Obama comes out swinging in favor of strong encryption and against dragnet surveillance

President Obama has come out in favor of unbreakable encryption technology, slamming as unworkable the installation of 'backdoors' into software to enable security services to snoop on private communications and internet traffic.

Obama's comments come in response to a proposal outlining a sweeping anti-terrorism law that would require companies to hand over encryption keys and private user data to government officials.

License plate tracking corporation asks cops to stay mum on their use of controversial surveillance tool

Text and call your friends all over the world, securely and for free

Hooray! Whisper Systems' Signal app for iPhone has been updated to include encrypted text services.

How the ‘net neutrality’ vote might help advance consumer privacy online

Last week's FCC vote to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of federal communications law gives the regulatory body more power to ensure companies like Comcast and AT&T don't censor, slow down, or charge a premium for the delivery of certain internet content. The net neutrality victory substantially advances the First Amendment in the digital age.

FBI employee faced retaliation after blowing the whistle inside Bureau about agents stealing items from Ground Zero

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on whistleblower retaliation complaints at the FBI. The results are pretty alarming.

From the executive summary:

FBI director attempts to use marathon bombing to justify nationwide phone dragnet, ignoring DOJ claims and basic facts

Former FBI director Robert Mueller told an American Bar Association breakfast today that the government's dragnet collection of US phone records assisted in the Boston marathon bombing investigation. The Intercept reports:

Pittsburgh police allegedly keep photo book of methadone clinic patients

According to patients and their advocates, police departments throughout the country routinely station officers outside of methadone clinics and harass patients going in and out, sometimes arresting them on dubious drug related charges often involving informants. John Knefel reports on the problem for Buzzfeed, and includes this disturbing detail:

[Event] The Tsarnaev Trial: The Federal Death Penalty in Abolitionist Massachusetts

Hear from legal experts on the peculiar circumstance of the death penalty prosecution in US v. Tsarnaev, which is taking place in Massachusetts, a state that does not permit state executions.

WHERE: Suffolk Law School

WHEN: March 10, 2015 | 5:30 PM

News round-up: Police torture in Chicago, DOJ threats to prosecute unpopular speech, and high tech surveillance

Some stories you shouldn't miss today:

An Assistant Attorney General told a DC audience yesterday that the DOJ would potentially prosecute people for 'speech crimes' if they propagandize on social media in support of ISIS. Shane Harris with the scoop:

Edward Snowden on civil disobedience and the rule of law

Ed Snowden, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald are doing a Reddit AMA. Snowden just wrote this in response to a question about how to make spying a central campaign issue in the 2016 presidential bid.