Archive

BART is the first known government agency in the United States to block cell service in order to disrupt a political protest. In this case the demonstration was to protest the recent fatal shooting of a passenger by BART police. Pulling the plug on cell phones is the wrong response to political protests, whether it's halfway around the world or right here at home.On Thursday, August 11, BART shut ... Read More

San Francisco – The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) and The San Francisco Bay Guardian (The Guardian) filed suit late Thursday against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeking full disclosure of public documents regarding the federal government's role in overseeing a worldwide scramble by state prison officials to import controlled substances for use in ... Read More

The Develop for Privacy Challenge, organized by the ACLUs of Northern California and Washington, the Tor Project, and the Information & Privacy Commissioner's Office of Ontario, was launched to highlight some of the best privacy-enhancing mobile apps out there—apps that improve, rather than erode, our ability to protect and control our own private information. After our judges evaluated many q... Read More

If you're using LinkedIn, you're probably doing so to connect with peers and colleagues, explore new business relationships, or even network for your next career move. Chances are you didn't join LinkedIn so you could tell your boss or your colleagues which products or brands you like. But LinkedIn's new "social advertising" feature does exactly that: it takes your name or photo and connects that ... Read More

July 2010 to Present (in reverse chronological order)Aug. 11, 2011 – The ACLU and the SF Bay Guardian filed a Federal Lawsuit, asking the court to order the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to disclose records regarding the worldwide scramble for execution drugs by state prison officials. View court papers.April 28, 2011 – The ACLU and the SF Bay Guardian file a preliminary injunction motion, as... Read More

On January 4, 2011, The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (ACLU-NC) and The San Francisco Bay Guardian (The Guardian) submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records related to the federal government’s role in assisting – or failing to oversee – efforts by state corrections agencies to acquire controlled substances. The lethal injection drugs wer... Read More

Today privacy groups announced that Gibberbot, a secure instant messaging and chat app, is the winner of the 2011 Develop for Privacy Challenge (www.develop4privacy.org). The groups made the announcement in a celebratory event at the DEFCON security conference this week. The winning app in the inaugural Develop 4 Privacy Challenge, Gibberbot, is a secure chat and instant messaging app, created by ... Read More

By Allie BohmACLU National OfficeToday, 34 ACLU affiliates are filing 379 public records requests in 31 states around the nation, seeking information about how our local law enforcement agencies are using our cell phone location information to track us.Chances are you're walking around with a tracking device in your purse or pocket – a cell phone. Location data from your cell phone can m... Read More

Demanding to know when, why, and how police use mobile phone location data and deploy other surveillance technologies to track the people they are responsible for protecting and serving, the ACLU of CA sent requests to more than 50 law enforcement agencies across the state on Aug 3. Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) applauds the ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Giorgi invalidating the proposed circumcision ban and removing it from the November ballot."The Court's ruling protects the rights of parents to direct their children's religious upbringing and medical care, and ensures that San Francisco voters will not have to vote on som... Read More