News & Commentary

San Francisco – California cities are moving quickly to install video surveillance cameras on public streets and plazas without regulations, with little or no public debate, and without an evaluation of their effectiveness, according to an ACLU report released today.

The public overflowed the courtroom and late-comers filed into an adjoining video room, members of the press hovered around the courthouse, and oral argument lasted an hour and forty five minutes- that was the scene yesterday afternoon as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the government's appeal in Hepting v. AT&T.

The outcome in the lawsuit Hepting v. AT&T, being heard today by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will be important to the various challenges to illegal spying of Americans.

Under the Watchful Eye: The Proliferation of Video Surveillance Systems in California (Full Report)Under the

EarthLink announces halt on new municipal wireless build-outs- San Francisco plan may be delayed.

Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the failure of an amendment offered to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would have authorized $300 million of federal funding for states to implement the Real ID driver's license program, which has been estimated by DHS to cost $23.1 billion. The ACLU deemed the proposal "sucker money" because it aimed to entice states to accept a paltry amount of funding for a flawed program that would ultimately cost millions more in state taxes and licensing fees.

Want to know why the new San Francisco municipal wireless contract needs to include privacy and free speech protections?

Read Make free wi-fi truly free, the opinion piece written by Kurt Opsahl, from EFF, and me, about the San Francisco wireless contract. It was published in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

For a copy of the joint letter submitted by ACLU of Northern California and EFF to the Supervisors last week about necessary privacy and free speech modifications to the Earthlink/Google contract, click here.

If you live in San Francisco, let your Supervisor know that you want adequate privacy and free speech protections included in the final contract. Contact information here.