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Congressional Hearing on Employment Verification

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on employment verification. Several hearings have be held by the committee on the proposal to create a mandatory national government employment eligibility system. The current private sector system is voluntary.

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Privacy Rulemaking

Privacy Coalition Members Send Comments to NIST on Smart Grid Systems

Members of the Privacy Coalition urged a federal agency to establish safeguards for Smart Grid systems that protect consumer electricity usage information from unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, or sale. Smart Grid networks, which uniquely identify individual devices and appliances, create new privacy risks and could reveal intimate details of home life. EPIC recommended that policies be established to safeguard consumer privacy, including limitations on data collection, enforceable privacy practices, new security standards, and independent oversight.

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Privacy Legislation

FISA Reform Bill Introduced in the House

Representatives Conyers, Nadler, and Scott introduced two bills today that would amend the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 will enhance reporting and judicial oversight of law enforcement powers, including the National Security Letter process. The FISA Amendments Act of 2009 will place new limits on the government's ability to collect and store Americans' communications without a warrant and repeals retroactive immunity.

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DC Privacy Events

Monthly Privacy Coalition Meeting Hosts Julie Brill New FTC Commissioner

Julie Brill one of the two new members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) meet with the Privacy Coalition. She wanted to hear from members about their concerns regarding the work of the FTC and their expectations for the agency moving forward. The meeting also featured discussions regarding Congressman Markey's new bill the e-KNOW Act to allow electricity customers to have access to Smart Meter data.

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Campaigns

Privacy Coalition Members Join Letter that Results in Howard Schmidt Meeting

Over 30 organizations including many Privacy Coalition participants, launched a campaign to obtain a meeting with Howard Schmidt, the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator. Groups joining the letter included the ACLU, American Library Association, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Liberty Coalition, NAACP, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Center for Media and Democracy, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The White House has agreed to the meeting, which follows Senate confirmation of Keith B. Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, to lead the U.S Cyber Command. Civil society organizations have expressed concern about the growing role of the NSA in cyber security. EPIC is currently in litigation with the NSA to obtain the secret policy for NSA surveillance authority.

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Coalition Meetings

Mary Ellen Callahan Discusses DHS's Role in Cybersecurity

Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief Privacy Officer for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) met with the Privacy Coalition at its July 2010 meeting. She spoke about the agency's Cybersecurity programs that provide oversight and compliance for all of DHS and .gov. Congresswoman Jackie Speier's Legislative Counsel Erin M. Ryan also spoke at the meeting regarding a new bill on Financial Privacy Information. Other topics addressed at the meeting included: better FBI oversight and use of the Guidelines for Threat Assessment; Children as subjects of surveillance; the introduction of a new health policy advocacy network; and broader use of RFID tagging on consumer products.

View past meeting information...


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privacy.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2001

THE PRIVACY COALITION ANNOUNCES NEW PRIVACY INITIATIVE
The Privacy Pledge Sets Standard for Privacy Proposals in Congress
WASHINGTON, DC—The Privacy Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition of consumer, civil liberties, educational, library, labor, and family-based groups, presented "The Privacy Pledge"—the standard for future protection of privacy. Privacy is the major social issue of the information society and the top technology issue in the 107th Congress.

Member groups of The Privacy Coalition include: the American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Media Education, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers Union, Eagle Forum, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), Junkbusters, Media Access Project, National Consumers League, NetAction, Privacy Foundation, Privacy International, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

The Privacy Coalition invites members of federal and state legislatures to sign the pledge and thus protect one of the most important rights of Americans. The provisions of the pledge outline the necessary steps for future steps to protect privacy.

The Privacy Pledge reads as follows:

Privacy is one of America's most fundamental values.

The Fourth Amendment states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." In addition, the U.S. has adopted many laws protecting Americans from privacy invasive practices by both the public and private sectors.

Recognizing the need to protect this essential freedom, I, (insert Member's name), pledge to my constituents in (State and District) and to the American people that I will support a privacy framework to safeguard the rights of Americans in this information age.

This framework includes:

  1. the Fair Information Practices: the right to notice, consent, security, access, correction, use limitations, and redress when information is improperly used,
  2. independent enforcement and oversight,
  3. promotion of genuine Privacy Enhancing Technologies that limit the collection of personal information and legal restrictions on surveillance technologies such as those used for locational tracking, video surveillance, electronic profiling, and workplace monitoring, and
  4. a solid foundation of federal privacy safeguards that permit the private sector and states to implement supplementary protections as needed.

______________________
Signature

______________________
Date

The Privacy Pledge was publicly presented in the First Amendment Lounge of the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Monday, February 12, at 9:30 a.m.

CONTACT:

American Association of Law Libraries
http://www.aallnet.org/
(202) 662-9200

American Library Association
Washington Office
http://www.alawash.org/
(202) 628-8410

American Civil Liberties Union
http://www.aclu.org/
(202) 544-1681

Center for Media Education
http://www.cme.org/
(202) 331-7833

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
http://www.cpsr.org/
(650) 322-3778

Consumer Federation of America
http://www.consumerfed.org/
(202) 387-6121

Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org/
(202) 387-8030

Consumers Union
http://www.consumer.org/
(202) 462-6262

Eagle Forum
http://www.eagleforum.org/
(202) 544-0353

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
http://www.epic.org/
(202) 483-1140

International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
http://www.uaw.org/
(202) 828-8500

Junkbusters
http://www.junkbusters.com/
(908) 753-7861

Media Access Project
http://www.mediaaccess.org/
(202) 232-4300

National Consumers League
http://www.nclnet.org/
(202) 835-3323

NetAction
http://www.netaction.org/
(415) 775-8674

Privacy Foundation
http://www.privacyfoundation.org/
(303) 871-4971

Privacy International
http://www.privacyinternational.org/

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
http://www.privacyrights.org/
(619) 298-3396

Privacy Times
http://www.privacytimes.com/
(202) 829-3660

U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
http://www.pirg.org/
(202) 546-9707