Technology

Technology provides unprecedented access to information, links people around the world, and gives voice to those who might not otherwise be heard. However, if deployed without adequate protections for privacy and free speech, it can become a tool that tramples constitutional rights. From protecting privacy and free speech on the Internet to pushing back against censorship and government surveillance, the ACLU of Northern California works to safeguard civil liberties as society harnesses the benefits of new technology.

It's Time to Demand Your dotRights!
We learn, share, shop and connect online. But the more we do online, the more personal information we leave behind. And that personal information is valuable -- to the companies that collect it, to the date brokers that buy and sell it, and to the government that gathers it up into vast databases.
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What do Facebook Quizzes Know About You?
“Who is your celebrity twin?” “What hairstyle should you have?” “What dead rock star are you?” “What decade fits your personality best?” “Which superhero are you?” These quizzes might be fun. But it’s shocking just how much of your information quizzes can access and how little Facebook does to safeguard that information.
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Google: Don't Close the Book on Reader Privacy
What you choose to read says a lot about who you are, what you value, and what you believe. That's why you should be able to learn about anything from politics to health without worrying that someone is looking over your shoulder. The ACLU has fought alongside libraries and bookstores time and again to defend the privacy rights of readers. Now we need your help to protect reader privacy rights in the digital era.
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ACLU-NC Releases Privacy and Free Speech Primer for Businesses
New technology has revolutionized the ways that we work and live. But as scores of recent controversies show, when companies fail to take privacy and free speech rights into proper account, the result can be bad for the public and bad for business. A new primer produced by the ACLU of Northern California, “Privacy and Free Speech: It’s Good for Business,” is packed with case studies and hands-on tools to help companies make smart decisions that protect customers' rights as well as boost the bottom line.
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Internet Free Speech
The Internet is a crucial platform for the distribution and discussion of news and current events, creative expression, and other constitutionally protected speech. The ACLU of Northern California works to ensure that the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment are protected online.
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Don't Chip Our Rights Away!
The ACLU has been working to protect privacy, personal safety, and financial security and bring attention to the risks associated with the use of RFID technology in identification documents. This page contains many resources about RFID and the landmark California legislation, the Identity Information Protection Act.
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Say No to Video Surveillance
Studies have found that public video surveillance do not significantly reduce crime nor make people feel safer, but the use of sophisticated video cameras is nonetheless on the rise in Northern California and across the nation.
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Connecting the Dots... Surveillance in Our Society
Since September 11th, surveillance in our society has increased at an alarming rate. It is up to us to “connect the dots” on government surveillance and to see the big picture of parallel developments in the worlds of technology, law, politics, and business, and shed light on the overall danger of far-reaching government surveillance.
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Say No to Library Internet Censorship
With the growth in importance of the Internet as a pivotal means of accessing information at the library, the age-old issues of library censorship have followed.
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