Passengers in vehicles pulled over by the police have just as much right as drivers to challenge the legality of the traffic stop and its consequences, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on June 18.

In reversing the California Supreme Court, the high court essentially ruled that an unlawful traffic stop violates the rights of everybody in a vehicle – including passengers, not just the driver. Everyone in the vehicle may therefore challenge the legality of the stop and any resulting  search of the vehicle or the persons in it.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, today, called on lawmakers to push for a major overhaul of the Real ID Act, calling it a "real nightmare" for Californians. The Department of Homeland Security's recently proposed delay for implementing the act would do nothing to prevent a national identity card system that violates personal privacy and increases identity theft, all while creating bigger bureaucratic messes, longer lines, and higher fees at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

HID Global Corporation has threatened to sue IO Active, a computer security company based in Seattle, with patent infringement if it gives its planned presentation at the BlackHat Convention this Wednesday, February 28, 2007, in Washington D.C. The presentation discusses vulnerabilities of HID RFID cards and demonstrates a handheld RFID cloner developed by the company to highlight these vulnerabilities.

For a link to a previous demo at RSA, please click here.

On Wednesday, January 31, the Montana House passed an anti-REAL ID bill on a vote of 99-1. The bill is expected to head to the Senate next week. The text of the bill can be found here.

A number of other states, including Georgia, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming are also considering opting out of REAL ID, placing conditions on their participation in the law, or urging Congress to repeal it.

Real ID Act and RFID

The ACLU of Northern California has been calling on California legislators to take a stand to protect the privacy, personal safety, and financial security of Californians by asking hard questions about both the Real ID Act and the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in government-issued identification documents.

Real ID Act

The Real ID Act, passed by Congress in May 2005, and scheduled to be fully-implemented by 2008, threatens to have far-reaching consequences for individu

The San Francisco Police Commission may not approve surveillance cameras unless it finds that the potential for deterrence outweighs community concerns. The San Francisco Police Commission approved 25 new surveillance cameras around the city despite the fact that there was no evidence for the potential for deterrence and dozens of people came to the Police Commission meeting to voice their opposition.

Privacy is definitely back on the National agenda. In case you missed some of these stories, here is a little run-down on recent activities in Washington.

House Passes 9/11 Bill With Privacy Provisions. 27B Stroke 6.

Privacy To Be Tone for New Senate Judiciary Committee. 27B Stroke 6.