Across the country, state and local police departments endanger immigrant communities by collecting and sharing information about residents with federal immigration authorities. Oftentimes this information is captured using high-tech surveillance equipment like license plate trackers and biometric fingerprint readers. But communities across...
The ACLU, Digital Fourth, Cambridge residents, and other advocates have been organizing to pass a strong surveillance oversight ordinance in Cambridge, Massachusetts since the fall of 2016. This summer, we are close to crossing the finish line. On August 13, 2018, the...
Last week, DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielsen celebrated US independence by publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post calling on Congress to pass an Orwellian surveillance law. The measure, Senator Ron Johnson’s “S.2836 – Preventing Emerging Threats Act of 2018,” would enable the...
BIG TECH EMPLOYEES ARE MAKING NOISE// From Wired: Why Tech Worker Dissent is Going Viral Tech workers are fed up, and they are fighting back. In response to the administration’s deplorable actions at the border and throughout the country, workers at big...
Last week’s Supreme Court decision in Carpenter is one of the most important privacy rulings in the Court’s history. In a 5-4 opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court sided with Mr. Carpenter and his ACLU lawyers, holding that the government...
In a hearing last week at the Boston City Council, police leaders signaled that they would support a measure to require community control over police surveillance, and community advocates highlighted extreme racial disparities in policing in Boston as a primary driver of...
On the heels of similar demands from the ACLU and 70+ civil rights, community, religious, and racial justice groups, Amazon workers have called on CEO Jeff Bezos to stop selling Rekognition face surveillance technology to police departments. The workers also demand that...
SENATE VOTES TO REINSTATE NEUTRALITY // From The Hill: Senate votes to save net neutrality rules Thanks to Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey’s leadership, last week the US Senate voted 52-47 to overturn the FCC’s decision to end net neutrality. The bill now moves...
Next week, the Massachusetts state senate is set to consider vast new surveillance powers for law enforcement. We cannot allow this dangerous legislation to become law. We beat back similar privacy-invasive plans last fall, and now we must do it again. Back...
SENATE WILL VOTE ON NET NEUTRALITY RESOLUTION // From Motherboard: Democratic Senators Are Officially Forcing a Net Neutrality Vote When net neutrality protections officially end on June 11, internet service providers will be able to prioritize, throttle, and block lawful content. To prevent...