This week, get an update on the surveillance policy work by the ACLU and the EFF, the digital security work at this year’s Allied Media Conference, and the digital security challenges newsrooms face.
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ACLU’s Nationwide Campaign to Curb Police Surveillance
In the summer of 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made a shocking discovery: police departments around the country were buying surveillance equipment with FEMA homeland security grants with little oversight. In response, the ACLU announced a nationwide strategy in partnership with over a dozen other civil liberties groups called Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS). This strategy aims to promote bills requiring transparency for police surveillance technology and equipment being purchased across the country. Malkia Cyril, from the Center for Media Justice is among organizations involved and is interviewed in this article. (via The Verge)
Digital Security Workshops at the Allied Media Conference
This weekend is the Annual Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Cybersecurity is a major topic this year and many organizations are hosting workshops and discussions to help conference attendees stay safe online. Among the groups are Generation Justice, Crypto Harlem, Equality Labs, and MayFirst/People Link. Crypto Harlem founder, Matt Mitchell, will be posting notes and updates from his session on his medium blog post. Check it out to stay updated. (via Medium)
Jessica Rosenworcel Nominated for a Second Term on the FCC
President Trump recently announced he intends to nominate Jessica Rosenworcel for a second term as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission. Rosenworcel is a renown advocate for net neutrality and keeping an open Internet. Trump is obliged by federal law and FCC tradition that no more than three of the five commissioners of the FCC can be members of his own political party, which explains his decision. According to Motherboard, Rosenworcel’s renomination process is likely to take months, which means that she’s unlikely to have a material impact on the FCC’s ongoing net neutrality review. (via Motherboard)
Harlo Holmes on Newsroom Security in 2017
Harlo Holmes is the Director of Digital Security for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. She recently participated in an interview with Source Open News, which she discussed the security challenges in journalism, security work flows while traveling across borders, and her involvement with the mobile security collective, The Guardian Project. (via Source)
DOJ Releases 18 New Opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Response to EFF Lawsuit
Last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) over the warrantless surveillance authority known as Section 702. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice produced eighteen previously secret opinions of FISC related to Section 702. According to the EFF, most of the documents tell a story of the intelligence community overstepping boundaries, getting reprimanded by the FISC, but nevertheless being allowed to continue and even expand surveillance under the law. (via EFF)
Supreme Court Will Hear Significant Cell Phone Tracking Case
In this article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Senior Staff Attorney, Jen Lynch, the Supreme Court recently announced it will review United States v. Carpenter, a case involving long-term, retrospective tracking of a person’s movements using information generated by his cell phone. According to Lynch, the Court has an opportunity to continue its recent pattern of applying Fourth Amendment protections to sensitive digital data. (via Digital Freedom
Digital Security Tips, Resources, and Guides:
- Understanding Public, Closed and Secret Facebook Groups (via EFF)
- Protecting Your Sources When Releasing Sensitive Documents (via Source)
- What is Social Cooling? (via SocialCooling.com)
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