: Via Threat Level.

While it was not immediately clear whether other internet service providers were following suit, the move comes as the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America are lobbying ISPs and Congress to support terminating internet access for repeat, online copyright offenders.

All the while, the United States has been privately lobbying the European Union to “encourage” so-called three strikes policies, according to leaked documents surrounding a proposed international intellectual property accord.

Verizon was not immediately prepared to comment in detail on the developments, first reported by CNET, or to detail how many of its more than 8 million broadband subscribers it has terminated — although CNET said the number was “small.” The RIAA declined comment.

“We reserve the right to do that,” Verizon spokeswoman Bobbi Henson said in a telephone interview regarding the terminations. [ Read more ... ]

FBI Illegally Gathered Phone Records And Misused National Security Letters: Via American Civil Liberties Union.

Congress Must Curb NSL Abuse Through Patriot Act Revisions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org 
               (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666 or media@aclu.org
 
WASHINGTON – According to a report in the Washington Post today, the FBI routinely claimed false terrorism emergencies to illegally collect the phone records of Americans for four years of the Bush administration by abusing an already expansive Patriot Act power. Using “exigent letters,” or emergency letters, to gain private records for investigations when no emergency existed, the FBI seemingly violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The FBI also routinely issued National Security Letters (NSLs) after the fact in an attempt to legitimize the use of exigent letters. [ Read more ... ]

2009 Predictions Scorecard: Via Freedom to Tinker.

As usual, we’ll kick off the new year by reviewing the predictions we made for the previous year. Here now, our 2009 predictions, in italics, with hindsight in ordinary type.

(1) DRM technology will still fail to prevent widespread infringement. In a related development, pigs will still fail to fly.

By tradition this is our first prediction, and it has always been accurate. Guess what our first 2010 prediction will be? Verdict: right.

(2) Patent reform legislation will come closer to passage in this Congress, but will ultimately fail as policymakers wait to determine the impact of the Bilski case's apparent narrowing of business model patentability.

Everyone agrees that patent reform is needed, but no specific bill is close to passage, and everyone is waiting for the Supreme Court's Bilski decision. Verdict: right.

(3) As lawful downloading of music and movies continues to grow, consumer satisfaction with lossy formats will decline, and higher-priced options that offer higher fidelity will begin to predominate. At least one major online music service will begin to offer music in a lossless format.

People seem to accept lossy formats. Verdict: wrong.

(4) The RIAA's "graduated response" initiative will sputter and die because ISPs are unwilling to cut off users based on unrebutted accusations. Lawsuits against individual end-user infringers will quietly continue. [ Read more ... ]

TSA nominee misled Congress about accessing confidential records: Via washingtonpost.com .

The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show.

The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers, whose nomination has been held up by GOP opponents. In the aftermath of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, calls have intensified for lawmakers to install permanent leadership at the TSA, a critical agency in enforcing airline security.

Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as "inadvertent" and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators obtained by The Post that he had accepted full responsibility long ago for a "grave error in judgment" in accessing confidential criminal records about his then-estranged wife's new boyfriend. [ Read more ... ]

Real ID Follies Continue with PASS ID Waiting in the Wings: Via EFF.org Updates.

As 2009 draws to a close, we're inching ever deeper into the corner that Congress painted us into by passing Real ID under the table in 2005. (Recall that Real ID is the failed, Bush-era attempt to turn state drivers licenses into national ID cards by forcing states to collect and store licensee data in databases, and refusing to accept non-compliant IDs for federal purposes, like boarding a plane or entering a federal building.)

The official deadline for states to comply with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) final Real ID rule is December 31, 2009, and an estimated 36 states will not be in compliance by then, leading to some ambiguity for many citizens. For example, will residents of Montana be able to board planes in January 2010 with only a driver’s license (a state-supplied, technically non-compliant document) and without a passport (an identity document issued by the federal government)?

Past history strongly suggests that DHS will issue last-minute waivers to states that have not amped up their drivers licenses to adhere to Real ID. [ Read more ... ]

Handy Chart Tracks Proposed Amendments to Patriot Act: Via Threat Level.

Confused by all the proposed changes to the Patriot Act ricocheting through the Capitol? The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has put together a handy chart comparing the current law with the various amendments in the House and Senate.

The chart compares proposed amendments (.pdf) to National Security Letters (NSLs) and the so-called “lone wolf” provisions of the Patriot Act. The proposals have only been passed by the judiciary committees, and face further amendments before they hit the full House and Senate for votes.

According to Gregory Nojeim, CDT’s director of project on freedom, security and technology, although neither of the current proposals goes far enough in fixing all of the problems that civil libertarians find in the Patriot Act, they do show improvements. [ Read more ... ]

Is Net Neutrality a FCC Trojan Horse?: Via EFF.org Updates.

On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to unveil draft rules aimed at imposing network neutrality obligations on Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In the excitement surrounding the announcement, however, many have overlooked the fact that the this rulemaking is built on a shoddy and dangerous foundation – the idea that the FCC has unlimited authority to regulate the Internet.

Genachowski has announced that the draft regulations will require ISPs to abide by the "Four Freedoms" set forth in the FCC's 2005 Internet Policy Statement, as well as the additional principles of nondiscrimination and transparency. EFF strongly believes in these six principles. Our work speaks for itself: we are developing software tools to Test Your ISP in the wake of uncovering Comcast’s meddling with BitTorrent traffic, seeking a DMCA exemption to let you run applications of your choice on your mobile phone, and fighting Hollywood’s efforts to force DRM restrictions into your television. [ Read more ... ]

Salon Radio: Patriot Act and FISA reforms: Via Salon: Glenn Greenwald.

(updated below - Update II)

When Congress enacted the Patriot Act in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it provided for a four-year expiration date for some of the more controversial provisions.  In 2005, when it was time for Congress to decide if those should be extended, the Bush administration insisted that none of those powers had been abused yet (like everything) they were critical to fighting Terrorism.  As a result, the Congress thus overwhelmingly voted to extend them for four more years, though this time they required the issuance of a report from the Inspector General of the Justice Depratment to determine if there had, in fact, been any abuses.  Unsurprisingly, the IG's Report that issued in 2007 and 2008 documented extreme abuse at the FBI with many of those powers.  Moreover, it was recently revealed that, far more often than not, federal law enforcement agencies use these powers (including the pernicious "sneak and peek" searches) in cases having nothing whatsoever to do with Terrorism. [ Read more ... ]

JUSTICE: The Remedy for Government Surveillance: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

(Originally posted to The Hill’s Congress Blog.)

As the end of the year approaches, Congress is facing a looming deadline: three sections of the infamous USA Patriot Act are due to sunset on December 31. Since it was rushed through Congress just 45 days after September 11, the Patriot Act has paved the way for the expansion of government-sponsored surveillance including the gutting of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to allow dragnet collection of Americans’ communications. Over the last eight years, numerous expansions of executive authority have worked in tandem to infringe upon Americans’ rights. [ Read more ... ]

NYT: New Obama Policy on State Secrets isn't Enough; Reform by Congress is Needed: Via EFF.org Updates.

Today's New York Times included an excellent editorial on the Obama Adminstration's new policy toward the state secrets privilege. Echoing EFF's disappointment in the new procedures, the editorial explains:

The other day, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. issued new guidelines for invoking the state secrets privilege in the future. They were a positive step forward, on paper, but did not go nearly far enough. Mr. Holder’s much-anticipated reform plan does not include any shift in the Obama administration’s demand for blanket secrecy in pending cases.

EFF's lawsuit against the government over the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, Jewel v. NSA, is one of those pending cases. As the editorial continues, [ Read more ... ]

EFF Supports New Bill to Repeal Telco Immunity: Via EFF.org Updates.

Yesterday, four US Senators led by Senator Chris Dodd announced plans to introduce "The Retroactive Immunity Repeal Act". That bill, endorsed by EFF, would repeal the law that Congress passed last summer granting immunity to phone companies that illegally assist in domestic spying by US intelligence agencies, and would revive EFF’s recently dismissed lawsuit against AT&T for its collaboration in the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program.

As yesterday’s announcement explains, [ Read more ... ]

Laptop searches at airports infrequent, DHS privacy report says: Via Computerworld.

Social media, airport image-screening technology also examined in annual report to Congress

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's annual privacy report card revealed more details on the agency's controversial policy involving searches of electronic devices at U.S. borders.

The 99-page report, which was released Thursday, also offered details on the agency's efforts to address privacy risks in social media and the use of imaging technologies that produce whole-body scans at airport security checkpoints.

The report is the first DHS privacy assessment released to Congress since the new administration took office. It covers the activities of the DHS Privacy Office between July 2008 and June 2009. [ Read more ... ]

PATRIOT Debate Round-Up: Dems Press Obama for Reforms; Leahy Bill a Good Start But Doesn't Stack Up to Last Week's JUSTICE Bill: Via EFF.org Updates.

Following last week's introduction by Senators Feingold and Durbin of the JUSTICE Act bill, the debate over renewal and reform of the USA PATRIOT Act kicked into over-drive this week with a second bill introduced in the Senate and hearings in both the House and Senate. The week's events were foreshadowed by the New York Times' weekend headline, "Battle Looms Over the Patriot Act".

The fireworks started on Tuesday with a hearing in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, to consider whether the PATRIOT provisions set to expire at the end of the year should be renewed. Representative Nadler, chairman of the subcommittee and a key proponent of PATRIOT reform in the past, kicked off the hearing with a clear statement that Congress should not limit itself to considering the expiring PATRIOT provisions but instead should broadly consider reforms to the entire Act: [ Read more ... ]

EFF Wins Release of Telecom Lobbying Records: Via EFF.org Updates.

San Francisco - A judge ordered the government Thursday to release more records about the lobbying campaign to provide immunity to the telecommunications giants that participated in the NSA's warrantless surveillance program. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ordered the records be provided to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) by October 9, 2009.

The decision is part of EFF's long-running battle to gather information about telecommunications lobbying conducted as Congress considered granting immunity to companies that participated in illegal government electronic surveillance. Telecom immunity was eventually passed as part of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008, but a bill that would repeal the immunity -- called the JUSTICE Act -- was introduced in the Senate last week.

"Today's ruling is a major victory for government transparency," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "As the court recognized, it was unlawful for the government to deny Americans access to this information in the midst of the debate over telecom immunity last year. We're pleased these records will now be available to the public as Congress considers the JUSTICE Act." [ Read more ... ]

The Erosion of Posse Comitatus: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

Remember Esequiel Hernandez, Jr.? "Junior," as he was known, was an American teenager shot and killed in 1997 by U.S. Marines as he tended a flock of goats near his home one evening in Redford, Texas. The Marines, fully armed and dressed in camouflage ghillie suits, were operating on U.S. soil as part of a covert counter-drug mission supporting the Border Patrol. They were not supposed to come into contact with civilians; rather they were just to observe and report what they saw to the Border Patrol. But Junior had a .22 caliber rifle with him, and it appears he fired at least one shot from it that evening. What he was shooting at isn’t clear. The Marines looked more like tumbleweeds than men, and none of them were hit. But as war-fighters, Marines are trained to engage a threat until it is destroyed, without asking a lot of questions. While this mission orientation is essential in combat, it is a poor fit with the shades-of-gray world of domestic policing. In any event, they followed their military "rules of engagement," advanced their position and returned fire, killing Junior with a bullet to the chest.

The reason I bring this incident up is that it demonstrates the risks of using military forces in domestic law enforcement missions. From their colonial experience, the framers of the Constitution recognized the threat a standing army posed to democracy, and they sought to establish a government that guaranteed civilian control over the military. This ideal was finally codified after the Civil War through the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibited the Army from engaging in law enforcement activities. [ Read more ... ]

Privacy in Online Behavioral Tracking and Targeting - It's Time to Protect Consumers: Via EFF.org Updates.

EFF and a coalition of other consumer and privacy groups called on Congress today to protect Americans' privacy from invasive online behavioral tracking and targeting.

In letters sent to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and two subcommittees, the groups delivered a legislative primer: [ Read more ... ]

EFF and PK to Congress: U.S. Trade Advisory Committee Needs Technology Users' Input: Via EFF.org Updates.

EFF and Public Knowledge this week urged Congress to give American technology users more input in international trade agreements that have broad ramifications for digital freedom. In written testimony submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee, the groups told lawmakers that the U.S. Trade Representative's influential industry trade advisory committee on intellectual property should represent the interests of all stakeholders, and not just IP owners. PK and EFF also called on Congress to amend the Trade Act to change the default rules that allow the USTR to close ITAC meetings and prevent disclosure of ITAC documents to the public.

The current controversy over the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) demonstrates why this is necessary. Representatives of the MPAA, the RIAA, ESA and BSA have called for treaty provisions that would require Internet service providers to engage in filtering of their customers' Internet communications for potentially copyright-infringing material, force mandatory disclosure of personal information about alleged copyright infringers, and adopt "Three Strikes" policies requiring ISPs to automatically terminate customers' Internet access upon a repeat allegation of copyright infringement. [ Read more ... ]