Key Government Privacy Watchdog Muzzled During Surveillance Debate; Slate, June 26, 2017

Andrea Peterson, Slate; Key Government Privacy Watchdog Muzzled During Surveillance Debate

"The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, or PCLOB, is a little-known agency that’s had an outsize influence in recent years on the debate over government spying. The board’s job is to make sure that when the executive branch takes action to defend the country, Americans’ privacy rights and civil liberties aren’t forgotten. To carry out that mission, the board has almost unparalleled access to classified information across the intelligence agencies. PCLOB uses that access to advise agencies on how to roll out surveillance programs while minimizing privacy and civil liberties violations, review programs already in operation, and raise the alarm when it uncovers problems.

But right now, despite the high stakes, the board is being held hostage by a personnel shortage...

The board is supposed to be led by a bipartisan group of five people: a full-time chair and four part-time members who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Due to a string of departures over the last year, it’s down to just one part-time member."

The Sara Fine Institute presents, "Digital Privacy Workshop for Librarians"; iSchool at Pitt, 3/31/16

The Sara Fine Institute presents, "Digital Privacy Workshop for Librarians" :

"Amelia Acker and Leanne Bowler will be co-hosting a Digital Privacy Workshop for Librarians on Thursday, March 31, 2016; 1:00 – 4:00 PM. Students are welcome.

  The workshop will be presented by Alison Macrina of Library Freedom Project and Bruce J. Boni, attorney and president of the ACLU-PA Greater Pittsburgh Chapter. They will present a hands-on, "know your privacy rights" workshop for librarians, demonstrating strategies to help keep library patrons safe from surveillance. Topics include: the government's major surveillance programs and authorizations, federal and local privacy law, and information on how to respond when served with a government information request. The workshop includes a demonstration of practical privacy-enhancing technology tools that can be installed on public PCs or taught to patrons in computer classes.

Details about the workshop and how to register can be found here: https://tockify.com/ischool/detail/168/1459443600000

Stop Spying on Wikipedia Users; New York Times, 3/10/15

Jimmy Wales and Lila Tretikov, New York Times; Stop Spying on Wikipedia Users:

"TODAY, we’re filing a lawsuit against the National Security Agency to protect the rights of the 500 million people who use Wikipedia every month. We’re doing so because a fundamental pillar of democracy is at stake: the free exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Our lawsuit says that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance of Internet traffic on American soil — often called “upstream” surveillance — violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects the right to privacy, as well as the First Amendment, which protects the freedoms of expression and association. We also argue that this agency activity exceeds the authority granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress amended in 2008."

Why Supreme Court's GPS ruling will improve your privacy rights; CNet, 1/23/12

Declan McCullagh, CNet; Why Supreme Court's GPS ruling will improve your privacy rights:

"This morning's unanimous ruling (PDF) says the customary law enforcement practice of installing GPS trackers without judicial approval--which has become more common as prices have fallen--violates Americans' Fourth Amendment rights to be free from warrantless searches.

That reasoning suggests police also need to obtain warrants before tracking the locations of cell phones and mobile devices, another contentious topic currently before the courts, said Greg Nojeim, an attorney at the Center for Democracy and Technology."