News & Commentary
Santa Clara Board Votes to Proceed with Controversial Surveillance Tech
Despite criticism from the ACLU and Supervisor Joe Simitian, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a sheriff’s department request to use more than $500,000 of federal grant money to purchase a Stingray cell phone tracking system.
ACLU to Santa Clara Sheriff: Don’t Sneak this Stingray by the Public
The debate over cell phone surveillance comes to the heart of Silicon Valley on Feb. 24, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to purchase a Stingray. Unfortunately, the public wasn't told about it.
Local Surveillance Reform at a Tipping Point in Oakland
Public participation in decisions about whether to equip police with surveillance technology is often the exception rather than the rule in California and across the country. Oakland knows this all too well.
It's Time to Protect Digital Privacy in California
The technology that we use for everything from balancing our budget to finding a date is constantly evolving – but the laws that protect our electronic information are stuck in the digital dark ages.
Cops Complain about Being Tracked on Waze: “Do as We Say, Not as We Do”
Do you have the right to tell others that you saw an on duty cop in public? According to law enforcement in two Associated Press articles this week, the answer is “No.”
Cybersecurity Doesn’t Have to Mean Sacrificing Privacy
Are our work emails, our medical records, and our financial information safe online, or have we been leaving our digital doors unlocked? What will President Obama propose to keep our digital world secure?
Should Cops Watch Video Footage Before Writing Reports?
A police officer wearing a body camera shoots a civilian. Afterwards, the officer has to write up a report about the incident. Should the officer be able to view the footage captured by his body camera (or other cameras) before he writes his initial report?
Academic Freedom and the Right to Remain Anonymous Online
We are the founders of PubPeer.com, an online forum for scientific discussion of research scholarship. We and many of the users of our website are anonymous. That anonymity is important for free speech, for academic freedom, and for scientific inquiry. But it’s being threatened, which is why we’re going to court to defend the First Amendment right to anonymity.
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