Blog

The change appears to place significant limits on law enforcement’s ability to use “geofence warrants” (also called “reverse location search warrants”) to find out who was in a particular place at a particular time. Google’s announcement is welcome news, and we are cautiously optimistic that this change—once it rolls out—will protect people for years to come.   Read More

On December 9, the ACLU’s national office announced it will represent the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a case before the United States Supreme Court, NRA v Vullo. The case raises important First Amendment concerns about government overreach in targeting certain organizations for their disfavored viewpoints. This decision has led to dissent from the New York Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU a... Read More

Our right to speak anonymously, long protected by U.S. courts, is increasingly under attack by corporations and wealthy individuals looking to upend decades of free speech precedent. Read More

We are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Meta and X have broken their anti-surveillance commitments Read More

The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an opportunity to redouble our commitment to its principles worldwide. For those individuals and organizations whose focus is human rights within the United States, we are called to do two things. First, rather than cede the US Constitution to powerful forces who would use it to turn back the clock, we must embrace a visio... Read More

A State law that took effect in 2021 gave counties the authority to establish civilian oversight boards to assist supervisors in overseeing sheriffs’ offices. However, the law does not require counties to create civilian boards. That’s why the ACLU of Northern California is helping to educate community members about the fact that this law exists. And we are supporting individual counties that wish... Read More

Every year on Thanksgiving Day, people across the country gather with loved ones to share a special meal. This breaking-of-bread-style holiday is a well-known ritual, but for many of us, continuing to participate in Thanksgiving with integrity means breaking with traditions that rely on fictionalized accounts of history. Read More

For years, ACLU of Northern California has built momentum to ban the use of face surveillance by law enforcement. That’s why we put all our muscle behind a campaign to defeat AB 642, a bill that would have normalized real-time, mass surveillance. Read More

Fifty years ago a modern constitutional right to privacy was added to the state constitution. And for the last five decades, that right has helped to safeguard our homes, our families, our bodies, our thoughts, and our associations from invasion by government and corporate interests. Read More

In Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer,’ there is a scene where government agents creep outside a gathering of UC Berkeley-affiliated activists to write down the license plates of those parked outside the event. Instead of learning from this history, the City of Berkeley has taken a step towards repeating it.  Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act was a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty and Native families. But despite the law's protections, Native and Black children are much more likely to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The government must do more to support struggling families and help them stay together. Read More

Today we launched the California Immigration Detention Database, a new tool to track grievances that immigrants detained in California detention facilities have filed to seek resolutions to conditions of confinement issues. Through data captured in a publicly available, interactive chart, this database aims to document patterns of abuse in detention, and to serve as an advocacy tool. Read More