Archive

Last Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which requires a warrant before California law enforcement can seize the contents or metadata of your communications, demand location records from your cell phone provider, or use a StingRay to gather information about your smartphone. Read More

Last fall, the three ACLU affiliates in California launched our newly expanded Sacramento office: the ACLU of California Center for Advocacy & Policy. One year ago, we had a staff of four. Today, we have nine full-time and two part time advocates. This tremendous increase in capacity translated into significant victories in the Legislature this year. Read More

Gov. Brown signed SB 589, a bill that protects the voting rights of citizens under conservatorship. The governor has created a new protection for more than 50,000 Californians living with disabilities to ensure they do not have their voting rights unfairly taken away. Read More

SACRAMENTO--Today Gov. Brown vetoed SB 249 (Hueso), a measure to create “Enhanced” Drivers Licenses (EDLs) to be used as an additional border-crossing identification document available only to U.S. citizens. EDLs employ outdated technology that would put Californians' private information at risk and open the door to high-tech racial profiling and employment discrimination.  “It... Read More

Today, in a landmark victory for Californians’ digital privacy rights, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA, SB 178) into law. The bill, jointly authored by Senators Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Joel Anderson (R-Alpine), updates the state's privacy laws for the digital age by protecting Californians against warrantless surveillance of their d... Read More

What’s in a name? If you ask Facebook, it’s the text on a driver’s license or a formal document like a utility bill or library card. Read More

Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 953: The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 into California law. Read More

Oakland From October 3 through October 10, a #CaravanForJustice featuring survivors of law enforcement violence and grassroots organizers will travel throughout California to mobilize communities of color against police brutality. Read More

If Gov. Brown fails to veto SB 249, the DMV will issue driver’s licenses enhanced with unencrypted computer chips that would make Californians' personal data vulnerable. Read More

UPDATE: The vote has been rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 13. TAKE ACTION - Ask your Alameda County Supervisor to vote NO!The Alameda County Sherriff has requested authorization from the Board of Supervisors to upgrade the county’s StingRay surveillance equipment.StingRays are a highly intrusive cell phone surveillance technology used by law enforcement to intercept information from a target cel... Read More