The 2008 Wiretap report, said federal and state courts issued 1,891 orders for the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications in 2008, down from 2,208 in 2007. (Dept. of Justice Press release.) As in the last three years, no applications for wiretap authorizations were denied by either state or federal courts. The total number of authorized wiretaps had grown in each of the six past calendar years, beginning in 2003. The 2008 Wiretap Report does not include interceptions regulated by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or interceptions approvedby the President outside the exclusive authority of the federal wiretap law and the FISA.
Department of Justice Press Release
Bruce Schneier's article on the consequences of cloud computing, data collection, and user rights point out the lack of consumer control over Online personal information. While Internet companies work to gain customers and expand services they are also working to build trust in their products. A key component of privacy is data subject control over the collection, sharing, and use of personal information. Schneier highlights some of the issues around data collection related to RealAge, Facebook, and Google Docs.
Congressman Jason Chaffetz has introduced legislation seeking a ban on Whole-Body Imaging machines installed by the Transportation Security Administration in various airports across America. Describing the method as unnecessary to securing an airplane, Congressman Chaffetz stated that the new law was to "balance the dual virtues of safety and privacy." The TSA recently announced plans to make the scanners, which capture a detailed picture of travelers stripped naked, the default screening device at all airport security checkpoints. Whole Body imaging (Backscatter X-Ray) technology was introduced as a tool for screening some air travelers.
Advocacy organizations joined a letter to President Obama urging the appointment of a pro-consumer Commissioner to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The groups called for the appointment of someone with a "distinguished record of achievement in consumer affairs, with a demonstrated commitment to protecting the public." The Commission has been one person short of its full membership since former Chair Deborah Platt Majoras left the agency last year. The President appointed Jon Leibowitz to serve as the current chair of the FTC.
In testimony before a Congressional Committee, EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg urged lawmakers to address the growing threat to online privacy of new tracking techniques. Mr. Rotenberg said, "From the user perspective, the threats to privacy online are increasing. Unregulated data collection continues. Privacy policies are opaque and ineffective. Users are unable to exercise any meaningful control over the personal information that is obtained by firms when they visit sites, purchase online, or participate in the rapidly growing world of social networking." EPIC warned that these practices also pose a threat to technical standards that are necessary to protect network integrity, as well as the revenue of web publishers. The use of Deep Packet Inspection is growing in the face of no government regulation on its use.
In testimony before a Congressional Committee, EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg urged lawmakers to address the growing threat to online privacy of new tracking techniques. Mr. Rotenberg said, "From the user perspective, the threats to privacy online are increasing. Unregulated data collection continues. Privacy policies are opaque and ineffective. Users are unable to exercise any meaningful control over the personal information that is obtained by firms when they visit sites, purchase online, or participate in the rapidly growing world of social networking." EPIC warned that these practices also pose a threat to technical standards that are necessary to protect network integrity, as well as the revenue of web publishers. The use of Deep Packet Inspection is growing in the face of no government regulation on its use.
In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court in Arizona v. Gant, 07-542 ruled that police may perform searches of vehicles without a warrant only when police have reason to believe that the suspect might try to gain entrance to the automobile or if evidence of a crime will be uncovered.The court upheld the 4th Amendment right of persons to be free of police searches unless certain conditions are met.
The case resulted when a parent of an honor role student in a public school was stripped searched by school officials. The school defended its actions as being necessary to protect students, while the student argued that the actions taken by the school were disproportionate to the threat they said that she posed. A federal appellate court held that the search of the student was unreasonable and that a school official could be liable for violating the girl's Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court heard arguments today and will issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the strip search. Previous cases related to searches of students in school settings involved lockers and backpacks.
In February, Facebook announced that it was opening its site governance to user voting after the new Terms of Service were widely criticized, and were to be the subject of an EPIC complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. Facebook restored the old terms and sought user feedback on the new Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Voting on the proposed document will end on April 23, 2009. The company reports that the vote requires 70 million voters to be valid.
Millions of additional people will be added annually to the FBI's DNA database of 6.7 million, when agency will begin adding records for those who are arrested or detained, but not yet convicted of an offense. Those detained for immigration violations will constitute a larger proportion of the new collections. DNA can reveal much more about an individual than fingerprints or photographs.
David Vladeck a Georgetown University law professor was name the next Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Federal Trade Commission is the top federal government agency tasked to protect consumer rights. Vladeck is a well respected legal scholar and experienced advocate in the public interest. He has argued over 60 cases before federal and state courts. He has also defended a number of First Amendment and civil rights cases before the Supreme Court.
Today, EPIC filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding disclosure of records detailing airport scanners that take naked pictures of American travelers. Security experts describe the "whole body imaging" scanners as virtual strip searches. The Transportation Security Administration plans to make the scans mandatory at all airport security checkpoints, despite prior assurances that whole body imaging would be optional. EPIC's request seeks documents concerning the agency's ability to store and transmit detailed images of naked U.S. citizens. For more information, see EPIC's Whole Body Imaging page and EPIC's FOIA Litigation Manual (Apr. 14)
The Transportation Security Administration within the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will now take over the responsibility for checking airline passenger information against government watch list. In October of last year, the Department of Homeland Security announced the Final Regulations for the Secure Flight program. All airlines were required to collect date of birth and gender from customers and provide this information to the TSA for watchlist verification.
Amazon, Microsoft, and other companies are seeking to become Federal government cloud computing service providers. Last year, Google opened a local Washington DC office to sell cloud computing services to federal government employees. The Federal Privacy Act which provides privacy protection for the data the federal government agencies hold, does not extend to privacy companies.
