House DHS Subcommittee Hearing on Fusion Centers
The House Committee on Department of Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment held a hearing September 27, 2007, at 10:00 a.m., 311 Cannon House Office Building on the topic of “The Way Forward With Fusion Centers: Challenges and Strategies for Change.”
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Homeland Security Releases Final REAL ID Rules
The Department of Homeland Security released the long awaited final rule on state issued drivers licenses and identification documents. The rule indicated that the new federal REAL ID will be used for a variety of purposes unrelated to the law that resulted in the federalization of state issued drivers licenses. If states do not comply with the agency rule the drivers’ licenses held by state residents will not be accepted for air travel or to access federal government buildings. As a cost saving measure the Department of Homeland Security decided not to require encryption of the digital data stored on the REAL ID. The Privacy Coalition led a major anti-REAL ID public education campaign. EPIC's page on REAL ID and the ACLU's analysis of the new agency rule..
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Congress Gives Administration More Wiretap Power
Congress gives the White House expanded domestic spying and reduce judicial oversight, through amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The new authority given to the President by Congress will permit warrantless surveillance of American citizens when one party to the conversation may be outside of the United States. This change in the FISA law which already gave law enforcement and national intelligence agenies great latitude under a special court which exclusively heard these request for surveillance of non-citizens. This change in the FISA law will leave millions of Americans subject to electronic surveillance, without court review, regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing. However, the amendments will sunset in 180 days, which will provide an opportunity for further debate in Congress.
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2007 Annual Meeting: Privacy Agenda 08
January 24-26, 2008 marked the 14th Annual Meeting of the Privacy Coalition. The meeting took place in Washington, DC and featured participation by privacy, consumer rights, civil liberties, and civil rights organizations.
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UPDATE: More Than 50 Groups Join Anti-National ID Campaign
A number of groups, including the Coalition Against Prosecutorial Abuse and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, have joined a campaign against REAL ID. Fifty-four groups are urging the public to submit comments against the illegal national identification system created by the Department of Homeland Security under the REAL ID program. DHS seeks to create a massive system filled with sensitive personal data on 240 million license and ID cardholders nationwide, yet has failed to include adequate privacy and security safeguards.
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September 28 Privacy Coalition Meeting
The September 28, 2007 meeting of the Privacy Coalition featured presentations by David Gersten Director of the Department of Homeland Security's Civil Rights and Civil Libertieis Programs, Robert Mocny, Director of the Department of Homeland Security's US VISIT Program. The meeting also featured presentations by Susan Hunkler a privacy rights activist, Jim Harrision Director of the Identity Project, Lew Motby President, Work Rights Institute and a discussion on Fusion Centers.
View past meeting information...
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The Privacy Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition of consumer, civil liberties, educational, family, library, labor, and technology organizations that have agreed to the Privacy Pledge. Members of the coalition have been meeting since 1995, but formalized the organization in February 2001. View a list of member organizations.
Latest Posts
Stuart Shapiro
April 16, 2008
In March 2008, the Privacy Coalition heard from the Mitre organization on its work and privacy.
Posted by EPIC on April 16, 2008
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John Verdi
In February 2008, the Privacy Coalition received a briefing on legislation in the State of Virginia, which would block the application of state FOIA and privacy protection laws to Information Fusion Centers. In an effort to gain insight in the work of the Virginia Information Fusion Center the Electronic Privacy Information Center is seeking to further public dialogue on the work of federal and state law enforcement agencies in this area.
Posted by EPIC on April 16, 2008
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Robert Gellman
In February 2008, the Privacy Coalition received a briefing on a new report by the World Privacy Forum on Personal Health Records.
Posted by EPIC on April 16, 2008
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Gail Hillebrand
In February 2008, Consumers Union provided a briefing on the FTC/banking regulators under Section 312 of FACTA, which had a recent comment period close.
Posted by EPIC on April 16, 2008
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Robert Ellis Smith
In February 2008, the Privacy Coalition heard from the Privacy Journal on the publication of a "Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws 2008 Supplement.
Posted by EPIC on April 16, 2008
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Privacy.org headlines
Domestic Spying by US Far Outpaces Actual Terrorism Prosecutions (May. 12, 2008)
Hacker Reveals 6M Chileans' Data (May. 12, 2008)
Ireland: Data Protection Complaints Soared in 2007 (May. 8, 2008)
EPIC, Privacy Groups, Technical Experts, and Legal Scholars Support Opt-In for Telephone Services (May. 8, 2008)
D.C. Council Committee Cuts Funding for Mayor's Controversial Surveillance Network Proposal (May. 8, 2008)
Arizona Passes ID Theft Law (May. 8, 2008)
UK Police Official: Camera Surveillance Network Has Failed to Cut Crime (May. 8, 2008)
Investigators: Missouri Governor Accused of Trying to Destroy Evidence (May. 6, 2008)
