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.

Reader Privacy Act of 2011 - Signed by Governor Brown!
The Reader Privacy Act of 2011 (SB 602) updates reader privacy laws by mirroring the strong privacy and free speech standards in California law—ensuring that government and third parties can’t demand access to private reading records without proper justification and creating greater transparency about how often reading records are disclosed.
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Develop for Privacy Challenge: Build Apps to Improve Mobile Privacy
Protecting digital privacy isn’t a one person—or even one organization—job. That’s why the ACLU is working with companies and other organizations to reform outdated electronic privacy law and take a stand for privacy. But we need more tools that allow people regain control of their personal information. And we need software developers who are up for a real challenge: building the tools that help ordinary users understand and protect their privacy in the world we live in. That's why we are announcing the first Develop for Privacy Challenge and inviting developers to build apps that will improve privacy on smartphones and other mobile devices. (Submissions are due by May 31, 2011.)
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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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Location Information: Time for a Privacy Check-In
Location-based services are growing in popularity. But can LBS services like Google Maps, Foursquare and Facebook Places protect your privacy? Do they? And what can we do to improve the situation?
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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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Cloud Computing: Storm Warning for Privacy?
“Cloud computing”—the ability to create, store, and manipulate data through Web-based services—is growing in popularity. However, outdated laws and varying corporate practices mean that documents created and stored in the cloud may not have the same protections as the same documents stored in a filing cabinet or on a home computer.
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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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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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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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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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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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Don't Let Internet "Hot Spots" Chill Privacy and Free Speech
Cities throughout Northern California are in the process of developing new municipal wireless Internet programs, often called WiFi, with little to no consideration of the privacy and free speech implications of such systems. Many of these communities are considering systems that track the user's identity, websites viewed, and the location from which individuals access information.
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