News & Commentary

Congressional leaders from throughout the nation released statements expressing their dissatisfaction with the Real ID regulations released today by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Department of Homeland Security today issued its final regulations for the implementation of the Real ID Act, the plan to create a national identity card system, which Congress passed in May 2005 with little debate as an attachment to the tsunami and Iraq War appropriations bill.

The Bay Area's transit systems are about to join other cities and get a single payment card. The TransLink card will let you pay for rides on BART, San Francisco Muni buses, and the Peninsula's Caltrain.

Can't imagine the library keeping track of the books you browse in the stacks and using that information to put advertising flyers in the books you check-out or "personalize" library services to you?

We've blogged about the shortcoming of some muni WiFi plans on several occasions. Many networks were built from the ground-up to invade consumer privacy and free speech for profit. Now several of these systems seem to have fallen flat.

On Monday, the Senate is set to begin debating FISA legislation that will grant immunity to the phone companies for turning over millions of our private records to the National Security Agency.

According to recent reports, Google Inc., the wildly successful Internet company based here in Northern California, is planning to offer online data storage to its users. Though the exact details of the plan are not yet known, Google is expected to launch the service sometime next year.

The Napa Valley Unified School District Board approved a settlement on Dec. 14 between the school district and five Napa families, represented by the ACLU of Northern California, who challenged the "Appropriate Attire Policy" at Redwood Middle School. The settlement recognizes students' constitutional rights to freedom of expression.

The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report outlining serious concerns about new institutions called "fusion centers," which have been created in over 40 states around the nation.