Release of the 2005
Privacy & Human Rights Report

Court Rules Administration's Domestic Spying Illegal
A federal judge ruled (pdf) that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered it end immediately. Last year, news reports revealed that President Bush secretly issued an executive order in 2002 authorizing the NSA to conduct warrantless surveillance of international telephone and Internet communications on American soil. In today's ruling, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the program violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as separation of powers. Previously, analyses by the Congressional Research Service(pdf) and a coalition of distinguished scholars (pdf) found the program violated laws. For more information, visit EPIC's Spotlight on Surveillance and Resources on Domestic Surveillance pages. (Aug. 17)

AOL Published Users' Searches
AOL recently published a list of 650,000 users' search queries. The 20 million search terms included names, addresses, and SSNs, as well as a number of sensitive topics. Queries were listed under individual "user numbers," though users were not identified by name or screen name. Though AOL later apologized and removed the pages with the information, subsequent copies of the data remain online. AOL's decision to publish the data contrasts with a recent federal court decision that found that Google did not have to turn over user search records in response to a Justice Department subpoena in a civil case. For more information on that case, see EPIC's COPA page. See, the Article 29 Working Group's paper Data Protection and search engines on the Internet (Aug. 8)

Governments, Public Interest Groups Support WHOIS Privacy
ICANN has posted the written statements of several government and private entities supporting privacy in the WHOIS database. Various government officials contributed to the record supporting a narrower formulation of the database's purpose, including the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Chair of the European Union Working Party on Data Protection, and the President of the Belgian Data Protection Commission. Private organizations, including the Association for Computing Machinery and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, also supported this formulation, which would pave the way for implementing better WHOIS privacy in the future. EPIC's comments on the proceedings are available here. (Jul. 28)

State Officials and Consumer Groups Oppose Ineffective Data Breach Bill in Congress
A data breach notification bill backed by the House Financial Services Committee drew criticisms from state law enforcement officials and a coalition of consumer groups, who said that existing state laws are more effective at protecting consumers. In a letter to House leadership signed by 48 state attorneys general, the National Association of Attorneys General stated that an effective data breach law should preserve strong consumer protections and allow states to enforce data breach laws. Consumer groups said that the Financial Data Protection Act "does nothing positive for consumers and rolls back existing state consumer protection laws."For more information, see EPIC's choicepoint page.(Jul. 25)

UPDATE - DC City Council Approves Temporary Expansion of Video Surveillance
Responding to a proposal from Mayor Williams for emergency
legislation, the DC City Council agreed to install 23 surveillance cameras in residential neighborhoods for the first time. The City Council also approved an earlier curfew and police access to confidential juvenile information. Youth groups, privacy and civil liberties organizations protested the measures, which will be in force for 90 days. The City Council has scheduled an October hearing on the surveillance cameras. (Jul. 20)

Joint House Committees Hold Hearing on E-voting
In a statement to the House Committees on Administration
and Science, the National Committee for Voting Integrity recommended
greater security for e-voting systems. NCVI said that the current
review process for ensuring that e-voting systems count votes as
cast is not working. The Election Assistance Commission has delayed
implementation of a new federal process intended to replace the
current system. For more information, see EPIC's Voting and
Privacy page and the National Committee for Voting
Integrity Web site. (Jul. 20)

ABA Urges Oversight of Domestic Surveillance
At a hearing on the future of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the American Bar Association testified that Fourth Amendment protections and judicial review are critical to protect the rights of Americans. Civil liberties groups issued a joint statement opposing the Specter-White House proposal, S. 2453, and supporting Rep. Harmon's bill, H.R. 5371. And USA Today reported on several government data mining programs that operate without legal protections. More information at EPIC FISA page. (Jul. 20)

DC Council to Consider Improper Expansion of Public Video Surveillance
The DC Council meets today to consider a proposal from Mayor
Williams to "provide the Metropolitan Police Department broader
authority to use the CCTV system" and to support "private entities and
associations that seek to take advantage of CCTV technology and share
recordings with the police." EPIC has repeatedly warned the Council
that surveillance cameras are not effective, but they are prone to
abuse. More information at EPIC's Video Surveillance page
and Observing Surveillance. (Jul. 19)

In Congress, EPIC Urges Privacy Safeguards for WHOIS Data
EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg testified before the House Finance Committee in support of new privacy safeguards for WHOIS, the directory of Internet domain owners. Currently anyone with an Internet connection, including spammers, phishers, and stalkers, can access information in the WHOIS database. Citing the growing risk of identity theft, EPIC supported an ICANN proposal to limit public access to personal information. For more information, see EPIC's WHOIS page. (Jul.18)

Georgia Superior Court Judge Halts Use of Photo ID for Voters
Judge Melvin K. Westmoreland of Fulton County Superior Court agreed
with the plaintiffs in a legal challenge brought against a revised Georgia
voter identification law. Plaintiffs argued that the new law would make it
harder for minorities,the elderly, and the poor to participate in public
elections. The judge based his decision on the Georgia Constitution which only requires that voters must be 18 years old, mentally competent and state residents. A previous effort to mandate a photo ID for voters was ruled unconstitutional by two federal court judges. Georgia appealed the judge's decision through an emergency motion, which was denied. EPIC's comments on Georgia's Voter ID Law, Statement to House Committee on Voter ID requirements.(Jul. 10)

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